The Interview
750 Words
Rose Price didn’t believe in first impressions.
They were illusions, carefully curated by people who knew how to fake confidence and charm. She, however, didn’t need illusions. She had results.
Her heels clicked against the sleek marble floor of Blackwell Tower’s top level — each step deliberate, unapologetic. The elevator ride had been silent, except for the sound of her own pulse drumming in her ears and the faint scent of leather and power wafting from the polished walls.
She adjusted the cuffs of her tailored crimson shirt, her jaw set like steel. She was here to meet Damian Blackwell — the youngest CEO in the state, the most ruthless closer in New York finance, and the man whose assistant she had turned down three times already. She reached the dark wooden door marked PRIVATE — CEO. Her reflection stared back at her from the glass wall beside it: sleek bobbed hair, sharp cheekbones, a suit that hugged power to her like a second skin.
She didn’t knock.
She pushed the door open and stepped inside.
The room was silent but heavy with presence. Floor-to-ceiling windows framed the city skyline like a mural. A leather couch and bar cart gleamed in one corner, and in the center stood a desk so massive it could’ve passed for a boardroom table.
And behind it sat Damian Blackwell.
He didn’t stand. He didn’t need to.
He looked up from a file — her file — and those infamous gray eyes locked on hers like a spotlight. Calculating. Cold. Curious.
“You’re early,” he said.
“You’re late,” she replied, walking in. “I was told to be here at five. I assumed your watch ran on arrogance.”
His brow lifted. A smile threatened at the corner of his mouth — but didn’t land.
Rose took a seat without being offered one, crossing her legs like she was the one doing the interviewing. She tossed her résumé onto the desk, even though she knew he didn’t need it.
“Why are you here?” he asked, steepling his fingers.
She didn’t flinch. “Because your company can’t afford to keep bleeding talent. And you need someone who can say no to you.”
He leaned back. “You think I need someone to say no?”
“I think you’re surrounded by people who say yes and then quit when they realize you treat them like replaceable parts.”
“Is that how you’d describe yourself? Irreplaceable?”
She held his gaze. “Indispensable.”
Silence.
Then Damian rose, slowly, and circled the desk. Up close, he was taller than she expected. Broader. Every inch tailored, from his unbuttoned collar to the expensive cufflinks glinting in the lamplight. His scent — something clean, expensive, and woodsy — curled into her senses.
He stopped just behind her.
“You think you can handle me?” he said low, close to her ear.
She turned her head slightly, not enough to give him the satisfaction of fear, but enough that her voice could cut back with precision. “I think you mistake ‘handle’ for tolerate. I’m not here to manage your moods, Mr. Blackwell. I’m here to run your world so you can stop crashing it.”
The air thickened.
Then Damian chuckled. “Damn.”
“What?”
He moved to the window, hands in his pockets. “You’re even more dangerous than your references say.”
“Good,” she said, standing. “Because I don’t work for weak men.”
He turned, and for the first time, his expression shifted — from polished CEO to something darker. Something real.
“Neither do I,” he said. “You start Monday.”
Rose’s brows lifted. “No contract? No terms?”
He walked toward the bar and poured two glasses of bourbon. “We’ll negotiate over dinner.”
She didn’t move.
“I don’t eat with men I don’t trust,” she said.
He handed her the glass anyway. “Then drink with one you don’t like.”
She took it — not because she trusted him. But because it would remind him that she wasn’t afraid to sit across from a wolf. Not when she had claws of her own.
She sipped. Slow. Confident. Then, she met his gaze one last time.
“I’m not your next conquest, Mr. Blackwell,” she said.
“No,” he replied, voice like gravel and silk. “You’re my next war.”
- Writer
