Chapter 4

Nina's eyes widen, a mixture of confusion and astonishment passing through the expressions on her face. Dominic extends her arms, giving her space to pass, she, disconcerted, walks with faltering steps out of the elevator.

As soon as she walks through the door, Nina turns towards the elevator and walks, taking steps backwards, not taking her eyes off the mysterious man, who was inside. He remains standing inside the elevator, with his hands in his pockets and doesn't look away from her. Her light blue eyes, which contrasted perfectly with her honey-toned skin, were narrowed and her lips curled slightly at the corner.

He didn't seem satisfied or dissatisfied, it seemed more like he was disguising some emotion.

The doors close and finally, the two lose eye contact, but Nina continues looking in the same direction, trying to understand what just happened.

— Honey, do you need help?

She hears a voice behind her, breaking the silence and interrupting the buzzing of her conflicting thoughts. She abruptly turns forward and realizes that she was almost hitting the reception desk.

On the floor there was a young man with brown hair, meticulously combed to the side. He was wearing a black dress shirt and in his pocket, he had a small metallic plaque, with his name written on it.

She takes a deep breath, runs her hands through her clothes, adjusting herself, lifts her chin, changing her posture and says, with confidence:

— My name is Nina Moon and I came for an interview with Mr. Dominic at 8 o'clock.

- Oh yes! — the receptionist says, looking at his laptop screen. — Nina Moon… — he mumbles, thinking out loud — It's here!

The receptionist seemed friendly and different from the receptionist in the building's lobby, he didn't look her up and down. He gave her a friendly smile, which reassured her a little.

— Right, right… — the receptionist continued — You're a little early, girl, it's still 7:35. — he paused, making a thin line on his lips, in an expression of regret — Well, and you'll have to wait longer than you think, Mr. Dominic is going to have a meeting in the morning, so he let you know that he'll be available for the interview only at 8:30. — the receptionist looks in the direction of the presidential elevator and then concludes — In fact, I think he may have already told you that, right?

— Hamm... No, he didn't tell me anything. Well, I should have contacted him so he could tell me something. In fact, I've never seen him in my life. I have no idea what he looks like.

The receptionist looks a little disconcerted at Nina and after a while, says:

— Don't you really know who he is? — Nina shrugs, she seemed completely sincere — Well, honey, you just got out of Mr. Dominique's exclusive elevator.

- As?! — she exclaims, scared — And who was that man who was with me?

The receptionist just looks at her and in a second, confirms the man's identity.

Nina froze in her place, her throat went dry and she swallowed hard, realizing that she was right next to her possible future boss.

He began to remember his less than exemplary behavior, he remembered how he punched doors, pressed buttons incessantly, almost destroying everything, and on top of that, she called him a stingy to his face.

- Oh my God! — the memories crushed her — T-t-is there water anywhere? I need to drink some water. — she asks, disconcerted.

The receptionist comes out from behind the counter and runs to get some water. Nina takes the disposable paper cup and, with shaking hands, puts it in her mouth and drinks some water.

In thought, he wondered if he hadn't ruined everything. If the billionaire was mad at her, he would have no chance of passing that interview.

She forces another sip of water down her throat and the liquid feels solid as it goes down slowly and hurts her chest. She throws the glass in the trash and sits down on the spacious sofa she had at the reception, looking ahead with her eyes still wide open. She holds onto the hem of her skirt, squeezing it showing how nervous she was.

The receptionist observes the scene, with an eyebrow raised. He even tried to continue his work, but every little while, he would look back at Nina. Observing how pale her face was, she visibly looked very nervous.

Therefore, he decides to try to talk a little, trying to make her a little less nervous.

— Did you know that you were the first person to be called for an interview?

Nina looks at the receptionist, trying to formulate some response, her mind was in a whirlwind of thoughts at that moment.

- It is serious! — The receptionist continues — I think Mr. Dominic liked his resume, because he called you first and decided to come and do the interview in person.

