In a quiet café tucked between Manhattan's steel towers, Susan Storm Richards stirred her coffee, her expression tense. Her résumé lay untouched on the table beside her. The interview earlier had started smoothly, but something had shifted inexplicably. One moment she was on track for a position, the next she was being politely—and then firmly—shown the door.
She didn't need to guess how she felt. Rejected. Frustrated. Suspicious.
She took a long breath, attempting to steady herself, when a familiar voice broke through her thoughts.
"Susan. Fate must really enjoy bringing us together."
The voice drew her gaze up. Sitting across from her without invitation was a sharply dressed man with mismatched eyes—one Gold, the other deep Amethyst—watching her with amused satisfaction. Kurogai Alexander Blackwood. Again.
"You? Seriously?" Susan scowled, her patience already paper-thin. "Let me make myself very clear. I have no interest in you. I came here to be alone."
She recognized that look in his eyes from earlier—the same sharp, calculating glint she'd caught during her brief visit to his company. Sure, she knew she had her professional appeal, but this wasn't admiration she was seeing. It felt more like fixation, and that made her uneasy.
Kurogai smiled, undeterred. "I wanted to be alone too. I was just thinking about a woman named 'Quiet.' Wondering if she's eating well, sleeping okay," he said dryly, letting the sarcasm hang in the air like smoke.
Susan's brow twitched. "Not funny," she snapped.
Kurogai tilted his head slightly, his smile unfading. "Are you upset because you were rejected by that company?"
Susan stiffened. That was a direct hit—and the way he said it made her sit up straighter.
"How would you know that?" she asked, voice low. "Don't tell me… you had something to do with it?"
Kurogai didn't flinch. "I did," he replied without hesitation. "I told them not to hire you."
Susan's jaw dropped. "You… Are you serious?! Do you have any idea how—how completely unethical that is? That was a legitimate opportunity!"
"And I made a decision," he said plainly, as if blocking her career path was as casual as choosing lunch.
Susan's anger sparked like wildfire. "What gives you the right? What could you possibly gain from something so—so manipulative?"
Kurogai leaned forward, his voice calm and deliberate. "I told you before, I'm interested in you. So I want to keep you close. Simple as that."
Susan stared at him, utterly stunned. Her chest rose and fell rapidly as her fury brewed just under the surface. "You are unbelievable."
He didn't blink. "And yet, here I am. Offering coffee."
He gestured to her cup with a slight smirk, clearly entertained by her outrage. She seized the cup and downed it out of spite rather than thirst.
"Fine. You want to hire me? Then tell me what exactly you're offering. What company? What project? What's the actual plan? Or is this just your latest tactic to seduce someone you barely know?"
Kurogai's expression shifted. He straightened his posture, suddenly serious. "The project is real. I'm organizing a long-term research mission—observation and experimentation related to cosmic storms. Events on a planetary scale. And I need experts like you."
Susan blinked. "Cosmic storms? That's not a field people just dabble in."
"I'm not dabbling," Kurogai replied. "I have access to the equipment, the funding, and the data. I just need the right minds to pull it off."
Susan studied him now—not the smug charmer, but the visionary. His tone had changed. She could hear clarity in his voice. Direction.
She nodded slowly. "If you're serious, that could be revolutionary... But dangerous."
"It's both," he said.
Something about this caught her off guard. For the first time, she wasn't seeing Kurogai the overconfident rich boy. There was intent behind his words. The kind that hinted at long nights of planning and a vision far beyond personal gain.
She bit her lip slightly. "I'll admit… that plan isn't nonsense. It has potential."
"That's why I'm telling you," he said. Then added, almost too casually, "But the real reason I want you to join me is because I want you around."
And just like that, the progress he made evaporated.
Susan's eyes hardened. "Unbelievable."
He reached for her hand, fingers brushing her skin.
She pulled away instantly. "You almost had me taking you seriously. Then you just had to ruin it with that line."
Her pulse was elevated. Not from attraction—but sheer irritation. Still, somewhere deep down, a tiny thread of curiosity remained. Maybe the plan was real. Maybe he wasn't entirely bluffing.
She stood, grabbing her things. "I'll think about the plan. Not you. Don't get your hopes up."
Kurogai nodded with no trace of concern. "When you've decided, open this."
He reached into his coat and revealed a small silver accessory. Not a bracelet or pendant—something sleek and technological. He placed it gently on the table in front of her. "It's keyed to a spell. I'll know the moment it activates."
Susan picked it up warily, inspecting it as if it might bite. "And this isn't bugged?"
He raised his brows, half-smiling. "Just a magical beacon. Like something Stark might've built, but more elegant."
Susan turned the silver piece over in her hand. She didn't trust him, but she couldn't completely dismiss him either.
Without another word, she walked out of the café, her heels tapping out a rhythm of reluctant interest. Kurogai watched her go, eyes gleaming—not with arrogance, but certainty.
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