Chapter 13: The Interview
2046 Words
Leo and Ken exchanged looks as the man seated in front of them went on and on about places he had worked before now.
Ryan's cold look was enough to make any interviewer panic and lose their confidence. But this particular man doesn't seem to get the message.
"Thank you! " Ken said, raising his voice and soon laughing with his mouth wide open.
"Thank you so much! You may leave" Ken said again.
"I haven't talked about my experience walking at freezeno pizza as their delivery guy.."
"We have a lot of people to attend to today, sir. Kindly excuse us" Leo said in a serious tone. He had that expression as soon as the interviews started making Maria sit as far away as possible from him.
That works just fine by him anyways.
The interview went on and on for the rest of the day. While they found impressive people, they found others that were very….extreme.
"This is so tiring," Ken said leaning back on his chair, his head went back as he massaged his forehead as though a medicine to take away his headache.
"How many more do we have?" Jason asked as he nudged the already dozing Lee whose seat was beside his.
"Uh?" Lee sat up and adjusted his glasses.
"Where am I?" He asked no one in particular.
"In the interview room. Don't tell me you were dreaming about something else?" Ken said.
Lee sighed.
"I was at my house eating fried chicken for dinner," Lee said, referring to his dream.
"You just had to mention that." Ken said and sighed." Thank God Maria advised us to take a break."
"I hope she gets here fast enough," Jason said.
Maria had gone through the back door to get food for them at a nearby fast-food restaurant; she was very thoughtful to have volunteered to get them food as Ken had suggested going.
One thing they all knew was never to trust Ken with food or he would graciously let you down by eating half the chicken before arriving with the food.
"Little help?" Maria asked as she walked in with small boxes of pizza, each for one person, and Can soda too.
Leo was the closest to the edge and had to stand up to help her. He was reluctant at first but Ryan's glare was nailing him to his seat; he had to help her.
He had no choice.
Leo took the pizza boxes from her while maintaining that cold look he had on all morning.
"Thank you" Maria walked away from them as though...he wasn't even there in the first place.
"Drink for you, and you. The Can for the boss" Maira said, dropping a can of soda in front of Ryan who grabbed it and pulled it open.
"There aren't so many people outside anymore. I counted five people still seated" Maria said.
"It's six," Lee said.
"Yeah, minus one of them," Maria said with a weird look on her face.
"What happened?" Ryan asked.
Maria was a very smart woman and wouldn't miss a detail no matter how small. This wasn't a simple mistake of course.
"The lady with the number twenty-five tag, I tripped on her leg and she went on yelling and throwing a fit." Maria shrugs.
"You fell?" Ken asked in worry.
"I'm fine. I don't think having someone as impolite as her would do anyone any good." Maria said walking towards her seat, her fingertips brushed Leo's neck unknowingly.
Leo found himself staring at Maria for some apology but it seemed like the woman had no idea she had just done that.
"And she said once she got employed, she would tell the owner of the company to fire me. And she said she knows the owner well too" she took her seat.
"Do you know any of the interviewees?" Leo asked Ryan.
"No," Ryan said simply as he anticipated when they would get this section of the day over with.
"Well, her CV isn't bad either. I remember seeing hers before going to sleep last night" Maria said with honesty.
"If she has an attitude, she would only make other workers uncomfortable," Ryan said
"Shall we start now?" Leo said as he picked up the telecom to make an announcement.
They were soon back into the business and as expected, the lady who had been rude to Maria stepped in.
She was really pretty and that must have been where all her confidence came from.
She almost tripped on her heels when she saw Maria at the table who had a neutral expression on her face.
"Have a seat," Leo said.
The lady rolled her shoulders and replaced her shock with a bright smile as she settles in the seat facing the panel of judges so to say
"Good day. My name is Marisa…"
"It's all in your Cv. There's no need for further introductions" Leo said while looking up from her file.
Ryan's eyes were fixed on her as he noticed her frown briefly at Leo's words.
"You have very good qualifications here.."
"Thank you…" Marisa starts.
"It wasn't a compliment," Leo said again.
Everyone seems to enjoy Leo's comeback but Maria was darting daggers at Leo; she felt all this was unnecessary.
"It says here that you've worked in quite several companies in just a year. Why is that?" Ken asked
"I would say I know when to leave after investing my time in a company," Marisa said.
"Uhm. so once your stay is exhausted at a company according to you, you would leave"
"Yes," Marisa said.
"Having said this, I hope you do realize that we wouldn't employ a staff, and then she quits mid-way" Leo reasoned.
"But my qualifications are just the thing to grow this company…"
"I think I made my point clear by now," Leo said.
"You are unbelievable!" Marisa said standing on her feet" where is your boss?! I want him here right now!" She yelled.
"Please use the door," Leo said again.
"You will regret this. And thanks a lot bulgy eyes, for ruining your company's chance at being at the top!"
With that, Marisa stepped out.
