The presentation room felt like an ice box. Not literally, of course.. but the air conditioning was blasting so cold it felt like a quiet, deliberate punishment. It was a stressful place designed to test your nerve, and Sasha was right in the middle of it. Her voice, which was usually a quick, lively stream of passionate ideas, came out strangely calm as she moved through the slides with a rhythmic, almost hypnotic click of the remote. All she could hear was the low whir of the projector and the quiet scuff of a shoe on the polished mahogany floor.
Everyone in the room was looking at her, but the only eyes that truly counted belonged to the man sitting at the head of the table.
Luca Meyer.
He didn't just sit in a chair, he owned the space. His posture was perfectly straight, his wide shoulders squared beneath the flawless cut of his charcoal suit. The fabric looked like it had been custom made just for him, a clear sign of his extremely high standards. He wasn't looking at the glowing screen behind Sasha, but directly at her, his gaze as sharp and focused as a laser. It wasn't an aggressive stare, but one of pure, silent assessment, the kind of look that could take apart a design, a person, or an entire company without a single word. The silver in his hair at his temples and the faint lines around his eyes only added to the seriousness of his mature, work obsessed demeanor. He had a way of being intimidatingly quiet, a stillness that made everyone else feel rushed by comparison. But Sasha knew he was fair, careful, and rarely dramatic. He was simply the CEO, and she was a senior interior designer. That's all there was to it.
Sasha kept her mind on the job, tucking away the anxious knot in her stomach. She rattled off the design's technical details with precision, her years of experience making her delivery seem deceptively easy. She knew the design was good. The real question was if it was good enough for him.
"And finally.." Sasha said, her voice lifting with a practiced confidence that didn't quite calm the butterflies she still felt, "the main event, a completely modular lobby that can change from a peaceful coffee lounge during the day to a lively, immersive art gallery at night. The lighting is inspired by the aurora borealis, creating a changing, active mood without being too much."
She clicked the final slide.
The final image flashed on the screen, a high resolution masterpiece from her team. Soft, shimmering lights danced across the digital walls, illuminating sleek, simple furniture and the elegant curves of a falling water feature. Sasha held her breath, the silence stretching out for what felt like forever. This was her moment of truth.
Then, he leaned forward, breaking the perfect calm around him. "The aurora borealis. I like that, Sasha. It's innovative."
Sasha's chest hurt with the force of the relief that swept over her. It was a physical release, a sudden lift of the huge pressure she'd been under. Luca glanced at the other executives in the room, a silent order in his eyes, and a collective wave of agreement spread through them. "Excellent work" he said, turning back to Sasha, the hint of a genuine smile briefly softening the hard lines of his face. "Let's get the contracts ready."
Sasha smiled.. a big, real grin that reached her eyes. "Thank you, boss."
•°•°•°•°•°•°•
As the room immediately filled with the sound of chatter, her colleague, Sameer, gave her a clap on the back, a little harder than needed. "You nailed it, Sasha. I was honestly praying he wouldn't tear apart the lighting concept."
Sasha laughed, the sound bright and bubbly, exactly matching her mood. "Me too. I think I almost passed out at least three times during that presentation."
The rest of the afternoon was a blur of high fives and congratulations. Sasha the designer was on fire, her work validated by the toughest critic in the whole business. The weight of the achievement settled over her, not as a burden, but as a comforting blanket of success. She felt unstoppable, capable of taking on any challenge the corporate world could throw at her.
Later that day, as Sameer and she got onto the crowded metro to go to the construction site, Sasha felt a sense of pure, unadulterated happiness. Her phone vibrated in her pocket. 'Mom❤️' flashed on the screen. Sasha swiped the notification away. She was on a packed metro, heading to a work site. Her mother could wait. Sasha was on a high, and she didn't want anything to bring her down.
A minute later, the phone rang again. Again, Sasha silenced it, putting the phone deeper into her bag. The loud, clattering noise of the metro and the press of the crowd were a small price to pay for the sweet, lingering taste of her professional victory.
