THE VAMPIRE BILLIONAIRE'S SURROGATE

Emily's POV

I nearly stumbled on the entrance marble stairs, missing a step, but quickly regained my balance by clutching onto their handrail. Forty minutes had passed since my scheduled interview at Poseidon, the most influential company in all of New York. So, losing another minute was something I couldn't afford.

Taking a deep breath, I hurried into the company's lobby and approached an ebony receptionist's desk. “The interview. I'm here for the interview for the project manager position,” I blurted out.

She grunted quietly, dropping the landline phone she held, and reluctantly turned to her computer. After pressing a few keys, she handed me an ID pass and forced a smile. “Here is your ID pass. Take that elevator to the sixty-ninth floor. Then head left, and you'll find the recruiter's office,” she instructed, and I nodded, taking the pass from her.

I stormed their golden tinted elevator, and pressed the open button repeatedly until it dinged opened. I could feel people watching me with judging eyes, but they were the least of my concerns. Getting to the interview, and possibly begging the interviewer were my must concerns.

After enduring three long minutes of soothing ambient music that did little to calm my nerves, the elevator door dinged open, and I hurriedly forced my way out of it before it could fully open. I scurried up the floor's corridor, and stopped at a frosted glass door with a golden “Recruiter” nameplate on it.

Knocking lightly, and entering before the person inside could fully respond. I wore a polite smile, and hurriedly retrieved my credentials from my black satchel that complemented my power suit.

“Miss Hart, isn't it?” The interviewer, a portly middle-aged man with a gray and black mustache, inquired, lowering his reading glasses slightly as he scrutinized me.

I confirmed my identity and attempted to explain the reason for my tardiness, but he gestured for me to be silent and to hand him my files.

I complied, and after skimming through my documents, he abruptly raised his head up with a stern countenance. “You are not qualified for this job,” he declared, and waited for my reaction.

And I certainly reacted.

“Sir, I'm very sorry for being just forty minutes late, but please reconsider. I've worked diligently to secure this final interview. The previous two online interviewers affirmed that I was qualified for the job. Please reconsider, sir,” I pleaded, my eyes already welling up with tears.

He squinted at me, leaned forward, and interlocked his fingers. “Just forty minutes late? Just forty minutes means late?,” he asked incredulously.

Observing me contemptuously, he continued, “Do you know where you are standing? This is Poseidon, one of the most influential and competitive companies in all of America. You cannot be just forty minutes late. Even established employees can be terminated for being two minutes late, and you think you can arrive forty minutes late for an interview for the most competitive position in the company?”

He asked, his cheeks flaring. It seemed like my choice of words had exacerbated his ire, but I persisted in my plea.

“Please, sir...” My plead were abruptly cut short when he shockingly tossed my credentials at me, causing them to scatter in the air. I collapsed to the floor upon witnessing this and begged with the utmost determination and resolve.

He was furious at what I had said, and I could understand that. However, the reason I found myself in this predicament was due to the company's strict interview requirements, which compelled me to work through the night to prepare for the interview. If it weren't for it's rigid demands, I wouldn't have had to work through the night and, certainly, wouldn't have been late.

“Sir, please. I genuinely need this job. I will do anything to make up for my tardiness, but please reconsider my resume. I will do anything to secure this job,” I implored, tears now flowing freely.

There was a brief silence.

“Anything?” With raised eyebrows, he leaned back in his chair and asked.

“Yes, anything. Please...” He silenced me by placing his index finger in front of his closed lips. Slowly, his eyes crawl round my figure and he licked his lips suggestively.

“Strip off your clothes and twirl around. If I like what I see, then maybe I'll reconsider a few things on that resume of yours,” he sneered with impatient eyes, and I froze on hearing and stopped crying.

Indeed, the power suit I wore fitted me very well, and made my features pop out. It not only accentuate my slim body, and baby face. It also made me more alluring to men as nearly all of them on my way here either tried to offer me a ride or give me their phone numbers.

But “Stripping” just to be considered for the interview? No, hell no. I might be desperate but I wasn't that desperate.

“Strip?” I asked, hoping I had misunderstood.

“Didn't you hear me? Take off your clothes! I want to see what's underneath all that,” he said eagerly, his impatience growing evident.

“No,” I said with a defiant nod, standing up from the floor. His expression turned stern.

“Don't you want the job anymore?” he inquired, believing that I would compromise my values for the job, or perhaps for him.

“My father told me never to compromise my values for anything, because doing so would mean losing myself. I am my values.” I quoted, wiping away the tears from my cheeks.

He chuckled derisively. “Alright then. Get out of my office, Mother Teresa!”

I wasted no time and picked up my papers from the floor. With my dignity still intact, i trudged out of his office, and returned to the elevator.

In my twenty two years of living. This was probably the fourth time I was experiencing sexual harassment; though the rest wasn't as serious as this. Experiencing harassment again however, from the recruiter of the company I had worked blood, tears, and sweat for, was truly soul-crushing.

I felt defeated, broken, and overwhelmed. Looking up at my distorted reflection in the golden elevator doors, I contemplated my next move. Tears streamed down my face as I realized that Poseidon was the last company that could have provided the salary I needed to cover my father's mounting medical bills.

He had been diagnosed with leukemia some time ago, and I had been working tirelessly to cover the accumulating bills while still attending college. However, my efforts were falling short. After graduating, I had focused on securing a job at Poseidon because they were the last company that hadn't rejected my application, and their paycheck would have been more than sufficient to cover all the bills and medical expenses. But fate, as cruel as it is, had other plans.

I blamed fate, but deep down, I blamed myself for everything. If I had just set that alarm, I would have certainly gotten the job, and my father wouldn't... I couldn't bear to think about it.

