No One Pov

Vivien pushed open the glass doors of the cafe, her heart thumping with a mix of nerves and excitement. She chose a small table by the window, straightening her shirt and pulling out a small notebook to review her talking points.

One hour passed. She sipped on a glass of water she didn’t really want, her eyes glued to the door every time the bell chimed.

Two hours passed. The ice in her water had melted, and her energy was slowly leaking out. She checked her phone- nothing. No one had come to meet her, and the staff were starting to give her that "are you going to order something or just take up space?" look.

Finally, her disappointment curdled into anxiety. She bit her lip and dialed the manager’s number.

"Hello? This is Vivien. I’m at the cafe for the three o’clock interview, but-"

"Oh, Miss Vivien," the manager’s voice cut in, sounding strangely nervous. "I’m so sorry. Didn’t you get the email? The position was filled five minutes ago. In fact, the entire department is being... restructured. The manager just went on emergency leave. We’re cancelling all interviews for the rest of the year. Please don’t call this number again."

Click.

Vivien stared at her phone as the line went dead. The rest of the year?. She had done everything right, stayed up all night, survived a basement archiv, and for what? To be ghosted in a cafe.

She stood up, her face filled with sorrow and walked out of the cafe.

Outside, Dominic watched her from behind. He saw the way her head hung low and how she hugged her bag. He felt a flicker of satisfaction.

Vivien didn’t see him. She was too busy whispering tons of curses under her breath. "Of course. Because life isn’t hard enough. First being Isekaid to that damn cursed book, then the creepy unknown texts, and now I can’t even get a job for living. I must have been a mass murderer in my past life. Great. Fantastic. Absolute 10/10 day."

She walked all the way back to her apartment, her mutterings growing more creative every second.

Dominic followed at a distance. He didn’t intervene. He just watched her until she reached the safety of her building.

The moment Vivien stepped inside and the lobby door clicked shut, Dominic’s eyes lost their faint softness. He rolled up the window.

"Home safe," he murmured before driving away.

_______________

Vivien sat in the glow of her laptop screen until 3:00 AM, the blue light making her eyes ache.

She was scouring every corner of the internet—Indeed, LinkedIn, even local community boards- but it was like the job market had vanished into thin air overnight.

"How is this possible?" she whispered, her voice cracking. "Even the convenience store that was hiring yesterday just took down their ad." It felt like a glass dome had been lowered over her life, cutting off every exit.

Exhaustion finally won, and she slumped onto her bed, not even bother to change out of her clothes.

The darkness of the room felt heavier than usual.

Suddenly, Vivien’s eyes snapped open. She tried to roll onto her side, but her limbs felt like jelly.

Sleep paralysis. She had heard of it, but she had never experienced it. She tried to scream, but her throat was frozen.

Then, she saw him.

A tall, broad-shouldered man stood at the edge of her bed. The room was too dark to see his face. As the figure leaned forward, his eyes felt like it was glowing and digging holes into her.

A veiny hand reached out. The touch was ice-cold against her heated skin as he traced the line of her jaw.

"Didn’t I tell you, Amore Mio?" The voice had icy tone. It was dripping with possessiveness. "I will find you... even if it’s a different world... I will always find you."

The moonlight shifted, hitting his face. It was- Dante Velerio Moretti

Vivien sat bolt upright, her breath coming in ragged. Her heart was beating fast. She reached up with trembling fingers, touching the exact spot on her cheek where his cold hand had lingered. The sensation was so vivid she almost expected to feel a lingering chill.

"It was just a dream," she whispered into the darkness, her voice cracking. "Just a dream. I’m stressed. I’m overworked. I’ve been with that grumpy suite the whole time, maybe it’s just the side effect of that"

She fumbled for her phone on the nightstand, the bright screen stinging her eyes. 4:12 AM.

She let out a shaky breath and scrolled through her email one last time, hoping for a miracle.

Nothing. Not a single rejection. Just a silence from every application she’d sent out over the last six hours.

"Amore mio..." she muttered, she felt a shiver down her spine, pulling her blanket tighter around her shoulders.

She looked toward her window, where the city was lit with dimply lights.

One of the shadows looked remarkably familiar.

Vivien lunged for the light switch, turning it on.

The shadow vanished. The room was empty. But as she lay back down, her eyes wide and fixed on the ceiling, she couldn’t shake the feeling that the "grumpy suit" at the office and the "glowing eyes" in her dream were two sides of the same coin.

And worst of all? She still had to show up at his office in four hours.

________________

The next morning: University Administrative Building

Vivien walked through the halls like a zombie, her dark circles hidden behind her thick glasses.

