The wrong side of the spotlight

Chapter 4

The corridor outside the office was too quiet for a place that expensive.

Glass walls, brushed steel frames, and a view of the city that looked like it had been curated rather than built. Everything in the space whispered control.

Clarissa spotted them before she understood what she was seeing.

Dre walking ahead.

Avan beside him, hands in his pockets uncaring as ever.

And Amani trailing slightly behind, adjusting her grip on her folder like a lifeline, head lowered.

That alone made Clarissa pause.

Not because it was unusual to see the boss with people.

But because it was unusual to see Dre Vaughn with people who looked like they didn’t know why they were there.

Amani glanced up briefly and caught Clarissa watching.

Clarissa didn’t react. Just a neutral blink. Professional distance. Then she turned away as if nothing had happened.

Inside the office, the air changed.

Dre’s space wasn’t decorated, it was minimalist yet screamed money. Not a thing out of place. Well except her.

Amani immediately knew she didn’t belong here. It felt like the oxygen was limited, like the floors were mocking her with how polished it was.

Avan, on the other hand, looked like he was just happy to be there.

“Stand there,” Dre said simply.

Amani obeyed.

Middle of the room. Perfectly centered like an exhibit someone forgot to label. Hands folded in front of her. Eyes scanning the room like it might suddenly explain itself. She felt like a criminal under scrutiny for something she knew nothing of. Amani moved her balance on each feet clearly uncomfortable.

Avan leaned casually against a side shelf, arms and legs crossed. He clearly didn’t care as he picked an apple from the fruit basket and began chewing carelessly.

Dre sat.

The tension in the room lifted like it wasn’t threatening enough.

Dre opened a thick file.

Amani squinted slightly. “Is that… mine?”

“Yes,” Dre said without looking up.

Avan tilted his head. “Oh wow. Seems doe over here is an actual person.”

Amani looked at him. “That sounds illegal.”

“So she speaks” Avan scoffed. “ it’s not illegal darling… Just emotionally invasive.”

Dre flipped a page.

No expression yet. Just reading.

Then another page.

Then a pause.

That pause was louder than words.

“This is your academic record?,” Dre said his face blank.

“Yes,” Amani replied cautiously.

He looked up.

“Average.”

Amani blinked. “Excuse me?”

Avan made a soft noise like he was trying not to laugh.

Dre continued, calm and unbothered. “Your grades are competent. Your internships are basic. Your references are non existent .”

Amani frowned.

“functional enough,” Dre added.

Amani pointed slightly at the file. “This is deeply disrespectful for something I didn’t even agree to participate in.”

Dre leaned back in his chair.

Now he was looking at her properly.

Not at the file anymore.

At her.

“How committed are you to this role?” he asked.

Amani straightened instinctively. “Very committed.”

Avan muttered, “She said that like she’s trying to survive a hostage situation.”

“I am not… “Amani started, then stopped, recalibrating. “I am very committed, sir .”

That earned a glance from Dre.

A faint one.

Almost nothing.

Almost.

But Avan caught it.

Dre stood slowly and walked around the desk.

“You want this position,” he said, “but your background doesn’t suggest you’ve been tested enough for it.”

Amani frowned. “That feels like a personal problem I didn’t cause.”

Avan leaned forward slightly. “She’s kind of right.”

Dre ignored him.

He stopped directly in front of Amani.

She tilted her head up slightly to meet his gaze, immediately regretting the neck angle.

“This job will not be forgiving,” Dre said.

Amani nodded. “Noted.”

Dre looked at her with something new.

Interest.

Then he stepped back.

And said it like it had already been decided long before they entered the room:

“You’ll be my personal assistant.”

Silence.

Amani blinked.

“I’m sorry, I think I missed a sentence somewhere in the middle.”

Avan straightened immediately. “Wait. That’s actually insane.”

Amani pointed at herself. “Me? PA?”

Dre nodded once. Final.

“Yes.”

Amani looked around the room like it might rescue her.

“It feels like I should at least pass a quiz first.”

Avan laughed under his breath. “She’s not wrong.”

Dre returned to his desk like the conversation had already concluded. He gave a wave of his hand in dismissal.

Amani stood frozen for a second longer than necessary. Then adjusted her folder again.

“Okay,” she said slowly. “I’m employed differently now?.”

Avan exhaled a quiet laugh. “Congratulations, I think.”

Amani walked out first.

Still confused.

Still processing.

Still looking mildly offended by everything that just happened and how quick life had gone from bad to worse.

When the door closed behind her, silence returned.

Avan looked at Dre.

“She’s not what you expected, huh” he said.

Dre stared at the closed door.

“She’s exactly what I expected,” he replied.

Avan raised a brow.

“Manageable.”

Avan smirked. “That’s your version of praise?”

“I didn’t say she was impressive,” he added.

Then, quieter almost like an afterthought he didn’t intend to share

“But she adapts quickly, her mediocrity makes her perfect.”

Avan studied him for a second.

Then smiled.

“Yeah,” he said. “That’s usually how problems become interesting.”

*

Liya’s room was a mess as she tried desperately to arrange the clothes strewn across the place.

