Lilac’s POV

“Good morning.” Ryke’s deep voice sounded through the room and I stared with wide eyes. What the hell was he doing here? And how had he entered the room without seeing him pass by while I sat outside? Unless…

I moved my gaze to the far end of the room opposite me, and as I suspected, there was a door. He’d come in through another entrance. I shifted my gaze back to the man whose presence dominated the room oppressively.

“Good morning.” I greeted in return with a tight smile, making sure to maintain composure.

“Please, have a seat.” One of the female interviewers gestured kindly to the seats opposite their side of the conference table and I moved to sit, gently arranging my tattered bag in my lap.

“Miss. Evans, is it?”

“Yes, that’s me.”

“Thank you so much for honoring our invitation to interview.” The woman continued. “I am Helen Woods.” The other two interviewers introduced themselves and then Miss. Helen continued with a nervous laugh, “Joining us for the first time is our CEO, Ryke Kolynsky, who I’m sure you’ve heard of.”

‘Heard of’??? What a joke. I poured my drink on him almost an hour ago. My gaze flitted to Ryke where he sat at the head of the table, watching us quietly and I jumped when I found his eyes already on me. Trembling a little, I immediately averted mine.

According to Helen, Ryke was joining the interview for the first time. This meant he’d decided to show up for just my time here, huh? My chances were well and truly ruined then because he could only be here to make sure no matter my performance, I wasn’t going to get picked.

The interview kicked off. Even with reason to be discouraged, I still put in my best. Even with the cold feeling of Ryke’s gaze never leaving the side of my face, I didn’t fumble. Soon, the end came and at that point, I just wanted to leave.

“Thank you for coming, Miss. Evans. We’ll get back to you on our decision in a week.” One of the other men said.

“Thank you. I look forward to it.”

I picked my bag and stood up to leave but before I took a step, Ryke of course had other plans. “Wait.” He called.

I swallowed nervously. What could he possibly want? “Yes, Mr. Kolynsky?”

“Why do you want to work for this company? What is your motive?”

“My motive?” I asked in confusion. Using such a word, it sounded almost accusatory, like I wanted to be his personal assistant for an ulterior reason which was absurd.

“Yes, Lilac. Your motive.”

We stared at each other, his face expressionless and mine probably looking bewildered. An answer swirled around in my mind and for a moment, I hesitated to say it out, but then I decided—what the hell did I have to lose?

“To be honest, I’m here for the money like literally everyone else.”

A look of surprise came over Ryke’s face at my shocking honesty, and in the next second, he burst into laughter. Ryke’s laugh was a deep and rich sound, akin to something beautifully dangerous like the man himself. I found myself craving more the deeper I listened to it.

The others too started laughing and it all sounded awkward, but I understood they dared not act as though nothing was funny, even though nothing really was.

Smiling just to conform to the mood, I tucked my hair behind my ear. “Can I leave now?”

Ryke sobered up at my request, green eyes still crinkled with mirth. “Sure. We’ll meet yet again, if my interviewers decide you’re good enough.” And with those same eyes trailing me, I left the conference room.

As I walked down the lobby where the other candidates waited for their turn, something very odd struck me—Back there, Ryke referred to me as Lilac, not Miss. Evans.

Throughout the entire interview, those people had only ever referred to me as Miss. Evans, never Lilac. So how the hell did he know my first name?

***

A wolf whistle greeted me as I walked into the kitchen entrance of GoldenSpoon Cafe.

“Damn, girl!” Millie called as she lifted sizzling hot fries from the deep fryer. “You’re all dressed up. What’s the occasion?”

Laughing, I dropped my bag, took off my jacket and responded, “Nothing. Can’t I come in for a shift looking nice for once?”

“Don’t get me wrong, babe. You always look hot, but today is special, you can’t deny that. Did you go on a date?” Millie gasped and her eyes went wide as saucers. “Was it the rich dude from last night?”

“How the hell do you know if he was rich?” I laughed. An apron similar to the one Millie had on hung off the back of the kitchen door so I picked it and tied it on.

