Hotline Fling

Who am I to you ? (POV)

Mysterious Guy POV

The woman in front of me was having a hard time focusing on her presentation even though she was trying to conceal her trouble the best she could. She was undoubtedly prettier than I thought she would be. I honestly thought the rumors on her beauty were a tad exaggerated but here she was, even better than what they said. Despite an elegant and delicate personality the aura surrounding her was incredibly powerful, sending clear signals to whoever would dare to mess with her.
"How interesting!" I couldn't help but stare at her.
Could it be that she didn't notice me? It would be understandable after all, all focused she was on the glaring contest that opposed her to the sales executive minutes ago.

This morning when I woke up, I thought the day would be another annoying one I would have to spend in this city. Well, nothing to do with the day itself, rather with the routine I have been bound to for a week already: countless interviews, endless gatherings, lifeless galas were I had to pose stupidly for a crowd of paparazzi, hours spent with 'influencers', a superficial and vain routine everyone else seemed fine with. This week could not be worse. I came here to find a certain person in the first place, but my plans were delayed because of business meetings here and there. A life I thought I finally escaped from ...

The office lobby felt oddly silent this Monday morning when I arrived. It was normally a hectic and high pressure environment, a place where you would often see employees running everywhere to meet another unachievable deadline. The top dog and his ridiculous standards have created an army of robot-like employees ready to eat each other in order to please him.
As soon as I reached the 3rd floor, I could hear loud chatters near the meeting room and two distinctives female voices in an apparent argument.
"...have any issue with my work, you should let the hierarchy know about it"
The girl saying those words seemed to have been cornered by her colleagues, seeing how many of them were standing around her without trying to stop the argument.
"- ....This is totally absurd !" "....Are you going to ignore me now ?!!"
This lively brunette was Nancy. She always was diligent and professional all the times I had to stop here for meetings, I never thought she could be so reckless, especially minutes before the meeting.
"SHUT UP NANCY !" Another girl joined the argument.
Should I do something about this mess now? I knew the executives already were three minutes late, a fact that obviously slipped from the collective memory, and I also knew that those men were heartless enough to fire them on the spot, like I would have done myself, had the powers still been in my hands.
"The Blair file was originally my idea, Nancy." The woman in the center of all attention seemed a little less agitated, and took care of the matter calmly. She spoke with poise and confidence, a voice that I was sure I heard somewhere.
"I would expect more from you than to think that my relationship with Alexander Smith from Audit committee has anything to do with my ability to bring the best clients and significantly improve the Sales and Marketing operations"
She wasn't trying to deny the rumors, she was confirming them while making all realize there were no correlation between her private life and her work ethic. The tension was fading away after the words she spoke.
Alexander's fiancee ? The woman behind the Blair project was Alexander's fiancee. The words she spoke untied the knots in my head. The woman who contacted Swanson was in my lair the whole time. And I thought this day would be another annoying one in New York.

Jasmine Barnes POV

The presentation was over and the executives seemed overall pleased with my report. Mr Davidson didn't say much and it has always been difficult to read his expressions, but all forthright that he was I would have known if he had something against it. People may find it intimidating to be one of the few woman standing in front of those finance wolves, but to me it was thrilling. I was feeling even more excited to prove myself to them. A board meeting was rarely happening in our building and it was even rarer for them to allow sales executives in.
- "Your results are excellent Miss Barnes, how did you achieve a nearly 2 billions report of activity in such a short amount of time?
-" Thank you Mr Davidson. I believe it's all thanks to the program that we experimented and implemented six months ago.
- "The Blair Swanson program?"
Here we are. Nancy face was livid . I didn't plan on using that particular achievement for my own greed, but I would certainly not spit on an obvious chance the board was giving me.
-"Actually Sir, Blair Swanson was a client we signed a while ago who decided to change the whole broadcasting plan mid season. The new plan earned us millions of dollars but at the same time created some unforeseen complications and the of additional work was far above our capabilities for the amount of time we had to deliver ."
-"Did you advise your hierarchy ?
-"I did a full report on the case and presented it to the Sales and Marketing manager. We also reorganized the department in quarters operating days and nights to meet the deadline."
- "Good thinking Miss Barnes. However in the future the committee would like to be advised of such structural changes in advance. Please keep that in mind.
-" Yes sir"
-"Let me be franc with you Miss Barnes, we are more than satisfied with your work here, and we'll like to offer you a new position."
Yes! Yes yes yes!! Why are they even asking me? Who would refuse such an opportunity? I hoped my excitement didn't show and kept my signature poker face while I was feeling ecstatic inside.
-"I would be honored Sir"
-"Are you the one who signed Blair Swanson?" That was a voice I prayed not to hear in this meeting. I tried so hard the whole presentation to ignore him watching me.. no, dissecting me from all angles. He was sitting in the back of the room with the same cavalier attitude he had when we first met. He even said my name, didn't he? Do I know him? Does he know me?
An unhappy associate? I have had plenty of those. I couldn't care less about such a small matter but not on nomination day. An ally of Nancy? More than likely. She never knows when to stop and has already spied on me many times.
A rapid glance to her direction made me doubt of that hypothesis. She was back to playing the perfect employee, but sometimes looked at him with an interrogative face, almost as if he wasn't supposed to be here.
-" Miss Barnes?" He said in his distinctive deep tone.
-" Yes?" I answered in the most unbothered manner.
- "Are you the one behind the Blair Swanson Project ?"
It's crazy how everyone wants to know about that project today.
-" It was a team project. But yes, I was the one in charge of.."
-"Very well. Thank you. I do not have any objections. If that's fine by you, associates, could we move on to the next point?"
-"Thank you Miss Barnes, my assistant will send you the documentation later. If you will excuse us now." Mr Davidson added, a nice way to send me out.

