I N T E R V I E W

ANNA

I woke up in the morning by the alarm of my phone , i washed my face and changed my clothes , i get down to have breakfast , and there i see my aunt cooking in the kitchen , she's been raising me since i was five years , ever since i lost my parents in a car accident. She owns a small bakery down the street.

" good morning " I said to her . " Morning" she replied ," i made breakfast" . " I see that, you didn't have to , i could always buy something on my way to college " i said .

" So you can eat useless things and ruin your health , over my dead body sweetie , here " she says as she hands me coffee and eggs with tomatoes.

" Thank you auntie " i said while eating .

After I finished , i said goodbye and leave before getting late .

I stand outside my house waiting for my friend Dona to come and pick me up like she always does

Five minutes later , Dona's car pops up In front of me , Dona looks up at me , confused at my angry face

I catch a taxi and ask the driver to take me to the location Mr. Williams gave me .

When i arrive , i find myself standing in front of a large good looking building , with huge letters spelling the word " EMPIRE " in the front . That was the name of the company this man "Damon" owns .

I walk into the reception office and greet the woman standing there . " Hello " i said .

"Hello , how can i help you miss " she said .

" My name is Anna Gilbert , i came here to interview Mr. Sorrentino , I'm from Barnard university".

"Oh ! Another one , i can swear you're the 9th college girl who came to do an interview with the boss "she said .

"Oh! Really , !" i said acting surprised but i knew that other colleges would do the same as us .

" Yes , ... well let me just call the boss and see if he's willing to meet you ".

"Sure "

She picks up the phone and waits for him to answer, when he does she tells him about me , i can assume that he agreed to meet me from the look on her face , she hangs up the phone and turns to me .

" Mr. Sorrentino is ready to meet you Miss Gilbert " she said .

"Thank you " i say right before she cut me off ,

"quick advice , don't ask too much questions , he hates that , probably why most of the girls before you came out from his office were annoyed and upset , i can swear one of them was almost crying, so if i were you , i would get enough with only three questions.

" Well you're not me , and i know what I'm doing , but thanks for the advice tho " i said smiling at her as she leads me to his office , I personally don't like people telling me what to do claiming to be an advice

" what's that face about ? " she asked .

"You're five minutes late " i answered her as i enter her car and she drives .

" Oh c'mon i was busy " she said .

"Doing what ? making out with Isaac on the phone? " i said . She laughs and says

" Hahaha ! You got that right "

" Ew.." i said in a low tone .

When we arrived to the campus , the bell was already ringing , Dona didn't care much about being late , I honestly don't know how she passes the tests but I'm glad she does anyway .

Before going to class i always pay our dean a visit to see if he has any assignments for me . Considering I'm the head of the journalism team , it's very important to keep up .

" Good morning Mr. Williams " i said ,knocking on the door of his office.

"Oh ! Good morning miss Gilbert , come in have a seat " he said as he points to the chair in front of him .

I do what he says and have a seat . " I came by to see if there is anything for me to do " i said .

" Actually there is " he said . " really ?! " I asked him.

" Yes , tell me miss Gilbert , have you ever heard of Damon Sorrentino ?" he asked .

" Hmm , honestly I haven't " i answer

" Well , he's a successful businessman , he owns bunch of clubs and casinos and production companies "

" Interesting, .... What do you want me to do ? "

i asked .

" Well , he arrived to New York 2 days ago , and i would like from you to have an exclusive interview with him , whoever gets his attention and admiration, will get a chance of having an investment with him , and you know , our college needs that kind of investment right now " he explained.

" I see , but do you think he will be interested to invest in our college? " i asked

" I'm not sure , but there is nothing to lose is it ?"he replied

"You're right sir , I'm willing to do this interview , i just need to know where i can find him " i said . " Oh yes just wait a second " he said while opening a drawer of his office and pulling out a piece of paper , he handed it over to me and said " That's his office here in New York , you can go after class "

" Thank you sir " I said as i leave his office.

After classes were over , i told Dona about everything, about Damon Sorrentino , the interview , the investment .

" Damon Sorrentino!? Seriously!? "she said in a loud tone .

"Yes ... why?"i asked her .

" He's like the hottest man ever , he's handsome , sexy , rich and perfect "she said . " Of course you would say that " i said ; "Anyway i should get going I don't wanna be late "

"Aargh and when were you ever late ..." . Just before she finishes her sentence, her boyfriend Isaac came from behind tickling her , as she turned around to kiss him . Isaac used to have a crush on me and i knew it , but i also knew that Dona liked him too and I didn't feel that way towards him either so I rejected him and give him a chance to date Dona

Once we arrived to his door step , " Good luck" she said while walking away .

