A Genuine Question

Casey

And that was it. Jasper turned and walked away, and I had no choice but to follow. We didn't head toward the elevator I'd used yesterday. No. He led us to a different one, hidden further down the hallway. Sleek, modern, private. He pulled out a keycard, tapped it against the panel, and the doors slid open like something from a movie.

This elevator was different. More sophisticated. More silent. More… expensive.

There was only one button.

He didn't say anything, but I glanced up at him and caught the shift in his eyes. That single button meant one destination: the top. The CEO's floor.

I gave him a tight, uneasy smile. He didn't return it.

We rode in silence.

No music. No polite small talk. Just the cold hum of air conditioning and the soft buzz of nerves. When the doors finally opened, I stepped out first—and the moment my foot touched the marble floor, I felt it.

Everything here was different. The air. The lighting. The silence. I didn't need anyone to tell me. I whispered it under my breath anyway:

"Yeah… this is definitely the CEO's floor."

Suddenly, two hands clapped in front of my face. Clap. Clap.

"Hurry up. I don't have all day," Jasper said, his voice sharp as ever.

He brushed past me and walked into a room that looked more like a high-level conference suite than an office. I followed, but the second I stepped inside, my breath caught in my throat.

Not because of the room, not because of the other people inside—but because of him.

There, seated at the head of the round table, was Cesar.

Polished. Powerful. In control. I froze.

I had seen Cesar a thousand different ways before. In university, laughing with friends, hoodie half-on, a smirk that made girls lose their minds. Even just days ago, on vacation— But this man? This version of Cesar?

This wasn't the boy I once knew. This was someone else entirely.

For a split second, I actually wondered if he had a twin no one had ever told me about.

He didn't look up. Didn't acknowledge me. He just continued flipping through a document with such calculated focus it made my stomach tighten. Jasper leaned down and whispered something in his ear.

Only then did Cesar look up.

And when his eyes landed on me—calm, unreadable, sharp—I straightened instinctively. My spine locked in place. My breath hitched. I tried to steady my hands and find a shred of courage, but it was like being caught in a current.

Jasper stepped back, standing tall beside Cesar with his ever-present iPad, his face strict—like a Catholic school nun daring me to mess this up.

I swallowed.

Cesar said nothing. Just looked.

And I realized that no amount of preparation had gotten me ready for this version of him.

Cesar looked all clean lines and quiet power. Every movement deliberate. Every gesture controlled. The kind of man people didn't interrupt. The kind of man people feared. He commanded the room.

 I couldn't breathe.

A part of me wanted to run. Just turn around and bolt out the door before I said something stupid, or worse, started crying. But I couldn't. Not here. Not like this.

Get it together, Casey.

My fingers twitched at my sides. He looked at me with no reaction or recognition in his eyes. He was unreadable...

And then Jasper spoke,

"Mr. Blackwell," he said crisply, "this is Miss Casey Moon, candidate for the executive assistant position. We are here to determine whether she will be a great fit for the company and for you as Your new personal staff. She's here today, almost an hour late for her final round."

I blinked.

Almost half an hour? It was fifteen minutes! Are fucking kidding me right now? 

Cesar's eyes flicked away from mine at last. He tapped his pen once. Twice. And I realized the room was still quiet. The others at the table had barely moved, like they were watching a scene unfold they didn't want to interrupt.

I straightened my spine, but my heart was still hammering like it wanted to escape my chest. 

Why did I come here? Why did I even say I wanted this job? I should have stayed home, taken a nap, made pancakes with Victor, called Leona and talked about her wedding. Anything but this. 

Cesar then nodded, turned towards Jasper, and said straight to the point. 

"You can begin."

I frowned. I thought Cesar was the one conducting this interview.

Jasper then took out his iPad and said, 

"Congratulations, miss. Moon. You're one of the candidates who passed the first round of interviews. We had three candidates. One of you isn't here today. The other one was here promptly at seven as instructed. She has already finished her interview, and you're the last candidate that we're going to consider."

I thought, wow. I was still standing there because the platform was in a C. It was made like a C, so Cesar was sitting at the head of the table, I was at the last end of the C, where there were no chairs but empty space and I was just standing there.

I gritted my teeth and took it on in stride as Jasper started throwing question after question towards me. I tried to bite back the nervousness, the fear, the embarrassment, everything that was fighting its way into me, as I did my best to answer Jasper's question.

In the end, he said, "Okay," then turned towards Cesar, who was sitting there, looking almost bored, just watching me as I answered his question. I even wondered why he was in this room in the first place—to intimidate me?

"We're done," Jasper said. "You can go. We'll give you a call when we have made a decision."

I couldn't help it. I had taken two steps out the door, but then I stopped and turned around. Jasper was already saying something to Cesar. He noticed I hadn't left, and then straightened up and with a frown asked, 

"Yes, Miss Moon, can I help you? Is there... a problem?"

I swallowed hard. My fingers tightened, and I forced myself to breathe before speaking. 

"No, there's no problem. I just…" I glanced at Cesar, who was still leaning back in his chair, unreadable, detached—almost like he wasn't even in the same room.

I steadied my voice. "I just wanted to thank you both for the opportunity." My eyes moved back to Jasper. "And to apologize for arriving late. It won't happen again, should I be given the chance."

There was a flicker of something—surprise maybe?—on Jasper's face before he masked it with his usual tight expression. I looked back at Cesar. Still nothing. No reaction. Not even a blink.

I must have stood there for too long just because Jasper said, 

"Of course. Is there something else?"

I swallowed before I said, "Yes."

"What is it?" he asked, almost like he was getting amused now.

"What is he doing there? What is he doing here?"

He frowned. "What do you mean?"

"I mean Mr Blackwell," I said, my eyes now going towards him and watching him head-on. And I saw something in his eyes just then. I couldn't tell what it was, but I think I just gained his attention.

"What are you doing in this room? If you're not conducting the interview, you're not going to ask any questions. You're just going to talk to Jasper and ignore the fact that I'm here standing in front of you? Why were you even here? Couldn't you record this interview like you recorded the other one and go and watch it in your spare time? I bet that's what you do for entertainment, watching as candidates sit in front of you when they come here looking for a job. I bet you don't even watch movies. Those aren't entertaining enough, not even reality television—because we really know it's not reality. But this is reality. Oh, is that like your favourite sport or something?"

Jasper almost looked like I had insulted him. No, like I had insulted his mom or his entire family. He looked taken aback. He looked... I didn't even think he knew how to react in this moment. I don't think they've ever had a candidate like me before.

They were not expecting this—and seeing the surprise on their faces was worth it.

I should have left, but for some reason, I wanted an answer. Because it was a genuine question.

Like, why the hell is he even here? Why is he acting like he doesn't know me?

I mean, I get him not wanting people in the company to know that we will soon be related. We have some form of relationship, given our parents, but his father and my mom—we're going to have the biggest wedding of the year.

It's gonna come out.