"Miss Parker, you're hired."
Ashley blinked.
"For further instructions, you're required to follow us to meet our head for whom you'd be directly working."
Steve, the one responsible for taking the interviews, told her. However, he was the same man who did not even open her resumé.
It had not even been two minutes since Ashley entered this room. And all this man had done was to eye her from top to the bottom and bottom to the top before throwing the words at her.
Was it all? Were the interviews that easy to pass these days?
"I mean- can you repeat? Are you sure I am hired?" Ashley could not help but point a doubtful finger at herself. They could not have gotten the wrong Ashley, could they?
"I am hundred percent sure, Miss Parker. Now, kindly follow me to meet our boss. He has been waiting." It was robotic, the way Steve answered.
Standing up from his seat, Steve walked to the door. Just as he was going to rotate the knob, he stopped.
Steve looked back to find Ashley still seated at her place in a daze. She did not look in any mood to move an inch from her place.
"Miss Parker, you have gotten the job. I would get nothing from listening to the instructions by myself."
"Oh-yea, sure! I'm sorry. It's just too strange." Ashley let out an awkward laugh and quietly followed him out.
From meeting the 'boss', Ashley had low-key expected to meet the head chef or someone.
But what she could not have imagined even in a hundred years was to walk through a fancy and lavish corridor, enter the private elevator and enter the top-most floor of the building.
As much Ashley knew less of the corporate world, she knew at least that only the extreme higher-ups occupied the top floor.
She had applied only to work as a Chef in the seven-star hotel under Clarks, could that require her presence in this place?
Soon, having walked to a secluded corner, they stopped in front of a wooden door. Steve was quick to knock once and take a back step. "Go in. Sir is waiting."
Ashley had half a mind to turn and run away. There was something strange about it. Her intuition was yelling at her but she could not tell what it was hinting at. Was it a good sign or a warning?
Maybe it was all her hallucination. Good things never happened that easily for her, and perhaps when it was finally happening, Ashley couldn't help but be paranoid.
And as she recalled the dreadful situation she was stuck in, Ashley ended up pushing the door slightly. She would just see where it'd take her.
The warm air hit her as she took a step in. It was winter, and although the temperature of the entire building was much better than outside, something about the cabin just hit differently. It was cosy and comfortable.
The sunlight seeped in through the floor-to-ceiling windows and right there stood a man with his back facing her.
Ashley could tell he stood at 6'2" at least and was somebody who was regular at his workout. His broad shoulders and bulky frame supported this thesis. "You are here."
The husky voice enriched with some depth broke her thoughts. Unknowingly, she had chills running down her spine. Ashley focused on the face of the man who had turned towards her.
She knew him.
Heck! Not just her but probably every citizen of the nation must be familiar with him. If not him, they would know at least the name of the family having his back.
Michael Clark, he is eldest of all the grandchildren of Germey Clark!
He was the one handling the Clark Industries under the guidance of his grandfather and the next CEO of Clark Industries.
But the question was how the heck she had gotten herself into a meeting with him?
"Have a seat." Ashley in a daze ended up following the instructions.
She was in disbelief. She had heard in passing about the new CEO and how he had a lot of things planned for a change in his management.
Could having a personal interview with the candidates be one of them?
Probably.
Ashley had applied for the post of a Sous Chef.
Maybe he would want to taste her cooking or it could be that she was being hired to cook for incredibly important people so he would want to give her instructions regarding that.
Or it could be that he might have tasted her cooking before and would ask her to head the chain with her recipes.
It could be any of the above.
"Miss Parker, you can come out of that chain of thoughts." The same voice brought her attention to him. He was now sitting on the front couch, with his legs crossed and his eyes fixed on her.
It was as if he was calculating her with his eyes, trying to kind of make sense out of her.
That look was more than enough for Ashley to shift a little bit in her seat, unconsciously.
"You are hired."
He let out the same string of words as Steve but something about his way of speaking stirred some emotions in her.
Now, Ashley was purely conscious of her surroundings and even the situation she was stuck in.
From the depth of his orbs, she could tell right away it was different. Perhaps she was pushed by the semi-conscious intuition but she ended up asking, "Hired as?"
For some reason, Ashley at that moment felt it was extremely necessary to get that clear as to what and where she was hired.
It did not look as if it was going to be any of the above.
And for the first time since she stepped into the room, Michael had some change in his expression. It was a cold smile, an impressive cold smile to be clear, that took a form on his lips.
Michael tucked his head slightly, recalling the words he was told two nights back- 'She is smart, not like the typical girls you have around yourself.'
"You're hired as my wife."