Meeting Adrian

   Carmen stared at her reflection in the mirror as her little brother was standing proudly beside her. She took in a deep breath and tried to believe that she was looking at her own self. In fact, she looked gorgeous. 

  "Cody, I-I look..."she searched a lot for the right word when Cody spoke. 

  "Hot! Yes you look hot!"he said with his cute high tone innocently. 

  His sister laughed at him "Pfft no! Not hot but I look pretty"she returned back to the mirror. Her white blouse with small flower on it brightened the color of her eyes. The elegant-somehow wide dark red pants made her legs look taller and the six black buttons on the upper part of the pants, three on the right and three on the left was the best part of the pants. Cody has picked his mom's black heels and gave him to her. She teared up a bit when she saw them. Her hair was down into simple curls, she didn't want to look like she had spent hours on it. She had simple and soft makeup like always and was ready to go. 

  She had called the secretary at 11 am and asked her if she can still apply to go to the interview and they agreed. 

  The best part of all of this was that her work time would be the same time as Cody's school. She would even be before him in a half an hour. Well, if they did accept her first. 

  Cody and her entered the bus and they dropped Cody off before taking her to the company. 

  She kept taking deep breath to prevent having a panic attack. It was hard to imagine that she was even thinking of being an actress. With her shy self, would she even be able to say hello?

  After she had arrived, she took a good look at the building she was going to enter and hesitated if she should just turn back her heels. The big sign that read 'Charles And Co' just added more to the anxiety. Charles was a well known man. He hired actors and actresses, acted in many films and even wrote the scenarios of two! He was a legend! Well, in her opinion. 

  She entered the building and walked to the secretary who was typing furiously on the keyboard. Carmen felt that it would shatter under her arms in a matter of seconds if nobody stopped her. 

  "Umm hi"she said nervously. 

  "What do you want"the secretary huffed angrily as she pulled on the bird's nest resting on her head. It was better if she can shave them off. Has she ever heard of a hair brush before? Carmen thought. 

  "On which f-loor is the in-interview being done?"

  "Three"the secretary whispered. Carmen literally ran to the elevator. She just wanted to escape from the crazy lady!

  She pressed the floor's number and waited for it to arrive to the destined or more likely dreaded floor. 

  The doors opened and Carmen stepped out. What did I think about coming here she shouted in her head. 

  "Oh hi!"a voice startled her as she looked to the side. A woman sitting behind a desk was the one who talked. She was looking at her from behind her glasses and smiling widely. She was the cutest lady she had ever seen. It made the secretary blush as Carmen kept staring at her "You c-came for the interview, right? What's your name?"she broke the silence. 

  It seemed like she had forgot her name. She scratched her head and said "Carmen Anderson"the secretary nodded and looked at the file in front of her. 

  "Oh hi Carmen! You're lucky your turn will be up next after Samantha"Carmen sat down beside a Barbie-like woman. She had her long straight blonde hair down and was dressed in such disgusting clothes. Was she going to work as an actress or a stripper!

  "They'd never pick you"the woman said. 

  "Excuse me"Carmen said shockingly. 

  "You're too ugly for a job like this. They need a pretty woman like me, not one that's coming from trash. You also dress like a nun"Carmen gasped at what she said. Dressing like that was better than dressing like a slut. She mentioned in her head. 

  "You bet-"the secretary cut Carmen off by telling her that it was her turn. She stood up and walked away before glaring at that fake blondie and walked away. 

  Carmen's heart was thumping loudly inside her chest. She felt as if it was going to get ripped out. She took one final breath and entered the room. 

 'They'd never pick you' That girl's work echoed in her head. 

  Her eyes explored the luxurious room filled with paintings and finally landed on the three men sitting in front of her. The one in the middle was.. old Charles! How exciting! The one on the left looked kind. He seemed younger and genuine. As her eyes traveled to the right man, her heart drummed faster. He was oddly familiar. But she knew that it was just a crazy thought so she removed it out of her mind and said "Hello" with her low muffled voice. 

  "If you're going to keep on talking like that then you know where the door is"the one in the middle scowled. She wanted to gasp but even that little sound couldn't come out of her mouth. What a mistake she has done by coming her. Little did she know that Charles would be this grumpy. What a grumpy old man she thought. 

  "Sorry, my dad is just tired from how much interviews we have done today"the man on the left apologized"I'm Ronald, this is my father Charles and this is my older brother Adrian"he smiled at her and she managed to offer a small one in return. 

  "I'm Carmen. Carmen Anderson"she said with a higher tone this time. She sat in the chair in front of their desk and Charles quickly protested. 

  "Who told you to sit here?" 

  Carmen immediately stood up "I'm sorry, I'm just super nervous that I didn't know what to do"she looked down at the floor. 

  "Just sit"an annoyed deep voice said. Oh looks like the older son is just as grumpy as his father. Like father like son her inner voice told her. She wished he could just talk more so she can listen to his manly voice again. 

  "So, why did you come here" Ronald asked. 

  Carmen looked at him with a confused face "Duh, to apply for the job"he let out a slight chuckle and repeated his question. "Acting has been my dream job since I was young. I always us-"

  "Blah blah blah"Adrian said sarcastically "We don't need to know this shit, just get straight to the point"he rolled his eyes. 

  "I need money for my eight year old brother Cody. He needs to have his surgery done. He has Cromotizone" Adrian had a look of shock in his face, Ronald seemed sad and Charles kept staring at her blankly but she could notice the slight sympathy and sadness in his eyes. 

  "Okay. We have to see your CV. We have five girls left, ten got rejected and five got accepted. Today, we just see all of your CVs and decide on who to accept then after two weeks some of you would perform a scene of the movie The Beast's Wife and we will pick one of you"explained Ronald as Carmen placed her CV on the desk table. 

  "I don't want you, get out" Charles slightly shouted. 

  "Father!"Ronald warned. 

  Carmen stood up with tears in her eyes and felt like she has lost all her patience "You've been super rude to me and I stayed silent but I can't take it any longer!"she shouted as she stared at Charles. 

  "And you dare shout at me too!"he gasped. 

  "Listen, all I want is for my brother's surgery to be finished! Just how cold-hearted of a person are you all?" Her eyes flashed as she glared at the three men in their business best sitting at the table. They ignored her outburst and she stormed out of the office.

  Adrian caught sign of the paperwork she had left on the desk and took note of her number.

  Carmen, Carmen Anderson, could she really be the same? Had he finally found her? He knew one thing, he'd do whatever it took to find out if that was the case.