Ms Jessica's words brought me some comfort. I know its silly but that was how I felt. It seemed ridiculous since I know I have not done anything wrong. I did asked help but that was just for Ashton to bear witness that I did arrive on time and would have participated with the hiring process had I not been intercepted by Sheila.
Anyway what is done is done. I just have to deal with everything that comes with my asking help from Ashton. I'm not yet even sure that I will make it to the final list. I'll just have to try really hard to impress them.
"Ladies and gentlemen, please wait here. Jennifer, please brief them of what is about to happen." Ms Jessica said to a woman who I think is already in her late stage of pregnancy. Her bulging stomach is so huge. She also move slowly as if she is carrying so much weight on her stomach.
She gave us a warm smile and started speaking with a warm voice with a hint of a foreign accent. It seems like she came from a different country.
"I'm Jennifer Montez, secretary to the CEO. For this stage of the hiring process, you will no longer be doing the grouped interview. Instead, each one of you will be called out. You will be interviewed by the hiring board members. They will tell you their names but would not tell you from which department they are from. But let me give you a heads up, the members of the hiring board holds important positions here in the company. Once your name is called, please proceed to the next room. I wish all of you luck and I hope to see all of you here with us." After that, she went inside the room where she told us to proceed once our names are called.
This is it! I'm at the final stage. I really I hope I can make it. I looked at each of the remaining applicants trying to gauge them and how tough they are to contend with. We were all seated in a lounge. I sat at the lone couch so that I will not have to talk to the other applicants. Its not that I do not want to talk but I normally do not know how to strike up a casual conversation.
"You're Ericka right?" the guy in a stripped suit asked. He was looking at the a blond haired girl.
"Yes, I'm Ericka Roberts and you are?" Ericka said in a friendly manner.
"I'm John Hale. I graduated summa cum laude on a 100% academic scholarship from the Language International University. I majored in 5 different languages. Man oh man, I think my chance of landing this job is at least 75% just basing on my qualifications." he said in an annoyingly conceited manner.
Woah! Talk about oozing self confidence. Did he really mentioned his academic performance? Summa cum laude? 100% academic scholarship? And 75% chance of making it? Woah! Then I realized that I kept repeating the word woah mentally. I snorted because I realized that I was just so blown away by his outrageous introduction. My snort attracted the attention of the other two applicants who were seated near me. And I can see that they were also quite amused with John's lengthy introduction and high self esteem.
"Hmmm." came Ericka's nonchalant response which made me almost laughed out loud. I can see John's face fall and I realized that he was actually trying to impress Ericka but miserably failed. But then people say persistence at times have its own charm, so he tried again.
"I actually graduated ahead of my class since I was promoted twice during my high school. I also came from a family of linguistic scholars so you can actually say that learning different languages are just a piece of cake for me." he proudly said.
"Hmmm." came Ericka's nonchalant response again which really made me choke on my own saliva. This is really interesting.
He should have just stopped with his self introduction when he got the one word response. That just spelled NOT INTERESTED in huge and bold letters. I think he needs to get a crash course on How to impress your girl 101.
I looked at Mr 75% hired John Hale closely. He was wearing a pin-stripped suit. His hair was slicked back like that of a villain from a 1990 movie. He wore black polished shoes and made me think of tap dancers.
"He should have worn suspenders. That would have completed his mafia - tap dancer wanna be look." I muttered under my breath while looking at my social media account.
I heard someone snickered. I looked up and saw that the two men near me were wearing an amused look while John Hale's face was just utterly shocked.
Oops! I have just said it out loud! How embarrassing is that! I felt like leaving but hey, this is just a once in a lifetime opportunity so hell no.
I feigned an innocent look, "I was talking to myself. I saw a photo of a person who was trying on some suit." Then I looked down again.
I can feel their gazes on me. The guy on my right just smiled at me.
I looked at John Hale again since he was no longer talking to Ericka. I saw him sulking while Ericka had an expression of not having a care in the world. I once again sized him up and dismissed him as a pretentious, know it all person who I will never get along with.
Just when the atmosphere was about to get awkward, the door opened and Jennifer came out and said, "We will begin. John Hale?"