Transforming from an ugly duckling into a beautiful swan took way longer than just a few minutes. Getting me cleaned up, my hair fixed, and dressed in new clothes took a whopping thirty damn minutes. And if there hadn’t been a shopping mall nearby where we found everything we needed, it would’ve taken even longer. Even thirty minutes felt like an extravagant luxury. I was already hopelessly late for my interview, and by the time we burst into the right office, it was 9:16.
“Come in, both of you. Thanks to you, I no longer have time for individual interviews,” a redheaded woman, about our age, shot us a look that made me want to turn around and never come back.
Hold on! Where did this “we,” “us,” and “both of you” come from? Why was Vlad still with me? What was he doing in the Eclectica office? What was my childhood best friend doing at *my* interview? Too many questions, and my brain was processing this way too slowly. Could he really be applying for the junior marketing manager position too?
“Vladislav, we’ve already discussed the main points with you,” the head of recruitment confirmed my suspicions, then turned her sharp gaze on me. It felt like I wasn’t sitting there in the new dress and shoes we’d just bought minutes ago, but in the muddy, tattered mess I’d been wearing before. “You worked at a much larger and quite promising company. Why did you suddenly decide to leave and come to us?”
“I prefer the calm and coziness of a smaller office. You can achieve much greater efficiency working closely as a team, rather than splitting your attention across a hundred colleagues,” I said, surprisingly calm. Though maybe it was just Vlad’s presence next to me having that effect…
“So, working in a large office is too stressful for you, and you either shut down by working remotely or seek out as little interaction with people as possible?” When had I even hinted at anything like that?
“On the contrary, it’s easier in a large office. In a smaller company, they pile way more responsibilities on you,” I replied with a polite smile, suppressing a sudden surge of anger at both the redhead and Vlad, who hadn’t said a word about his own interview. But when would he have had the chance?
“So, you’re saying it’s easier to do as little work as possible?” My blood was practically boiling now.
I wanted to just stand up and leave, after giving her a piece of my mind. She was lucky, because Vlad touched my hand just in time. The jerk knew how to calm me down—when he wasn’t splashing puddle water all over me, that is. So, I just started explaining my position clearly, making sure she had nothing to nitpick.
But as if on cue, her phone rang, and Alina Viktorivna grimaced as she glanced at the screen. Without waiting for me to finish my spiel, she quickly stood up, grabbed some papers, stepped out into the hallway, and returned a few minutes later with the same perfect stride.
“Alright, I don’t have time to figure out who’s who or what’s what. In any case, your mistakes will show themselves pretty much immediately, so I’m hiring both of you. We’ve taken too long selecting candidates as it is. Since we have a ton of orders right now, you’ll figure things out on the job. Probation period—one day. Same reason. But don’t get too excited. Boris Vitalievich and I can fire you at any second.”
I nodded understandingly and slowly made my way to the exit, keeping my back straight and proud. I tried to look as composed as my new boss, though I’m not sure I pulled it off. The new shoes were pinching like crazy, and I did my best not to show it. I even attempted a smile, but quickly wiped the pointless grimace off my face.
“Should I stop by later?” Vlad practically purred to Alina Viktorivna as I crossed the threshold of the office, looking around in confusion.
“I told you: at work, we’re just colleagues,” her reply reached my ears.
Interesting how they “selected” Vlad. Did he even have any work experience? Or was he showing it off somewhere else?