The city heat clung to my skin like desperation. I had walked into more offices than i cared to count that month,handing out CV's with a forced smile and silently praying someone,anyone would take a chance on me. Rent was due, my stomach was tight with hunger and anxiety,and all i had left was one last call to make
"𝑺𝒂𝒔𝒉𝒂 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒏𝒆𝒆𝒅 𝒕𝒐 𝒃𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒕𝒉𝒆," Sienna said over the phone."𝑰 𝒕𝒐𝒍𝒅 𝒚𝒐𝒖,𝒋𝒖𝒔𝒕 𝒔𝒉𝒐𝒘 𝒖𝒑 𝒂𝒕 𝑹𝒐𝒏𝒐 𝑮𝒓𝒐𝒖𝒑 𝒕𝒐𝒎𝒐𝒓𝒓𝒐𝒘 𝒎𝒐𝒓𝒏𝒊𝒏𝒈.𝑰'𝒗𝒆 𝒂𝒍𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒅𝒚 𝒔𝒑𝒐𝒌𝒆𝒏 𝒕𝒐 𝒔𝒐𝒎𝒆𝒐𝒏𝒆."
"𝑾𝒂𝒊𝒕... 𝑹𝒐𝒏𝒐 𝑮𝒓𝒐𝒖𝒑? 𝑨𝒔 𝒊𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝑹𝒐𝒏𝒐?" My voice trembled slightly. "𝑻𝒉𝒆𝒚 𝒅𝒐𝒏'𝒕 𝒋𝒖𝒔𝒕 𝒉𝒊𝒓𝒆 𝒔𝒕𝒓𝒂𝒏𝒈𝒆𝒓𝒔 𝒐𝒇𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒔𝒕𝒓𝒆𝒆𝒕𝒔."
"𝑻𝒉𝒆𝒚 𝒅𝒐 𝒊𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒔𝒕𝒓𝒂𝒏𝒈𝒆𝒓 𝒊𝒔 𝒎𝒆 𝒑𝒖𝒍𝒍𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒂 𝒇𝒂𝒗𝒐𝒓,"
She said ,her tone smug." 𝑨𝒏𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒏𝒆𝒘 𝒎𝒂𝒏𝒈𝒆𝒓 𝒉𝒂𝒑𝒑𝒆𝒏𝒔 𝒕𝒐 𝒐𝒘𝒆 𝒎𝒆. 𝑱𝒖𝒔𝒕 𝒅𝒓𝒆𝒔𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒑𝒂𝒓𝒕."
I paused,standing under the shade of a rusty signboard, heart suddenly racing."𝑾𝒉𝒐'𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒏𝒆𝒘 𝒎𝒂𝒏𝒂𝒈𝒆𝒓?" She hesitated."𝑲𝒊𝒂𝒏 𝑹𝒐𝒏𝒐. 𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝒔𝒐𝒏."
My gut twisted.I'd heard of him...ambitious, cold and unfortunately devastatingly attractive. The thought of meeting him gave me a sleepless night. In the morning i work up so early and kept practicing in the mirror how i will present myself to the great Mr Kian Rono without lossing it. I also reached early at the building ready for my sentence.
The office smelled like fresh paint and imported leather-too clean,too pristine and completely out of Sasha's league. She adjusted her thrift store blous,palms sweating despite the air-conditioned reception. Her reflection in the glass wall mocked her nerves-chin-up,eyes sharp,but heart pounding like a guilty drum.
"𝒀𝒐𝒖'𝒍𝒍 𝒃𝒆 𝒇𝒊𝒏𝒆," Alani said, her childhood friend who now worked in the accounts department of the same company. "𝑯𝒆 𝒐𝒏𝒍𝒚 𝒃𝒊𝒕𝒆𝒔 𝒘𝒉𝒆𝒏 𝒑𝒓𝒐𝒗𝒐𝒌𝒆𝒅. 𝑱𝒖𝒔𝒕 𝒃𝒆 𝒔𝒎𝒂𝒓𝒕,𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒅𝒐𝒏'𝒕 𝒍𝒆𝒕 𝒉𝒊𝒎 𝒕𝒂𝒍𝒌 𝒄𝒊𝒓𝒄𝒍𝒆𝒔 𝒂𝒓𝒐𝒖𝒏𝒅 𝒚𝒐𝒖."
