Utopia

Chapter-3

"Very well then, Ms. Wells. We can start now." Mr. Scott said and turned around as he heard the sound of the pen scratching on the paper. He walked towards the desk with a feline grace that glued my eyes to his figure. Despite the warning bells, I couldn't stop my inexplicable attraction to him. It seemed like the danger had made him even more desirable.

I expected him to sit in his chair, but he crossed his chair until he was standing in front of the chair beside me. He sank into it. Now he was inches away from me. His long legs were folded in front of him, his knees almost touching mine. I could smell his cologne. It was so faint, as if from a distant memory. I knew from that moment, I would think of him whenever I smelled that cologne.

"Do you like traveling, Ms. Wel…..do you mind me calling you Hannah?" He asked abruptly. "It will be easier. You can call me Adrian for the duration of the interview too."

"It's fine," I said, praying for him to move away and move near at the same time. I wanted this irrational feeling to go away and stay forever at the same time. “You can call me Hannah.”

“Hannah, this is not a normal secretary job you are interviewing for. There is more to this job than taking my notes and organizing my schedule.” He said.

As if on cue, it reminded me of Ms. Smith’s words: Danger is lurking in that job.

I nodded to his words. He leaned forward so now his knees were touching mine. I wanted to jerk back but controlled myself not to appear as a wussie. I wondered if he knew the effect he was having on me. If he was doing this on purpose. If he sat in the same way with the other girls. And if he was going to drive me to that hysterical state like the others.

I need this job. I need this job.

I made this my mantra.

“I devised a bunch of tests to select the perfect secretary who can accompany me. Someone who would not simply succumb to the dangers they will face as a part of their job.” He talked with a clinical disassociation of a scientist. In a way, he was like a scientist for inventing the tests he was talking about.

“Let’s start with simple questions and then raise the level, shall we?” He said. I nodded again. This whole situation was so strange that words abandoned me. I just wanted to see what he would say and do.

“How much do you love your family, Hannah? What do they mean to you? How much will they miss you if you are gone for a month without informing them?”

I looked sharply into his eyes to see if this was a cruel joke. To see if he had already known about my family and asking this to get a reaction out of me. But there was nothing in his dark eyes that suggested he was playing with me. Slowly, I understood this was a question that he asked everyone. What a strange question to ask? Why would anyone want to disappear off the face of the earth for a month without informing their family?

“I don’t have a family, Mr. Scott,” I said, finally. “You would have known if you read my file clearly. I grew up in orphanages and foster care. I don’t have a family to inform.”

For the first time since I had laid my eyes on him, I thought I saw a real emotion on his face. It was shock. And as I was looking, it transformed into something else. His eyes looked like a predator’s who had just spotted its prey. A shiver ran down my spine. I had to clutch the chair handle to stop myself from squirming under that look.

“Oh,” He said. “There was a lot of unexpected traveling in this job. It suits me how there was no one waiting for you.”

His words stung me. They reminded me once again I was all alone in this world except for Millie, my best friend from college. I didn’t mention her since he didn’t ask about her. An instinct told me it was not safe to spill everything to this strange man. This had stopped feeling like an interview and started feeling more and more like an interrogation. Did he make everyone this uncomfortable or was it just me?

“For my next question, I’m going to go personal, Hannah. It may make you uncomfortable. You can leave if you don’t want to continue further.” He said. There was amusement in his tone. Like he already knew I was not going to go, and he gave me the choice just for the sake of it. He was right. I was not going to leave yet.

“Ask away, Mr. Scott,” I said, feigning confidence I wasn’t feeling inside.

“Are you a virgin, Hannah?”

I blinked my eyes. I thought I had heard him wrong. It couldn’t be what I thought, could it be?

“Pardon me, Mr. Scott? I think I heard you wrong.” I said, praying I would hear a different question this time.

“You heard me correct, Hannah,” He said. He leaned forward until his lips were in line with my ear. “I asked if you are a virgin. Are you or are you not?”

It was like an electric jolt through my body. Having him so close to me and whisper that indecent question in my ears. Was he even allowed to ask that question in a job interview? Legal or not, I could not deny that the indecency of that question made me feel hot. My cheeks were flushed. I thought his skin would burn if he touched me now. I had a choice. I could answer his question or I could walk out on him and save my dignity.

Hannah Wells would have chosen the latter path under normal circumstances. But this whole day was proving to be different, and I wanted to do something different too. I wanted to leave my dignity for a while and play along. To see where it would lead me.

“I’m not,” I said. My ex-boyfriend Jason tried to make his way into my mind as soon as I said it. But I pushed his thoughts aside. I couldn’t deal with Jason and Adrian at the same time. My brain would explode.

“Good to know,” Adrian whispered in my ear. “You looked so young and innocent, I was afraid you were a virgin.”

Then he moved away as nothing had happened. Like I had imagined the whole scenario. I still didn’t understand what my virginity had to do with my job, but I dared not ask him.

“Are you afraid of the dark, Hannah?” He asked, fixing me with his dark gaze. “Don’t lie to me. I’ll know if you lie to me.”

“I’m not afraid of the dark. I’m used to it.” I said truthfully. In fact, darkness was my friend. It was beside me my whole life in those dinghy rooms I grew up in, in those dark people, I met in my life, in the realization I was the only one I could count on. 

Adrian didn’t look like he was playing with me anymore. He looked like he was considering me seriously. I liked it. I wanted him to consider me. I wanted him to realize that I was not one of those girls who ran out of his office in fear. I wanted him to realize that I was made of tough material. I wanted him to realize Hannah Wells didn’t get scared easily.

“If you are not afraid of the dark, you shouldn’t mind what happens next.”

Saying this, he pressed a small switch on the table. All the lights in the room were shut off. A metal shutter came down on the glass wall, cutting off the breath-taking view and the cheery sunlight. Adrian and I were plunged into darkness.