As they finally emerged from the suffocating rush of the metro and into the chaotic yet peaceful symphony of the city, Sasha's phone buzzed with an incoming call from her mother. This time, she didn't hesitate. She answered it as she slipped into the back of a waiting taxi.
"Hello, Mom, I'm in a cab. Is everything okay?" Sasha asked, her voice a little breathless from running through the crowd.
"You never answer my calls..!" her mother started, a familiar sigh in her tone. "Anyway, your aunt found a perfect boy for you. I want you to meet him after work today."
Sasha's shoulders sagged in defeat. A blind date. Again. "Mom, I'm exhausted. And I have to go to a site right now. I don't have time for this."
"Just meet him for coffee! He's a good boy. He's handsome, successful, and from a nice family. I've already sent his details and a photo to your phone. Don't tell me no. You are not getting any younger."
Sasha sighed, a long, drawn out sound of pure surrender. "Fine. But if he is boring, I won't hesitate to leave."
"I'm so glad you're finally being reasonable" her mother chirped happily, and then ended the call before Sasha could object further.
As the taxi jerked forward, Sasha pulled out her phone, a tired sense of anticipation washing over her. She scrolled down, her thumb hovering over the attached image. With a sigh, she tapped it open.
She squinted at the photo, which was loading slowly, a vague feeling of familiarity settling over her. The crisp white shirt, the subtle, confident tilt of his head, the way his shoulders were set... a cold dread began to form in her stomach. No, it couldn't be. Not him. Sasha tapped the photo to zoom in, and the world seemed to tip sideways.
The sharp edges of the taxi seat, the blurred movement of the city outside the window, it all dissolved into a strange, unreal haze. Sasha's jaw dropped. The phone suddenly felt heavy in her hand, like it weighed a ton.
Sameer, who was looking at his own phone in the seat next to her, glanced up. "What's wrong? You look like you just saw a ghost." He started to lean over, his head tilted in casual curiosity, a relaxed smile on his face.
"Nothing!" Sasha blurted out, a little too loud. She quickly locked her phone, tucking it under her leg. She forced a smile that felt more like a painful grimace. "Just... a weird message from my mom. You know how she is."
He shrugged, a playful smirk on his face. "Tell me about it. Mine's trying to set me up with my dentist's daughter." He went back to his phone, dropping the moment as fast as it had appeared.
Sasha turned her head to face the taxi window, the passing scenery blurring into streaks of gold and red. Her mind was spinning. A hundred questions ricocheted inside her head. How? How did her mother's random blinds date matchmaking lead her to the single most intimidating and powerful man she knew?.
Her parents and their friends, her aunt, were a world away from the high stakes corporate environment where she knew Luca Meyer. He was a CEO, not some guy her mom's friend wanted to set her up with. The social circle overlap that allowed this seemed mathematically impossible.
She thought back to the conference room, the cold air, the razors sharp scrutiny of his look. She had been Sasha, the designer, giving a presentation to the CEO. It was a purely professional, high pressure exchange. Now, the professional boundaries weren't just blurry, they were gone.. replaced by a tangled mess of personal absurdity. He was an intimidating, workaholic boss, but he was also fair..
What would he think now? Would he be amused? Annoyed? Would he think she had somehow arranged this? The irony of the situation was a bitter taste in her mouth. She had spent all day trying to impress him with her professional skill, and now she was supposed to meet him as a dutiful daughter going on a blind date.
And what did his family think? They must have sent him her photo too. Sasha, the senior interior designer who had just wowed him with an innovative lighting concept, was now Sasha the girl his family wanted him to go on a blind date with. The presentation was a victory.. this was a potential disaster.
The thought of facing him, not across a conference table with her shield of professionalism, but over a casual cup of coffee, made her blood run cold. She didn't know whether to scream, laugh or just cancel her life and move to a different country. The pressure of the presentation had been huge, but the pressure of this sudden, work meets family date felt paralyzing. She pulled her phone out again, staring at the photo of the CEO, the man who held her career in his hands, who now apparently held her dating life in them too.
[To be continued]
...