Chapter Text
Job-searching was beginning to take a toll on Cassandra's well-being – it was now her new personal definition of 'literal hell'. It wasn't because she was struggling to pay the bills. It wasn't because she was tired of her friends and family's constant interrogations – the constant stream of “Are you still looking?”, “A friend of a friend told me they were hiring at their job” and, the worst of them all, from her mother of all people, “You could always come work with me.” No. Definitely not.
Job-seeking was difficult for Cassandra because she was bored – and she hated being bored. She needed to be doing something – even if it was just sitting at a desk in a boring office job, typing away until 5pm eventually arrived. It made her desperate, which was why she was on her way to said boring office job. A last resort, if you will.
She had been applying to everything she came across on one of the many job-seeking sites she had applied to and must have applied for this particular one along the way. It was a secretary position for a large company in the city – she didn't know what this company did exactly, but at this point she couldn't care less. She was going to get paid for sitting at a desk all day, occasionally getting up to make the boss a cup of coffee or to sneak in a cigarette when the work started piling up. And that was good enough for her.
One of the higher-ups in the company – the higher-up that she would be working for directly if she got the job – had emailed her after she had sent in her application. He had asked her for an interview, claiming her application had 'impressed' him and that she had the skills necessary to fit the job perfectly. Cassandra didn't know what part of her application 'impressed' this guy, and she wondered what skills a secretary would need exactly – “Skills include; can turn on a computer; not completely illiterate; makes great coffee.” But she was glad that she managed to get an interview regardless.
The director seemed nice enough – he used big words in his emails, so Cassandra assumed that meant he was somewhat intelligent – and even through words in an email, he seemed quite authoritarian in nature, although not in a way that was completely insufferable, which Cassandra quite liked.
His name was Sebastian Michaelis – and with a name like that in a job like that, Cassandra had expected some old sod well on his way to retirement. She was surprised – pleasantly so – when she walked into the interview to see an attractive man that didn't look much older than she was.
He gave her a smile that made her weak in the knees when she walked into his office before standing up from behind his desk to greet her properly. He was tall too – way taller than her – he towered over her when he got closer to her. He extended his hand for her to shake which she grabbed after a moment's hesitation. She noticed that her hands were warm and clammy in comparison to his – was she nervous? That wasn't like her at all.
Deep into her own thoughts – she didn't realise that he had asked her a question after introducing himself.
“I'm sorry, what?” she asked – God, she felt stupid.
He chuckled – she liked the way his laugh sounded: “I said; My name is Sebastian. I asked you if you found the place all right?” he repeated, still smiling. His voice was nice to listen to as well.
She nodded. “Yes, I did. It was fine.” she said, still nodding her head.
He raised an eyebrow at her response and stared at her a moment as if he was waiting for her to say something else. The look on her face probably indicated that she had no idea what else there was to say, because he laughed again. “This is usually the part where you tell me your name.”
She immediately felt her face heat up. “Oh!” she said, laughing nervously. “I'm Cassandra.” She paused a second – why the hell was she acting like this? “I'm sorry, I was miles away. I'm not usually-”
“Nervous?” he asked, interrupting her – which she was thankful for, another second of her rambling and she would have embarrassed herself further.
“I must be.” she said with a smile.
“Don't worry. You'll be fine.” he said with another one of his heart-warming smiles. “I remember your application, Cassandra. Please, take a seat.” he led her to the chair opposite his at his desk. She sat down, planting her hands on her knees firmly to stop them from shaking so much. She wasn't sure why she was so nervous – she had gone to hundreds of job interviews (not an exaggeration) this past month or so and this was the first time she had ever felt nervous. She was starting to think that maybe it wasn't because of the interview itself but rather the strangely beautiful interviewer.
He turned his attention to a pile of paper in front of him, flicking through the bunch until he found what he was looking for, presumably her résumé. The silence between them was maddening and Cassandra was finding something other than him to look at in an attempt to calm herself down. Eventually, she found herself being drawn to his face again.
She watched as his eyes scanned the page before him – familiarising himself with its contents. His eyes were a strange colour, she noticed - like amber. They were surrounded by thick, dark eyelashes that Cassandra was a little bit jealous of – she had worn false lashes that couldn't even come close to looking anything like his.
He began to speak again, snapping Cassandra out of her daydream. “This interview is more a formality than anything. I'll be honest with you: it's not particularly taxing work. You know how to work a computer, I presume?”
She was slightly taken aback by his honesty. “I know how to turn it on and off.” she said with a shrug. “I know how to type.” She paused and then as if inspiration had struck her; “I can open Word documents, too.”
He laughed. “Well, that's more than can be said for half of the office.”
She paused again, not sure whether he was joking or not. “Really?”
“Absolutely. Most of my colleagues can barely do half of what you just said. We have one guy in IT that spends more time explaining how powerpoints work to some of the older directors than he does doing his actual work.”
“I guess that's why you have secretaries to do all that for you.” she said with a small smile – feeling way more calm now that he was showing himself to be more informal than she had expected. It was a nice change compared to the other interviews she'd been to recently.
