Office Matters

The Interview: Part Two

Alex confidently walked in. There were three guys sitting behind a huge desk, each with a clipboard in front of him and a pen in hand. There weren’t any obvious physical similarities, so it was hard to tell if they were related. The one sitting in the middle had a blank expression on his face. He either didn’t want to be here or was just one of those guys who don’t like revealing too much on their facial expression. He was smartly dressed in a white shirt with the top two buttons left open and a navy blue slim formal dress jacket. He had a nice fade cut with sponge curls that did justice to his oval shaped face. His hazel eyes complemented his almond-like complexion.

The guy to his left looked serious. Must be the big boss. He also had fade, only his was shorter, no curls but with lines on the right. He had on a baby blue shirt, bright blue slim tie and a navy-blue slim dress jacket. Obsession with blue much? I bet he’s even wearing the blue dress pants. His spectacles made him look smart.

The guy to his right definitely did not want to be here. Not only did his facial expression sell him out, his dressing was screaming, ‘I’M NOT SUPPOSED TO BE HERE’. He had on a brightly coloured Hawaiian shirt with half the buttons left open, revealing a very ‘beautiful’ chest and small gold neck chain. He had black fade short dreadlocks with blond tips tied into a ponytail. Is fade their uniform haircut or something? Alex was ready to bet almost anything he was wearing those short guy shorts.

But overall, these boys were all caps FIINNEEE. Holy Molly!  Kira, this scene would’ve made your week.

The serious guy motioned for her to sit in the chair that was in front of the huge desk.

The guy in the middle introduced himself as Jayden Johansen, in charge of Marketing and Production. The guy to his left was Leon Harrison, CEO. The guy to his right was Tinashe Lee, Finance and Risk Management. I wouldn’t trust you with my money, pssht.

Jayden cleared his throat and said, “Please state your name, age, current occupation and tell us a little about yourself.”

Alex smiled before she started talking.

“My name is Alex. Alex Wood. I’m 18 and I just wrote my high school finals. I’m taking a gap year before I go off to University. I love food, nice music and good movies. I’m outgoing, a mix of extrovert and introvert. And sometimes,” her voice dropped to a whisper, “I can be really dramatic.”

Jayden rolled his eyes. “Yeah, like right now.” He exhaled to show his frustration. He had really had enough of this job interview.

Tinashe started laughing.

Leon cleared his throat and said, “Miss Wood, did you just talk about nice music and good movies?”  He raised his eyebrows, looking annoyed. “Do we look like a joke to you? You think we’ll give you the job just like that?”

Alex dramatically jerked her head to the side and curled her lips.

“Whoa whoa whoa Mr Boss Man. Hold up. You did not ask me about my professional strengths. You said to talk about myself, emphasis on MYSELF. I dunno about you but I don’t go all CV-reciting crazy when someone asks me about myself. There’s life before and after business Mr Harrison. And besides, I’m fresh out of high school. How many job interviews do you think I’ve been to for me to know that ‘tell us about yourself’ is code for ‘what’s your portfolio’,” she finished off sounding all serious like she was addressing the judge in the supreme court.

Leon took a deep breath. “How much do you know about Harrison and Partners?”

Alex smiled awkwardly. “Ummm, is that the name of the company?”

Tinashe laughed even harder and Jayden looked so annoyed. “Ms Wood, if you’re here to waste our time, you’ve done enough. Please leave.”

“Look, I’m really sorry. To be honest, coming to this interview was not even something on my agenda for today. I came out job hunting, and it wasn’t going really well. Then we saw people queuing and thought it was free food, so I joined as well. Then the girl in front told us it was for a job interview and I decided to shoot my shot so here I am. I guess my answer to your question is I don’t know anything about Harrison and Partners,” she finished off looking down to the floor, wishing a rift would open and take her to 1955, anywhere but this moment.

Leon looked at Jayden and Tinashe. The he asked Alex, “How good is your chemistry?”

Alex looked up. “It’s not exactly one of my strengths. I find it a bit difficult but judging from the exam I guess it’s nothing I can’t handle.”

Tinashe finally asked a question. “Why should we give you this job?”

Alex smiled. Finally! A question I can work with. “I thought you’d never ask. For starters, I’m a very organised person. I hate disorder. I’m also very good with words. I’m lowkey a writer. My computer literacy isn’t the best but trust me when I say its top notch. I have great people skills and I’m good at taking care of people. My time management skills are almost perfect. I’ve never missed a deadline. I take my work seriously, so I don’t need to be monitored when I work. I guess that’s it.”

Leon looked impressed.

“Please fill in this contact form before you leave,” Jayden said, taking out a small slip.

It looked like Alex wanted to say something but didn’t know how. “You got a question?” asked Tinashe. Alex nodded yes. “Shoot.”

“Is that fade haircut like your uniform or something? Sorry if you think it’s a weird question. Its just been bothering me.”

Tinashe looked at the other two guys, noticing for the first time how similar their haircuts were. He chuckled. “Nah. Its just a really weird coincidence.”

Alex smiled and nodded okay in response. She filled in the contact form and left.

Kira was waiting for her outside. She had a small makeup shopping bag. When Alex noticed this and shook her head in disappointment. “I’m gone fifteen minutes and you already have a shopping bag.”

“What was I supposed to do for fifteen minutes?” Kira asked defensively.

“Ummm, play Candy Crush like every other normal person does when they wait for someone.”

Kira rolled her eyes. “B*tch, whatever. How’d it go? Think you’re gonna get it?” Kira asked. Alex sighed. “I’m not gonna tell you all the details because you might just lure me into some ally and murder me for some of the things I did in there. But one thing’s for sure, I’m not gonna get it,” Kira finished looking down to her shoes.

Kira looked at her sympathetically then said, “Want me to get you RocoMama’s for lunch? I can afford it now,” she sing-songed the last past.

Alex looked up excitedly. “I’ll take that as a yes.”

The two girls walked to the food court, window shopping along the way seeing all the things they would buy with their first gap year pay checks. They got to RocoMama’s and ordered pork ribs, chicken wings, fries and fizzy drinks. As they waited for their order, a young couple, just about their age walked in and sat on the table next to theirs. They were definitely on a date. Kira looked at them longingly. Alex noticed this and asked softly, “You still can’t reach him?” Kira sadly nodded no. Alex let out a low sigh. If it were up to me, you would’ve dumped that lil psycho months ago Kira. But then again, what do I know, right?

“Maybe he’s not back yet. I have friends still in school only finishing tomorrow.”

“He did the same subjects as you. He came back home the same day as you,” Kira sounded exhausted just talking about it so Alex could only imagine what she was feeling. “So maybe his phone died, and his parents can only get him a new one next month because it wasn’t on this month’s budget.”

Kira gave Alex a warning look to stop talking. “This time there’s no excuse. I’m done.” That’s what you always say. “I know what you’re thinking. But this time I really mean it Lex. I’m tired of all this. This relationship is more exhausting than my last two years in high school.”

Alex looked horrified. “Then like high school, hashtag IT MUST FALL!”

Kira started laughing. “Definitely.” She raised her glass for a toast. “To new beginnings.”

“To new beginnings.”

They dug into their late lunch.

“I’m so glad mum’s working the night shift tonight.”

“Why?”

“No way I was gonna cook an edible dinner after this”