The Way He Watches Me

“You’re late.”

The deep voice stopped me before I could even knock.

My hand froze above the glass office door.

For a second, I stared at my reflection in the polished surface—wide brown eyes, nervous expression, navy-blue blouse already wrinkled from sweating through the morning.

How did he know I was there? I swallowed hard before pushing the door open slowly.

The office was colder than the rest of the building. Clean. Dark and Expensive. Floor-to-ceiling windows overlooked the city below, and somewhere in the distance, thunder rumbled through the gray morning sky.

Behind the massive black desk sat the man everyone downstairs feared.

Mr. Alex Laurent. CEO of Laurent Holdings.

He didn’t look up immediately. His attention remained on the documents in front of him, silver watch glinting beneath the dim office lights controlled and dangerously calm.

“You were supposed to be here at eight,” he said.

I glanced at the clock on the wall.

8:07 AM.

“I— I’m sorry, sir. The elevator—”

“The elevator arrived on time.”

My lips pressed together. Okay, so he was one of those bosses.

I stepped further into the office, clutching my bag tighter against my shoulder this job mattered too much for me to mess up. Rent was due last week, and my landlord had already threatened me twice.

And after three months of unemployment, Laurent Holdings was the only company that had called me back, even though I still didn’t understand why I’d applied here months ago, was rejected, and then, suddenly, last week, HR called saying there had been a “change in hiring decisions.”

Weird, but I hadn’t asked a desperate question people couldn’t afford pride. Finally, Alex lifted his eyes toward me and my stomach tightened instantly. His gaze was sharp. Not the kind that wandered politely over someone during introductions.

His eyes studied people as if he were reading something invisible beneath their skin.

“Blair Thompson,” he said smoothly.

I nodded once. “Yes, sir.”

“Twenty-two years old.”

My fingers slowly tightened around my bag.

“Lives alone.”

A strange chill crept down my spine.

Most companies had employee information that wasn’t weird probably.

“You changed apartments twice in one year,” he continued. “And you have a habit of biting your nails whenever you’re nervous.”

My breath caught because my thumb had been between my teeth seconds ago outside the door. I quickly lowered my hand, but his expression didn’t change.

“How…” I started quietly.

Alex leaned back slightly in his chair.

“Observation is important in business.”

Something about the way he said it made my skin prickle the room suddenly felt smaller. I forced out a weak laugh.

“Right.”

Heavy silence followed the kind that made you painfully aware of your breathing. I looked around awkwardly, trying not to panic under his stare.

The office looked almost untouched. Everything is perfectly arranged. No family pictures. No personal decorations. Just black shelves, dark furniture, and cameras.

Tiny security cameras positioned in corners. Maybe that was normal for a company this big. Still…I felt watched. Alex closed the file in front of him.

“You’ll be assisting the executive department temporarily.”

My eyes widened slightly. Executive department? That wasn’t the position I applied for.

“I thought I was hired as a receptionist.”

“You were reassigned.”

“Why?”

The question escaped before I could stop it. For the first time, something unreadable flickered in his eyes.

“Do you always question opportunities given to you, Miss Thompson?”

Heat rushed to my face.

“No, sir.”

“Good.”

God, this man was exhausting already. He stood from his chair, and I immediately realized how tall he actually was. Tall enough to make the entire room feel different once he moved.

His white dress shirt was rolled slightly at the sleeves, exposing tattoo ink disappearing beneath the fabric.

That surprised me. He didn’t look like someone who broke rules. He walked toward me slowly, stopping just close enough to make my heartbeat stutter.

“You’ll report directly to me,” he said.

I blinked. “Directly to you?”

“Yes.”

“That seems a little unnecessary for someone like me.”

His eyes held mine for a second too long.

“I disagree.”

The air between us suddenly felt strange it was intense. I looked away first, big mistake because that allowed me to notice the folder sitting on the edge of his desk my name was written across it not unusual. Except—The folder looked too thick as if it contained more than employment papers.

Alex noticed where my eyes landed before I could react, he closed the folder calmly and placed it inside a drawer locked it then looked back at me.

“You’re curious.”

“No,” I lied quickly.

A faint smile almost appeared on his face.

Almost.

“You should be careful with curiosity, Blair.”

The way he said my first name sent another uncomfortable chill through me we’d met less than five minutes ago but why did it feel like he already knew me?

A knock interrupted the tension. A woman entered the office wearing a fitted black suit and heels sharp enough to kill somebody she was elegant, beautiful, and terrifying.

“Sir,” she said calmly. “The board meeting begins in twenty minutes.”

Her eyes shifted toward me briefly, giving a cold assessment then back to him.

Alex nodded once. “This is Blair Thompson.”

The woman gave me a small smile that somehow felt fake.

“Vanessa Hale,” she introduced smoothly. “Mr. Laurent’s assistant.”

Assistant. Right….

Which meant she probably spent more time with him than anyone else in the building poor woman.

“Please prepare Miss Thompson’s access card,” Alex said.

Vanessa hesitated just slightly but I noticed.

“You’re giving her level-three access?” she asked carefully.

Level three?

Alex’s expression hardened instantly.

“Is there a problem?”

“No, sir.”

Interesting.

Vanessa looked at me again, this time with something close to concern that scared me more than Alex’s coldness because it felt like a warning.

—

By the time I left the office two hours later, my head was pounding. The building suddenly felt different now like everyone knew something I didn’t employees lowered their voices when I walked past. Some stared too long others avoided eye contact completely.

I hurried outside into the cool evening air, finally breathing properly again maybe I was overthinking everything, maybe every rich company was just weird.

My phone vibrated inside my bag I pulled it out absentmindedly.

Unknown Number. A message appeared.

You looked beautiful in blue today.

I stopped walking, my heartbeat instantly slowed then dropped completely because I had never told anyone what I was wearing.

And when I slowly turned back toward the towering glass building behind me—

A figure stood motionless at the top-floor window watching me.