“Exactly.” he said with a wink. “Have you ever had an office job before? From what I can see here, you've worked in just about every other type of job.”
“No, this would be a first.”
“I see.” his gaze returned to her résumé. “Why did you leave your last job?” he asked.
She shifted in her seat uncomfortably. She knew this question was bound to pop up. She had spent six months working in a small coffee shop near where she lived. She had loved the job at first – it was perfect for her. She didn't want to leave and she certainly didn't like talking about why she left. But something about Sebastian made her feel like she needed to do what he said.
“It's a long story.” she said with a sigh. “I enjoyed working there – it was that kind of fast-paced environment that I find enjoyable. I loved meeting new people and it was only a short walk away from where I used to live. It wasn't anything particularly special and it didn't pay all that well, but I genuinely enjoyed working there. After a month or so, I started to get some...” she paused, trying to figure out how to say the next part. “Unwanted attention from one of my colleagues. I didn't pay any attention to it at first and when he asked me out, I turned him down – I thought that would be the end of it. He kept trying though – to the point where I thought he must have been truly desperate.”
“You didn't tell your boss?” he asked. The realisation that this was becoming more of a therapy session than a job interview was quickly dawning on her, but something about this man made her want to tell him everything about her.
“I was going to.” she said with a nod. “But by the time I had finally decided to report him, he showed up outside my house. He had been stalking me for weeks. I handed in my notice, moved house and got a restraining order.”
His eyes widened slightly. “I'm so sorry.” He placed the paper down on the desk and leaned forward, staring at her intensely. “If you do take the job, I want you to know that I will take every complaint of that nature seriously – your safety here is of my utmost concern so long as you remain my secretary.”
His sincerity took her by surprise and she felt her face heat up again – the way he was looking at her, it made her feel like what he was saying was true and she would be safe here.
She smiled at him. “Thank you.” She didn't really know what else to say.
His gaze softened and he smiled again before returning his attention to the paper in front of him. He returned to asking her a few more questions – typical job interview questions that she had come to expect, the answers to which she had memorised perfectly. The intimacy of that moment lingered in her mind, however, and she found herself craving something more. No man had ever made her feel like that before.
The questions took a turn for the more personal – her hobbies, her ambitions, things of that nature. It was beginning to feel more like a first date than a job interview, and she found herself relaxing even further. Why had she been so nervous before? His whole stature seemed quite intimidating at first, but now that she was sitting down with him, she felt comfortable – at home, almost.
“Do you have any questions? I need to start wrapping this up, I've got a meeting in about half an hour.”
She blinked, eyes darting to the clock on the wall behind him – she'd been here for nearly an hour already. “I don't think so. I don't want to keep you for long if you have a meeting.”
He shrugged his shoulders. “Don't concern yourself with that – it's not a very fun meeting anyway.” he winked at her and she couldn't stop herself from smiling.
“I don't have any questions, Sebastian.” she said, somewhat quietly.
“Oh? First name basis already are we?” he asked, an eyebrow raised, his tone somewhat playful.
“I'll start calling you 'sir' when you start paying me to be here.” she said before she could stop herself. She tensed up as she waited for his response. Was she trying to sabotage her own interview?
He raised an eyebrow, a smile slowly creeping up on his face – the type of smile that she hadn't seen from him yet, it almost felt sinister. He leaned forward, his hands clasped together as they rested on the desk. “I'd better start paying you then.” he purred as he looked at her with an expression that she couldn't quite read.
She clasped her hand over her mouth. “I'm so sorry. I don't know where that came from.” she paused. “I usually wait to know my boss a bit better before I start doing... that.”
“Oh, so you usually talk back to your employer like that?” he asked incredulously, leaning back in his chair.
“As a joke, obviously. It's just how I am.” she explained, but then quickly added: “But if you don't want me to do that, I won't. It's up to you.” She didn't know whether she was saving this already disastrous interview or just digging her own grave. She couldn't tell what he was thinking either – which didn't help matters.
“Don't let me ruin your fun. I'd prefer you to be you – I wouldn't want you to act like someone else for my benefit. Besides,” his voice dipped lower. “it could be interesting. I've never had a secretary who spoke to me like that before. Might make coming into work a bit more exciting.”
She smiled at him, somewhat relieved. “I'm glad to hear it.” She paused – were they flirting? This felt like flirting.
“Well, Cassandra, if you don't have any more questions, I think we're done here.” he paused for a moment. “I look forward to seeing you on Monday.”
Her eyes widened. That's it? “Wait, really?”
“I thought I made it obvious at the beginning that this was more a formality than anything. You already got the job the moment you walked in.”
“Thank you...I...” she paused, she could barely form a coherent sentence. “I don't know what to say.”
He chuckled. “It's not a problem.” he held out a hand which she took gladly. “I expect to see you here Monday – 9am on the dot.” he paused, lowering his voice again in a way that made her shudder. “Make sure you bring that attitude of yours with you, Cassandra.”