I couldn't believe what just happened. A man I never saw showed up and kept on staring at me for two hours straight then cut me off and dismissed me ? Even after a few calls and subtle questions to the employees I still had no significant piece of information on him. All I knew at that point was that he was a shareholder and often worked at the office with the executives. What I hated the most in this industry was not knowing my opponent before a battle, and my sixth sens told me that this man was up to something. Anyways this day was a great day and I could not let myself be phased by a few unfortunate events. Should I celebrate my new position today? Charlotte certainly knew at least two hundred places were we could get wasted tonight. I remember last time I followed her to her sister's slumber party, I woke up at the hospital having no idea of what happened in the past sixteen hours. I think I'm gonna forget about celebrating anything ever again with Charlotte.

It was around 10 pm when I arrived home that night. A lot later than I thought I would and I could thank Charlotte for that. When she heard about the outcome of the meeting, she barged into my office and almost made me swear on my dead ancestors to stay a little late after work for a few drinks. Several bottles later I had to escape my own office when she needed to use the toilets. I never met a person as exhausting as this one. Thanks the heavens now I was at my place and I could spend my time enjoying the breathtaking view and relaxing in my bath with an actual good beverage. A savory Ruinart Brut Blanc de blanc limited edition that was sent to me by a relative from France. In this moment right now, I could close my eyes and feel really, truly ...
-"...!!"
The bathroom went suddenly dark and silent. From the half opened door I could notice the living room also in complete darkness. A sudden blackout? The city lights were still shining outside, even down the streets. Could it be the building alone? I was starting to feel very uneasy in the forced silence. What should I do?
Being in the dark has always been a scary situation to me and of course it had to happen when my phone was down too. What if the whole building was paralyzed? The elevator would be down to and the staircase would be a dangerous option in the dark. I never cared about my neighbors if I ever had some and I had no idea if they were home or if they could help. Without thinking twice about that idea, I grabbed a towel and ran to the front door. I opened the door and found the corridor's lights working just fine.Was I the only one with a shortage to deal with? I decided to rely on my luck and knock at the neighbor's door, the only other door my landing had. No answer as expected. I was certainly looking miserable in this corridor right now. My hair drenched, a tiny towel hiding more or less what it had to and bare feet.
- "it's okay karma I get it, I will be more cordial to my neighbors. Okay maybe, maybe I will answer back to their greetings too someday. Please let someone open their fringing door and help me.."
Just as I was loosing hope, the door I was leaning on made a distinctive click and opened itself, revealing a male silhouette. I was so happy to not be alone anymore that I almost jumped at him.
-" Oh my lord! Thank you! I am so sorry to disturb you but there is a power shortage in my apartment and I don't know where to go or who to call do you mind looking at it plea...."
Oh no. At the very moment our eyes met, I wished I never got out of my apartment. I wished I never knocked at that door and I wished he never opened it. Because I knew very well the face of the man with those piercing marine-blue eyes that I tried to escape all day long and who was now standing on the doorstep of the only apartment next to mine , looking at me all intrigued.