Chapter 22 THE MEETING PART 3
"I said I'm fine!" Vivienne shouted, startling him a little. "You don't need to keep staring."
Alexander stopped talking and leaned back to give her some room. He smiled, his face looked softer.
"I know how you feel." He began, putting the tablet back on the coffee table. "You've said before that you don't do cameras or any of this. But I want to reassure you again that you will be great. You will do well. And I have a team that is dedicated to making sure it happens. I also think we can do it together. You and I."
Vivienne nodded quickly, not trusting herself to say anything. He sounded so sure even when he didn't know who she was, but he felt a connection with her. How ironic.
"Now," Alexander said, changing his tone to something more businesslike, "let's talk about pay."
Even though Vivienne was determined to stay calm, the number he proposed was shocking even to her. The amount was mind-boggling—more than enough to save CrossLight, pay back all of their debts, and still have extra left. The payment was more than fair for a six-month exclusive contract. It was almost too good to be true.
"That's..." she started, but she couldn't finish.
"I hope it's fair?" Alexander's face stayed neutral, but she could see a flash of pleasure in his reaction. "The payment structure includes an advance after signing, followed by monthly installments. The full details are in here."
He reached for a leather folder on the coffee table and slid it over to her. There was a silver Hunt Enterprises logo on the cover.
"This is the real deal. Please read it carefully."
Vivienne opened the folder with unsteady hands. The document inside was big and full of legal language that her mind couldn't handle. She quickly read the first page and saw phrases like "exclusive rights," "image licensing," and "performance capture requirements."
"There's no hurry," Alexander said, keeping a close eye on her. "Take it home. You can go over it with your business partner or a lawyer. I want you to be completely at ease with the terms."
She nodded, thankful for the break. "Thanks. I will."
Alexander leaned forward a little, his face growing more serious. "I do need to say one thing, though."
His tone made her stomach churn. "What's that?"
"We need to start work next Monday after you agree to the contract." He said the statement with clinical accuracy. "One week from today."
The words hit her like a punch in the face. "Next Monday? That soon?"
"The studio for motion capture is already booked. The team is ready." His voice stayed calm and matter-of-fact. "We've already wasted too much time, and we can't afford to waste any more. The summit in Tokyo is only a few weeks away, and we have a lot of work to do."
Vivienne's heart sank. A week. She had seven days to get ready for this big opportunity in her life. To set up childcare for Noah. To tell him why she'd be gone all day, every day. One week before she started spending hours with Alexander Hunt in close quarters. There wasn't enough time.
But what other option did she have? She had to have this contract. CrossLight needed it. Marcus's family needed it. And a blackmailer was out there, watching and waiting.
"I understand," she finally said, her voice empty. "One week. I can do that."
Alexander looked happy, and the tension in his shoulders was clear. "I'm happy. I feel good about working together on this." He stared at her with an unsettling intensity. "I believe we will make something amazing together."
Vivienne had been trying very hard to keep up her professional facade during the whole meeting, keeping her thoughts clinical and businesslike. But it was impossible. Every move he made and every tone of his voice didn't help either.
How his hand would go to his neck without him even thinking about it. The small crease between his eyebrows when he talked about something hard to understand. The way he spoke, the rhythm of his speech, hadn't changed in such a long time.
The meeting went on for more than an hour. They talked about how things would work, what they expected, and the rules of the studio. Alexander showed her videos of motion capture work from other projects on his tablet. As they looked at the screen together, their shoulders almost touched. She could feel the heat coming off him and smell that familiar scent that used to fill her whole world.
"This was our first sketch for the main character in Tyranny," Alexander said as he pulled up a detailed picture. "Athena. A woman who rises from nothing to take control in a world that wants to keep her down."
Vivienne looked at the digital woman, who was strong, fierce, and unyielding. The character's determined face looked back at her like a funhouse mirror of her own life.
Alexander had no idea how ironic it was. But what were the odds? Playing Athena had to be the universe's biggest joke on her.
"Her story arc goes on for five years," he said, not knowing how upset Vivienne was. "From outcast to queen. It's about changing. New life."
Like me, Vivienne thought. Except I went from loved to hunted to hidden.
After almost two hours, Alexander finally put down his tablet. "I believe we've talked about everything for now." He stood up, meaning their conversation was over. "Unless you have any other questions?"
Vivienne stood up too, holding the folder with the contract to her chest like a shield. "No. Not right now. Maybe after I go through the contract."
Alexander nodded.
They walked together to the door. With every step, she felt better. She had made it. The meeting was coming to an end. She would get out of this glass-and-steel tower and breathe again.
"Thank you again. For somehow believing I could do this," she said as they got to the door. The words came out automatically. Then she added, without thinking, "You didn't judge me by the chapter you walked in on either, since I wasn't very nice at our first meeting."
Those words, they were a personal philosophy that came from her own experience of working with people. A phrase she had said to many over and over again over the years, a mantra that had helped her get through loss and betrayal.
Alexander stopped moving.
He turned to look at her so quickly that Vivienne almost ran into him. His brow furrowed a little, and his face went from polite to something more searching.
He said slowly, as if he were tasting the words, "If you judge a life by the chapter you walked in on, you will miss the pages that explain it."
Vivienne's heart stopped. She knew right away that she had made a mistake. Those words, those exact words, were Elara's.
And she's said them in conversations they had many times before, especially when they talked about how his father treated him as a child and how to forgive him.
Alexander was staring at her now. He tilted his head a little to look at her face from a different angle.
"That's... strange," he said, as if to himself. "That sounds so familiar. Those words exactly." He never took his eyes off her face. "I think I've heard them before."
Vivienne's blood ran cold. She made herself keep a neutral face, even though panic was coursing through her veins like electricity. One moment of carelessness. One slip that wasn't on purpose. And now Alexander was standing in the doorway of his office, looking at her, confused.
"It's probably a common phrase," she said in a light tone, her voice higher than usual. "Lots of people probably say things like that."
But Alexander didn't seem to believe it. His eyes narrowed a little as he focused on her, so that her skin tingled. He seemed to be seeing her for the first time.
"Maybe," he said slowly. "It just struck me as... I don't know. Something about the way you said it."
Vivienne thought she saw recognition dawning in his eyes for a split second, but it quickly faded into confusion. He shook his head a little, as if to clear it.
"Strange how certain phrases can make you feel like you've been there before," he said quietly.
Vivienne couldn't get any air. Couldn't move. She could only stand still and pray.
Because if, by the slightest chance, Alexander pieced everything together and found out her true identity,
it would be the beginning of hell on earth for her and her son.