Once again they were led through the maze of corridors until they were shown the six chairs to sit down on.
"Thank you for your participation and keen interest. Mr Hayden will join us for the final selection. His choice will be final. Good luck everyone." Patrick said to them before he left to fetch Christopher.
Christopher stood up from his desk as soon as Patrick walked into his office.
"Sir, the candidates are waiting. They have now completed all of the process besides your final selection."
Christopher nodded and walked first, Patrick following him faithfully,
Christopher walked through the corridor where six women sat on the chairs in a row. It was mere a glance and he knew that he couldn't stand looking at one of them and it wasn't Emilia.
Emilia looked up and smiled towards Patrick who was just behind Christopher.
Christopher caught her smile and felt his heart skip a beat. Patrick was right about her smile. It was hypnotising.
Patrick showed her thumbs up from behind which made Emilia smile even brighter, which in return affected Christopher further.
Christopher and Patrick walked into the room and within moments Patrick came back out.
"Miss Fitzsimmon, we thank you for coming but unfortunately you haven't been selected to progress through." Patrick spoke to the woman sitting the furthest from Emilia before he went back inside of the room.
Emilia watched as Miss Fitzsimmons left whilst sobbing, and then she started fidgeting nervously herself. She needed that job. She needed it more than anything. Things have been very tough recently and having at least a bit of stability would mean so much to her.
Inside of the room, Christopher sat down behind the table.
"Did they complete the tests?"
"Yes." Patrick nodded as he picked up a folder.
"Send away the two lowest scoring candidates." Christopher decided. He tried to dismiss the thoughts of Emilia's smile, trying to argue that he cannot marry someone just for their smile, but rather for their skills. It wasn't a proper marriage after all. Not for long. He knew that his very nature was likely enough to drive the most away from him. And he was certain that he could find more ways of driving his wife to be away without breaking any of the clauses in the last Will his father wrote.
Patrick felt a pit in his stomach and held his breath in as he opened the file with the results. He let out his breath with relief. Emilia was at the top with a perfect score of 100%. He shouldn't have doubted her. He then proceeded to walk out of the room sending away the two candidates who scored the least, one who cheated and one who seemed as dense as a brick.
The remaining three women walked into the room, with Emilia walking in last. They stood in front of the table where Christopher was.
Patrick was still anxious. Although Emilia outperformed everyone there, he wondered if her plain dress might work against her. He realised that he didn't know Christopher's preference in women at all. In the years that he worked beside Christopher, almost like a parrot on his shoulder, not even once Christopher showed interest in women or dating in front of him. Patrick turned paler. There was 33% of chances that Emilia was going to be selected. Unless there was an option that Christopher was going to shove the folder up Patrick's ass as he fires him. Patrick gulped again.
Christopher picked up the files and started reading them one by one. The silence in the room was demeaning and the atmosphere was almost so dense that you could slice it.
Christopher was careful in his selection. Emilia's file was the last one he picked. Christopher looked up at the three women and he tried his hardest to work out which file belonged to whom. A part of him tried to find a way of indirectly learning women's names. He glanced at Emilia more than he should. She noticed it and it only made her more nervous.
He placed the top scoring file to the side. Reading the answers it was clear that the woman was intelligent and just the type he needed. He was truly surprised that Patrick managed to find someone with such a perfect fit. But he was conflicted. What if the file did not belong to the girl with the most mesmerising smile he saw? He was trying to decide whether it was worth the sacrifice to give up the best candidate from all other aspects for a smile.
"Rosalind?" He read the name from another file.
"Yes?" A woman with bright lipstick on her plump lips asked. Christopher felt a sense of relief. The worst file of the three wasn't the one of the girl with a beautiful smile.
"You can go." Christopher said confidently. "Margaret?" He picked the second scoring file. He started to lean towards a 'I can live with that' when he looked at the scores. They were mediocre in comparison but somewhat passable.
"Yes?" Another woman who was more concerned earlier with funny cat videos whilst in the lobby spoke up.
"You can go," he told Margaret. Christopher tried to fight a smile. The best scores belonged to the girl with the most beautiful smile he has ever seen.
Emilia was the last one left. She looked around nervously and then at Patrick.
"Emilia." He said at last.
