Corner Office Confessions

Chapter 2: First Impressions

Nathan Vance had exactly four minutes between meetings, and he intended to spend none of them on intern orientation. But his assistant, Marla, had cornered him in the hallway with a tablet and a look that meant he wasn't getting out of this.

"HR wants you to at least greet the new interns. Optics, Nathan."

"I don't do optics."

"You do today." She didn't wait for an argument, just turned and walked, forcing him to follow or look like he was avoiding his own building.

The interns were gathered near the glass conference room, a cluster of nervous, overdressed twenty-somethings clutching notebooks like shields. Nathan scanned them the way he scanned everything — quickly, dismissively, cataloguing nothing worth remembering.

Then his eyes landed on her.

She wasn't trying to stand out. If anything, she looked like she was trying to disappear into the wall. But there was something in the way she held herself — spine straight, chin level, eyes steady even as her hands betrayed her nerves. Most people in this building either fawned over him or flinched. She did neither.

"Mr. Vance." Marla's voice cut through his thoughts. "This is the new intake."

He nodded once, offered the room a clipped "Welcome to Vance Enterprises," and turned to leave — until his gaze snagged on her again. She was watching him. Not starstruck. Not afraid. Just... watching, like she was trying to figure out a puzzle.

Nobody looked at him like that.

"Name," he said, before he could stop himself.

Her chin lifted a fraction higher. "Nerisa Smith."

He didn't respond. He didn't need to. But something about the name settled into his memory in a way names rarely did, and he walked away wondering why the hell that bothered him