Nina clasps her hands, digging her nails into her palms. She was sweating and in fact that talk wasn't making her calmer, but rather, more nervous. She thought she could have had an interview with some HR recruiter and an interview with the billionaire himself, it was too much pressure.

— Calm down girl, you'll do well in the interview! — the receptionist started to get excited about trying to calm her down — Think positive! He hasn't scheduled another interview yet and you're going to rock it, there won't be another one!

Nina gets up and goes to the receptionist desk, feeling comfortable talking.

— You don't understand, I think he hates me!

— You're not thinking on the bright side of things, my grandmother always said: "Boy, always see that the glass is half full and not half empty." Think carefully, Nina! He gave you a ride in his elevator and I never saw anyone other than him using that elevator Dominic always liked to have exclusivity in everything, you know? He's a very methodical man and you ended up breaking some of this his way.

- Oh my God! — Nina turned even whiter — He didn't give me a ride, I was the one who invaded the elevator.

The receptionist's eyes widen and now, he is a little silent. He didn't understand how that girl just accidentally entered the boss's elevator and he didn't call security to kick her out.

— I broke in, kicked the elevator, called him a stingy! I'm screwed!

She looks at the receptionist who swallows hard, then says:

— It's difficult to help you.

— I know… — she responds in a thin voice, almost crying.

The receptionist exhales, rolls his eyes and says:

— Well, he still gave you a ride, because he had a meeting on the forty-eighth floor and he insisted on coming here on the forty-ninth to drop you off. You know, that door only opens with his biometrics and if he wanted to, he could have gotten off at forty-eighth and left you trapped there, dear.

Nina's forehead started to sweat, just imagining herself trapped inside that elevator screaming for help until that moment.

Nina impulsively takes the receptionist's hand and says:

— Please help me, tell me what I can do to pass the interview. How can I win him over if he doesn't have a good impression of me? Tell me how I should behave! Are my clothes okay? How can I reverse this, please!

The receptionist is a little embarrassed, they just met and she took his hand. Nina was very spontaneous, she couldn't hide her emotions.

Even awkwardly, he understood that she was very nervous, her hands were cold.

- Well I do not know. I actually don't know Mr Dominic very well. I've been working here for five years, but my job is just to check scheduled visits and welcome people. I don't have that much contact with Mr Dominic and it's been three years since he's been here. This whole time I was alone here, with nothing to do.

— Ah, you seem like a good person, tell me anything. — Nina begs

- Well, let's go. — the receptionist says, with a lost look — The times he's been here, he's always arrived at the same time and left at the same time. I always go out for lunch at the same time. I think he's very strict with these things.

— If he's all right, I'm definitely screwed, right? — she asks, desolate.

— You have to be positive, maybe you won't be in such bad shape. Girl, you are very pretty, with that pretty face, I have no doubt that you will get what you want.

- No no! — Nina looks at him seriously — If it's like that, I'd rather give up this job. I want to work hard and not have an affair with my rich, spoiled boss.

Exactly at that moment, the door of the exclusive elevator opened and the imposing silhouette of the billionaire appeared.

He frowned, looking at her and she lowered her head, imagining that he had just placed the noose around her neck.

The tall man with black hair came out, staring at her, with his ice blue, piercing eyes. He walked with one hand in his pocket and his chin raised, demonstrating authority and grandeur.

Nina swallowed hard, seeing that man walk past her.

The receptionist was a little embarrassed, as he thought Dominic would stay longer at the meeting, but he returned well before the scheduled time.

Dominic continues walking, until he reaches his door, he puts his hand on the metal handle, but doesn't turn it. He kept his hand on the doorknob for some time, while Nina and the receptionist continued to look at his back, with wide eyes, not disguising their surprise at his arrival.

A few seconds after placing her hand on the doorknob, Dominic finally turned around. He looked at Nina and said:

- You do not come?

Automatically, she jumped a little in fright, walked awkwardly, adjusting her clothes.

He waited for her to approach and as soon as she arrived, he opened the door and waited for her to pass.

Nina, a little hesitantly, looked back at the receptionist.

He waved his hand and moved his lips, saying without making a sound:

- Good luck darling!