“Are you kidding me? He was sitting in the VIP section of the club. Hell, he dropped off one thousand dollars, in cash, just to get you a drink. Do you think just anyone has that sort of money just laying around in their back pocket?”

“Fine.” I sighed in mock seriousness and sat on a stool, waiting out the few minutes till my shift actually started. “I guess Mr. Rich Dude was actually rich. But no, it wasn’t him.”

“Aha!” Millie exclaimed as she submerged another batch of raw fries into the fryer and closed it. “So it was a date! Just not with him.”

“No, it wasn’t a date.” I avoided Millie’s eyes. Now was the time to come clean. “Actually, Millie… I took your advice and applied for the job opening as Ryke Kolynsky’s personal assistant.”

“Oh, really?” Millie wiped her hands on her apron and came to sit next to me. “I didn’t think you’d actually do it.”

“Yeah, because I don’t usually follow your bad suggestions.”

She laughed and smacked my arm gently, “I’m not the bad influence you make me out to be. But, I’m so happy to hear this! You took a leap for once and if you get picked, so much in your life will change for the better.”

“Please, don’t get my hopes up. It’ll make the disappointment hurt far more than it should. Besides, I really don’t think I’ll be getting picked because I might have fucked my chances up… monumentally…”

“Huh? What do you mean?”

Blushing in embarrassment as I recalled the memory, I shared my encounter with Ryke before my actual interview and Millie is watching me with her jaw hanging.

“Oh. Shit.”

I grimaced. “Yup.”

“It was an honest accident, though… Surely, he wouldn’t try to punish you for that?” Millie soothed. But almost immediately, she frowned at her own words. It was Ryke Kolynsky we were talking about—alleged asshole. To cement this in her mind, I told her about how he came in to sit through no one else’s interview, at least no one before me.

“Yikes. That couldn’t have been for any good reason.”

I sighed. “It was all worth a try right?”

My shift ended right at that moment and I hopped off my stool to go in front and take over from my co-worker.

The time dragged on and on, but Millie was good company. Soon, she left and Jayce came in to take over her kitchen duties. Rarely did we three ever have a shift that aligned but I loved the times we did. It made working here much less boring.

Soon, my shift was over and I rushed to my next destination for the day. The hospital.

I would’ve visited my mother every day of the week if it was possible, but the patient ward only allowed visits four times a week including weekends.

Once I got to the floor of my mother’s ward room, I made a stop first at one of the rooms of a patient I’d gotten to know in the past year.

“Hi, Berk!” I greeted the old man cheerfully, eagerly awaiting the joyful expression that usually came across his face whenever he got to see me.

“Lilac! Come in, come in. I have something for you today.”

“Oh?” I responded and entered his room as he requested with a knowing smile on my face. “Is it the thing you’ve been working on and hiding from me for the past two weeks?”

Berk laughed heartily as always. “You got me.”

He pulled something out from beside his pillow he sat against and I moved closer to see what it was. A small gasp left my lips at the sight of the beautiful, warm-looking, knitted scarf.

“Oh, Berk. This is lovely.” The older man moved a little so I could perch on the edge of his bed to look at the scarf closely. It was a lovely shade of purple that just spoke to me and I couldn’t help but fall in love with it.

“You did say you were learning how to knit.” I continued. “I’m so happy, thank you.”

“Meh, it’s nothing. I don’t want to take up anymore of your precious visiting time so run along now. Say hi to mom for me, would you?”

After a small hug, I left Berk’s room and moved down the hallway a couple of doors till I got to my mother’s. I knocked softly and at the sound of a muffled ‘Come in’, I grinned and pushed open the door.

“Hi, mom.” I rushed into her wide open and waiting arms and she hugged me immediately.

“My baby, how have you been?”

“I’m okay. Benjamin’s alright as well.” Benjamin was my younger brother who couldn’t visit as much because he was busy with his first year in college.

“I know, love. He called yesterday.”

I climbed very carefully into bed beside her and held up my newly acquired blanket. “Look at this beautiful scarf Berk knitted me.” Soon, just like always, we were chattering away.

