"Just the top five floors."
"Oh," I replied. Just the top five floors of this very impressive building.
We got off the elevator, and he led me through a pretty standard looking office landscape. There were cubicles full of office supplies and people's personal touches, like photos of kids or significant others. I thought about maybe getting to put up a picture of Makayla, and smiled to myself.
We went right to the office at the back, the only one that didn't have glass walls.
"Wait here, please," the man said, and knocked on the door. A muffled "come in" responded and he slipped inside, shutting the door behind him. I waited awkwardly for what seemed like a long time, though in reality it was probably less than a minute. Finally, the man emerged.
"You can go in, he's all set for your interview," he told me.
"Thank you," I said. He nodded and walked off. I turned to the door, still sitting slightly ajar, and pushed it open. I walked in and stopped dead in my tracks.
The man behind the desk with Cassius.
It felt like I froze, like my heart stopped and my lungs forgot to breathe. I looked at the plaque on his desk. It said Cassius Reade, President and CEO.
No one had said his first name in all the interviews. It was always Mr. Reade. And of course, at the hospital, he'd only used his first name.
I swallowed and thought about just bolting out of the office.
As if he read my mind, he jumped up and walked around behind me, closing the door. He returned to his desk; his eyes bored into me. But he merely gestured to the chair opposite him.
"Please sit," he said.
Not knowing what else to do, I sat. And then I waited. I expected from that polite greeting that he was just going to start the interview. But he just sat there, staring at me.
I stared back at him. This was the most eye contact we'd made since we'd come back into each other's lives. As I looked into his eyes and thought again about how much Makayla's eyes resembled his, I realized I recognized something about the way he was looking at me.
He hadn't looked at me like that at the hospital.
He hadn't looked at me like that since...
He knows.
I immediately stood up.
"I'm sorry, Mr. Reade. I think that..."
"Is she mine?" he said quietly.
I sat back down, my heart beating wildly in my chest. I couldn't think what to say. Should I try to lie? It seemed like he already knew. But maybe he didn't want a kid? Maybe if I lied, he'd be relieved, and then I could...
"You don't have to tell me. The paternity test will."
He said this like we'd already discussed the matter.
"The what?" I said, my mouth falling open.
"The paternity test that you'll have Makayla take."
A chill ran through me.
"How do you know her name?"
"Shouldn't a father know his own kid's name?" There was suddenly a bite to his voice, and a voice in my head warned me that I should tread carefully. I ignored it.
"I never said she was your kid." He stood up, putting his hands on his desk.
"But she is, isn't she? Tell me the truth." He glared at me, and I glared back, then looked away. He slammed one of his hands on the desk. "I knew it."
"Yeah? Did you?" I asked, suddenly feeling angry. Who was he to come into our lives after all these years and demand things? He'd wanted a weekend fling. Casual sex. Even if I'd known how to reach him, I might not have. After all, how long had it taken him to recognize me?
"It didn't seem like you knew, based on the fact that you had no clue who I was at the hospital. I know I've aged, but I don't think I've changed that much," I said.
He hesitated, and I pressed my advantage.
"So, I don't see how you can know anything, considering that you're talking about a child you've met once and a woman that you couldn't remember despite a night of..." I sought the right words. I finally decided on, "...a night like that."
"You're one to talk. You're the one who said we shouldn't use names."
"Oh, right, names," I said, grasping at another tactical advantage. "Let's go back to the fact that you seem to know my daughter's, and I bet you knew mine, too. What, did you have us followed?"
He hesitated again and my heart dropped. Had he?
"You actually did! Oh my god! You really are some billionaire who thinks the world belongs to him, aren't you?" As I said it, my fear was replaced with anger.
"That's not what..."
"Please! I don't want to hear it! I don't need anyone like you anywhere near my daughter. So, I guess you can have your private detective, or your bribed police officer, or whatever track down my lawyer, because I sure as hell am not willingly giving you anything."
I stood up and swept out the door as quickly as I could, slamming it hard behind me. Worried he would follow me, I practically ran to the elevator, pushed the button, and then changed course and bolted down the stairs. After a few flights I remember how far up I was. I stopped and listened. It didn't seem like anyone was following. I sat down on the stairs, tears of anger streaming down my face.
It took me a few minutes to realize that, along with all the other bad things that had just happened, I definitely wasn't going to get this job.