Deep in my self-blame, the dry elevator air was suddenly replaced by a strong, flowery scent, causing me to cough uncontrollably. It was so intense that I nearly fell to the ground.

Coughing and clearing my throat, I shifted my attention away from the floor and was startled to see a tall man dressed in all black in the elevator with me.

I was shocked, and I coughed through my nose from the sudden surprise, unconsciously pressing myself against the edge of the elevator while covering my mouth.

How had he entered without me noticing? Why hadn't I heard the elevator ding or his footsteps? Was I so absent-minded that I hadn't noticed a six-foot man entering the elevator with me? I couldn't fathom it.

“Sorry,” I muttered an apology to him for my coughing fit, but he didn't say a word or even turn his head or eyes in my direction. He was wearing dark shades, had pale skin, and was dressed in a tailored suit with shoes that appeared more expensive than the entire building I lived in.

Wait, with his chiseled jawline and enigmatic demeanor, that handsome face, sleepy eyes, athletic build, and those signature cufflinks on his suit sleeves, I recognized him from the billboards. It was Darren Kain Jr., the CEO of Poseidon, a billionaire, and a descendant of one of the city's founding fathers.

“Oh my God,” I gasped softly with my mouth slightly agape upon realizing.

Snapping my mouth shut, I quickly straightened up, adjusted myself, and my papers. Meeting the billionaire CEO of Poseidon in the elevator, all alone, was a rare opportunity that fate had presented to me. I couldn't let it slip through my fingers.

I planned to present my papers and perhaps even use my charm to make a lasting impression on him. However, when I attempted to move closer to him, he began convulsing so violently that his shades fell off. For a moment, it felt like he might not survive, but he suddenly stopped convulsing, bent slightly, and slumped.

I was stunned and concerned. I reached out to help him, but his hand snatched mine while he remained unconscious. I fearfully tried to free my hand, but in my struggle, he jerked back to life, turned to me with glowing golden eyes, and run me to the elevator wall.

He trapped me between the wall and his imposing figure. Fear gripped me, and I screamed, but my voice only echoed around the elevator before dissipating. I tried to scream again, but he swiftly closed my mouth with his cold left hand, silencing me completely.

Voiceless, I tried to break free and move to the other side of the elevator, but he pressed my entire self to the wall of the elevator with that single hand.

I tried pushing his chiseled sculptured body away, but he easily locked both of my hands up in the air with his right hand.

I gave up after some few struggles, and stare straight up at his abnormal glowing eyes, stiff, waiting for his towering presence to do something to me.

For a moment, as I stared into his eyes, it felt like time stopped, and there was no gravity in the elevator. For another moment, it felt like I was floating across a field of sunflowers, free, and I had to consciously breathe because I had stopped breathing.

The warmth of his golden orbs, gave me peace, but that peace swiftly flew out of the window when he parted his lips to speak.

“So that witch was right. They indeed was someone who could kill me, make me human, and bear me a child.” With a subtle British accent laced in his voice, he weirdly said, and leans forward to sniff my aroma.

Breathing it in and exhaling, he released his left hand from my mouth and stunned me by pressing his lips against mine, sucking my tongue, and giving me the most incredible kiss I had ever experienced.

“I haven't tasted someone so manifest before.” He said excitedly, but not smiling, as he released his lips from mine, and trace them down to my neck.

After pecking my neck, he proceeded to use his cold hand to pull my face closer to his, kissing me in the lips even longer this time.

I couldn't take it anymore. The kisses were undeniably passionate, but what he was doing was wrong.

He was harassing me simply because he could and because he knew he could probably get away with it.

“Get off!” I bit his lips hard and yelled. He slowly released his lips from mine, clenching his teeth and looking at me with smoldering eyes, obviously angry that I had injured his perfectly full lips.

One thing was certain: Poseidon had to reevaluate their men because being harassed twice in a day by two of their most powerful officials in the company, wasn't applauding at all.

“You shouldn't have done that,” he growled as he wiped the blood from his lips. Seeing an opportunity, I tried once again to push him away, but he didn't budge.

I continued to yell and even threatened to sue, but he remained unfazed. Furious, I summoned all my strength and delivered the hardest kick I could muster, but it had no effect on him.

What the hell?

“Let go of me,” I whimpered with a tearful voice, but my words seemed to fall on deaf ears. His grip on my hands tightened, and he resumed sniffing my scent.

Tears welled up in my eyes, not only from the pain in my hands but also from the realization that I was attacking and being harassed by the one person who could have offered me a job at the company.

It was all over. There was nothing that could be done now. I had completely lost my chance at getting that job.

“Dinged!”

The elevator door finally dinged open, but he still didn't let go off me.

Like as if he was tranced by my scent, he senselessly kept savoring it. But finally stop and then move away from me after hums from the lobby's occupants filled the elevator.

Seizing my chance on release. I gave him the hottest slap ever, and waddled out of the lobby with tears falling down my cheeks. People eyes tailed me as I tearfully walked out, and I heard “It has begun,” whisper in my ears.

Emily's POV

15 hours later...

I made my way unsteadily down the corridor of my apartment building, my heels clutched in my hands, until I reached the door to my studio apartment. I had spent the remainder of my day at a local pub, drowning my pain in alcohol until I nearly blacked out.

I wanted to erase from my mind the fact that I had lost a life-changing job and had been subjected to sexual harassment by two men in a single day. And for a while, a few shots of tequila provided some relief. However, the hospital where my father was being treated called, requesting more money, or else they might release him without any treatment. So, I spiraled into a binge-drinking session with a local drinker named Bob.

“Dammit Emily, you are hopeless,” I sighed, bumping my head on my door. Eventually, after a long moment of contemplation, I opened it and stepped inside to face total darkness.

It was strange. I could have sworn that I hadn't t