I take a deep breath then i knock on the door .

" Come in " , a rough strong voice was all i heard , i open the door and enter . I was stunned to see a tall muscular man standing and staring at the window

I clear my throat to announce my presence , he turns to me and keeps standing there , scanning me with his eyes from head to toe

I can feel myself blush a little , I don't know why but it just happened.

He sits on his chair and tells me to do the same

" Have a seat " he said . And that's what i did , i sat on the chair , i was so nervous, I've done many interviews before but never felt this way .

" Hello , my name is Anna Gilbert , from Barnard university" i said trying to break the silence and stress between us .

" Damon Sorrentino " he replied.

" I know ... nice to meet you sir , our college is honoured to have this interview with you , if you don't mind , can we start? " i asked him , grabbing my pen to write down his answers .

" Of course "he said .

“ Oh , so the first question is , how do you feel about being too mush successful at this young age?”

“don't feel anything, this is the age of success

“ anyway

“ I see ... okay next , do you consider anyone as threat or a competitor to you ? “

“a threat, yes , competitor , no “

As much as that answer was confusing , I didn't wanna push him any further, I didn't wanna be one of those girls who came out sobbing , so i let it drop .

“are you ashamed of the kind of business

you manage ?”

“Why would i be ashamed ?”

“ Well some people think of casinos and stripping clubs not mush of honorable business .”

“ Did those people help me with anything ? Do they pay for my employees?”

“ hmm , no? “

“ than there is nothing to be ashamed of “

“ okay . Why did you agree on doing interviews with several colleges of New York ?”

“ I plan on offering scholarships to the college students i like most and get my attention , give the great impressions “

“ I understand, .... so my final question is ... do you see any changes in your life after 5 years ?”

“ I don't think so , no “

“ really , so you plan on following the same protocol for the rest of your life ?”

“ that question written on that paper or is it you who's asking ?”

A moment of silence took over the room , i was shivering, nervous and i can feel my face sweating , to be honest the last question was not written, i improvised , couldn't control myself and just let it out .

" Actually it's not written, I'm sorry sir " i said , i saw a little smirk on his face , I didn't know what that means , " Anyway we're done here , thanks for your time " i said as i stood up right before he interrupted me .

" No we're not , please sit down " he said .

I was surprised, I remember clearly the receptionist saying he didn't like too mush questions, so why would he ask me to stay ? I do as he says and get back to my seat , saying nothing and try to avoid eye contact with him , but that didn't last .

"Now it's my turn " he said staring at me . " I'm sorry what ?" i asked in confusion.

You heard me , it's not fair you're the only who gets to ask questions right?

I just stayed there silent looking at him confused, I didn't expect from this man to talk to me like that , like he was interested , or is this one his ways of humiliation ?

“ Ok so the first question, do you see any changes in your life after 5 years ?”

I was shocked to hear the same question that i asked him , at this point, i knew for sure he was definitely interested . After a short while of thinking , I decided to answer him.

“ Hopefully a garden designer , a successful one”

“ Really!? Interesting, is that what you want or is it what your parents want you to be ?”

I jumped at surprise at what he said , never expected him to go that further , i stayed silent for a while, trying to process everything

“ My parents are not even around to welcome me home " . I say calmly “

I can see the look of regret on his face , wishing he never said what he said . "I'm sorry "he said

"That's okay “ i said back .

“ Final question.... Do you have a boyfriend?”

My throat shocked at the sound of that question, it was the last thing i excepted him to ask me , at first i thought he was kidding but then i look up at him to see his face , i knew he was being serious.

“ Excuse me ?" i said

" i said , do you have a boyfriend?" he said

" Ooh i... actually... I don't " i said

" Good " he replied

" Miss Gilbert , let me walk you to the door " he said , i grabbed my things and followed him , he opens the door to me , and suddenly i felt a strong hand behind my back , i turn around to see him , he had beautiful blue eyes , any woman could fall for him .

" Nice to meet you Anna " he said . " Nice to meet you too Mr. Sorrentino " i replied.

I walk out his office and the company , i stand outside taking a breath , i felt like there was a huge rock on my chest and it's finally gone

What a weird person ? What makes him think he can ask me these kind of questions , so weird and rude if you ask me

Being a successful rich person doesn’t give him the right to be intrusive with others

Who did he think he is ?

~~End of the chapter ~~