Alani's version of encouragement wasn't always comforting, but it got Sasha through the door.
"𝑴𝒊𝒔𝒔 𝑺𝒂𝒔𝒉𝒂 𝑴𝒘𝒆𝒏𝒅𝒆?" a voice called out.
She rose quickly, knees a little weak.The secretary smiled stiffly and gestured toward the long corridor.
"𝑷𝒍𝒆𝒂𝒔𝒆 𝒉𝒆𝒂𝒅 𝒕𝒐 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒍𝒂𝒔𝒕 𝒅𝒐𝒐𝒓.𝑴𝒓.𝑲𝒊𝒂𝒏 𝒘𝒊𝒍𝒍 𝒔𝒆𝒆 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒏𝒐𝒘."
Mr.Kian. The name already felt like an institution.
As she walked the silent hallway,Sasha straightened her posture.No fear. No flinching. This job could change everything. Help her support her younger sister,pay rent on time,and maybe even breathe again.
She knocked once.
"𝑪𝒐𝒎𝒆 𝒊𝒏," came the voice. Deep. Crisp. Impatient. Sasha stepped inside.
The man behind the desk didn't look up immediately
He was reviewing a document, brow furrowed,pen tapping lightly against his bottom lip.Hair tousled in a way that looked expensive. His shirt sleeves were rolled up,forearms flexing as he turned the page.
Then he looked up. And paused.
There was a flicker of something in his expression, recognition, surprise,curiosity? Whatever it was,it passed quickly.
"𝒀𝒐𝒖'𝒓𝒆 𝒆𝒂𝒓𝒍𝒚," he said simply.
"𝑻𝒓𝒂𝒇𝒇𝒊𝒄 𝒘𝒂𝒔𝒏'𝒕 𝒂𝒔 𝒃𝒂𝒅 𝒂𝒔 𝒊 𝒆𝒙𝒑𝒆𝒄𝒕𝒆𝒅," Sasha replied, holiding his gaze.
kian stood ,offering a handshake."𝑲𝒊𝒂𝒏 𝑹𝒐𝒏𝒐. 𝑫𝒊𝒓𝒆𝒄𝒕𝒐𝒓 𝒐𝒇 𝒐𝒑𝒆𝒓𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏𝒔. "
She took his hand,surprised by the firm grip and how warm his palm felt.
"𝑺𝒂𝒔𝒉𝒂 𝑴𝒘𝒆𝒏𝒅𝒆.𝑵𝒊𝒄𝒆 𝒕𝒐 𝒎𝒆𝒆𝒕 𝒚𝒐𝒖."
Kian gestured for her to sit."𝒀𝒐𝒖'𝒓𝒆 𝑪𝑽'𝒔 𝒊𝒎𝒑𝒓𝒆𝒔𝒔𝒊𝒗𝒆. 𝑩𝒖𝒕 𝒘𝒆 𝒃𝒐𝒕𝒉 𝒌𝒏𝒐𝒘 𝒑𝒂𝒑𝒆𝒓 𝒄𝒂𝒏 𝒍𝒊𝒆. 𝑺𝒐 𝑺𝒂𝒔𝒉𝒂,𝒘𝒉𝒐 𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒍𝒍𝒚,𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒘𝒉𝒚 𝒅𝒐 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒘𝒂𝒏𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒋𝒐𝒃?"
Straight to the point.