All two hours of my visiting time were well spent. I carefully avoided bringing up the most recent events in my life regarding Silvercrest Corporation and unlike Millie, she didn’t ask about my unusually elaborate dressing. For this, I was grateful.

Leaving my mom behind once again was hard. I wished more than anything we lived together like we used to but she needed constant medical attention as long as she hadn’t had surgery to fix her broken ribs and fractured hip.

I worked myself to the bone all day everyday only to afford just the bills of keeping her in this hospital’s care. The cost of the surgery she desperately needed was a whole other topic that gave me anxiety just thinking about it.

Everything my mother had to suffer was courtesy of the most unfortunate being I had the curse of knowing, of being a spawn of. My father. In just one day, he ruined our lives, separating us in the process and leaving us to deal with the aftermath. I would never forgive him for it.

My thoughts about him were vicious and borderline violent as I walked home but at least they kept me company.

I got to the apartment I lived in with my brother, made dinner and kept his share aside for when he got home, then tucked myself into bed.

Not even the joy from seeing my mother earlier could have kept the tears from falling from my eyes like it did every night. I felt so shitty. Everything was too much; could it possibly get any worse?

These were the dark thoughts I had that night before I succumbed to the day’s fatigue and fell asleep.

One week later, an email came in.

***

Dear Lilac Evans,

We regret to inform you that you have not been chosen for the role of Personal Assistant to Ryke Kolynsky.

Ryke’s POV

So one thing was clear to me. Lilac Evans, the woman who just left the conference room, was the same Lilac from the club last night.

Because of the dim lighting in that club, I was never able to get a proper look at her face for the entire time we were together. Consequently, back then on my private office floor, when Lilac crashed into me and messed my clothes up, that scene could have ended so much worse because I didn’t recognise her immediately.

Eventually, I did. Not even in my dreams could I mistake those baby blue eyes, and that voice that sounded like a siren’s. But it wasn’t before I’d already lashed out at her.

Of course, I wasn’t completely sure it was Lilac. I made the decision to attend her interview, something I’d never done in my history of heading this company, just for another chance to get close to her to confirm my suspicions. Hell, even my employees were shocked when I showed up. That’s exactly the sort of irrational thing this woman I’d only known for barely a day had me doing.

But Lilac did not recognise me. Not for one moment did her eyes light up with familiarity every time they lay on me and I struggled to come to terms with the feeling of disappointment in my gut.

“Mr. Kolynsky?” The lead interviewer questioned in confusion as I stood up.

“Handle the rest. I have a meeting right now.” I did not have a meeting, of course, but I had no intentions of sitting through boring as fuck interviews. I was only here for Lilac and she’d basically confirmed it was her when I called her by her first name I should have had no way of knowing and she responded.

The rest of my long week was filled with thoughts of Lilac. The woman had consumed every of my waking moment to the point that it was torture not seeing her. Even distracting me as I spoke to my mother on the phone.

“Ryke. Ryke, are you listening?”

Blinking rapidly, I snapped out of my thoughts. “Uh… Yes, ma’am.”

My mom sighed. “Okay. Spill.”

“What?” I replied, confused.

“Spill. There’s clearly something on your mind, enough to zone out like your own mother is too unimportant to listen to.”

“It’s nothing, don’t worry about it. I’ve been so stressed these days, it causes me to zone out sometimes.”

The older woman was silent on the other side of the phone for a moment. If not for the sound of her breathing, I’d have thought she hung up. Soon she spoke, “Do you need a break? I could have Reece visit again to take over while you do so.”

I growled at her suggestion and prayed my father wasn’t anywhere around her. I didn’t need to hear him point out how apparently incompetent I was. I worked so hard to convince him to let Silvercrest’s Bayview branch become the headquarters and I wasn’t going to let anyone take that from me, not even the founder himself.

“I’m fine, I can handle it. You take care of yourself, mom.”

“Whatever you wish, son. You’ve always been so stubborn, I don’t expect you to start listening to me now. The annual company gala is coming up in a few months so we can see then and maybe I’ll be able to convince you to rest then.”

I chuckled at her words. “I’m looking forward to it.”

