Chapter 7: The Big Day (2)

"I like your honesty, Miss Alena", Mrs. Maria commented as she sipped on her coffee. Her eyes were cold and her voice was stern but slightly warm.

"That's all for now, we'll let you know. Thank you, you can leave now", Mister Russell said with a smile. Even his grin was scary looking. He looked like someone who was not easy to deal with.

After going through that interview process, Alena was asked to sit and wait to learn about the results.

Unlike how tough she had thought it would be, it went smoother than she had imagined. She was mentally prepared for whatever should've been thrown her way, but regardless she couldn't have helped worrying a little about it. No matter first or twentieth or even fiftieth, every candidate feels some jitters before their interview.

Alena was 80% confident it had went well in her head. All she was awaiting now were the results.

Alena was a little bored, she decided to walk around a little while she listened to some of her favourite calming and relaxing songs.

***

After asking the receptionist for directions, she was walking on her way to the female lavatory when she bumped into a man.

To be precise, she had bumped into the man's hand and spilled the contents of his coffee all over his suit and the floor.

"I'm so sorry, sir", she immediately apologized to the man, reaching inside her side-bag for her handkerchief.

"Oh, it's alright", the man looked at her with gentle eyes. It was Mister Arnold.

Upon seeing the man's face, Alena was taken aback for a few seconds.

"It's alright, dear, don't worry about it", Mr. Arnold smiled and said to her noticing the worry on her face. He had just got the coffee but it was alright with him. He knew the young girl had not done it on purpose.

She got a little nervous but kept her cool, she carefully used her handkerchief to blot the coffee stains on his suit.

Alena felt embarrassed, she had messed up a lot, messed up big time. So she apologized again, and bowed her head.

Mr. Arnold chuckled, he hadn't met a kid with such manners in a long while. He thought the kids of the new generation were all ill-mannered but he was surprised by her shocking politeness.

"It's okay, don't worry about it. I would get it cleaned up, I know you didn't do it purpose.", Mr Arnold smiled at her and left.

Alena felt it was a close call. She had just bumped into one of the judges, it was rude of her. Her eyebrows were knitted together due to worry. She was worried if it had ruined her impression she had just made on the judges.

After coming out of the lavatory, Alena looked fresh. She ended up giving herself a necessary positive pep talk. She was prepared for the worst.

Even if the incident before had ruined her impression, she would proudly face the consequences. She did need the job but it was honestly alright if she had lost the opportunity for a silly mistake. She was ready to hear the consequences of her actions.

It had been taking the judges time to come up with the results. Meanwhile, the fellow candidates tried to mingle around.

Alena was approached by a girl who must be around 5 feet 2 inches in height. The girl had shiny jet black hair, and her appearance was petite.

"Hello, how are you doing? How did your interview go?", The girl smiled at her, trying to be friendly.

"Hello! It went okay, how was your interview?", Alena asked, keeping her usual calm and cool composure.

"I think it went well! At least that's what I think", the beautiful girl was wearing spectacles and she pushed them back her nose bridge out of nervousness.

"It's alright! Whatever happens, happens. Don't worry, you must've given your best so it will be alright!", Alena tried to cheer the girl up as she saw her sad face.

"Oh! I'm so sorry! I forgot to introduce myself, I am Millie and what's your name?", Millie asked with a nervous grin on her face.

After Alena introduced herself, they both chatted for a while longer as they awaited the results over a can of cold coffee.

After about 45 minutes, the names of the selected candidates was announced. Alena was in the list and so was Millie.

For the next round all the candidates were taken to a huge room where the judges were waiting for them. The room was huge with tall white walls having a pantry and 5 rows of cooking stations, having 2 cooking spaces for each two contestants per single row.

As soon as everyone took their positions in front of the Mr. Russell and the two people who were accompanying him, Mr. Russell greeted everyone, "Hello everyone! Welcome to the next round! You've worked hard, but this stage won't be that easy to pass. You have to display your cooking skins in this round", he said with an intimidating grin on his face.

As Mr. Russell exaplined, this was the cooking round. The contestants were supposed to cook their best main dish with a dessert as the side dish and pick their respective ingredients and utensils from the pantry.

Alena had fortunately learned to cook from her father who was an amazing chef. They would frequently cook together. She helped him out in the kitchen and she also had to cook at times when he was late from work.

Alena's family liked to try new things so they would try new recipes every weekend. It would not be wrong to state that they loved food and they loved cooking various types of food. After working in a cafe, helping out in the kitchen sometimes, she also learned some more new dishes.

Alena decided to cook something homely. She planned to make a nutritious main meal with a sweet tart as a dessert for this round.