Interview

It was uncomfortable inside the car. As I just spent rejecting him for the job but now I needed his help, it was inevitable.

My face was wearing it's usual indifferent expression but I knew deep inside that I was wary of being alone with him. Being alone with someone who I don't even remember and knew what happened last night unsettled me. Between pretending that I did remember and projecting that I don't care, it gave me enough reason to maintain my current polite facade.

I waited for him to get settled on the driver's seat to set a condition before we set off. The car released a soft purr when the engine came alive under his hands.

I spoke before he drove off, "Wait a second. Let's clear up a few things."

"Go ahead," he nodded.

"What's your name again?" I asked as nonchalantly as I could as if I didn't care to remember his name.

He flashed a quick smile like he didn't mind then said, "Ethan."

"Okay, Ethan. Let me be straight with you. This is just a one time thing because of the urgency of the situation," I looked at him straight in the eye.

"I understand but we should really go," he gestured at the clock ticking on the dashboard with raised eyebrows.

In response, I settled on myself comfortably on the passenger seat since everything was cleared up and turned my attention to the papers I needed to re-acquaint myself before the meeting. We soon drove off and I found myself staring blankly at the documents because I was distracted by the atmosphere in the car.

The silence was quite awkward as we obviously don't know each other and he wasn't my employee. It almost seemed like he was just doing me a favor. I reminded myself again to make sure that I compensate him for this and his job issue. As he was the subject of my thoughts, my eyes unconsciously gravitated towards his profile.

He probably felt my gaze since he glanced at me but I didn't avert my eyes when he caught me. He glanced at me again with a question in his eyes but I didn't bother explaining and just turned my head towards the window.

"You looked deep in thought. What are you thinking?" He asked after a while when I ignored the question in his stare.

"Contemplating my drunken mistakes," I answered honestly as I watched the rows of buildings quickly pass by outside.

He laughed, the sound filling the car, and it grabbed all my attention. Ever since we met, I have been trying to grasp for a word to describe him. Brad was handsome so it wasn't like I hadn't seen any but this guy was different, not the kind of mainstream handsome nowadays but certainly not plain either.

Something about his movements automatically calls for attention. For some reason, I always end up staring at him.

Attractive.

That was the word I was looking for.

He was too damn attractive.

This time, he didn't notice my curious gaze and was still concentrating on driving when he suddenly threw a question, "Can I ask why you won't hire me?"

"No offense but I don't hire based on drunken decisions. There are proper channels for hiring employees even though it's temporary. I make sure to strictly follow them even though I'm on top of the chain. I hate it when someone breaks the rules so I don't like breaking them especially when I was the one who put them in place. You weren't interviewed or gone through proper channels and that was improper and rude of me to put you in this situation. I'm really sorry about that," I apologized seriously since I knew that I was the one to blame for this.

I was about to say a few more words when we suddenly slowed down. I turned my attention in front and saw an accident between a bus and an SUV blocking the road. There were already police cars on the scene as well as ambulances for the wounded and some of the cars were already doing a U-turn to go back. It looked like it happened quite a while ago but the vehicles were still in the middle of the road and we couldn't afford to wait.

"Of all the luck-" I muttered harshly like a curse. I rubbed my forehead in annoyance. Half an hour more before the meeting starts but we're stuck here. I would've had plenty of time to spare if we pass here. I can't believe that we're losing the deal because of this.

He looked at me thoughtfully, "We can look for another way."

I gave him a skeptic glance, "Mr. Lee absolutely hates tardiness with appointments and as far as I know this road is already the fastest way to Crystal Hotel."

"Okay, how about this? Treat this as an interview. If I got you there in time, give me the job," he challenged.

"It's impossible," I rebutted without hesitation.

"Trust me. It's not like you have anything to lose by trying," he looked straight at me. His eyes gazed at me with intense focus which made me finally nod in agreement.

"Alright!"

To my belated surprise, he suddenly went way inside my personal space and put the seatbelt around me. Before I even recovered, he already backed the car away sharply with his hand on my headrest while gauging the area around the car and neatly executed a U-turn, within a few minutes.

"Do you mind getting a fine?" He asked without taking his eyes off the road.

He probably meant the fines for speeding since it was usually captured by high speed cameras along the road and given when the plate number of the car was caught.

"No. This deal is way more important than getting fines," I replied, clearly allowing him to break the speed limit.

Gradually, the car sped up and the purr of the car engine became a long drawn out growl. I sat in tense silence, afraid to distract him or we might be the next one to end up with an accident.

We took a left turn on a road and entered a subdivision. Houses whizzed by and fortunately, the road was relatively empty so the car maintained its speed. He was taking so many shortcuts that I can't even remember which is which anymore, not that I was reliable in remembering directions anyway.

The car exited a side road and entered the highway again. It looked like I was going to arrive in the hotel in time. My eyes wandered to his direction again and caught the excitement that was on his face.

As expected, the building was in sight and we arrived with a few minutes to spare. He brought the car forward in front of the lobby before getting down. He opened the car door to my raised eyebrows while getting out but I didn't comment as I've far more pressing matters to attend to.

"Good luck in conquering the world, Boss!" He said while giving me a two-fingered salute to the side of his head.

I let out a smile at the sight unconsciously and went inside to close the deal accompanied by a rare warmth.

As expected, the meeting went well and I managed to get a favorable deal from Mr. Lee. I went out of the lobby and saw him leaning against the car not far away from the parking lot. He was now wearing an ebony jacket that I didn't know he had to beat off the passing cold wind.

My mind drifted to my usual routine. I was all over the place today. My pace was dragged by Ethan. It wasn't his fault but he certainly had a part in it. It wasn't followed but we still arrived towards the ending result that I wanted. I can't deny that he's certainly reliable and now I can't refuse him the job because of our prior deal and it was impractical to let go of a capable employee.

It was advantageous all around so why do I still hesitate?