"Next applicant, please!"
The receptionist's voice pulled me out of my daydream. My heart thudded so loud I swore the lady beside me could hear it. I clutched my folder tighter, trying not to wrinkle the résumé I printed five times just to make sure there were no typos.
Reed Industries.
The most prestigious company in the city — and the same one owned by the man who once broke my heart like it was part of his daily schedule.
I swallowed hard and looked at the nameplate on the frosted glass door.
"Alexander Reed, Chief Executive Officer."
The same Alexander who used to bring me coffee every morning… and then dumped me three years ago over text. A six-word text, to be exact: "Let's stop seeing each other. Sorry."
If heartbreak had a LinkedIn page, I'd have been its CEO.
I took a deep breath, straightened my blazer, and told myself, Luna Carter, you are here for the job, not the jerk who ghosted you.
Easier said than done.
The door swung open, and a woman with perfect curls and a tight pencil skirt stepped out, smiling from ear to ear. "Mr. Reed will see you now," she said sweetly, as if she wasn't sending me straight into a lion's den.
"Thank you," I replied, voice higher than usual. My hands trembled slightly as I pushed the glass door open.
And there he was.
Sitting behind a sleek mahogany desk, in a suit so sharp it could cut glass. His hair was a little shorter, his jaw a little firmer, and his expression just as annoyingly unreadable.
Alexander Reed — the man who once kissed my forehead every night before bed, now staring at me like I was just another name on a piece of paper.
He looked up, and those gray eyes met mine. For a full five seconds, silence wrapped around the room like a noose. My knees felt weak, but pride kept me standing.
"Miss Carter," he said finally, voice calm and clipped. "You're late."
Oh, for the love of coffee.
I forced a smile. "Traffic, sir. You know how unpredictable life can be." I tilted my head just slightly. "Just like people."
His eyebrow twitched — victory. I hit a nerve.
He gestured toward the chair across from him. "Sit."
I did, pretending my heartbeat wasn't doing cartwheels. The chair felt too soft, the room too cold, and his presence way too hot for comfort.
He glanced at my résumé, flipping through the pages like he hadn't just hired half the city. "So… you're applying for the position of executive assistant?"
"Yes, sir." I straightened my back. "I'm confident I have the skills and experience required."
"Experience?" He leaned back, smirking. "You mean the year you spent working for me before you… resigned abruptly?"
I swallowed hard. "Personal reasons."
"Personal?" His lips curved slightly. "You mean when you broke up with me and stormed out of my office?"
Oh, wonderful. We were doing that now.
I kept my voice calm. "It was mutual, sir. We both agreed it wasn't working out."
He chuckled — that low, dangerous sound that once made my heart flutter. "If I remember correctly, only one of us agreed."
I clenched my jaw. "Do you normally interrogate all your applicants about their past relationships, or am I just special?"
He leaned forward, resting his elbows on the table. "You were always special, Luna."
My name rolled off his tongue like it used to — soft, teasing, dangerous. My stomach did a stupid flip. No, Luna. Don't you dare.
I straightened. "Are we discussing my qualifications or your nostalgia, Mr. Reed?"
His smile faded, replaced by a look of quiet amusement. "Still fiery, I see."
"And still infuriating, I see," I shot back before I could stop myself.
For a moment, silence again. Then, to my surprise, he laughed. A genuine laugh — deep, warm, disarming. It was unfair how handsome he looked doing that.
"Fine," he said. "You're hired."
My eyes widened. "What?"
He closed the folder. "You start tomorrow. HR will send you the details."
"Wait, that's it? You're hiring me?"
He shrugged. "You're competent. And entertaining. It's been a while since anyone dared to talk back to me."
"Entertaining?" I repeated, trying not to sound offended. "I'm not a clown, Mr. Reed."
He smirked. "Of course not. You're my new assistant."
I blinked. "Assistant? As in… your assistant? The one who follows you everywhere, schedules your meetings, and probably gets blamed for your bad mood?"
"The very one," he said smoothly. "Welcome back to Reed Industries, Miss Carter."
---
When I stepped out of his office, I could still feel my pulse racing. The receptionist looked up, curious.
"How did it go?" she asked.
I forced a smile. "He hired me."
She gasped. "Oh, that's great!"
"Yeah," I muttered. "Fantastic. I just got hired by my ex."
---
That night, as I sat on my couch, staring at the acceptance email from HR, I wondered if I'd made the biggest mistake of my life… or the most exciting one.
Because no matter how much I wanted to deny it, a small, treacherous part of me was thrilled.
Maybe I wasn't over Alexander Reed.
Maybe I wanted to prove something.
Or maybe — and this was the scariest part — I wanted to find out if the man who broke my heart three years ago… still had a piece of it.