THE BILLIONAIRE'S BIOGRAPHER

Of course, I am late. I don't even know why I bother to set an alarm anymore. I manage to find a parking spot at the far end of the parking lot. I gather my things and glance up at the rear-view mirror and notice my lip gloss is a little faded. I take out the gloss from my bad and apply more on my lips. That should help me look a little bit more put together. I get out of my car and walk to the elevator, the clacking of my heels echoing through the parking lot. I wait for the l for the elevator impatiently. When it finally arrives, I almost jump in when the doors open, nearly knocking down a man on his phone. He shoots a terrifying glance at me and II mouth "sorry" to him. I walk in and push the thirtieth floor button. Music plays softly inside and for a slight moment, I let myself relax. There is a mirror behind me and I turn around to face it. I fix my outfit and my hair. I practice a few smiles, trying my best not to let hastiness show. The ding of the elevator jolts me to its arrival and I spun to face the opening doors. They open to the most immaculate offices I have ever seen. Everything is white. The lights are neither too bright nor too dark. It's quiet with only the occasional ring of the office phones. I step out slowly, holding my head up high to try and fit in. I walk to the reception where two girls, dressed almost similarly, smile at me. One of the phones rings and the one seated on the right answers it before its second ring. The other girl continues to stare at me, waiting. "Hi, hello," I say, nervously. "Hello, welcome to Thronwood Global. How can I help you?" she says, the smile never leaving her face. "I... uhmm, am her for the interview," I say. She looks puzzled. She gazes down at her tablet and scrolls around for a moment. She then turns to her colleague, who is now done with the call. She whispers something to her, and they check her tablet too, but their faces are even more puzzled than before. "I'm from Atlas Press," I say, hoping it will clarify things. And it does. The girl on the right stands up immediately and offers her hand. I shake it. Now I am the one puzzled. "Hello, you must be Ms Grace. We were expecting you an hour ago. And definitely not for an interview. You have a meeting with Mr Thornwood. Your boss, Mr Hale, set up the meeting last week," she says confidently, and very fast-paced. I already have so many questions and no time to ask as she continues almost immediately. "I'm Elisa. I'll walk you to Mr Thornwood's office. Luckily, he also just arrived shortly, so you're not behind at all." "I wasn't aware of the interview, I mean the meeting was with him..." I say, but Elisa quickly interrupts me. "Oh yes, Mr Thornwood wanted to meet with you himself," she says, just as we arrive at a huge mahogany-colored door. Elisa knocks and opens it slowly. I follow her in. The office is just as clean as the lobby. It's pristine. A huge glass table sits at the center with a black chair behind it. Two smaller seats are set at its front. On the left side of the door are two huge black couches, with a unique coffee table at their center. On the right side of the office is a large window overlooking the rest of the office. Directly on its opposite is another floor-to-ceiling window, overlooking the city. Adrian Thornwood is standing near the window, overlooking the city. He is on a phone call, and looks at us when we walk in. He is magnificent, just as his photographs online depict him. He has this air around him, it sucks you in. He has barely said a word to me and I am already intimidated. He has on a black suit and a snow-white shirt, no tie. He runs his hand through his hair and then puts it in his pocket, turning towards us. He starts walking right toward us and just then I notice how tall he is. "Look, let's talk about this later," he says and hangs up the phone. He stands in front of us and looks straight at Elisa. I can tell his presence affects her too, with her cheeks turning red suddenly. "This is Ms Grace. She's here for the interview." she says. "Right, yeah. An hour late, I see," he says flatly. I glance up at Elisa who is trying to force a comfortable smile. "So are you, from what I hear?" I hear myself say the words and immediately start panicking. Elisa turns at me shocked and chuckles lightly. A slight silent moment passes. "Mr Thornwood, she just..." she starts, but Adrian interrupts her. "Should we start then," he says, pointing at the black couches. "You can go Elisa, I need to get this over with." Elisa walks out. Adrian walks to the couch and sits down, leaning back, stretching his arm on the back of the couch and crossing one of his legs with the other. "Well, won't you sit?" he asks. I sit on the other couch and clear my throat. "Firstly, I did not mean to be rude. I just had a complicated morning and I..." I start to say "That's alright. I did just get in too, but imagine my surprise that I had to wait for you," he says, smiling. It's a lovely smile. It brightens his face fully and the beard doesn't seem too villainous. I get lost in it for a moment. "And secondly," he says, "What? " I ask, confused "You said first, I assume there is a second thing?" he clarifies, and I am almost too embarrassed for forgetting my own words. "Oh yes. I wasn't aware I was meeting with you. I was coming here for a pitch interview with the marking director. So I have to admit I am a little thrown off here," I say, nervously. He is quiet for a moment. He stares at me, and it's like he is boring directly into my soul. I can barely stare back at the dark eyes on me. My heart beats so fast I am afraid it will explode. "You will be writing about my company. I wanted to get a sense of who you are myself," he says calmly. "And?" He leans forward this time. He smiles at me and I smile back. "Interesting," he says. He stands up and walks to his desk. He sits down and leans back, still staring at me. I can barely feel my body at this point, only my heart won't stop beating. "We'll start on Monday. You are to shadow me, every single day. Excluding certain meetings. You will also have an office here, to make things easier," he says. I'm too stunned to talk. I was coming for an interview, and now I have a second job? I stare back at him, confused "Don't worry, I'll take to Julian about the office. You will still have your job when this is over." he says "Julian? Oh, you mean Mr Hale," I finally say. "Yes. I'm assuming he told you about the centennial celebrations?" "Yes, he mentioned something like that," I say. I remember Mr Hale mentioning something about the company turning a hundred years old later in the year. "Good, that gives us nine months to work on the book," he says.