Amani sat cross-legged on the bed, still in the clothes she wore earlier, looking like her brain was buffering.

“I’m telling you,” she said slowly, “it happened too fast. One minute I’m doing normal work things. The next minute I’m standing in a glass office being… evaluated like a performance review with emotions.”

Liya blinked. “Start from the beginning.”

“I did,” Amani said. “That was the beginning.”

Liya leaned forward. “No, no, no. There’s always a pre-beginning. Like… were you spiritually prepared for this?”

Amani stared at her.

“No.”

“Okay,” Liya nodded seriously. “That’s your first mistake.”

Amani groaned and dropped back onto the bed. “I feel like I’ve been assigned to something I didn’t apply for. Like I’m a pawn in a board game.”

Liya’s eyes widened slightly. “A pawn?”

“Yes,” Amani said. “A very confused pawn.”

Liya paused.

Amani continued, voice lowering. “And there’s him.”

Liya perked up immediately. “The pretty one or the scary one?”

Amani frowned. “The pretty one liya keep up.”

“ Avan, I still can’t believe you met the ‘Avan Cole’.”

“ I know and I can’t believe it either. But they brought out a document of my entire life liya” Amani covered her face ready to burst into tears.

“That’s illegal,” Liya said.

“ And he was just… there,” Amani continued. “Making jokes while I was being questioned like I stole something I didn’t know existed.”

Liya tilted her head. “Did he recognize you?”

Amani shook her head quickly. “No. It didn’t feel like that. It felt like he was meeting me for the first time too.”

Liya narrowed her eyes. “Hmm.”

“What?” Amani asked.

“That’s suspicious,” Liya said simply.

Amani sat up slightly. “I don’t think it is. I think… I just overheard something I shouldn’t have. They were talking about needing someone, something about files and logs and overlap. I don’t even understand what they want from me.”

Liya leaned back slowly, processing. “So let me get this straight. You accidentally walk into your all time crush, and your boss at Vaughn empire and they just hand you a promotion ”

Amani nodded. “Pretty much.”

Liya stared at her like she had witnessed a miracle and a disaster at the same time. “You are the softest person I know. How are you still alive?”

“I’m asking myself the same question ,” Amani muttered.

Then she hesitated.

“…The boss is terrifying.”

Liya leaned forward again. “Define terrifying.”

Amani’s expression shifted slightly.

“Not like angry,” she said slowly. “Just… controlled. Like he doesn’t waste words. Everything he says feels like law.”

Liya blinked.

“And he’s… really handsome.”

Liya sat up fully now. “Oh.”

Amani groaned immediately. “Don’t ‘oh’ me like that.”

“No, no,” Liya said, waving her hands. “I’m processing. Go on.”

“He looks like he belongs in a place where people sign contracts with their souls,” Amani continued reluctantly. “And I think he’s the boss boss. Like the final boss of employment.”

Liya froze for a second.

Then she slowly reached for her laptop.

“What are you doing?” Amani asked.

“I need to verify something,” Liya said.

Amani squinted. “Verify what?”

Liya was already typing.

“Because nobody just looks like that and operates at that level of psychological damage without being someone important.”

Amani watched her suspiciously. “That is not how Google works.”

Liya ignored her.

A few seconds passed.

Then her expression changed.

Slowly.

“…Amie ,” she said carefully.

“What?”

Liya turned the laptop slightly.

Amani leaned in.

The screen showed a corporate profile.

Clean photo. Sharp suit. Expression calm enough to silence a room.

Deandre Vaughn.

Amani blinked.

Then slowly leaned back.

“…Oh.”

Liya stared at her. “That’s your ‘oh’ face.”

“I didn’t know he had a surname,” Amani whispered.

“You didn’t know he had an entire empire,” Liya corrected.

Amani stared into space.

“I may have spoken to him like I was mildly inconvenienced.”

Liya slowly closed the laptop. “You’re going to die at work.”

Amani covered her face. “I’m going to be professionally eliminated.”

Liya leaned back, laughing under her breath. “Okay but wait how about Avan”

Amani peeked through her fingers. “What about him?”

Liya’s tone softened slightly. “Was he also… helpful ?”

Amani paused.

Then her expression shifted.

“ No he just stood there… annoyingly perfect.”

Liya smiled. “Define annoyingly.”

“He smiled while I was being interrogated,” Amani said. “Like it was funny. Like I was funny.”

Liya raised a brow. “And?”

Amani looked away.

“And I hated that I didn’t hate it.”

Liya made a small sound of victory. “There it is.”

Amani threw a pillow at her immediately. “Stop analysing me like I’m a lab rat.”

Liya caught it, still grinning. “Too late. You’ve been observed.”

Amani flopped back again, staring at the ceiling.

“I think I walked into something I don’t understand,” she said quietly.

Liya’s voice softened slightly. “Yeah.”

A pause.

Then Liya added, much lighter again, “But also… you talked to Deandre Vaughn and survived. That’s kind of iconic.”

Amani groaned. “Please don’t romanticise my suffering.”

Liya laughed.

And somewhere between fear, confusion, and disbelief…

Amani couldn’t help it.

She smiled too.

Just a little.