"𝑰'𝒎 𝒓𝒆𝒔𝒐𝒖𝒓𝒄𝒆𝒇𝒖𝒍, 𝒐𝒓𝒈𝒂𝒏𝒊𝒛𝒆𝒅 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒏𝒐𝒕 𝒂𝒇𝒓𝒂𝒊𝒅 𝒐𝒇 𝒑𝒓𝒆𝒔𝒔𝒖𝒓𝒆. 𝑰 𝒘𝒂𝒏𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒋𝒐𝒃 𝒃𝒆𝒄𝒂𝒖𝒔𝒆 𝒊'𝒎 𝒕𝒊𝒓𝒆𝒅 𝒐𝒇 𝒔𝒖𝒓𝒗𝒊𝒗𝒊𝒏𝒈. 𝑰 𝒘𝒂𝒏𝒕 𝒕𝒐 𝒃𝒖𝒊𝒍𝒅 ."
A smirk tugged at his lips."𝑻𝒊𝒓𝒆𝒅 𝒐𝒇 𝒔𝒖𝒓𝒗𝒊𝒏𝒈."
He echoed."𝑻𝒉𝒂𝒕'𝒔 𝒂𝒏 𝒉𝒐𝒏𝒆𝒔𝒕 𝒂𝒏𝒔𝒘𝒆𝒓."
"𝑰 𝒕𝒓𝒚 𝒏𝒐𝒕 𝒕𝒐 𝒘𝒂𝒔𝒕𝒆 𝒕𝒊𝒎𝒆 𝒔𝒖𝒈𝒂𝒓𝒄𝒐𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒈."
She said,then regretted it. Too bold? But Kian didn't seem offended.Instead,he leaned back in his chair,studying her like she was a puzzle,he wanted to solve or dismantle.
"𝑰 𝒍𝒊𝒌𝒆 𝒅𝒊𝒓𝒆𝒄𝒕 𝒑𝒆𝒐𝒑𝒍𝒆.𝑩𝒖𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒄𝒐𝒎𝒑𝒂𝒏𝒚 𝒓𝒖𝒏𝒔 𝒐𝒏 𝒓𝒆𝒔𝒖𝒍𝒕𝒔.𝑻𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆'𝒍𝒍 𝒃𝒆 𝒍𝒂𝒕𝒆 𝒏𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕𝒔.𝑫𝒆𝒎𝒂𝒏𝒅𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒄𝒍𝒊𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒔. 𝑵𝒐 𝒎𝒂𝒓𝒈𝒊𝒏 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒆𝒓𝒓𝒐𝒓."
"𝑰'𝒎 𝒏𝒐𝒕 𝒂𝒇𝒓𝒂𝒊𝒅 𝒐𝒇 𝒉𝒂𝒓𝒅 𝒘𝒐𝒓𝒌," Sasha said.
Their eyes locked for a moment, silence filled the room again-but it wasn't awkward.
It was loaded.Charged.
"𝑰'𝒍𝒍 𝒃𝒆 𝒐𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒔𝒆𝒆𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒅𝒆𝒑𝒂𝒓𝒕𝒎𝒆𝒏𝒕 𝒑𝒆𝒓𝒔𝒐𝒏𝒂𝒍𝒍𝒚,"
He said after a beat."𝑺𝒐 𝒊𝒇 𝒊 𝒉𝒊𝒓𝒆 𝒚𝒐𝒖,𝒚𝒐𝒖'𝒍𝒍 𝒃𝒆 𝒘𝒐𝒓𝒌𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒚 𝒄𝒍𝒐𝒔𝒆𝒍𝒚 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒎𝒆."
"𝑼𝒏𝒅𝒆𝒓𝒔𝒕𝒐𝒐𝒅."Sasha said firmly.
" 𝑺𝒐𝒎𝒆 𝒇𝒊𝒏𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒊𝒏𝒕𝒊𝒎𝒊𝒅𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒈,"he added,almost amused.
"𝑰 𝒅𝒐𝒏'𝒕 𝒈𝒆𝒕 𝒊𝒏𝒕𝒊𝒎𝒊𝒅𝒂𝒕𝒆𝒅 𝒆𝒂𝒔𝒊𝒍𝒚," she shot back.
