Rivan was working in his simple yet elegantly designed office when he was informed by one of his subordinates that the girl he had chosen online for the position of secretary was there.

"Send her in," Rivan said over the phone and went back to examining the new designs of the clothes he had prepared. He was about to organize the Winter Gala to launch his winter collection but his secretary was pregnant and went on maternity leave. So he had no choice but to hire a new one.

This was distressing but the girl seemed qualified at least on paper and he thoroughly ran her background check which came out clean. There were no red flags, apparently.

A slight knock on the door had him saying: "Come in," and a breathtakingly beautiful girl drabbed in a white pantsuit with a double-breasted cropped blazer and high-waisted pleated pants. A red beret adorned her neatly tied raven-black hair. She was tall.

Rivan lifted his head to glance at the girl who took long sturdy but confident steps to approach his light ash walnut desk. She carried a file in her left hand which she hugged to her chest and her deep blue eyes were fixed on Rivan, a slight smile played on her crimson lips as she softly spoke:

"Hello!"

For a second Rivan couldn’t peel his eyes off her not because of how beautiful and elegant she was but also how she had a peculiar scent. He couldn’t place what species she was for her scent was sweet and a bit piquant at the same time. 𝕗𝗿𝕖𝐞𝐰𝗲𝕓𝐧𝕠𝕧𝗲𝐥.𝚌𝐨𝚖

Rivan didn’t like when he couldn’t place people for he was always apprehensive of them and since Aselia, he had developed serious trust issues. So, he decided to be very straightforward with the girl, he needed to know if she could be trusted.

He clasped his hands and asked in an authoritative tone: "Before we proceed to greetings and other questions I want to be clear on one thing. I detest liars and there is no place for them in my office so I will only ask you once and your answer will determine if you would be working for me or not."

"Understood, Sir!" the girl responded with a nod of her head.

"What are you? I can’t place your species," Rivan asked bluntly and observed her with scrutinized eyes while silently listening to her heartbeat.

"I am a vampire-elven hybrid," She tilted her beret to show him her ears which were pointed not like Aselia’s though, who had much more pointed ones as compared to this girl.

Rivan was a bit taken aback by her straightforward answer, he didn’t know that such hybrids existed due to the animosity between the two species. But then there were Xiran and Aselia, trying to work out their differences and make this work.

"How old are you?" Rivan asked her next still eyeing her suspiciously.

"I am 23 years old and still growing, I am not sure if I will age like elves or stop at a point like vampires because I have never met someone like me," She added not letting the smile on her face falter, her heartbeat was stable, indicating she was most probably not lying. Not everyone had to be like Aselia, a master at lying and fabricating the truth.

"Take a seat, Miss Irlana," Rivan instructed as he twirled the pen in between his lithe fingers.

"Thank you, Sir!" the girl settled down opposite him and Rivan extended his hand to ask for the red file she was holding.

She gladly handed it over with steady hands and eagerly observed as Rivan thoroughly scanned the contents of the file.

"So you have one year of experience working for a multinational fashion company before. Why did you leave your previous job?" Rivan asked without taking his eyes off her file.

"Anthos is not a safe place for someone like me. I hid my identity there but was discovered, so it was no longer safe to work there. So I packed and came to Druhias and applied here," She replied confidently, not once her words faltered.

"Where are your parents?" Rivan inquired next, his tone cold.

"Mother died a few years ago and father is not in the picture, my mother was my only family," A hint of sadness had crept up in the unwavering voice of the girl with the red beret.

"I am sorry to hear that," Rivan finally glanced at her and she nodded respectfully at his words.

"It’s alright Sir," her striking blue eyes twinkled with warmth and reflected a keen kindness.

"Miss Irlana, you are hired. Start from today, we have a lot of work to do for the Winter Gala which will be held next month. Creative Director Karliana will guide you through all your responsibilities, kindly contact her and resume work. We don’t have a single second to waste," Rivan closed the red file and handed it back to her.

"Yes, Sir! I will start right away," the girl accepted the file back but Rivan held onto it.

"Miss Irlana I am not a patient man when it comes to working and I certainly don’t like people who are lax in it. Tardiness will not be accepted in this company..." Rivan was interrupted by the sudden opening of his office door and the intrusion of his best friend, who barged in like a snowstorm.

Dressed in a white turtle neck and matching dress pants with his hair tied neatly in a ponytail he seemed to have stepped out of a playboy magazine.

"Rivi, guess what? Oh!!! Are you in the middle of something?" Xiran asked apologetically, not looking apologetic at all as he strode over to his friend with a huge smile.

"I was until you decided to interrupt me," Rivan shook his head with an amused expression and let the file go. The girl peeked at Xiran and her heart skipped a beat while her mouth went slightly dry.

"Whatever it was, can wait. I have something important to talk to you about," Xiran dragged the chair to the slight left of the girl and settled in it with his legs crossed. He didn’t spare the girl a glance, although he could smell her strange scent.

"Miss Irlana we will talk later, meanwhile, settle down in your office," Rivan addressed the girl who nodded her head and threw a last lingering look at Xiran before leaving.

Once the door had closed behind her, Xiran asked with curiosity: "Who was she?"

"New secretary," Rivan responded in a bored tone. He purposely didn’t tell Xiran what she was.

"What happened to your old one?"

"Maternity leave," Rivan sighed knowing how difficult it would be to work with someone new.

"I see, bad timing," Xiran chuckled.

"Stop enjoying my misery, what was it that you wanted to talk to me about?" Rivan asked with a serious expression.

"So I had been thinking and I concluded that Winter Gala would be the best opportunity for me to invite Aselia over, she will be able to watch the show and spend some time with me," Xiran replied with a cheeky grin on his face.

This made Rivan raise an eyebrow at him as he grumbled: "This is what you wanted to talk to me about?"

"Yes," Xiran laughed throwing his head back.

"I want to punch you so hard right now and break your perfect jaw," Rivan was furious and Xiran wouldn’t stop laughing at him.

"I am neck-deep buried in work, my reliable secretary is gone, companies are breathing down my neck for sponsors, some of my designs are not even ready, my venue is undecided and here my best friend’s only worry is his maniac hunter girlfriend," Rivan shook his head in annoyance.

"Ok, ok you might have a point. But she is mine and I don’t care if she is a maniac," Xiran tilted his head at his best friend and blinked his eyes several times to annoy him even more.

"Jerk, that’s what bothers me, you are in too deep," Xiran brushed away his concerns with a flick of his hand and spoke in his throaty sing-song voice:

"Also, I have a perfect venue in mind. I can’t help with all the issues but can certainly help with venue one. Come let me show you," Xiran sprang up from his seat.

"You do? Tell me about it," Rivan’s interest was piqued.

"Come come, let’s go. Your time is of the essence," Xiran took his arm and almost dragged him along with him.

"Wait, idiot, let me get my cell phone. What’s gotten into you today?" Rivan eyed him suspiciously as he picked up his cell phone from his desk.

"I am excited to meet her, and can’t wait to hold her in my arms again and then," Xiran made smooching sounds while Rivan had a disgusted expression on his face as he sighed so heavily at his friend making Xiran laugh again.

"The term ’Hopeless romantic’ was coined keeping you in mind," Rivan grumbled as both men stepped outside the door and made their way to the parking lot. Unaware of how Miss Irlana watched the silver-haired vampire with keen interest. Her eyes followed him until he disappeared from her sight.