She reached the heavy double doors of the Principal’s office, her hand hovering over the handle.

Before she could knock, the door swung open. Dominic stood there, looking sharp in a blue suit, a cup of steaming coffee in his hand.

He looked down at her, his eyes tracing the exhaustion on her face.

"You look like you’ve seen a ghost, Miss Vivien," he said.

"Yeah, I saw you," Vivien muttered under her breath, her eyes fixed on his polished shoes.

Dominic paused, his eyes narrowing as he caught the faint sound of her voice. "Did you say something?"

Vivien’s head snapped up, and she quickly shook her head, her bangs nearly flying into her eyes. "Nothing! Just... thinking about the filing system! Very exciting stuff!"

Ignoring her obvious lie, Dominic straightened his cuffs. "I have off-campus business today, so I will be away. There is no work for you in the archives."

Vivien’s face lit up instantly. A spark of pure joy hit her eyes- finally, a day of freedom! She could go home, sleep, or maybe try that one hidden cafe she’d seen on Pinterest.

Seeing her expression, Dominic’s jaw tightened. The fact that she was this happy to be away from him made a surge of irritation flare in his chest. He didn’t like that smile if he wasn’t the cause of it.

"Don’t look so relieved," he said coldly. He walked over to his desk and tossed a garment bag toward her. "Just because I’m gone doesn’t mean you can roam free. That is the suit you ruined."

Vivien caught the bag, it was surprisingly heavy.

"I want it hand-washed. Fully cleaned. If there is a single stain left on that fabric, you’ll be spending your entire weekend in the archives,"

he commanded. Without waiting for her response, he checked his watch and swept out of the office.

Vivien stood there, clutching the bag to her chest. "The heck? Does he think I’m his personal maid now? This is literally abuse of power! Who hand-washes a five-thousand-dollar suit?!" she hissed at the closed door.

Groaning, she stuffed the suit into her backpack and trudged toward her lecture.

When she reached the classroom, she made a small walk for her usual spot at the very back. She slumped into her seat, leaning her head against the cool desk, trying to ignore the lingering image of Dante’s glowing eyes from her dream.

Suddenly, she felt something cold and soothing press against her cheek.

She jolted upward, her eyes snapping open. Enzo was standing there, a shy, gentle smile on his face. He was holding a chilled bottle of chocolate milk, pressing it against her skin to wake her up.

"You looked like you were having a rough morning," he said softly, offering the bottle to her. He gestured to the empty chair beside her. "Mind if I sit here?"

He rubbed the back of his neck, looking every bit the awkward high school boy she remembered- but for some reason, the hair on the back of Vivien’s neck stood up.

"Enzo, hi," she managed, taking the chocolate milk. "Yeah, sure. Sit."

As he slid into the seat, his shoulder brushed against hers, and Vivien couldn’t help but notice that while his face looked innocent, his hands and body felt more toned and stronger than the Enzo she used to know.

"So," Enzo said, leaning in closer until she could smell the faint scent of rain on his hoodie.

Enzo took a slow sip of his own drink, his eyes glowing behind his glasses. "I heard you’re now an assistant to the new principal," he said, keeping his voice casual. "You both... familiar with each other?"

Vivien felt a flicker of unease at the question, but she quickly brushed it off. Given how Dominic had practically dragged her out of class yesterday, it would be weirder if people weren’t talking. She shook her head firmly.

"Actually, no. I just happened to bump into him, and now I’m paying the price for it. That’s all," she replied, leaning back in her chair.

"Quite a fate, I would say," Enzo murmured, his voice dropping slightly. 𝕗𝗿𝕖𝐞𝐰𝗲𝕓𝐧𝕠𝕧𝗲𝐥.𝚌𝐨𝚖

Vivien blinked, confused. "Hm? What do you mean?"

"Nothing," he said, offering a quick, boyish grin that didn’t quite reach his eyes. "I just mean... it’s a good thing to get into the good books of powerful people. I mean, you might even get a permanent job under them after graduation. A guy like that could change your life."

Vivien nearly choked on her chocolate milk. "Hah! Me? Working for him? Never!" She shook her head so hard her bangs went wild. "Even if it was the last job on Earth and I was down to my last penny, I would never do it. He’s bossy, moody, and treats me like his personal laundry service. I’d rather work in a coal mine."

Enzo laughed, a soft dry sound. "That’s a very strong ’no.’ Good to know." He reached out and lightly tapped the table. "You always were stubborn, Vivien. It’s one of the things I... remembered about you."

He turned his gaze toward the front of the class, but Vivien felt a strange weight pushing into her. For a split second, she felt like she was being watched by two different predators at once....

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TO BE CONTINUED