Chapter 2. Unexpected Reencounter

Lia stared at him for a couple of seconds, totally surprised by his words, she couldn't believe how being so attractive he could express himself that way, that impressed her to the point of remaining for a moment abstracted, without emitting any sound, until she saw the scornful expression on the man's face.

"I'm sorry sir, I was distracted looking at the luxurious building and I didn't notice your presence, but you can give me your shirt and coat, I have no problem to send it to be washed" she said, trying to be kind and smiling a smile with which she hoped to appease the man's irritation.

 However, she did not expect the man's attitude, who looked at her from head to toe in a contemptuous way as if she were crazy, and without a word he turned away, leaving her alone as if she were someone insignificant, with whom he was not going to waste time paying attention to her; that attitude of arrogance displeased Lia, who could not control her tongue and expressed annoyed.

"You idiot! He thinks he's so interesting because he looks so passable" she spat hoping the man would stop listening to her, but he reacted as if it wasn't with him, causing more irritation in the young woman who, to tell the truth, found him quite desirable.

 Lia sighed in frustration as she continued walking, thinking that she would not let herself be disturbed by anyone, she would focus on her interview, on coming out very well and thus guaranteeing that job, which was necessary to be able to solve her problems.

 She spoke to the young woman at the information desk, who showed her the floor and the office where the interview would be held, when she arrived she was expected, and before she could say a word the receptionist showed her in.

"Good morning, Miss Ontiveros, the nurse will attend to you immediately, she is already waiting for you in the third cubicle to take samples and perform some tests".

Lia frowned, puzzled, why would they do medical tests on her, if she was not hired yet? She thought, however, she did not dare to ask any questions, she was afraid that they would find her distrustful and that would harm her hiring.

"Thank you very much" was her simple reply, as she gave a friendly smile, trying to feign her concern.

She knocked on the cubicle door and immediately heard a woman's voice inviting her in.

 

"Hello" she said, feeling a little self-conscious. "I was sent to this cubicle, although I honestly have no idea for what purpose," she smiled.

The woman responded to his words with politeness, she smiled, while her face showed a peaceful expression.

"Don't worry, this is all part of the process, we need to evaluate several aspects, first we need your weight and measurement; we will also take a sample of your blood to perform several laboratory tests, and we will apply a survey, where we will ask you everything related to your family medical history because it is necessary to evaluate your health condition".

"I don't understand, do I already have the job?"  The nurse looked at her with a bit of bewilderment.

"No, as I told you a moment ago, this step is necessary to see if you are healthy and fit to work in this important project" despite answering all her questions with interest, she was a little nervous.

"It's strange," said the girl with humor, "I had never attended a job interview where I felt like a breeding horse being evaluated," although her words were intended to make the nurse laugh, it had the opposite effect, as an ictus of displeasure appeared on her face, even when she tried to hide it, that caused again a little distrust in her.

Despite that feeling, Lia kept quiet, submitting herself to all the tests, then she was taken to a large room, where she was informed that a panel of three people would conduct an interview, so it was, they asked her multiple questions and asked her several tests, through which they hoped to evaluate her mental abilities, they showed a series of graphs, in addition to reasoning questions.

With each new scrutiny, interview, test, curiosity was growing in her, everything seemed a little strange and suspicious, in the end she could not contain herself and asked one of the women in charge of taking her from one side to the other.

"Excuse me, could you please tell me what are all these tests and evaluations for? I don't understand the purpose of this, what is the position that requires so much information?" he pointed out with concern.

"It is part of the selection process, once we have the results in our hands, if you are chosen, we will proceed to inform you immediately," said the woman calmly.

"When will the results be known?" she asked, unable to calm her anxiety and appease her curiosity for a brief moment.

"In three days, if the results are satisfactory and you are selected, we will proceed to call you," said the woman, bidding her a quick farewell, at the same time that she received a new application for whatever the job might be.

Although she wanted to be selected, she was suspicious about this hermetic, meticulous and strange process, "What kind of job required so much secrecy and such a selection of its workers?" However, there was no sense in wasting her time thinking about it, because all this would predispose her against the job and she would end up not accepting it.

For a couple of days, while waiting for the results, she was looking in the press for some other job offers, but none was as attractive to her, from all points of view as the one related to the Estebans company, so instead of continuing in the job search, she gave up and spent the time looking in the basement of the house, He threw away all the useless ones, although he could not get rid of some that brought him pleasant memories, so he organized them to have them ready when he moved to another house.

Days went by and when the deadline was about to expire, he received a call.

"Hello, good afternoon, would you be so kind as to call Mrs. Ontiveros? " Asked a woman's voice on the other end of the line.

"I am the one speaking, how can I help you?" She answered without being able to hide her nerves, because she suspected what it was about.

"This is assistant Anastasia Simone, I was calling to notify you that you must present yourself in one hour at the Estebans Companies facilities, on the president's floor. Of all the people presented for the interview, only you meet the required conditions".

“Thank you very much, I will be there in the shortest time possible," she replied excitedly, celebrating her good fortune, because working in such companies was a privilege of few.

 

She took a shower and got ready in record time, she put on the same clothes used for the interview, because she didn't have any other, because it was not her style, she only added different accessories, a belt, a purse and red shoes, fifty minutes later she was walking towards the building, as soon as they saw her they recognized her and accompanied her to the presidency.

She entered the large meeting room, however, it caught her attention that there was a section of a table with three chairs behind and one in front where she was asked to take a seat, seconds after sitting down two good looking men appeared, serious, tall, one with cinnamon skin, deep black eyes and the other, green eyes, light skin, both dressed in black suits, both carrying a couple of folders in their hands.

"Miss Ontiveros, I am Liam Tuner and Paul Jericho" said the dark-haired man pointing to his partner, "We are the lawyers of Mr. Marco Estebans Veliz Zuluaga, we will be in charge of answering all the doubts related to this new job.

"The first thing to know is that you must sign a confidentiality contract about everything discussed here, if you decide to accept the proposal you must sign another contract with the conditions and an annex attached to this contract, you can not talk about it, if you want to hear about it, it is necessary to sign it here".

"How can I sign something without knowing what it is about? " The man looked at her as if she was stupid.

"I just spoke to you, after signing the contract, we will give you all the necessary information for your better understanding," he mentioned with a firm voice.

She made a gesture of annoyance took the contract and signed without reading, looking at the man defiantly. 

"You signed without reading!" Paul exclaimed, surprised.

Immediately a voice was heard behind him, which he had heard before, but refused to look away.

"Didn't you read it and sign it? This is unbelievable! She is the most intelligent of all the applicants and she was not even able to read the contract before signing it, I don't want to know the capacity of the others, of course, after all, in the country of the blind, the one-eyed man is king," he said in a hoarse voice.

He walked slowly, however, when he arrived in front of her, his countenance changed, they both looked at each other at the same time and exclaimed in unison.

 "You!"

 "That's how you really get to know people. In their reactions to the unexpected. Santiago Posteguillo.