CHAPTER 5: THE INTERVIEW.
Kane stretched, yawning on his bed as he woke up on Monday morning. He tiredly stretched his hand to his bedside table without looking, searching through the items on it, looking for his phone.
Finding it, he checked to see what the time was.
"What the heck?!
His eyes widened in utter surprise, and he scrambled out of bed, flinging aside his blanket, and ran to the bathroom down the hallway he shared with Stephanie.
Arriving there, he bumped into Stephanie who wanted to quickly take a shower, as she also overslept, just as he did.
Kane quickly rushed into the bathroom before she could, and locked the door.
"Open the door! Open the door! I'll be late for school," Stephanie yelled, banging on the door angrily.
"And I'll be late for my interview. Just give me a minute," Kane said as he began brushing, quickly.
"Argh!" Stephanie grunted frustratedly, but had no choice but to wait for her brother to be done using the bathroom.
In less than five minutes, Kane was done and ran out of the bathroom tying a towel, with some parts of his body still wet. Stephanie looked at him with perplexity.
"Did he even shower properly?" she asked to rhetorically. She shrugged and went into the bathroom.
Kane quickly got dressed, wearing one of the only two suits he had. He grabbed his shuttle bag and hurried out of his room.
Hasting down the stairs, he met his mother setting the table with breakfast.
"Good morning mom," he kissed her on the cheek in a hurry.
"Good morning sweetheart. Breakfast is ready," Melanie responded.
"I'm late for the interview mom. I'll eat when I get back. Bye," he said as he hurried to the front door.
"You haven't even combed your... hair," Melanie tried pointing out, but Kane hurriedly exited the house. She sighed smiling, wishing him the best of luck.
Kane boarded a taxi and headed straight to the venue of the interview. He didn't have time to use the subway in order to save a few bucks on transportation. He needed to be there in time. He was left with fifteen minutes to the appointed time.
After thirteen minutes, he arrived the location. The driver did his best to drive as fast as he could at Kane's request, without violating the speed limit in New York.
Kane paid the cab driver and hurried into the establishment. The entrance of the hotel was artfully adorned with a gold themed look which spelt royalty.
Kane was never not amazed anytime he came there. It was his third time being there so far.
He hurried to the reception desk. The person he met was different from who he had previously met.
"Hello. Please, I'm here for the interview."
"Just in time," the receptionist remarked. "Can I see you invitation letter and ID?"
"Sure," Kane replied as he quickly reached into his suit pocket and brought out his wallet, and showed her his ID. He got his invite letter also from his duffle bag and handed it to her as well.
She confirmed he was actually the one invited.
"Here you go," she handed back his things, along with a tag.
"Take the elevator right behind you and head to the tenth floor. The interview hall is the third door to the left," the receptionist directed him.
"Thank you very much," Kane smiled and hurried to the elevator, and got to the tenth floor.
He was able to find the interview hall. Going in, he met a lady and a guy already in the hall. They both glared derogatorily at him, and scoffed even.
Seeing them, Kane knew they were better dressed than he was. Gulping nervously, he took his seat away from them. Doubtful thoughts began invading his thoughts, as he physically didn't look more qualified than them for the same interview.
At exactly 8:15 am, a well dressed man walked into the interview hall, accompanied by another man and woman. The attention of the interviewees was drawn to them.
"Good morning. I'm glad you all could make it. My name is Mr John, head of the HR Department. The interview will be in two phases. First the written, then the oral. Give it your best, as only one of you is needed for the position of the personal assistant of the CEO. Are we clear?"
"Yes sir!" the trio unanimously answered.
Nodding at his colleagues, they distributed a questionnaire to the three of them.
"You have twenty minutes to answer all questions. And your time starts now," Mr John declared.
Kane and the rest hastily began attempting all the questions, as the interviewers kept a close watch on them.
Kane was done in less than fifteen minutes. He sighed and leaned his back on his chair. He looked beside him and saw the rest seriously answering the questionnaire.
"Are you done?" Mr John asked Kane, furrowing his brow.
"Yes sir. I am," he answered confidently.
"Hmm," Mr John grunted, nodding his head.
"Okay. Your time's up," Mr John declared after a while. The interviewers collected the questionnaires from Kane and the other two, then they left.
"Hey," the other male interviewee called Kane. He turned and looked at him.
"What the hell did you even write to be done so quickly?" he asked.
"I bet he's as dumb as he looks," the lady chipped in, and they both laughed at Kane.
Kane chuckled softly, ignoring them.
After a while, Mr John and his colleagues returned.
"So, we begin the oral test. You, get your stuff and follow me," instructed, pointing at the other guy.
He smirked at Kane and walked out confidently, leaving the other members of the HR department and the interviewees.
After a short while, Mr John returned and requested that the lady followed him. She got her stuff and did as asked, leaving Kane.
Kane was a bit nervous. He wondered why the first person who was called didn't return. Once again, negative thoughts began invading his thoughts.
He decided to take a deep breath in, and exhaled slowly, calming himself.
Shortly after, Mr John returned, and looked right at him.
"Follow me."
Kane sighed, and got his bag, following Mr John. They got to the elevator and began heading up. Kane wondered why they were going up, but he sure knew not to ask why.
As the elevator dinged open, he was greeted with the sweet smell of lavender. The hallway they arrived at was way more elegant than all the parts of the hotel he had been to.
Immediately, he could tell this was the Executive floor. It caused him to be nervous a bit, but he comported himself.
Getting to a majestic door, Mr John pressed a button beside it, and the door unlocked. He gestured with his hands, leading Kane in. Kane was astounded at the ambience and beauty of the office.
Up ahead, behind a custom made table, was a lady, seated engrossed in some paperwork.
"Ma'am, here's the last candidate," Mr John said. He gestured at Kane to move forward a bit, to which he did.
The lady reluctantly looked up as she set aside her pen, leaning into her reclining chair. Her eyes widened in surprise seeing who was before her.
Kane furrowed his brow looking intently at her. Then, his eyes also widened in shock.
"What the hell is he doing here?" Ava asked, snarling, as she looked hatefully at Kane, recalling Friday's night incident at the club.