So, I’m in my room changing into comfortable clothes and thinking of what to eat for dinner; my mother made fried rice but I was not in the mood for rice “how can you be so sure that you didn’t get the job, I thought you just did the interview today?” my mother startled me with her words. She had been watching me silently, she does that a lot these days and I am tired of reminding her that boundary and privacy is a thing.
“They called me on my way home” I replied avoiding her eyes, I do that a lot these days… avoiding her eyes… she looked at me like she was looking for something, my mother is always searching behind my words; I can tell my mother that I am hungry and she will look at me for another thirty seconds before responding to me as if there is more to the hunger I am telling her about.
“So, you did the interview and after the interview, they called you on your way home to tell you that you didn’t get the job,” she said it like she didn’t believe me “mummy, is it strange for them to tell me that I didn’t get the job? Some people are civilized, instead of letting you wait and wonder; they will tell you what is going on” I tried not to sound defensive but I don’t think that I was successful.
“There is nothing wrong with them calling you to tell you that you didn’t get the job, I just thought that they usually send an email for such” “damn it!” I thought. My mother was absolutely right… companies usually send a rejection email, like if they employed one person out of five hundred applicants; I don’t think they have the time to call four hundred and ninety-nine people just to tell them that they did not get the job. Oh well, there was no backing down now; I had to stick to the story I had told my mother.
The next day, I called the lady from the interview, the one who called me to tell me that I had gotten the job; I came up with a story of how I got a better offer from another company as a reason why I couldn’t accept their own offer “Okay no problem, thanks for calling” she said, her polite way of speaking to me was actually inspirational.
I know people mostly take a polite person for granted but not me, I guess I have experienced a lot of rude people in the banking industry that when I meet a polite person, I appreciate it. I almost accepted the offer because of how she spoke to me. “I’m sorry for wasting your time” I apologized “no need to apologize, I understand your decision” she replied and we ended the call. I thought that that was the end of it but surprisingly it wasn’t.
Two days later, I got a call from the CEO himself “Hello, good afternoon, my name is Derek Briggs… you did an interview with me three days ago” his voice was very smooth I almost lost my composure “good afternoon sir, I remember you” I replied and he proceeded to increase the salary that they offered me at first.
As surprised and tempted as I was, I attempted to reject it but he stopped me “no need to give me an answer now, think about it … sleep on it first” but I was sure that I was still going to reject it. A 9 to 5 job will distract me from following my career plan to be a TV host; no time and space to go for auditions or even practise and read my lines. Anyway, I rejected the offer… shhh don’t tell my mother.
The following week came quick, it was a Wednesday… I think at around 6:00pm; I heard a knock on the door, I answered it and who was at my door? Derek Briggs “how hard can it be to reject a job” was the thought that came to my mind when I saw him.
“Good evening sir” I said cautiously “I’m sorry to surprise you like this. Can we talk” he said in a very authoritative manner and I agreed. I wanted to invite him in but I didn’t want my mother to hear the conversation and figure out that I was trying to reject a job.
“We can talk in your car” I suggested and he agreed. “Why don’t you want to work for me?” he asked as we entered his car, a very sexy Cadillac Escalade. I looked at him and decided that he was a smart man who would quickly figure out that I was lying about the other offer I said I had; looking at him, I was sure he came prepared to convince me to work for him.
“Let me confess” I began and went on to tell him the truth. All he did was nod in silence and after what felt like eternity he finally spoke “you want to pursue this career and you don’t want any distraction… I respect that” he said “too bad because you would have made a great executive assistant” “I know” I replied and we smiled at each other.
“So, if you won’t work for me, can I take you out?” the question came out of nowhere and I looked at his face to see if he was joking but soon realized that he wasn’t. “You are serious?” I asked with an awkward smile and he nodded. I was short for words, so all I could do was look at him and he looked at me too; that was when I discovered that he had beautiful almond-shaped eyes.
