Chapter 3

Life has been hectic for Michelle for the past two weeks. After graduating from college and paying off her father’s debt, she busied herself looking for a decent job. She submitted her application to three companies, but deep within she prayed so hard that her dream company—Steinfield Company—would be the first to contact her.

And it was like an answered prayer. Today, she received an email from them, and as she read the letter, she couldn’t help but be in tears.

They invited her for an interview this afternoon!

Michelle let out a loud shriek, still not believing what she’d just read.

She didn’t waste any time and prepared herself for today’s interview. She wore her best formal clothes partnered with her oozing confidence. She reminded herself that she should not fail the interview, or else, she would regret it for the rest of her life.

With a joyful feeling inside her chest, she went to the company to be interviewed. Her heart raced so fast when the cab stopped in front of what seemed to be a skyscraper building.

She felt more excited as she walked into the front desk and asked one of the ladies where the human resources office was. After verifying that she had a scheduled interview for today, a lady assisted her to the elevator, and they went to the tenth floor.

“Kindly wait for a few minutes. You will be interviewed by the company CEO himself,” the staff said, offering her a thin smile before she proceeded to the room where the interview was being held.

Michelle inhaled heavily, settled into one of the seats outside the room, and calmed herself down. Her palms were sweating at this moment as she felt a little bit nervous.

“You can do this, Mich.” She shut my eyes and uttered a small prayer. “This is your dream company. You can’t fail this one.”

“Ms. Finley,” a soft voice called to her, which made her heart race faster this time. “It’s time. Please get in.”

She nodded and cleared her throat, shoving all her worries aside. As soon as she entered the room, Michelle chinned up confidently and gave the panel a polite smile.

“Good afternoon, everyone,” she greeted them, taking the seat on the center aisle.

“How are you, Ms. Finley?”

“I am doing great, Madame. Thanks for asking!”

“Mr. Steinfield, you can proceed with the interview. Ms. Finley here is ready,” the lady said, which made her glance at the man who was sitting next to her.

It must be the CEO of the company himself! The man’s swivelling chair was facing the wall, and she noticed his hand was holding her curriculum vitae.

“Good day, Ms. Michelle Finley…” said the familiar voice of a man.

Michelle thought she had heard his voice somewhere, but she couldn’t remember where exactly. But when the CEO spun around to face her, she froze in her seat.

She saw his familiar marble gray eyes... How could she forget them? Instantly, her heart rate picked up, making her unable to breathe. The man stared at her intensely, which brought such terror through her body.

His lips curled into a wry smile. “I want to know more about you. Would you mind introducing yourself?”

Michelle could have sworn that her entire body fell into an instant panic. She couldn’t move or utter a single word. All she could do was stare at his familiar God-like face as she recalled the fragmented memories of the night they shared.

“Ms. Finley?”

Her thoughts were ripped out when he cleared his throat.

“Uhm…” Her gaze dropped. She couldn’t take the way he stared at her. “My name is Michelle Finley. I… I just graduated from California State University with high honors a few weeks ago and decided to submit my application here because this is my dream company.” She took a glimpse of him and saw that his index finger was brushing his lower lip. “As a fresher, I… I have no experience working in related field—”

“Interesting,” he cut her off. “Have you worked in an unrelated field then?”

His question made her very uneasy. “N-No, Sir...” she lied.

She wished the floor could just swallow her whole. Michelle could feel that her cheeks had just reddened in embarrassment.

“So, you’re only twenty-two,” he stated, and a ghost of a smile escaped his lips.

“Y-Yes…” she responded, lowering my head as she shut her eyes upon recalling how she refused to tell him her age that night.

“Tell me how can you be a best asset in my company.”

Michelle did her best to collect the right words to answer the man’s question. But with the way he continuously looked at her as if he was remembering every bit of what happened between them that night, her mind literally went black.

This isn’t good, she thought.

They waited for her answer, but all she could do was shake and lower her head in shame.

“Hmm, I guess I’m done here. She could take the exam," the man remarked before she heard him standing up and leaving the room.

***

“Why does it have to be him?”

Michelle’s emotion welled up inside of her. She thought she had finally gotten away from the drunken mistake that happened weeks ago, but fate seemed to have played more evil this time around.

Engulfed with worry, Michelle swiftly threw herself into the bed when she got home. She caught Megan’s attention, which was on the other bed.

“What happened, Mich? You looked so worn out.”

Michelle recalled that her best friend had no idea what had happened two weeks before. She pondered whether she would tell her or not. She exhaled loudly and glanced over at Megan, who gave her a confused look.

“Did the company reject you?”

“No, it’s not that… well, they might reject me though,” she replied, and palmed her face frustratingly.

“There are lots of companies out there. Give yourself a break!”

Michelle sat up in bed, biting her lip, and looked at Megan as if she was in big trouble.

“Meg…”

Megan tilted her head. “ You know, I've noticed that you've been acting strangely since you left your job at the club. I’m all ears, Mich.”

Shoulders slumped, Michelle huffed in defeat. “I’m going to tell you something, but please, if you want to judge me, keep it to yourself for now, because I’m really about to break down."

“Try me.” Megan chuckled.

“I had a one-night stand with a VIP customer on my last day at work."

“What the heck?!” Megan beamed out, shocked.

“Please, don’t look at me that way.” Her voice weakened. “It was a drunken mistake, okay? I… I didn’t know how it happened. That VIP customer offered a huge amount of money just to have drinks with me, and then the next morning, we were on the same bed, completely naked.”

“Tell me it isn't true!”

“How I wish it was just a wet dream, you know.” She winced as she recalled the pain that rose from the spot between her thighs when she woke up that day.

Just by remembering the fragments of that one steamy night made her feel the familiar wetness at that very spot of her body, a reminder that she had really surrendered herself to that man.

“I thought I could just forget that night, given that he was a stranger, but...” she paused, palming her face as she exhaled. “But it turns out that he’s the CEO of the Steinfield Company I applied for. That’s my dream company, and he just freaking interviewed me earlier, Megan. I’m so doomed!"

Megan shrieked in giddiness. “I can’t believe you’re no longer a virgin! You’re life has gotten more exciting now!”

“Stop, it’s embarrassing!” Michelle fought the urge to roll her eyes, and lay down on the bed again to ponder her next steps.

The next morning, Michelle was determined to get the position she applied for at the Steinfeld Company. Seeing the rejection letters from the other two companies where she submitted her application, her last resort in order to support herself was to beg her dream company to give her a second chance.

“There’s no way I would see him every day at work. He’s a CEO, which means he’s a busy person. I just have to be careful not to cross paths with him and I’ll be good. Fine, I’ll call HR.”

She was about to dial the main line for the Human Resource office of the company, but then she received an email notification from a familiar company email address.

She caught her breath as soon as she read the email.

“I got accepted!”