***

As the CEO, I usually kept from interfering in the affairs of other departments. I wasn’t controlling in any sense of the word and preferred to let them have their autonomy. This precisely was why I didn’t explicitly demand that my hiring team choose Lilac to become my assistant.

I assumed they’d pick her, the obvious candidate who probably outshone every other. At the very least, I’d shown my satisfaction and approval for her when I left the conference room that day.

So imagine the look I had on my face when I arrived at work the Monday of the next week to a strange face.

“We’d like to introduce you to your new assistant, sir.” Helen, my hiring manager had said. “This is Dallas, the successful candidate after we concluded our hiring process.”

I was so speechless I could only level the two women with an icy glare. “Get out of my office.” I growled. Ever since then, Daria, or Deana, or whatever her name was had been walking on eggshells around me. But I didn’t give a fuck.

That same morning, I asked her to make me a coffee. Simple task, right? But once I took a sip, I knew immediately that she’d fucked it up.

“I told you,” I ground out with barely contained irritation, “One cream and two sugars only. This is at least three creams. Throw it out.” I shoved the coffee mug back into her hands and sank ungracefully into my office chair while the woman scurried out of the office with tears in her eyes.

Fuck. What was she crying for? She was being paid an obscene amount of money for doing the least work. She should be carrying out every task with a smile! Besides, it’s not as though she had no idea the type of person she’d be working with. I had no sympathy to give.

I picked up my phone and made a call.

The contact name ‘Helen’ lit up my screen for a few seconds before the woman picked. “Hello, sir? Is anything the-”

“Did you sit through the same interview session with Ms. Evans that I did?”

“I- Huh? Who?”

Lord, give me strength, I muttered to myself and drew on a deep well of patience I stored in my heart for moments like this.

“Ms. Evans, the woman’s whose interview I attended last week. If I remember well, she performed exceptionally. Her responses to your questions showed her amazing capabilities and a willingness to dedicate a lot of effort to Silvercrest. Don’t you think so?”

“Yes, I do! She was an outstanding candidate, I remember her interview well!”

“Great! So why did you make the decision to send some bumbling fool to be my assistant?”

“Sir?”

“Fire her so I don’t have to do it myself. She’d probably burst into tears if I said so much as one more word to her.” I murmured the last part more to myself. “I want Ms. Evans here by tomorrow, latest the day after.”

“Yes, Mr Kolynsky.” Helen sighed and I cut the call.

Now, all I had to do was wait for my angel to come to me.

Lilac’s POV

As I stood in the tiny kitchen of the rundown apartment I shared with my brother, I avoided his gaze and poured some scrambled eggs into two plates already containing flimsy pieces of bacon.

“Aren’t you late for work?” Benjamin asked. “You don’t look like you’ve showered.”

I sighed and slid his food across the table to him. “I’m not going in today. You’re finishing classes early today, right? Wanna go with me to go see mom?”

Benjamin’s eyes lit up at the idea and my heart ached for him. He wasn’t as lucky as me to get the opportunity so often. In fact, it had been up to two weeks since he last saw her, only able to communicate via phone calls.

“Yes!” Sebastian grinned. “I’m so lucky my professor fell sick— Uh… Not that I’m happy or anything, I hope he gets better soon…” I snickered at his attempts to resolve his statement. “But it’s so nice to finally get the chance to see her.”

“I know, Seb.”

My phone on the table rang with a notification and I picked it as I chewed. It was Millie.

Millie: Not coming today?

Me: Nah. I’m a bit drained.

Well, to be honest, it was more of mental fatigue. I would be able to function fully if I went in for my shift, no issue. But I just didn’t want to deal with anyone today.

Millie: Alright. Jayce needed an extra shift anyway so I’ll let him know he can come in.

Millie: What about your application to Silvercrest. Any word?

Me: I was rejected.

Millie: Oh.

Millie: I’m sorry, babe. I hope you’re not too disappointed.

Me: No.

Yes, I was. But I wasn’t going to admit that. It was weird and pathetic that I was getting this butt hurt over a job rejection. Even weirder because I’d anticipated it. I guess disappointments just hit me a lot harder than I’d thought.