Kian's smile returned-faint,unreadable.He tapped his pen again."𝑾𝒆'𝒍𝒍 𝒃𝒆 𝒊𝒏 𝒕𝒐𝒖𝒄𝒉."
As she stood to leave,her heart still thudding he called after her.
" 𝑶𝒉 𝑺𝒂𝒔𝒉𝒂?"
"𝒀𝒐𝒖 𝒔𝒉𝒐𝒖𝒍𝒅 𝒕𝒆𝒍𝒍 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒇𝒓𝒊𝒆𝒏𝒅 𝑨𝒍𝒂𝒏𝒊 𝒕𝒐 𝒔𝒕𝒐𝒑 𝒉𝒚𝒑𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒖𝒑 𝒕𝒐 𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒚𝒐𝒏𝒆 𝒊𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒐𝒇𝒇𝒊𝒄𝒆.𝑷𝒆𝒐𝒑𝒍𝒆 𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒂𝒍𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒅𝒚 𝒄𝒖𝒓𝒊𝒐𝒖𝒔".
Sasha blinked.So he knew.
" 𝑰 𝒈𝒖𝒆𝒔𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒎𝒆𝒂𝒏𝒔 𝒔𝒉𝒆 𝒃𝒆𝒍𝒊𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒔 𝒊𝒏 𝒎𝒆".
"𝑺𝒉𝒆 𝒃𝒆𝒕𝒕𝒆𝒓 𝒃𝒆 𝒓𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕," he said, then returned to his file.
outside the office ,Sasha exhaled deeply. Her knees felt like jelly.It wasn't just the interview, it was him. There was something in the way he looked at her that didn't feel professional. And deep down,something about it thrilled her The hallway felt colder than before,quieter too.Sasha walked briskly, her heels clicking against the polished floor as she tried to collect her thoughts.She'd handled herself well.Professional. Composed.But God...
What was that tension? That stare. That sublte burn behind his words. The kind of man who saw through surface answers and pressed for more-not because he liked control.
She hated that it had rattled her.
Even more she hated that somewhere beneath the irritation...she was intrigued.
"𝑯𝒆𝒚!" a voice called out. She tunned,startled, to see her friend Alani.
Alani walked to her all bubbly and hugged her dramatically lifting one of her leg up.
"𝑮𝒊𝒓𝒍 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒊𝒏...𝒚𝒆𝒆𝒆𝒚𝒚. 𝒀𝒐𝒖 𝒔𝒕𝒂𝒓𝒕 𝒘𝒐𝒓𝒌 𝒕𝒐𝒎𝒐𝒓𝒓𝒐𝒘 ".
Sasha's eyes widen up in disbelief." 𝑩𝒖𝒕 𝒉𝒆 𝒋𝒖𝒔𝒕 𝒔𝒂𝒊𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒉𝒆 𝒘𝒊𝒍𝒍 𝒈𝒆𝒕 𝒊𝒏 𝒕𝒐𝒖𝒄𝒉 ," just then her phone screen lit up with an email that was confirming her acceptance at the Rono Group Company.
She hugged Alani jumping up in joy and almost immediately Alani pulked her at a secluded corner to avoid dtwing attention from the other workers.
Once at the corner they started awuicking like squirrels holding hands.
After their short celebration Sasha webt direct to Sienna's place to thank her for such a huge favour. Sienna hugged her and congratulated her as if she's not the one who connected her to the job. Sasha then promised to give her a treate with her first salary as gratitude to such a save.
Once at her place the first thing she did was kneel down and thanking God for such blessings and asking for strength and wisdom to conqure this one.
That night she barely slept enough, she was too exicted that she saw the night too long.
With her clothes ironed crisp,her heels shiney,her bag all packed up with her essential from her lip oil,hand cream,wipes,pocket tissue,emergency pad,pocket deodorant and cologne. She knew she was ready for tomorrow like no one else.