Job Interview - Part II

"Time's up".

After listening to the department head, the two ladies beside her started collecting the papers.

"We will announce the results in an hour. You can head to the cafeteria and enjoy the refreshments arranged by the company". The chief lady said to the candidates.

Alex, along with the few others who were left headed towards the cafeteria.

The cafeteria was on the sixth floor of the building and was unique in its own way. When they entered the cafeteria, they walked through a glass corridor, and they could see everything through the glass on either side. At the end of the corridor, there were stairs, but they were asked to go through one of the doors on the sides of the stairs.

The lunch arranged for them was the same as that for employees. It was better than most of the restaurants out there. According to the rumours floating around, working here may be hard[ for men], but the way the company took care of its employees was remarkable. After having his lunch, since there was still some time, Alex thought of exploring the company.

As Alex roamed around, he stumbled upon many sets, where shootings were going on. He could see actors performing, staff members bustling here and there, directors shouting at their assistants. It was a very lively environment, but one thing that struck Alex was the lack of men among the staff here. He has been going around for a while, but the number of men he passed by could be counted on his hand.

Alex looked at his watch the one hour given to them, was almost up, he better get going. Alex got into the elevator for the fourth floor.

As the elevator door was about to close, a slender hand stuck between the doors and hindered it from closing. A lady wearing a floppy hat, big sunglasses, with a mask covering her face stormed inside. Without giving Alex a chance to understand anything, she hid behind Alex.

Alex could not understand the situation she was in, but one thing was sure if someone passed by, they could easily spot her behind him, because of the hat.

While Alex was in thoughts, he heard footsteps approaching the elevator.

"Find her, she could not have gone far," someone said. By listening to his voice, it was easy to guess that he was anxious.

"She is really a trouble maker, can't she act her age?". Another one said.

"Well we have not allowed her to go anywhere for a week now, maybe she just went out to take a breather". Someone took the girl's side.

"Do you think I don't know that? It's not like I want to cage her inside". The first man said in annoyance.

As the steps grew closer, Alex pressed the button to close the elevator door and acted like he was removing his coat. With the coat widespread and the door closing those who peeked inside could not see the girl.

"Thank you," the girl said, coming out from behind him.

"Don't sweat it, it was nothing much," Alex said with a smile.

"Still I appreciate your help".

"Well, why were they looking for you?" Alex asked it was evident from the conversation that those searching for her meant no harm.

"Nothing much, I just snuck out from the shooting". The girl said with a tone trying to sound cute.

"Don't do that it does not sound cute at your age".

"Huh..." the girl was at a loss of words. This guy was blunt... too blunt.

"They must be worried, are you sure you don't want to go back?" paying no attention to the girl's reaction[ since he can't see her face] Alex advised.

"I will, but after having some fun around". The girl said, turning her face away from Alex.

"Well, suit yourself". Alex said, looking at the indicator it was the fourth floor.

"My floor is here, have fun, but don't make them wait too much. They are only doing their job, don't make it hard for them. Bye then..." Alex said and without waiting for her reply dashed out of the elevator.

"Wait..." the girl called out.

But Alex was long gone.

"Interesting man... I hope we meet again" the girl thought to herself.At this moment her phone rang.

"Veronica where are you, tell me where you want to go I will take you there, but don't run off on your own" from the other side a troubled voice came through.

"Don't come, I am heading back now" the lady named Veronica replied.

"Huh... really? but why?" the lady who was apparently Veronica's manager asked. It was the first time Veronica did something like this. By now she would have been long gone, but unexpectedly she was coming back.

"You don't want me to come back?" Veronica asked with annoyance. Even she did not know why she would take a strangers advice so seriously.

"No... no... no... I was just... you know... like... you know...". The manager was struck dumb.

"Oh... just hang up, I am almost there". Veronica hanged the phone as she reached the floor.

The elevator door opened, and she found her manager outside.

"You sure, you don't want to go somewhere? The director agreed to postpone the shoot for tomorrow". The manager asked, confirming one last time.

"Let's get it over with". Veronica now just wanted to get this work done.

"Ok, this way".

Here Alex was the last one to arrive in the hall, where the first test was conducted.

He saw the three ladies from earlier looking intently towards him. He thought they were angry with him for being late.

"I am sorry, I thought since I had the time I could look around for a while. I hope you have not waited for me long enough". He apologised earnestly.

Hearing Alex, the three ladies smiled a little. The guy was cute.

"No, you are not late, we were about to announce the results, please have a seat," the chief office lady said, gesturing him to sit anywhere.

"Thank you".

After Alex sat, the PR head looked through all the candidates and after a while said, " You all have come here to apply in our company, we are very thankful to you all, but only a few of you will get to go to the second round".

"Well, those who did not get to pass don't be discouraged and try harder next time. Now I will announce the name of those who qualified" the lady continued.

"Anne Allinson"

"Michelle Jones"

"Amber Smith"

" and Alex Rutherford"

"Yeah..." Alex jumped and pumped his fist in the air. Silence prevailed in the hall. All the people were looking at him with astonishment.

When Alex realised what he has done, he was left embarrassed.

"Sorry, please continue," Alex said, sitting once again. He saw the chief office lady looking at him, he could not help but avert his gaze from her.

"Well, once again those who did not pass, please don't be discouraged, there is always the next time, now you can leave. And all those whose names have been called, follow me". The chief said and walked out of the hall.

Alex and the other three girls followed behind the three ladies.

They were all brought to another room and were asked to wait, they will be called one by one for the interview.

After they waited for a while, a lady came outside and called out there name,

"Anne Allinson, please come with me".

Anne came out after about fifteen minutes or so. One by one, the other two girls also went inside, and after waiting for about half an hour, Alex was the last one to be called.

When Alex went inside, he saw the lady who was supposedly the head of the PR department sitting in the middle along with the other two ladies from before on the sides. Right next to the PR head was a camera, probably recording the interview.

Seeing that Alex was looking towards the camera, the lady in the middle smiled and said, "Don't pay attention to that, it is just that these interviews will be used for training purpose".

Alex nodded.

"Now Mr Alex, before we start the interview, can you please tell us, why did you attempt the whole paper? You were supposed to pass in any three languages test right?" the PR department head asked.

"Well, there was no particular reason, I was just done with three of the six, in no time, so I thought why not just attempt the whole thing. Maybe my knowledge of more languages could be the reason for my qualification if by chance I fell short of the required marks". Alex replied genuinely, there was no use lying or glorifying things.

"Is that so? Now can you tell me, what do the stars beside some of the questions in your paper mean?" the PR head asked once again.

"Well, these are the mistakes in those papers, which I came across. I guess you were in a rush to make them so did not pay much attention to that".

The three of the ladies looked astonished.

Were there really mistakes in the paper but no one among others pointed them out?

*The PR head, Chief office lady and the department head are all the same.