After my brother left for school, I didn’t bother doing anything actually useful. I just crept into my bed and slept off for the rest of the morning.

My sleep was not as fitful as I thought it would be. I guess I really needed the rest. Rest was not something I could afford ever since I found myself plunged into the constant need for money. But just this once, I let myself go.

That afternoon when I woke, I decided to go for a walk. I thought the fresh air would do me a lot of good and it really did. I managed to take my mind off everything I’d been handling lately.

I didn’t realize I’d gotten to the city park until the sound of dogs barking and birds chirping pierced through my thick bubble of relaxation. It really was such a nice noon, evident by the number of people who decided to come out today.

I found a nice bench and sat on it. Usually, my phone would be in my hands immediately, tapping and scrolling away, but today, I decided to be a functioning member of society instead of a phone addict and immerse myself in nature’s environment.

I had no idea how long I spent watching people come and go, and children and their beloved pets play, but when I finally picked my phone again, the time told me it was nearly an hour. As I unlocked it to check if I had any texts, a notification caught my eye—an email notification.

It was weird because I only got emails for professional reasons and wasn't expecting anything of that sort. Still, I went to check it, but just as my finger was going to tap on the email when the sound of commotion halted my movement.

My head whipped up in the direction of the sound and the cause was immediately identified. A small crowd had gathered around something, or maybe someone. I couldn’t really see anything around the tight crowd but also I wasn’t particularly interested in finding out what was going on. It didn’t seem like a threat anyway so, back to my business.

Except I hadn’t even gotten the chance to continue what I was doing when a voice reached my ears. A voice I couldn’t forget even in my dreams, a voice that was deeply familiar in ways there wasn’t any reason to be. I looked up again and there he was, standing in the midst where I could see him through where the crowd had parted.

Ryke Kolynsky.

My traitorous heart fluttered as I took in his appearance across the distance. Tall and imposing, the man stood out starkly from the bland crowd in an attractive designer suit that covered his body like it was second skin. He drew all eyes and attention to him as if he owned this damn place, blonde hair beautiful in the sun in the way that matched his ruthlessly handsome face.

What the hell was Ryke doing here? The city park didn’t seem like a place someone like him would visit casually given his status. I should have noticed that the crowd surrounding him consisted mostly of paparazzi photographers and fan women. And three burly, suspicious looking men who were probably his bodyguards.

The bodyguards, I scoffed at because I get it, he’s a CEO, super important man, basically a celebrity. But really? Three bodyguards? I snorted to myself at how absurd it was.

I hadn’t realized I was still staring till a pair of irritated green eyes snagged on mine and I jolted in my seat. Ryke caught me staring. Blushing, I ducked my head into my phone and tried my hardest to shrink my body to become as unnoticeable as possible. But it was too late. Ryke had seen me.

Amidst the noise, a screech pierced through the air, shrill and damn near hurting my ears. A voice followed immediately after, “Ryke, you bastard!” Looking to see who it was, I spotted a woman I hadn’t noticed before. Big red locks spilled elegantly over pale shoulders and a jewelry-adorned neck. She too, I noted, was dressed as expensively as the man beside her.

I couldn’t hear Ryke’s response because while whoever the woman was screamed for the entire place to hear, Ryke still had the decorum to speak in a calm, lowered tone. He could only be heard by the people near them. A shame. I really wanted to be in on the drama.

The two continued arguing heatedly and I was only able to gleam bits and pieces of what it was about. Ryke looked really annoyed, perhaps because the woman was making whatever this was a big deal and a public affair.

They went on for a little longer until the woman yelled, “Show me then! If the so-called woman is here, freaking show her to me else everyone here will know the real Ryke. Nothing but a dirty liar!”

Immediately, Ryke’s eyes snapped to mine again and I frowned in confusion. Why was he looking at me? I wanted to move out of that fierce gaze but it felt like I was pinned by it. Ryke’s expression changed from vexation to something smoother, calmer, as if he’d come to a decision about something in his mind without voicing it.

