chapter Two : Reflections
931 Words
One thing was certain: Smith Parker was more than the ruthless tycoon the world painted him to be. And whether she wanted it or not, she had just stepped into his world.
The heavy double doors closed behind her with a quiet thud, and Decency exhaled a breath she hadn’t realized she was holding. Her legs carried her toward the elevator, though she felt like she was walking on air and glass at the same time—light with relief that it was over, but fragile with uncertainty.
Her heart still thumped wildly in her chest. The interview had been nothing like she expected. She had prepared for questions about scheduling, office management, efficiency. Instead, it felt as though she had been placed on trial—her worth dissected with every sharp glance, every precise word that had fallen from Smith Parker’s lips.
And yet, somehow, she had survived it.
Inside the elevator, she leaned back against the mirrored wall and let out a shaky laugh. “What just happened?” she whispered to herself.
Her reflection stared back at her, cheeks still flushed, eyes wide with the adrenaline of it all. She looked like a woman who had been caught in a storm but was still standing.
Did I blow it? The thought gnawed at her. Or… did I actually impress him?
Her mind replayed the moment she had snapped back at him—“Arrogance doesn’t always equal ability.” What on earth had possessed her to say that? She should have been begging for mercy, not challenging a billionaire in his own office. And yet… he had chuckled.
The memory of the sound—low, rough, startling—sent a shiver through her. It wasn’t the laughter of someone amused. No, it had felt more dangerous than that, as though she had poked at a beast and, instead of being devoured, she had sparked a flicker of interest.
The elevator dinged, snapping her back to the present. The doors slid open to the reception area, where the stern-faced woman behind the desk looked up briefly, then quickly down again at her computer screen.
“So?” the receptionist asked flatly, though her eyes held a glint of curiosity. “How did it go?”
Decency hesitated. She wasn’t sure how to describe it. “I… answered his questions.”
The receptionist let out a humorless laugh. “Questions? He doesn’t ask questions. He tests. And most people leave his office in tears.”
Decency blinked. “Tears?”
The woman finally looked at her properly, as if reassessing her. “You look like you survived, at least. That’s something.”
A few employees passing through the lobby slowed their pace, sneaking glances at her before hurrying on. Whispers floated in the air like threads, but Decency couldn’t catch them clearly. She only knew they were about her.
Straightening her shoulders, she walked to the desk, offering a polite smile. “He asked me to leave my number with you.”
The receptionist nodded, her lips pursed as though hiding some secret opinion. She slid a notepad forward. “Write it down.”
Decency jotted her name and number neatly. For a moment, her pen hovered above the page. Would he actually call? Or would her name end up in a trash bin the second she walked out?
When she handed the slip back, the receptionist’s eyes flicked over it before she tucked it into a drawer. “We’ll see if you hear from him,” she said, her tone dismissive.
Decency forced another smile, though her heart sank. With a polite nod, she turned and walked out of the glass doors into the sunlight.
The city air hit her like a wave. Busy streets, honking cars, people rushing past—it all felt louder now, harsher, after the suffocating silence of Smith Parker’s office. She inhaled deeply, trying to calm herself.
She had done her part. The rest was out of her hands.
As she hailed a cab, she pressed her hand against her chest, steadying her racing heart. She had faced a man who terrified even his own staff, a man the media called ruthless, calculating, impossible. And somehow, she had walked out not broken, but alive.
Still, one thought lingered in her mind, refusing to be silenced.
He looked at me differently at the end. He noticed me. He won’t forget me that easily.
Decency.
The name itself had sounded almost laughable when he first read it in her file, but now it rang in his mind with a different weight. Most candidates wilted under his stare, stumbling over their words, begging for approval. She, on the other hand, had dared to push back.
“Arrogance doesn’t always equal ability.”
The words echoed in his head, sharper than they had been in the moment. He should have been angry. No one—no one—spoke to him like that. And yet… instead of fury, he had laughed.
His jaw tightened. That was dangerous. He didn’t laugh at interviews. He didn’t laugh at all.
He pushed the file closed with a firm hand, as though shutting away the thought. She was bold, yes. But boldness was a double-edged sword. If she couldn’t be molded, if she didn’t learn to stay in her place, she would be a liability.
And yet…
His gaze drifted unconsciously to the door she had walked through.
For reasons he didn’t care to admit, Smith Parker knew one thing with unsettling certainty: he would not forget Miss Decency any time soon.
- Writer
