‘I got tired of not learning new things. I know that an executive assistant position will give me so much access, and I imagine the work is different every day. I love the idea of that. I may not be the most experienced EA you’ll ever meet, but I’m really hardworking and seriously focused. I’d just love the opportunity to show you.’

Okay, I might have gone in a little hot and heavy with the pitch right then, but I’m not leaving anything to chance here. I’d rather he thought I was an embarrassingly keen “pick me” than someone who was apathetic. I wait for him to say something, but he’s staring at my mouth like a man on drugs.

The realisation hits me that this part of the interview may just be a technicality. While it stings, it’s also a relief. Today I’m not the good girl who wants goodwill and validation and gold stars, who wants her every effort recognised. I’m a grown woman who has a clear goal and a very compelling motivation for that goal and who, most importantly, is not above using every trick in the book to reach it.

I lick my lips. Not in an overt, porno way; just in a subtle way, but his eyes track the flicker of my tongue, and the first surge of power hits me in the gut like a shot of tequila.

He wants me.

Of course he does.

Athena’s told me so over and over. I’m so stupid. I’ve been so stressed about how high the stakes are, and how much I need this guy to take a chance on me, and I’ve let that freak me the hell out. I’ve let it make me feel completely disenfranchised, but perhaps my looks, something I can’t take credit for and something I’ve deliberately underplayed since Joe chewed me up and spat me out, give me far more agency here than I’ve accepted up until now.

Sometimes, catching a man’s eye is a bad thing. Joe told me so in as many words, over and over again.

My little prize.

My gorgeous little secret.

If my colleagues could see me now, buried inside the most beautiful student on campus.

Being the woman whom men want to conquer, to claim, is a liability. I learned that the hard way.

But it’s dawning on me that sometimes, in the right circumstances, it’s a breathtakingly powerful currency.

At the end of the day, Brendan is just a guy. A stupidly hot, stupidly rich guy who’s clearly very smart and successful but is probably also quite straightforward. If he’s interested in taking this forward, then all I have to do in this interview is ensure I give him zero reasons not to.