"Yes, sir." Emilia looked up expectantly.
"Mr Cosby will get you to sign the contract in a few minutes." Christopher then turned to Patrick. "Take a five minute break and then come to my office." He then stood up and left.
Emilia let out a deep sigh along with Patrick, both happy for a very different reason. Although, Patrick still felt that the worst was ahead of him.
"Oh my God, I can't believe this." Emilia said happily. She was ecstatic. She was still unaware of the true purpose of the interview. Patrick wondered if this was a good time to tell her the truth.
It definitely wasn't. After a few minutes of listening to Emilia's excitement they went up the stairs. Emilia noticed curious gazes of the employees as she was passing them.
Once outside of Christopher's office, Emilia sat down in the chair and Patrick went inside.
"Sir."
"I've signed the contract." Christopher responded. He was looking out of the window, feeling increasingly conflicted. "It's her turn now."
"Certainly." Patrick reached for the contract and looked at the first page with anxiety like never before. There was no hiding the 'matrimonial agreement' on the first page that was stapled to the rest. Checking that Christopher was looking away he purposely dropped the contract and pulled the first page off. He wasn't sure if there wasn't a mention of the nature of the contract in the text but he hoped that Emilia was one of those that blindly sign agreements anyways.
He crumpled the page quickly and put it in his pocket, getting up and checking that Christopher still hasn't noticed.
"Emilia, come in." Patrick popped his head out of the room. His palms were sweaty.
"Hello." Emilia walked into the room with a pleasant smile on. "Good afternoon, Mr Hayden." She spoke towards the man who stood with his back to her, looking out of the window.
"Well…" Patrick smiled at her with excitement. "You have outperformed every other candidate. You had the highest score on the general knowledge test and the business domain. You were truly insightful with your answers." Patrick spoke to her as he passed her the contract. He wanted to distract her.
"Thank you." Emilia smiled in excitement. "Thank you, Mr Hayden." She said at the man that paid no attention to her. She came closer to the desk and looked at a contract.
"I was truly surprised that you knew the nature of Mr Hayden's business." Patrick continued to talk to her.
"Well, I've tried to do some research to be prepared for today." Emilia smiled, trying to scan the pages of the contract again. Most importantly, she tried to catch a glimpse of the exact salary she were to receive.
"That's a very good thing to do. You also spoke so well of preparation for public events. You seemed like a natural."
"Again, thank you Mr Cosby. That is truly flattering." Emilia couldn't focus with Patrick's constant talking so she gave up on having a proper read of the document and signed it.
"Do you have any questions?" Christopher asked suddenly.
"No, sir." Emilia answered. "Maybe only one. I wish to know when I can start."
"You've signed a contract, and since then, all of the terms apply."
"I see. Again, thank you." She bowed her head before Patrick led her out of the office. He was afraid that the longer Emilia was near Christopher, the more likely it was to come out that she just signed a marriage contract and legally was now Christopher's wife, or potentially a worse outcome, it could be that Christopher would realise what Patrick did in order to find him a perfect candidate. "Thank you so much Mr Cosby." Emilia said as they walked out.
"I will assist you later today with the move. I will come around 16:00, okay?"
"Yes, that sounds splendid." Emilia agreed. "Is there anything else I am required to do in order to prepare?"
"No, not at all. You're free for now. All instructions will be passed to you once you move it."
"Understood. Thank you." Emilia smiled again and bid him goodbye.
Patrick sighed with relief, before he returned to the office.
Christopher's stern gaze was on him.
"How did you find her?"
"She's an acquaintance, sir. I didn't know her that well, beside an odd conversation, but I knew that she was quite smart as she worked in a research lab."
"Good job, Patrick." Christopher said before sitting down in his seat and resuming work. "Scan the contract and send it to that devil's advocate. He should be satisfied." Christopher ordered without looking up anymore.
"Of course, sir."
"And release a statement."
"Excuse me?" Patrick turned pale.
"Announce to the world that I am now married. It might stop some vultures from hovering around."
"Where would you like to announce it?"
"Wherever you will put it, it will spread like wildfire. So, you choose."
"Certainly, sir."
Patrick swallowed his saliva. He knew that it was a matter of time before Emilia will work it all out. And that wasn't going to be pretty.