THE INTERVIEW WITH THE BILLIONAIRE
1061 Words
CHAPTER TWO
Leana stood outside the Avaco building, clutching her portfolio like it was a life raft.
“Okay, Leana,” she whispered to herself. “Don’t faint. Don’t trip. Don’t… embarrass yourself.”
The lobby was dazzling marble floors, golden light, and a chandelier that practically winked at her. She took a deep breath, trying to steady the rapid thump of her heart. Every step forward made it feel heavier, like gravity itself was conspiring against her.
“Miss Carter?” a crisp voice called.
“Yes,” she said, turning toward a woman in a sleek black suit.
“Right this way. Mr. Hale is ready for you.”
Leana’s stomach flipped. Mr. Hale… the billionaire, the tech genius, the man who doesn’t tolerate mistakes. She could feel her palms starting to sweat. Every story she had ever read about him, every rumor, every whispered anecdote of people who had failed to impress him, swirled in her mind.
Inside his office, Lucas was standing in front of the floor-to-ceiling windows, back to her. His silhouette was sharp, almost sculptural.
The city sprawled beneath him, distant and gleaming, but the room seemed almost smaller somehow, contained, focused entirely on him.
“Miss Carter,” he said smoothly as he turned.
She swallowed.
He was young late twenties, maybe early thirties but his presence made the room feel smaller, charged. Sharp jaw, dark hair, and eyes that seemed to measure everything about her, every hesitation, every breath, every tiny flicker of emotion.
“Thank you for calling me,” she said, trying to sound confident.
“I’ve been watching your portfolio,” he said casually, almost too casually, like this was nothing more than idle observation but it wasn’t.
“You… have?” Her eyes widened.
“For months.”
Leana’s cheeks warmed. Months? How? She wondered what he had noticed, which photos, which details, which choices she had made that had caught his attention.
“I… I’m flattered,” she said softly.
“Do you know why I called you here?” His tone was flat, but his gaze drilled into her, relentless.
“No… I mean, I have an idea, but ”
“I’m not looking for someone better. I’m looking for someone right.”
Leana blinked. Right… me?
“Right… for what?” she asked cautiously.
Lucas stepped closer. “For this position. For this work. And… for situations you’re not prepared for yet.”
“Not prepared?” she echoed, heart racing.
“Yes.” He leaned slightly, voice low, deliberate. “You have talent, Miss Carter, but talent alone won’t survive what’s coming.”
“What’s coming?” she whispered, a chill running down her spine.
Lucas didn’t answer immediately. Instead, he studied her like he was weighing her very soul. Every expression, every micro-movement, every pulse and tremor.
“You see emotions differently,” he said finally. “Your photography tells me that.”
She swallowed. Most people barely noticed her work. He spoke like he understood it, like he could see beyond the surface, like he could see her.
“And you… you notice more than most people?” she asked.
“I notice everything,” he said quietly. “The small things. The shifts. The movements that others miss. The way someone’s eyes flinch when they lie.
The way they hesitate when they hide fear.”
Her pulse quickened. “Shifts?”
He didn’t answer. Only walked toward his desk and tapped his tablet. Then, without looking up, he said: “Sit.”
Leana hesitated for a moment, then obeyed, her legs slightly trembling. The chair felt cold under her hands.
“Everyone says they can handle pressure,” he murmured. “Until they work for me.”
“I’m not everyone,” she said firmly, refusing to let him intimidate her.
“Bold. Persistent,” he said, almost thoughtfully. “You might survive.”
Her stomach flipped. “Might?”
“Yes,” he said simply. “I don’t hire people who just want a job. I hire people who can… endure.”
“Endure what?”
He finally looked at her fully, eyes dark and intense. “Everything.”
Suddenly, the lights flickered. Once. Twice.
Leana stiffened.
“You felt that, didn’t you?” he asked quietly.
“The… the flicker?” she whispered.
“The shift,” he said, voice low. “The pressure in the air. It started for me around the same time your dreams started.”
Her heart caught. The dreams. The shadows. The images that had haunted her for weeks, impossible to understand yet vivid, frightening, and familiar.
“How… how do you know?”
“Because I’m having them too,” he said softly.
Leana froze. Her stomach dropped. This is not just a job interview.
Before she could speak, a sharp alarm beeped on his desk. Lucas glanced at the screen, expression tightening.
“We don’t have much time,” he said.
“For what?” Her voice trembled slightly.
“I didn’t bring you here for a job,” he said, calm but steady.
Her stomach sank. “Then why?”
“Something has started moving,” he said. “Something connected to both of us. And it doesn’t want us meeting.”
A deep thud vibrated through the floor.
Leana gasped, clutching the edge of his desk.
Lucas’s hand was suddenly on her wrist, firm and grounding. “Stay close. No matter what happens.”
Another thud, louder, closer.
Leana’s knees weakened.
Three hours ago, her life had been simple stressful, chaotic, yes, but simple. Now, she felt as though she had stepped into a world she couldn’t yet understand, and Lucas was the only one prepared for it.
“Leana,” he said quietly, voice steady despite the shaking floor, “everything is about to change.”
Her pulse raced. “Change… how?”
He didn’t answer.
He only gave her that intense stare, as if he could see the questions tumbling in her mind.
“Trust me,” he murmured. “Tomorrow, nothing will feel the same.”
Leana’s heart thumped violently. She had a thousand questions, but one thing was certain: she believed him.
As the office door closed behind her later, she whispered to herself:
Tomorrow… I have no idea what’s coming. But I know I’ll need him.
- Writer
