Everything suddenly made sense. I remembered he had a tablet with him yesterday too. No wonder he keeps bumping into things.
Although I had managed to stop him, he still hasn’t taken his eyes off from his tablet in his hand, so I snatched it. “Try to make use of your eyes and stop bumping into things.”
“Hey! What the heck was that for?” Angry eyes bore into mine immediately. The anger soon turned into fully blown wrath as he recognizes me. “It’s you again! Are you stalking me?”
I scoffed. “You wish!” I returned his tablet. “Use your eyes for the road instead of your tablet. You’d bump into that pillar and the next thing you’d be doing is cursing at it, jerk!” I turned swiftly, heading for my interview.
Somehow, I didn’t bother to wonder what that rude jerk was doing here. I was too busy looking forward to my interview. At 10:00am sharp, the secretary at the HR department led me into a small conference room with a small nod. and a ‘The manager will be here soon’ before she swiftly made her way out.
I took my seat at the big table, my eyes darting across the place. Not too long after, a stout elderly man dressed in a finely pressed suit walked into the room, holding on to a file. I stood up, acknowledging his presence as he walked towards me, a grin on his face and a glint in his eyes.
“Ashley, it is really nice to meet you. I am Barry Stewart, HR manager of IM Corps. Call me Barry,” he introduced himself composedly, stretching out his hand for a handshake.
I shook his hand. “The pleasure is mine, Barry.”
“We are not exactly hiring at the moment,” Barry started saying as he pulled out the chair opposite from me and sat down. His brown eyes shone with wonder as he stared at me.
“But we couldn’t say no to your resume. You were the creative director who brought Groovy Tech to the limelight only as an intern. I must say, I find your brand strategizing quite amazing.”
His smile made me at ease. I was confident that I’d get the job, but I couldn’t deny that I had been a little scared. “Thank you, sir. It’s something I love doing, so I try my best to make it worthwhile.”
Barry nodded his head thoughtfully. “The CEO would be joining our interview and he should be here anytime from now.”
My eyes nearly slipped out of their sockets from opening so wide. I wanted to ask why but I stopped myself before I could. I had presumed the CEO wasn’t someone I’d get to meet so easily. What was going on?
Noticing the questions clouding my eyes, Barry chuckled. “He is just really interested in the brain behind the Groovy Tech outbreak even though they didn’t manage to keep it up after you left. I handed your resume to him when I received your application.”
“Ohh,” I muttered, surprised at my own widespread fame. I had thought Groovy tech wouldn’t even be recognized by employees of IM but looks like I was wrong. “That is quite pleasant, I guess.”
Barry nodded his head absentmindedly, his eyes roaming through the files before him that definitely continued a copy of my resume. “The position of Creative Director at IM is quite competitive here. We have a lot of great hands-on deck already. And frankly, if you are hired, you’d be the youngest. Which is quite unusual. Most people your age are hired as assistants.”
“I’m sure that is not going to be a problem for me. I am quite competitive myself,” I said, picking out my words carefully, while fighting the urge to tell him that twenty-three wasn’t such a young age.
I was well aware of what he was trying to say. Back at Groovy, I was the one in charge because I was the only one and the company was a small startup. Here at IM, my job is likely not to be the same. I knew there was a position above that of a creative director here, the CCO (Chief Creative Officer) whom all Creative Directors are answerable reporting to.
In my brooding state, I heard the door open once again and knew it must be the CEO when Barry stood up immediately. I followed suit and turned towards the approaching sounds of footsteps to meet with the most unpleasant shock of my life.
What was he doing here?
That was the question that flipped through my mind as my eyes raked over the tall gorgeous but rude man who was staring at me with newfound shock. I dare say, he looked as stupefied as I felt.
His daunting green eyes ran over me rapidly as though seeing me for the first time ever. I felt shivers run through my spine and I didn’t know what to think or feel. Whether it was embarrassment, fear, anger, or something entirely different that I refuse to identify with at the moment.
I took a cautious step back. All the confidence I felt about getting the job was slipping away from me as something else settled in the pit of my belly, profound anger. I was pissed at the man who had started off our fate on the wrong foot and pissed at myself for losing my temper.
Maybe he is the CEO’s assistant.
My subconscious tried to calm me, but I knew it wasn’t working. At least, the self-satisfied smirk on his handsome face told me so. The universe was definitely playing a trick on me because why would anyone like him be a CEO.
“Ian, this is the creative director I mentioned. Ashley Lane,” Barry said, blind to the tension in the room as he pointed his hand towards me before turning to face me. “This is our CEO, Ian Maxwell.”
“It’s a pleasure to meet you, Ms. Ashley Lane,” he said in a really husky voice that sounded too good to belong to the jerk that had insulted me on three different occasions. His hand was stretched towards me as he dared me with his eyes to refuse the handshake.
“The pleasure is mine, sir,” I said between gritted teeth as I placed my hand in his, not wanting to embarrass him in front of his employee, but all logical thoughts flew out of my head the instant my hand connected with his.
I sucked in a breath as my eyes glanced towards my small hands encased in his large ones, processing the whole entourage of emotions spiraling through me. It had to be my anger. Definitely my anger. I reassured myself of this fact, knowing fully well there was no way in hell I’d be attracted to an obnoxious man like Ian Maxwell.
Or was I?