CHAPTER 2 – The Interview

“Shall we start?” an old man in the middle asked.

When she looked at ‘Daniel Grant’ he was not even looking at her.

It took her a while to recover.

How is this possible?

Has he forgotten about her?

He looked a lot different now, yes, but she could not be mistaken.

She took her seat still trying to figure out what is happening when she heard another voice.

“Good morning, Miss Yates” she heard an old man in his sixties reading her CV.

“Yates? Are you related to the Yates Holdings?” the oldest man in the group asked.

Celine eyed the room and fixed her focus on the man in the middle.

‘He must be the one to please’ Celine thought of the old man.

“Not at the moment” she said with a confident smile.

She immediately got the attention of the rest of the people inside the room.

“Who is Celine Yates? And why should we hire you?” the old man in the middle started.

It is always a dreaded question by applicants but not for her.

She has prepared all her life to answer these difficult questions.

“I’m Celine Yates, turning 25 this year” she smiled warmly.

She started reciting all her achievements since her university years.

• Secretary of university org
• Dean’s list
• Graduated with honours
• Partnership with different charitable institutions
• Two years as developer in investment banking
• Three years as Senior Analyst/Team Lead in another investment banking

These were all written in her resume.

But she wouldn’t mind to elaborate.

This way she could highlight her capabilities.

“Why hire me? Because you need me” she said so sure of herself.

Based on her experience, her credentials alone would instantly land her the job.

It’s a bonus that she had this interview to meet the senior officers of the company.

She felt satisfied when the man in the middle nodded his head while flipping her three-page-resume.

‘Make me an offer’ she said inwardly.

“Can you tell us about yourself that is not written in your resume?” the man in the middle asked.

Celine was startled.

She made an effort to make sure she listed all her notable achievements in her application.

“What do you want to know?” she asked hesitantly.

“With your outstanding credentials, I’m just wondering why you wanted to join a start-up gaming company”

“Don’t you feel that your talent would only be wasted here?” the man asked looking at her intently.

“It’s precisely the reason why I want to join the company” she composed herself immediately.

“I feel that with my extensive experience, I can bring the company to greater heights” she said feeling proud.

After 30 minutes of chatting, the old man ended their interview.

“Thank you, Ms. Yates. Please wait for our call” he said.

‘No way!’

Does this mean she didn’t get the job?

The last time she had an interview it was completed in 30 minutes including the signing of contract.

But now, they’re letting her leave with a false hope of a call-back?

“Thank you” she said gracefully then headed towards the door.

She would not lose her poise because of this set-back.

“Thoughts?” the man she called ‘Daniel Grant’ asked as soon as Celine left the room.

“Very young, arrogant, over-qualified, persistent, and she will not fit in the company. She would ruin the morale of your developers” the old man stated his assessment.

‘Daniel’ nodded his head in agreement.

But just like on cue, the door slammed open.

“I know you said you will call me, but you didn’t say if it’s on my mobile phone or just outside the corridor” Celine smiled widely at the panel of officers.

She waited for this opportunity to come.

She will not let it go so easily.

“Ms. Yates, you had your schedule. Please be considerate of other people’s time” the old man said reprimanding her.

“So, you will call me on my mobile?” she wanted to confirm.

“Ms. Yates” one of the interviewers held out his hand to escort her.

She looked at Daniel and found that the man was not even looking at her.

Is it possible she made a mistake?

The Daniel Grant she knew could not see without glasses this Daniel seems to have perfect vision.

The old Daniel doesn’t bother with his hair, this Daniel is well-groomed.

The old Daniel is lean, this Daniel is very muscular and manly.

The old Daniel would always acknowledge her presence, this Daniel did not even bother to glance at her.

Was she so desperate to have a ‘husband’ that she would take anyone even with just a resemblance of Daniel Grant?

When she realized she didn’t get the job, she decided to settle her bigger problem.

“Hi Logan, I need a favour. Can we meet?” she asked hopefully.

When she arrived at their meet-up location, she was kind of disappointed.

“Are you working, Logan? Your costume is full-on” she asked Logan King.

“First, I have successfully changed my name from Logan King to Lola Kween legally” Lola said while flickering her long eyelashes.

“Second, we pretended to date for only two months. You cannot just call and ask for a favour” Lola said with controlled voice.

“Whatever, Lola. I need your help. Free your schedule tomorrow night. I need you to pretend to be my husband. For old time’s sake, yeah?” she said with optimism.

Lola Kween looked at her breast implants, then at her hairless arms and legs.

She could still feel the pain of waxing every time she feels her smooth skin.

And this little devil wanted her to pretend as a man again?

“Do I look like a man to you?” if the little devil said yes, she would definitely need to refund all the money she spent over the years.

“Just remove your costume. You’re very good at acting Lola. You’ve been acting like a real woman. I’m sure you can act like a decent and loving husband” she explained.

“That’s it!” Lola was fuming right now.

Does this little devil thinks going under the knife is part of her acting???

Ridiculous.

“NO!!! Fucking bitch” Lola cursed under her breath.

“Chill, Lola. No one can hear you. You don’t need to act in front of me” she reminded her.

“I wasn’t acting” she glared.

“This is me calling you a fucking bitch in front of your face” her face was so red due to her emotions.

“Ohhh” Celine just looked at her trying to grasp her words.

“I’m sorry, Celine. It must be the hormones I’m taking. I’m taking a lot” Lola was emotional.

“No, it’s okay. I was waiting for you to correct yourself that’s why I pause for a moment” she knew Lola was not very intelligent before.

She understood it if she mistook the female dog to a female person. 

“If you need someone to pretend why not ask your bodyguard wannabe?” Lola hasn’t exacted vengeance on Daniel Grant.

Not that she can, obviously, but she really wanted to get even with that guy.

“Who?” Celine asked in confusion.

“Daniel Grant. He’s good at pretending to be all brains when clearly, he’s also full of brawn” she’s still having goosebumps just thinking about how Daniel locked her up in a female toilet and forced her to come out of the closet.

“You must be mistaken. Daniel would never do that” she defended Daniel.

 He’s grumpy, yes, but all his energy is focused on his brains he couldn’t waste energy on physical activities.

“Yeah, right. Just stay away from me” Lola started to leave when Celine grabbed her arm.

“So, I really cannot count on you tomorrow?” she wanted to confirm.

“No” Lola shook her head for the last time then left.

Celine was left alone in her table wondering why she could not get any help.

She thought she’s been a good person all her life.