"Maria" Ken called
"That's her problem," Maria said with a nonchalant shrug.
Finally, they were down to the last candidate. She stepped into the room and got two men shunned.
Leo and Ryan.
"Mia?" Leo called in surprise.
She bowed her head politely in greeting.
"Good day," she said with a nervous smile and soon made eye contact with Ryan. She froze at the spot.
Ryan? What was he doing here?
Is he the owner of the company? She recalled all that she had said and done to him and felt a lump in her throat.
Ryan who had been bored all day, leaning back on his chair and observing in silence finally gets to have some fun.
It was a fair price for him.
"Have a seat?" Leo said with a cheerful look on his face that made everyone else in the room wondering what her relationship was with the duo. Leo, who had been cold all day, suddenly seemed to be a bit relaxed and their boss, Ryan, who hadn't moved an inch from his seat all evening, was suddenly interested in the interview.
"Hello," Ken greeted.
"Good day sir," Mia said, taking her seat.
"Can you introduce yourself?" Lee asked
"My name is Mia Da Silver," she said.
"Your qualifications… it has it here that you have worked in a few places. Most of it as a personal assistant" Jason said.
"Yes that is correct," Mia said trying to keep her eyes away from Ryan. His stare was making her nervous.
"You've worked for Roseline?" Maria asked, a bit impressed.
"Yes. As her assistant for six months before she retired" Mia explained feeling a lot better.
She had been a nervous wreck that morning and it took all of Sarah's styling skills to keep her at bay as well as Grannie's threat to throw her out of the house if she didn't get a job to brace herself. Mark's words of encouragement were more than icing on a cake.
Maybe she could do this.
"Roseline was a legend in the entertainment industry and was almost a pain when the old lady decided to retire from her acting career," Jason said.
"Most of your work experiences were from working for people in the entertainment industry," Leo said.
"Yes"
"Why is that?" he asked again.
"I always seem to run into them somewhere," Mia said with honesty.
She always seemed to meet those people back then and they all had the same thing to say about her.
You have a charm that draws people to you
"I think I remember one of Yolanda's articles where she mentioned having the best personal assistant that makes her life easier," Ken said, passing around an old photo of Mia and Yolanda at an event.
Mia felt the compliments should have made her feel better but it made her feel even more nervous as Ryan seems to have a frown on his face.
'Dear Lord, please help me to nail this interview. Let him forget all about all the terrible things I've ever said to him'
She prayed internally.
"Your education.." Ryan circles a part in his note.
"It's not clear," he adds.
Mia braced herself and met Ryan's eyes with a smile.
"I was found close to five years back in a dumpster, badly injured and unconscious. I was rushed to the hospital and the doctor told me I was suffering from memory loss. The tests carried out on me showed that it was only temporary. My ID was on me but wasn't visible enough and the paper had ripped in a half. I could only see my name and age." Mia explained without a look of hurt on her face.
"When I worked for Yolanda, I was able to study the course I was very fascinated by. Business management. That is why I had only that degree in my educational background."
"Ah. So you are yet to recover" Ken said with a bit of pity.
"Yes. As much as I am yet to recover, it doesn't affect how fast my brain assimilates information. I recall every word you said to the receptionist today" Mia said, facing Maria.
Maria folded her arms
"Is that so?" She asked.
"Should I?" Mia asked and Maria nodded.
"You were wearing a baby pink pair of flats when you approached the receptionist. The colour is deeper now" Mia said.
"You changed your shoe?" Jason asked. He was the master of observation but it seems Mia was better at it.
"Yes. Coffee poured over it this morning" Maria said, genuinely shocked. She was hoping no one noticed.
"You told the receptionist; Get every of the interviewee to the middle floor
Yes ma'am. Would you like me to get you coffee?
No. I think I have had enough coffee for one day.
Yes ma'am
Make sure to keep all registers and store them in the database. Password Queenstown Reginald 1835437843."
Mia paused and stared at everyone who stared at her with their mouths agape.
"Should I carry on?" She asked.
" I had to read the password off my jotter," Maria said.
"Why should I employ you?" Ryan asked.
Mia's heart almost popped out at that question and was quick enough to brace herself.
"I believe attention to detail is very crucial for anyone who works as a personal assistant and a bit of knowledge about how a company runs takes it a step further. I have these qualities and I know you wouldn't be disappointed" Mia said.
"Impressive Miss Mia Da Silver," Leo said.
"Thank you," she replied.
"It was highly refreshing talking to you. We will get across to you soon." Ken said.
Mia stood on her feet and bowed her head in greeting.
"Thank you"
Mia took her to leave hoping no one notices how nervous and lightheaded she felt.
"She's really good," Maria admitted.
"I agree"
"But her education could be a bit of a concern…." Jason said.
"Send her a letter." Everyone faced the speaker with rapt attention.
"She's hired. Have her report to me by Monday morning"
- Writer
