“Emily Harris for Miss Jahani,” Emily said.

The middle-aged man behind the desk looked up, flashing his remarkably white teeth at her.

“Good morning, miss Harris!” he replied happily. “Ayesha is waiting for you.”

Emily arched an eyebrow. Ayesha? This guy was on a first-name basis with Jahani? Had she assumed incorrectly that he was her assistant?

“Anything special I should order for breakfast?” he asked, still smiling brightly. He had a small, golden earring in his right ear.

Emily cocked her head. “Eh, no, I don’t think so.”

“No specific dietary requirements?” he pressed on.

“No, none,” Emily replied, amused by the odd exchange. She wasn’t used to having a say in what would be served during a meeting with a CEO.

“In that case, I can highly recommend our vegan superfood morning salad!” he said, beaming.

“Okaaaay,” Emily replied slowly. She had no idea what a vegan superfood morning salad was. “As long as there is coffee,” she joked.

The man grinned back at her. “Not to worry! Ayesha always has coffee ready.”

“Alright. Anything will do, then, ” Emily said, scratching the back of her head. She caught herself and lowered her hand. So much for the calm and assertive posture she had intended to assume this morning.

Maybe it had been a mistake to come in jeans, a black shirt, a blazer and sneakers. It had seemed like a great idea when she was packing. Now, she just felt naked without one of her usual power suits on.

“Okay, superfood salad it is,” the man said, his nose wrinkling as he smiled. “I like to serve our guests healthy meals.”

“Thank you,” Emily replied, looking around the lobby, unsure what to do next.

There were several comfortable looking chairs scattered about. Each had a side table with books and magazines on them. She gestured for one of the chairs, looking at him with a questioning look in her eyes.

“No, you can go in,” the assistant said, waving at the double doors on their left.

“Oh, okay,” Emily mumbled, again taken by surprise.

She was ten minutes early and had expected to have to wait for a while. To be honest, she had even counted on that time to prepare herself for the meeting. She had planned to last night but had been distracted.

The park had been much more fun than Emily had expected. Emily had had a blast with Lea. Back in their hotel room, Emily had had other things on her mind than her meeting with Ayesha Jahani this morning.

Which is probably why she had also forgotten to set her alarm clock. About an hour ago, Lea had woken her gently, reminding her of the meeting. Emily had jumped out of bed and into the bathroom, with Lea laughing in the background.

In the end, she needn’t have hurried. The Full Circle Games office building turned out to be much closer to the hotel than she had thought. Emily hadn’t even had to leave the theme park.

The building looked much like the hotel, but smaller. The interior was spacious and classy, with some framed decorations of the Full Circle Games best-selling characters on the walls.

A receptionist had given Emily a visitor pass, quickly and efficiently. It wasn’t until she had been in the elevator that Emily had started thinking about what she would say to Jahani.

The elevator ride had been very short, though. When Emily had gotten out, the assistant had immediately been there to welcome her. Now, Emily had to walk into Jahani’s office completely unprepared. Good thing she didn’t want the job.

Emily took a hesitant step toward the wooden double doors. The assistant must have pressed a button or something because they slid open like glass doors did, which took Emily by surprise.

“Thank you,” Emily said, her stomach tightening.

“Any time,” he replied cheerily.

Emily straightened, took in a deep breath and made her way into the office of Ayesha Jahani. Except, she didn’t find an office behind the doors.She had stepped into a small room with two couches and a table in the middle.

The double doors closed behind her. She spun around and saw that the doors had now disappeared, just like the windows in her hotel room. The wall now looked like an old-fashioned library instead.

Emily smiled. She figured Jahani had decided doors and windows were a waste of space in some way. Or just plain ugly. Looking around, Emily felt her shoulders loosen a little.

The beige walls gave the room a spacious feel despite it being rather small. The deep blue of the couches and the lighter blue of the carpet added crispness and a sense of calm.

“I like to read here,” a deep voice said from behind Emily.

Emily turned around and finally came eye to eye with Ayesha Jahani. She immediately saw that the images online didn’t do Jahani any justice.

Jahani wore a loose, dark red jumpsuit with a white belt accentuating her curves. Elegant leather sandals complimented the outfit. Her black hair had been cut short, the first strands of grey hair showing through.

“I didn’t see you coming in,” Emily blurted out. “Another mystery door?” She peeked over Jahani’s shoulder and saw that indeed a door had appeared where before there was none.

Jahani laughed, tucking her hands into her pockets. “Yes, I think I went a little overboard with those.”

Emily grinned, “Yes, you did.”

Both women smiled at each other.