Chapter 4 Nina

Adrian leaned back in the leather chair in his large office, the beautiful view of the city was behind him. It was quiet there, except for the soft hum of the air conditioning and the distant sounds of construction below. 

He should have been reviewing the quarterly reports. He should have been planning the next acquisition. He should have been doing anything but thinking about her. And yet, here he was.

Her face had appeared in his mind the moment he saw her at orientation. Not because of who she was, not because she held some title, or beauty, or the kind of allure his usual women carried but because she had walked away. 

That alone had sent his ego into the muds, he couldn’t explain it.

Every woman he had ever been with became automatically attached. Some flirted, some fawned, and most outrightly expected payment, gifts, or some favor in return. Some expected him to repeat his charm, week after week, proving that his attention was valuable and limited. And yet, she hadn’t. 

She had smiled politely, followed him inside the elevator, and left before he even realized the night had ended.

No messages, no lingering, no calls or desperate texts, nothing. She didn’t wait for the aftermath. She didn’t expect anything. She hadn’t tried to read his mind or his pockets. She did not want him. And that had made him uncomfortable.

He rubbed his jaw, a habit he did when he was irritated, or in this case, intrigued. He was interested in her out of curiosity not likeness of any sort. That was the difference. Most women sparked desire, some women sparked attention, she sparked curiosity and it burned differently.

He remembered the night in vivid detail, far more clearly than he cared to admit.

The party had been one of those high-profile charity galas, all champagne, designer gowns, and shallow conversations. He had been bored long before the dessert plates arrived. His usual type of women had been present, beautiful, expensive-looking women who smiled too much and drank too little. He had ignored them all until she appeared.

She wasn't dressed to impress. Her dress was modest, and her shoes were cheap. Her hair was packed as if she did not want anyone to notice her. She didn’t attract attention, she didn’t even try to.

He liked that about her immediately.

Not in the way he liked women or the way he liked conquest or vanity. He just liked that she wasn’t performing or doing too much. 

He had approached her, naturally. He always did. It was instinct. But she did not react the way most women did. No giggle, no coy glance, no nervous laugh. She had looked at him as if she were measuring him not in expectation and not in awe of him.

"Hello"?

"Hi," she responded without looking up and sipped from the almost empty cup.

"Can I get you more to drink, you look like you could use it"

"Sure", she replied still without looking up.

It had thrown him off balance and when he offered her a drink, she did not flirt or decline awkwardly. She had simply accepted with a nod, a brief smile, and one word. 

"More please" she asked and looked at him for the first time only briefly.

"So where do you work"? Adrian asked while handing her another drink.

"Not tonight" she said while waving her hands. She was already tipsy.

"I'm just here to have fun and drinks" she added.

"Can we take this somewhere else then?" Adrian asked.

"Mmmmhhhmmm" 

I helped her up and she walked alongside me, as an equal not as a fan, or one of my conquests. That had intrigued him.

Later, in the elevator, he had expected the usual laugh, a touch, or a hesitation that invited him to pursue. He had offered a cigarette not because he smoked, but because he liked to see how women reacted to small, unnecessary gestures and she had simply said yes.

At the hotel, they had more drinks, no deep conversations and he finally pulled her closer and kissed her, she didn't resist him.

"Are you alright"?

"Yeah"

"Is this okay"

"Ssshhhhhh" no small talks she had said and kissed him back.

And before morning came, she left.

She did not wait for morning, for money, for any indication that she might be added to his list of conquests. She did not even wait for his ego to demand it. She left with no trace.

That had never happened before. Not with anyone he could remember.

He shook his head, interest was one thing, focused interest was another thing, and this woman had just triggered that in him which was dangerous.

She wasn’t dangerous in the literal sense. She wasn’t the type to climb corporate ladders like a spider, to manipulate or seduce for advantage. She wasn’t in his world. That was precisely what made her dangerous. She had nothing to gain. She wasn't expecting anything. And yet, she had made him unsettled.

Adrian knew exactly what he wanted in his life, control, predictability, women who understood their place and the rules. Women who knew him, and who could be managed. She had none of that, she had refused all that even unknowingly.

That casual encounter that single night had been his domain and yet, she changed the rules of his game simply by leaving.

He leaned back and stared at the ceiling.

Curiosity had become a fixation before he could stop it.

Here she was, sitting somewhere in his building, as one of his employees, not because of him, not because of a connection, but because she had merit and she had earned it.

He had already counted the seconds before he would see her again.

He ran a hand over his hair, tousling it in frustration. He usually doesn't do this. He hates to anticipate encounters. He never allows people to occupy his thoughts.

He was Adrian Vale, the CEO, and he had mastered women, the man who walked into rooms, and all the women wanted him.

And yet, Nina Cole had done what no one else ever had. She had lingered in his mind.

He picked up his phone and searched for the new employee's attendance sheet. And there it was, Nina Cole. He stared at it.

The words on the screen should have been neutral barely for information's sake. But they weren’t, there was a spark.

He closed his eyes for a moment and pictured her walking past him in the hall, ordinary, and yet unforgettable.

This was interest not affection. He reminded himself that it was curiosity not attraction. It was too soon. She was off-limits, she was just a woman, just an employee. 

The more he tried to dismiss her, the more vivid the memory became, the way she had tucked a strand of hair behind her ear without noticing him, the way her lips had curved in that brief, polite smile, the way she had never once looked at him with expectation.

It made him want to know more. He had spent his life controlling outcomes and women, fascination with the unknown was not something he did, but she had left a mark.

He stood up from his chair and moved towards the glass behind him, The city glowed before him, but he barely saw it.

His mind was still occupied in ways he refused to acknowledge and it annoyed him.

It was the sort of annoyance he had not allowed himself to feel in years. Women came and went, they were merely indulgences for a night, a week, or a month. He always knew where he stood, always knew the rules.

And now, fate had dropped her into his building. He hated entanglements and he didn’t do complications. He didn’t do repeat encounters unless they were meticulously planned.

But she had slipped past all that not because he asked her to. She hadn’t tried to claim anything yet, she had planted herself firmly in his awareness.

He couldn’t decide if he was irritated or intrigued. Perhaps both.

He would observe and calculate and would measure every interaction until he understood who she was, why she had resisted him, and why she had walked away.

Because no woman left Adrian Vale without consequence.

Some were forgotten, some were conquered, some were used as amusements, but she…

Adrian Vale wanted more than a fleeting night, not for affection, just answers.

And maybe, if he was honest though he refused to admit it even to himself he wanted to see what she would do next.

Because she was the only woman who had ignored the scripts, the gifts, his charm, and refused to belong to his world.

Now, she was in it anyway and Adrian Vale did not like being surprised.