LIGHTNOVELSTORY Chapter 5: The interview part 1
"This is not my day," Vanessa mumbled to herself. Why did she spend so long dressing up for the interview now she is already late, definitely not a good first impression.
" Or should I take the stairs," she thought out loud. " No, this would not work, I won't be able to run up the stairs in heels." She facepalmed herself. To calm herself, Vanessa took a deep breath in and out because it would not be of any assistance if her thoughts were not organized.
" Okay, Vee, you can do this. Being already late, there's no need to scramble. I will focus on preparing my mind for the interview. If I face rejection, it simply was not meant to be." Venessa spoke to herself attempting to uplift her spirits with a bit of encouragement, she was interrupted by the ding sound of the elevator.
She walked into the empty elevator and then pressed the button for her intended floor. She continued her strange dialogue with herself because she was nervous and talking to herself helped to calm her nerves.
On the following floor, another person joined her at the elevator. Unperturbed by the new presence, Vanessa remained focused on soothing her nerves, continuing her peculiar inner dialogue.
This came to the notice of the person with her in the elevator, who was puzzled by her strange behavior but decided to ignore her. He should just let this eccentric individual be and focus on his matters. As the elevator reached the fourth floor, Vanessa exited, unaware that her behavior had already labeled her as somewhat eccentric.
" The city stresses people out of their minds," the man who left in the elevator commented when the doors closed. "Perhaps she's an actress; she's quite charming. Why else would she engage in self-talk and expressive hand gestures?.."
"Why do I even care?" pondered the tall, handsome man in his middle twenties, questioning his interest in the eccentric behaviour of the lady who was talking to herself. "Seems like I am also stressed due to the investigations," he thought to himself.
He was more scared at how he would explain to his boss that the only lead he had to the case suddenly disappeared. This present case was frustrating since it is about a matter that happened years ago and almost all their leads were dead ends. It seemed impossible to unravel the mystery surrounding the case.
.
.
Unknown to Vanessa what was happening in the elevator, she was elated that she found the designated hall for the interview. She took a moment to finally calm herself before stepping into the Hall, and she was shocked by the sight that welcomed her, the hall was empty except for a lady who stood at the door.
" Are you here for the Family Fantasy interview?" The lady who was dressed in formal attire asked Vanessa who was shocked with her mouth wide open. Hearing the lady's question, she immediately turned her attention to her. " Yes I am, did I miss it because I was late?"
" No it's okay, I guess you were not aware of the sudden changes that happened a few minutes ago, the number of applicants was more than the hall capacity so we switched to another hall. Although you are late since the applicants are many, we moved the starting time to 3 pm to organise you guys better. I came to get this box.". The lady referred to the box in her hands as why she Informed Vanessa of the reason the hall was empty.
Vanessa was relieved that she had not missed the interview but also worried at the fact the applicants were too much because she had more competition. Indeed, what the lady said was true because minutes ago when Vanessa left the receptionist, a call came in informing the receptionist at the ground floor about the sudden change in plans.
The lady wanted to inform Vanessa but Vanessa was nowhere to be found again as she had already sprinted away rushing to the fourth floor.
Back in the hall, Vanessa was," Just follow me to the new hall, we have 15 minutes before the interview officially starts, and you need to go through some clearance procedures before the interview starts." The lady Instructed Vanessa. She was nice to Vanessa because of her stunning appearance which was among the best she has seen today, if not the best and with her expert eyes she could judge that her features looked very natural. Only an expert plastic surgeon can achieve this. She can judge on Vanessa clothes there is no way she can afford it. So she is a rare natural beauty.
Vanessa nodded and followed the lady. They walked down the hallway to another door which was the new venue, still on the same floor. " We are here," the lady informed Vanessa before opening the door and just as the lady explained, the hall was very crowded with over 500 people present. Some were already seated while others were queuing at the side of the hall. The lady Instructed Vanessa to join the queue before she left.
Since it was a long queue, it took Vanessa some time before she was finally attended to. " Name," the middle-aged woman who was checking them in for the interview asked Vanessa while her eyes were still stuck on her desktop screen as her hands was operating the mouse. She looked like a seasoned office worker with years of experience.
" Vanessa Clarkson," Vanessa immediately replied. The lady swiftly typed Vanessa's name.
"OK here it is Vanessa Clarkson registration number 0530, you were the last person to register and coincidentally, the last person who showed up for the Interview, please can you hand over physical copies of all requested documents for authentication."
Vanessa gave the middle-aged woman her documents and the lady immediately scanned all of them before handing them over to Vanessa along with a number tag.
" I think that is all, good luck with your interview. Just wait for your number to be called before going to the inner room where you will be interviewed." The lady informed Vanessa.
Vanessa left the lady to take her seat. The person who was sitting by her side was a teenage boy who was busy playing an online game. The interview applicants were not just young girls but also guys of different age, with the oldest around their early Thirties and the youngest 16 years old. It looked like they were here for a movie audition.
At 3:15 pm, someone came to address the crowd. " Good afternoon everyone, I am Mr. Austin, and I am here to explain the procedure for the interview." Mr. Austin was a man looking around his middle thirties, he had a good body build and height with an average-looking face. He had a strong presence, the entire hall was silent with everyone's attention on him.
" To be honest, the number of participants this year was more than we expected, so we had to change the interview format a little so that we can get the best 10. The males and females would be interviewed separate as in previous years, but this year we would not only be judging based on looks and communication skills but also intelligence and good acting skills. Only those who pass these three criteria would be considered for the top 10. Then out of the top 10."
" The First 5 would be employed with contracts immediately, while the bottom 5 would be placed on a waiting list in case one of our top 5 fails the certificate authentication to confirm your documents. If you fail no need to be sad, you can try again next year. So we have totally of 530 people, with 230 males and 300 females. To show our popularity have increased greatly." A round of applause roared through out the room.
Mr Austin then used his eyes to scan the crowd to gauge their reactions. " If you have undergone plastic surgery, your chances of passing are low, we have a doctor to check your body and also take some test samples we would use to confirm your medical reports you submitted. You would be judged based on both your physical Interview and your submitted detail documents to check if you meet our standards."
" The physical Interview results would be released today, with only the top 10 announced. Since you are many, we have multiple interviewers to make the process as fast as possible and note everyone Interview would not necessarily be the same. So good luck."
Austin finished his briefing and left the crowd. Then immediately another staff came. " Please check your number tag along with your registration number there is another number which ranges from 1 to 230 for men and 1 to 300 for women. The first ten for the guys follow me." The lady instructed. The same way, another person request the first 10 girls. Vanessa looked at her number indicating she was the 300th for the girls which made her feel depressed as she was the very last person.