7:15 PM Cardeal Hotel 40th floor
After the seminar, Mair went straight ahead the Cardeal Hotel for the screening.
She's currently in a small, cold room.
A beige and plum violet motif intersects an intricately bewitching pattern. The crossfire was mesmerizing.
Mair sits on a modern ceramic chair with a table of a similar theme before her.
Several stints of minutes blew over until the door behind her finally swung to disgorge the ever professional-looking Paul Alejandro. He sat across Mair, the table being the only division between them.
Pile of papers lie on the modern ceramic table.
"Your papers told me that you're inexperienced," Paul Alejandro's voice reached the depth of oceans. His aura overflowed, the room itself was an understatement as a container of his intimidating existence. "Young student. Undergrad."
"Yes… sir." She knew that this would come.
She knew from then that she might not get accepted. Her hopes for having the job in the hotel gradually flickered to a lost dimension.
"Alright," He suddenly announced, nodding. "You passed. You're officially working under me."
Mair lifted her bowed head, her bloodshot eyes' looks drilled against his. The shocking riptide tore her comprehension. "Sir? I…"
"You have to answer a few questions, though. What's the status of your family right now? And your relationship with them, tell me about it."
Mair's bewildered mind tried to keep up with everything. She felt her world spinning out of her control. Nevertheless, she answered.
"I… am the third child of my parents. It's a great family, no issues involved as well. My relationship with them is good too."
"Basically… it's not worth mentioning, right?"
Mair nodded slowly with politeness. "Exactly. But what does that have to do with my service to the hotel, Mr. Paul?"
"Do you have a boyfriend right now, Ms. Costa?"
Mair shook her head, implying a negative response. "I don't have one right now, Mr. Paul."
"Well then, let's assume that you have a boyfriend right now," Mr. Paul Alejandro reclined from his chair, sitting more comfortably and casually. "Of course, if you do, you'd have held his hand, kissed him… and even have sex with him. What if you suddenly found out one day that he was actually your biological brother? What would you do?"
"I… I'd be really shocked, sir." Mair is still continuously comprehending the connection and sense in his questions.
"I wasn't asking for your reaction, Ms. Costa. I was asking what you would do after finding out that kind of revolting truth."
"Well... I don't really know what I'd do, sir. Finding out that someone was actually your sibling is a good thing itself. But the problem present in the question was our… love, I guess? And obviously, it's out of place when it should've just been platonic. I'd tell this to my family and accept whatever their reaction would be. I wouldn't be able to continue looking and loving the man the same way though."
"If you had the choice, would you rather not know anything at all or you'd be glad that you got to know the truth?"
"It might hurt me a lot, but I would rather know everything. This isn't much of a familiar situation too, so I might be saying something irresponsible. But if possible, I wouldn't want to risk someone else's welfare for my own, Mr. Paul. What I mean to say is that... uh, no amount of comfort is worth risking a life, I think, if that's what's at stake."
Mr. Paul Alejandro nodded.
A knock suddenly intervened their conversation. A man in its uniform entered the small room before placing a food delivery on the table.
The man hastily left the room, feeling the rising tense in the room.
"You're doing fine, Ms. Costa. Then, have you ever encountered a person who desires to kill oneself?"
"What about it, sir?"
"Try assessing a person with extreme depression, Mair," Her name on his mouth was quite uncomfortable. "Would you still say that 'no amount of comfort is worth risking a life'? Have you ever experienced that, Mair?"
"Well, not to the point where I considered suicide as an option... sir."
"Hmm…"
"Mr. Paul, may I ask what these questions are for? I… don't think it's related to my performance as a hotel worker. And what kind of job was I accepted in?"
"You're an all-around," Paul Alejandro stood up, his chair scratched against the ivory white tiles which resounded all throughout the small room. "You'll mainly work as a receptionist. I'll give you the guidelines later, Mair."
Paul faced towards the wall and rested his hands over a wooden tabletop. Getting a small glass bottle, the capsules clank against the transparent glass.
"Medicines?" Mair was intrigued.
"Antidepressants," Paul whispered, barely reaching her ears. "If you don't mind knowing, to me, I wouldn't be able to survive without these."