Harlow

The room is filled with at least 30 people, but the place is huge, with an oval table, enough to fit us all as we sit and are served snacks and drinks by waiters.

I've been engrossed in the conversation between Celeste Sterlings and Michael Kors, both attending the same college as myself.

There is a good mix of people from all walks of life and I watch the interaction silently. The seniors, one who we were told to call Xi, have been talking with all of us. It's an hour later and my nerves are still on edge.

Apparently, we were going to meet the 3 mainboard members shortly. Including Mae Ara.

"Harlow, that guy over there, what do you think? Should I go for it or not?" Celeste asks, she is a beautiful blonde from New York's Upper eastside. Her eyes are a rich hazel, and her cheeks are plum, with her wide mouth. She is gorgeous and has the brain capacity to get anyone.

"Which guy?" I query and look to my left where a group of people huddle together talking.

"The one on the left, with the brown jacket on. He is so hot," Celeste answers, putting her hand in front of my face to show me.

"I can't see his face, but you are gorgeous I am sure you can have any man you want."

"Ladies, gentlemen, and the in-between," Mr. Xi gets everyone's attention as he stands in the front where the screens are placed. We all quiet down and turn to face. Others start sitting down whilst I hear a bustle coming from behind me and whispers all around when the door facing my back opens. I want to turn but my curiosity is going to wait a bit longer today.

"That's Carson Dixon," Celeste whispers seeming to lose her own battle with curiosity.

"As you all know, you will be starting at Kanese Group in a few weeks, and for a few of you may even get permanent positions here at Kanese Group. The NDA, you were all asked to sign, means that who you meet today is by no means a topic of outside conversation, the members of the board like their privacy and they have managed to keep it for many years."

NDA? I was here with everyone else, but I didn't sign anything? I wasn't going to tell them that though.

"So before we take our time to introduce each other, let's meet the people who have made this possible, shall we?" Mr. Xi says and we all wait, as I see Miss Mae walk to the front. I can smell a scent of her perfume as she passes and it is earthly and graceful as the way she walks toward the front. Her black hair is almost as long as mine, but where my hair is wildly untamed, her's is perfectly straight and shiny. Her white suit hugs her body and although she is built as a Korena beauty she definitely has some curves. She is a goddess.

She faces us and her smile is genuine, and her light dusted lips, warm as she says, "Hello to all of you, I hope the nerves aren't getting the better of you. I am sure next week this time you will be ready to join our small population." Her eyes skirts over the room and when it stops at me I want to believe she took an extra second.

We all want to believe we are special, we are the exception.

The hairs at the back of my neck, lift as a slight chill breezes past me, I get a hint of a scent attached to a feeling, I am not certain what it is, but it's something.

A man walks to the front and a part of me wants to believe it was the blue-eyed gentleman who helped me earlier, but it's not. The guy who walks to the stage is Japanese, I can tell by the slant in his eyes and the milky white of his skin. He has on a long coat, with a suit underneath it, but he is built as big a Football player, his body must be ripped. I frown as I stare at him. He is 6ft11 easy, clean-shaven, and broad shoulders. His eyebrows are dark, and his hair as black as the darkest parts of the night. His eyes and that is what holds me at a standstill are completely black, obsidian.

I don't pay any mind to the people who start whispering. He doesn't look to the crowd at first but to Miss Mae, and I can understand, he is into her. She is gorgeous but he is otherworldly. His hair that stops at his shoulders, moves as he finally breaks contact with her.

"Hello to all of you earthlings. I'm Wang Lee, and for the locals, it's Lee. I'm the CEO, of Kanese Group."

His voice seems to put many in a lull, and I frown as I see him talk softly to Xi. If they notice me I am not certain. But I notice them, more so Lee.

Xi claps his hands and everyone seems to look at him but I don't miss the interaction between Lee and Ara. Is this her lover? Is this why she keeps her personal life from everyone? Lee seems like a man who would consume every part of a person.

"And lastly, Mr. Nikolai Blackwyll," Xi says and where Lee's presence brought me coldness, Nikolai's brings heat, energy. And it is no other than the man I met earlier. So is that his name? Nikolai? It's a good name. Medieval, like he said. And it matches his accent. Where Mr. Wang ignored the crowd of people, Nikolai looks at everyone, and this time I am certain his eyes stop longer on me. If I must admit, he smiles a little bit more once he spots my face. And I must admit something within me comes alive.

I have never met people who affected me in this way until these three. Living in a small town one met the strange, weird, and a bit mythical along the way. My grandma was one of the mythical, she was blessed by her ancestors many years ago. Apparently, my great, great grandfather saved an angel many years ago and by doing so my family carried a gene of knowing. I doubted the story until today, I forgot about the tale we heard when we were growing up until this moment.

It's almost like it was meant to be, destiny, which is stupid coming from me but then again it feels real as I look at the three of them on the stage. my brother Eddy will call me stupid, and momma will probably send me off to a 'rehab' center for even thinking such things but somehow in me, it is just a feeling of knowing. Which is strange, but it reminds me of the warning my grandma gave me before she left this world.

I recall her words, 'Darkness is fitting, it leaves the taste of the sun, and sweetness of the Arc. Light is warming, it takes you to the deep but never entices a lure, but Devils always lurk between, so see what must and welcome the Reaper, and when the sour crust enters the dust, the world as we know will succumb to the Angels overthrow for he who conquers all will know not just lust, but the curse of the Altrax.'

Was this her warning? Surely it wasn't this. My Grandma to many was crazy, but from the time I was a young girl, she told me that one day the world will turn, and one day most of the heaven will burn. She never knew what it all meant but she said I was the one who will have to carry the burden. I didn't want to believe her or even acknowledge what she said but somehow I knew at this moment it was this.

I watch the three of them in silence and as Lee and Ara look at the rest I catch Nikolai staring at me and I can't help but ask myself does he know?