The man moved, marching through the grass till he got to me and, shocking me, stretched out a hand. Everywhere was quiet as it had been since the moment he got here except now, all the attention was on me as well. Uncomfortably so.

“I’ve been waiting for you. Come on, let’s go.” Ryke said, his deep voice sending butterflies through my stomach.

“What…?” I managed to croak, still in shock.

“The business meeting? At the cafe down the road, don’t tell me you forgot. Come on, let’s go.” Green eyes stared unmoving at me but in the depths of them, I could see desperation. He needed me to play along with whatever this was.

“O-Okay.” I took his hand that was still stretched out and he pulled me up. He let go immediately and I found myself missing the warmth of his grip, but I forced myself not to dwell on that and joined Ryke as he started to leave.

The crowd and paparazzi immediately began to follow but Ryke’s bodyguards took their places around us and Ryke called out, “No one follow me or I will be pressing charges.” Without even looking back, he adds, “That includes you too, Samantha.”

***

As I stood in front of the cafe Ryke led me to, which coincidentally was GoldenSpoon, the cafe I worked at, I couldn’t help but feel like this was some sort of strange dream. About a week ago, I had never met this man. Ryke Kolynsky was an untouchable piece of the world I lived in, someone so apparently perfect he was out of the reach of ordinary people like me.

So the fact that I was here, standing with him in front of my workplace … yeah that sounded like something my mind made up and fed to me as a dream. Maybe I was still at home sleeping.

“Are you alright?” I asked softly, despite my inclination to not care and hold a grudge about my interview he botched.

Ryke, who I realized had been staring at me with a strange look in his eyes, snapped out of his daze and nodded. “Yeah. Sorry for dragging you into all of this. I just…” He dragged a hand down his face. “I had to get away from her.”

I bit down the urge to ask for context and nodded solemnly like I completely understood and sympathized with him. Distantly, I registered the feeling of warmth around a part of my body. My attention was so caught up in Ryke that I’d completely forgotten—we were still holding hands.

Red flushed in my cheeks at the realization. I froze, stuck between wanting to yank mine out and not doing anything about it. I didn’t want to see his disgusted reaction. The way he flinched away from me a week ago in that empty hallway as I tried to clean his clothes replayed humiliatingly in my mind, so yeah.

But unfortunately for me, I couldn’t stop my fingers from twitching and the taller man looked down, finally noticing our conjoined hands.

Ryke immediately let go and my heart sank a little at the speed with which he did. He really couldn’t wait a moment to get away from me, huh? Still, I couldn’t help but notice he’d squeezed before doing so. It was such a miniscule movement that I frowned, unsure if I’d imagined it. But no, he’d squeezed my hand before dropping it. I was sure of that.

The sound of Ryke’s deep voice clearing his throat caused me to look up at him. “Sorry again, and thanks. And uh, you should check your email.”

“What?” Check my email? That was such a random statement, I stared dumbly for a while, trying to grab the sudden change in topic.

“Your email?” Ryke chuckled, his green eyes soft as he watched me. Weird. “You should check it soon.”

“Oh. Right. Yeah, I will.” Jesus Christ, this is so awkward. I thought. Then I remembered something.

“How do you know my name?” I asked. That wasn’t all but I didn’t have the courage. I wanted to ask why the way he said it felt so familiar. I wanted him to explain to me why a feeling so hot and right ran down my body and tugged at something deep in my memory at the sound of it falling from his lips.

Ryke smiled, something undecipherable with a strange hint of sadness. “Do you really not remember?”

A frown etched itself into my features. “Remember what?”

“Nevermind. I’ll see you tomorrow, Lilac.”

Ryke left me standing in front of the cafe watching Millie who long since noticed our presence and had been watching us with a shocked look on her face. I didn’t get why she was shocked, just like how I didn’t get what Ryke meant by he’ll see me tomorrow. Nothing had made sense in the past few minutes.

But I remembered Ryke’s words to check my email, something that coincided with what I was about to do those moments in the park before he brought his drama over.

And when I did, there sat an email from Silvercrest waiting for me.