Chapter 52 Chapter 52
“The fuck is wrong with you?” he asked. Valerie shot him a dirty look but didn’t lose her excitement.
“Yes, that’s exactly the person I’m talking about,” Thorne confirmed, and she couldn’t hold in a little squeal.
“Oh my god, Hope will be so jealous when she hears about this,” she giggled. “Thank you so much, Thorne.”
“What’s going on?” Maxwell cut in, more than a little disgruntled.
“I’m not surprised you haven’t heard of him,” Valerie said and rolled her eyes at his ignorance. “Jackson has been working as a model for his father’s fashion brand. He’s absolutely talented, and I’m so excited to meet him! And now that he is the CEO of the company, he’s probably busy, which means I got really lucky to be able to interview him.”
Maxwell just clicked his tongue and glared out the window, not understanding what was so great about a model, a human, no less. Thorne hid a mischievous grin at his surly reaction before his attention moved back to Valerie.
“You should prepare questions before the meeting with him, and make sure you also ask some things that our female readers would like to know about,” he said and winked at her.
“Oh, I definitely will.” she said and glanced at the grumpy demon next to her. “Just to make things clear, you will not accompany me.”
“And why would I listen to a weak little human?” he growled, glaring at her with a weird gleam in his eyes.
“Maxwell.” Thorne cut in. “You won’t go with her, you would ruin it! This is important – the newspaper and our website will receive a ton of attention from this.”
“As I care,” Maxwell spat.
“I already expected you to say something like that,” Thorne retorted. “And that is why we will go on a little trip to hell while Valerie is busy. There is something I want you to help me with.”
“Why should I?” the white-haired demon countered.
“Because it concerns your and Valerie’s safety.”
Now Thorne finally had his attention, which came in the form of a smoldering glare. “Explain,” he hissed, but Thorne looked at him pointedly.
“Later.”
“Do I need to worry about something?” Valerie cut in, smiling nervously.
“No, you don’t. Just leave this to us and concentrate on the interview,” Thorne said and smiled reassuringly, but he couldn’t fully convince her since she had seen the look that both demons had exchanged. Something seemed to be wrong… and for some reason, Thorne didn’t want to involve her.
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Valerie stood in front of the towering building belonging to Regal Enterprises and nervously looked up at it. She had driven to Brooklyntoday and she was looking forward to meeting Jackson in person, but she was also damn scared to mess this up. A lot depended on this interview, and she honestly wondered why Thorne had given her the task since he had other, more experienced journalists working for him. Nonetheless, she was grateful for the opportunity.
Since Jackson’s schedule was very packed, he and Thorne had agreed on two short interviews instead of a long one, which meant that she would get to meet him twice—a fact that made her nervous and giddy at the same time. Being able to talk to one of her biggest idols was something she had never thought possible. She would need to pull herself together in there to keep from screaming like a lovesick schoolgirl…
As she entered through the glass doors, she found herself in a large lobby filled with people and walked up to the reception desk. The woman she talked to explained to her where she needed to go and handed her a visitor’s pass that would enable her to get past the security guards.
Valerie felt jittery as she took the lift to the 18th floor, where his office was supposed to be. For this occasion, she had picked elegant clothing—a light-pink colored dress with short sleeves, suited to the warm summer weather. She had put her hair in a bun and added a bit of makeup.
When she came to stand in front of another secretary's desk, she had to wait for a moment before she got permission to enter Jackson’s office. All this formal stuff made her even more nervous. Her trembling fingers clutched her purse as she walked on to enter the office, where she was greeted by the man she had so often seen on magazine covers. It was unreal to stand in front of him now, and her heart fluttered when she saw his charming smile. Jackson was in his late twenties and had black hair that was neatly combed. He wore a dark blue suit that fit him perfectly. She blushed when she realized that she was staring and finally remembered that she still had to introduce herself.
“Hello, Mr. Regal. My name is Valerie, I’m the journalist who was sent here by Mr. Thorne,” she said politely.
“Nice to meet you. I’m glad we found time for this,” he smiled and gestured for her to take a seat on the sofa. His office was large, offering enough space for a seating area in front of a wide windowpane that allowed a breathtaking view over Brooklyn.
“You can call me Jackson, by the way. Mr. Regal makes me feel so old,” he said with a chuckle.
“Alright, then please call me Valerie,” she replied and took out her notes to begin the interview. She was very nervous at first and also a little shy, blushing bright red whenever she saw him smile (that happened a lot). Her behavior wasn’t exactly professional, but she couldn’t help herself… she was a huge fan of him and a part of her still couldn’t believe that she was speaking to him. It could have been a dream.
He was very charming and kind, surprising Valerie when he answered all of her questions honestly and without beating around the bush like she was used to from other celebrities. As time went on, she began to feel more confident around him and sneaked in one or two questions that she was personally interested in. “Do you have any pets?” she wanted to know, leaning forward curiously.
Jackson nodded and grinned enthusiastically. “Yes, I do. Actually, I’m glad you asked,” he said and pulled his smartphone from his pocket. “It’s a cute dog, I’ll show you a photo of him.”