After Rafael asked his strange question, the whole room went quiet and Isabella felt like she couldn't breathe, her hands got sweaty and her heart was thumping so loud she was sure everyone could hear it, she stared at him because why would a man of his status ask the dumbest question in the world, she found the question stupid but somehow it still made her nervous, she didn't know why, maybe it was the way he was looking at her or maybe because she had no idea what to say considering that what she did the night before was definitely not appropriate enough to be shared, either way, she was panicking;
Rafael noticed it, of course he did, he was watching her more closely than anyone else and even though he kept a straight face, a small smirk tried to sneak onto his lips but he quickly covered it up, he didn't want to make it too obvious that he was enjoying this, but he definitely was,
One by one, the other candidates started giving their answers,
"I was studying,"
"I worked late,"
"I spent time with my sister,"
Rafael barely reacted to any of them, he nodded here and there but he didn't really care, then suddenly he pointed straight at Isabella and said, "YOU, what did you do last night?"
Isabella's eyes widened and before she could stop it, a small hiccup escaped her lips, she hated that, it always happened when she was nervous and now it was happening in front of everyone, she tried to speak but her voice cracked a little as she said, "I was um… walking my dog,"
"All night?" Rafael asked, still staring at her, his tone was calm but firm, and even the board members, the HR team, Niko and Anastasia, turned to look at him with confused expressions like they were wondering why he was being so direct with a candidate,
Isabella blinked fast and shook her head, trying to recover, "No, not all night, after walking my dog I uh… I studied and I watered some plants," she said quickly, trying to sound normal but her voice was shaky and rushed,
Rafael let out a soft laugh under his breath, just a quiet one, but it was enough to make a few people glance at him, he found it adorable how hard she was trying to come up with something on the spot, her nervousness made her even more interesting to him,
He finally leaned back and let the other candidates continue, pretending like he wasn't paying extra attention to her, but Anastasia saw it, she saw everything, she kept watching Rafael carefully, he never reacted to her, he never smiled at her, he never showed any interest in her, but here he was, giggling at a random girl who couldn't even say what she did last night without panicking and that pissed her off,
Niko saw it too, and the moment he saw Isabella, it all made sense, now he understood why Rafael insisted on personally sitting in on this interview, he wasn't here just for the company or the process, he was here because of her, and that made Niko feel uneasy, because he knew Rafael better than anyone, and he knew what it meant when Rafael got too intrigued by a woman, It meant they wouldn't be safe for long, If Rafael ever fell for Isabella, she was doomed.
Rafael continued with the questions, sometimes asking serious things about leadership or teamwork or what they would do in tough situations, and every now and then, the board members and the HR lady jumped in too, asking their own questions while the candidates did their best to answer clearly and sound smart, some were confident, some were nervous, and the room was filled with tension.
Anastasia and Niko stayed silent the whole time, just watching, but their reasons for observing were completely different, Niko kept stealing small glances at Rafael, trying to read him, trying to understand exactly why he was acting this way, he wanted to see how deep Rafael's interest in Isabella really was and if this was just curiosity or something more dangerous,
Anastasia, on the other hand, didn't blink once, her eyes stayed fixed on Isabella almost the entire time, her jaw clenched tighter with every second Rafael looked at her, every time his eyes wandered to the girl sitting quietly near the edge of the room, Anastasia could feel herself burning with rage, this girl, this nobody, had somehow taken Rafael's attention without even trying, and that made Anastasia want to rip her apart,
She had dreamed for years about becoming Rafael's wife, she had imagined what their wedding would look like, how powerful they would be together, how she would stand beside him at every event, in every meeting, as his equal, as his partner and as his LUNA; but now here was this random girl, stealing the spotlight like it was hers, and Anastasia could barely breathe from how much she hated it,
After what felt like forever, all the questions were finally done, Rafael looked at the list, nodded once, and stood up, the rest of the board followed his lead and someone from HR cleared her throat and said, "Thank you all for your time, please step outside and wait for further instructions on the outcome of your interview,"
One by one, the candidates stood up, collected their files or bags, and began to walk out in a single line, nobody spoke, they were all too anxious, too tired and just trying to stay calm after such an intense session
Rafael didn't say much, he simply watched them as they left, but his eyes followed only one person, Isabella,
He couldn't help it, there was something about her calmness, this softness about her, this quiet strength that pulled him in, the way she didn't try too hard to impress, the way she looked so unsure but still held herself together, and above all else, the fact that she didn't even remember him from last night made it even more amusing for rafael.
Rafael knew right then and there that he wasn't done with her, not even close,
Rafael turned around and walked out of the room with Niko once all the candidates had left, he was already talking to Niko about a few things they noticed during the interviews, but somewhere between the hallway and the elevator, Niko paused and looked around,
"Where's Anastasia?" he asked quietly,
Rafael didn't even bother to look, he just shrugged and said, "I don't know," and then added, "I don't really care"
He meant it too, Anastasia had been acting weird all day and Rafael wasn't in the mood to babysit her emotions, especially not when his mind was already filled with thoughts of Isabella and the way she had looked when she answered that question, nervous but honest, shy but sweet, it had stuck with him and he didn't even know why,
But while they walked off, Anastasia was nowhere near them anymore, she had disappeared right after the candidates left and nobody noticed, because Anastasia was already standing on the rooftop of VOSS Pharmaceuticals, silent, still, and furious,
The wind blew through her long black hair as she stood there in her dark boots, her sharp eyes scanning the street below like a hawk, using her wolf senses to zoom in and smell everything, she was searching for one person and one person only, Isabella
And finally, she spotted her, walking out of the building and heading toward the street, holding her phone like she was calling for a ride, Anastasia narrowed her eyes and watched as Isabella waved at a cab
"Silly human gir—" she started to say with a smirk but then something hit her nose,
A sharp, warm and intoxicating scent carried up to her, it made her eyes widen and her entire body freeze, she took another deep sniff just to be sure and then she grinned,
"A wolf," she whispered, biting her lips slowly, "I see..."
Knowing now that Isabella wasn't human but instead a wolf put Anastasia in new position of hatred, she had just found herself a new reason to destroy Isabella, Over my dead body will she become Rafael`s Luna
Her expression shifted, a twisted smile formed on her face as she tilted her head slightly,
"Interesting."