Sweet Sinner

Anton’s POV: I didn't have time for this. I had a million things to do today, and being interviewed by some college student for a magazine I'd never heard of definitely wasn't very high on my list of priorities. Or on my list at all. But I'd promised Sander's that I'd do this interview for him as a favor. I had no idea why, but there wasn't much I could do about it now. On top of having to waste at least twenty minutes of my time with this ammature college journalist, my whole day had been one giant f**k up - from Carmen, the receptionist, scheduling the wrong meetings, to my newest submissive breaking her ankle on some surfing trip she was on - it was just one hell of a f*****g day, so suffice it to say that my mood wasn't the best when Carmen notified me that the aforementioned college student was here. A few seconds later my office door was being pushed open, and in walked the total opposite of what I'd been expecting. I had expected someone very professional looking, someone who was attempting to portray the business side of journalism - but that's not at all what this girl looked like. Messy. She had a wild mess of unruly hair that was spilling out of the bun she had on top of her head - a bun that was being held up with pencils, no less - the white blouse she wore was at least two sizes too big, and instead of dress pants she had on black skinny jeans with a pair of scuffed up combat boots. Her face was innocent enough - blue eyes, pink lips, slightly flushed cheeks as if she'd ran to get here. I glanced down at my desk to see where Carmen had written her name on a piece of paper, before standing up to shake her hand. "Ms. Winslet, nice to meet you." She shook my hand, but also shook her head, "I'm not Tricia, my name's Hannah Spellman." I raised an eyebrow and sat down, waiting for her to get the hint and do the same before asking, "So why are you here?" "Something came up last minute..." She was slightly out of breath. "She would've been here if she could've, but she asked me to come and do the interview instead." I tilted my head to the side slightly, studying her. She'd caught her breath, and now seemed just as ready to get done with this as I was. For some reason this irritated me. She should be happy that I was taking time out of my day to help her. Then again, it wasn't actually helping her if I was understanding her story correctly. "So you are?" She narrowed her eyes at me and enunciated her words slowly, "Hannah Spellman, as I said when I came in." "I'm well aware of your name, Ms. Spellman. I did hear you. My question was regarding your relationship to the magazine this is supposed to go in. I mean why did Ms. Winslet choose you to take her place?" "Oh." she said, tucking a few stray pieces of hair behind her ear and leaning back in her seat, "I'm her best friend." I raised an eyebrow, waiting for her to continue. "I don't have any relationship to the magazine. I'm not a writer...or journalist I guess." she said, her eyes finally flitting around my office. The strange thing was that it wasn't the usual wide eyed stare I usually got from women her age, but more so a critical eye. Curious. "So what do you do, Ms. Spellman?" She looked back to me and said, "I'm an artist." "Isn't that what every struggling young student who doesn't know what they want in life says?" "Every famous work of art you have in this overly ostentatious example of your wealth was once created by a 'struggling young student', as you so eloquently put it, Mr. Dark." she fired back. I was slightly taken aback, because it was rare that anyone ever had such a quick comeback - or a comeback at all - let alone one that sounded educated enough to even be entertained, for something I'd said. I bit the inside of my cheek - a favor for Sanders. "Shouldn't you be asking me questions, or do you think I have all day?" I asked with a smirk. "I was just waiting for you to take a break from the arbitrary stares you've been giving me since I walked through the door." she said with a smile while she pulled out a notepad and a recorder, "So Mr. Dark, how would you say you've managed to build this incredible empire at such a young age?" I blinked a few times, trying to wrap my head around this girl - Ms. Spellman - before replying. "My parents are both very successful, and they put great value on hard work. So when I decided that this is what I wanted to do, I committed to it one-hundred percent." Her face was impassive as she read the second question, "What is your favorite thing that your company does?" "Finding different forms of sustainable energy." At that the indifference on her face shifted to something else and she asked, "Like what?" "Like bioengineering solutions. We've actually used some new technology in a few countries and we've gotten incredible results." "So you like the idea of being able to make countries self reliant so that we don't have problems with certain climates being unable to produce crops, in turn making starvation nonexistent?" I had to admit I was surprised. Of all people that I would've expected to be interested in and know anything about this particular topic, she was definitely not it. "Exactly." She seemed slightly less irritated by my existence and asked, "It's no secret that you're an extremely private man, but would you mind answering a few questions about your personal life?" "Depends on the questions, Ms. Spellman." "Fair enough." she said, glancing at the notepad with obvious distaste, "Honestly, I wouldn't answer half of these, and my life isn't nearly as exciting as yours." Great. I had no idea what people's fascination was with my personal business. "Is there a woman in your life?" "No." She seemed slightly surprised, but didn't comment, instead asking her next question. "Outside of your family are there any people you're very close to?" I shook my head, "No. Like you said, I'm a very private person." "Many women refer to you as the most eligible bachelor around, so everyone's..." she rolled her eyes at the words before continuing, "So everyone's wondering if you're looking to settle down anytime soon?" I shook my head, "No." The thought alone of being in a serious relationship - or any relationship that went further than the relationships I had with my submissives - wasn't anything I was interesting in exploring. "Shocker." she muttered under her breath. "Was there something you wanted to say, Ms. Spellman?" I asked, meeting her gaze across the desk. "No, Mr. Dark, not a thing." she said, sarcasm dripping from each word. "So lastly, do you have any advice to the younger readers out there who are aspiring to be like you?" I couldn't suppress my sharp chuckle at her question. "What's funny?" she asked, looking over at me, but I simply shook my head. "Oh come on, you've hardly had any facial expression the entire time I've been in here, and the one thing that get's a reaction out of you is something you're not willing to share?" Oh that definitely wasn't the only thing that was getting a reaction out of me. Her smart mouth was definitely something that needed to be dealt with. "I get asked this question often while doing interviews, and the only thing I can think to say, to become successful in whatever you're doing, is just to f*****g go for it." Her eyes widened and she said, "I'll edit that out." I shrugged, it made no difference to me - it wasn't exactly a secret that I had a foul mouth. "Well those are all the questions. Thank you so much for your time." she said, closing her notepad and putting it and the recorder back into her bag. I nodded, "Of course." She stood, and so did I, shaking my hand before turning to walk out. "Ms. Spellman?" She turned back around to face me, eyebrow raised, "Yes?" "How many classical pieces of art are in this room?" I had no idea why I was asking her anything, but I refused to have her believe that she had won whatever little mental sparring we'd engaged in. This was my world, and I liked to exert control over all things in it, and for the time being, that included her. "Uh...why?" "Humor me." She sighed, her eyes scanning the room quickly, "Five." Damn. "Now if you're done testing my observational skills, I do need to go." she said, spinning around to leave again, "Have a good day, Mr. Dark." Oh no, that just wouldn't do.