*Oh my god. Ava had never known such pain. But she wasn't scared..well maybe a little bit. She'd never admit it. Especially not to him. She wasn't even able to admit it to herself. Maybe he'll see how much she loves him through her suffering. Then he'll love her the way she wants him to. As long as she loves him the way he wants her to. 

Ava knows he has a good...the wind whistles and she can't hold back the tears any longer. She cries out. Without seeing his face she knows he's smiling. That smile used to weaken her knees and now it's brought her down to them.

Her mind goes blank and she knows she's his.*

-Smooth on the outside...YOU BETTER BE!-

Ava smoothed out her pristine Ralph Lauren business professional power suit as she took a deep breath and exhaled slowly. Time for her employee review. Its weird though, Mr Rack doesn't do these. He's...above it. But for some reason he wants to do hers personally. She's heard the rumors about him; she doesn't believe them. His smile is too warm. 

She put her phone on silent and entered the modern monochromatic office suite. She's greeted by the wry smirk on Svetlana's angular face, framed by her chic black bob.

"Mr. Rack ees on en important cahl. I vill send heem a messahj en he vill be wit yoo ven he ees aybal." Her r's rolled off her tongue as she checked her perfect nails. The perfect embodiment of dry amusement and boredom; an impossible combination she spent countless hours rehearsing.

"Thank you Svetlana. Is that Chanel I smell?"

"No." She raises an eyebrow. "Bvlgari." She looks Ava up and down. "Lass seesohn?" She asks rhetorically, lazily waving her long french manicure at Ava's weak suit, draining the confidence she had built up this morning in the mirror with her positive affirmations with less energy than it took for Ava to catch her scoff before it left her.

Ava's cheeks burn red, and she glances at her shoes; only for a moment before she raises her eyes to meet Svetlana's, whose hooded eyes were already back on her perfect nails.

Ava reluctantly turned her back in symbolic surrender and went to sit down in a chair designed for aesthetics over comfort, examining her own nails in shame. By the time she took her seat, her face had chilled, and she wore a look of indifference. If Svetlana cared, she would have noticed the inept facade Ava was so proud of.

Ava sat in the beautiful ergonomic chair and inhaled. Surrounded by modern monochrome: the greys, white, and sleek lines of black, fading away in the presence of the CEO of Endeavour: John Jacob Rack.

He looked up at her from his file, leaned back and held her gaze down like a jaguar until she exhaled and averted her eyes: butterflies softly awakening in her stomach. She looked back up and thought she saw a glimmer of a grin. She was pretty enough. A bit chubby and could use some polishing. He broke his gaze only to pick up her file and turned the page. He seemed completely at ease in what Ava considered awkward silence. 

"I-is that Chanel I smell?" Ava was sure Mr. Rack could see her kicking herself in her head when he looked in her eyes.

"...No." 

More silence. Ava had seen Mr. Rack in passing but had never been so close to him.

"I find it hard to believe I've gotten so many excellent client remarks about your service." He chuckled wryly, "but I may let you prove yourself."

She had to look away from his piercing gaze. 

"I apologize Mr. Rack. Under normal circumstances I do very well in social situations. At this moment, I admit to being a bit...uneasy...uh...perplexed as to why you would want to be in charge of my review, as we have barely interacted before; I'm sure you have more important dealings than this." 

His eyes seemed to study every word that came from her mouth as if she were an alien object and he a xenoarchaeologist. 

"You are absolutely right, Ms. Werner. Continue."

Ava broke his gaze, the butterflies growing warmer...and lower. Continue? That's all I had to say...maybe he wants me to prove myself somehow...you got this girl. Get it! 

"I deeply enjoy what I do here. Making sure our clients needs and desires are met and in sync with Endeavour is my goal and passion." His eyes flashed for a brief moment. Ava didn't see this but could feel that she was saying the right things. " I feel every project has it's individual needs and one must actively listen to the client and understand Endeavour from the inside out in order to manage everyone's needs and merge our goals." Ava was on a roll! 

Two minutes later she felt the energy in the room drop and she realized she had begun rambling. 

"In closing, I take an empathetic approach in my communication, and I feel this gives me an advantage over other Client Relations Agents who seem to consider their projects just a job to punch in and out from resulting in a disconnect with the client and the company."

Ava's confidence met his gaze, unmoving and analytical. She promises to unabashedly hold his eyes in her own now; she is a confident, capable woman. His eyes bore through to the mirror in her soul and left a part of his self there, seeing only himself.

"Ms. Werner, under most circumstances i would be looking for someone with more experience under their belt, but you have certain assets...that mesh well with our clients and Endeavour's needs. If I choose to promote you from b2c to b2b, you will work directly under me. So Ava, tell me, do you like to serve and satisfy?"

"I'm sorry?" Ava sputtered. Forcing herself to hold his gaze, she noticed a twinkle.

"Do you like to serve and satisfy?"

"I do."

"Do you?"

"Yes..."

"Yes, what?"

She looked down and flushed. 

..."Yes, sir."