Casey
I get into the Blackwell's company lobby. The place is huge, it's classy and clean, and it shows just how powerful, and rich the Blackwell company group is. I walk towards the two secretaries that are in the lobby and smile at them.
"Good morning, my name is Casey Moon. I'm here to see Mr. Blackwell, Cesar Blackwell. He is expecting me."
"You're welcome, Casey Moon," she says as her hand goes towards the keyboard in front of her. She clicks there for a few minutes before she says, "Why don't you take a seat, and we'll be right with you."
"Thanks," I say as I go back to sit on the waiting chair. Though I'm like, shouldn't Cesar be expecting me? I thought it would just be like, go upstairs. But then, everybody has their own rules in their own companies I guess or maybe he forgot I was even coming... That would be just great.
With no choice, I just go and sit down. I can't believe that I am here. I did not want to be here, but my mom forced me to be here. She practically threatened me with Victor if I didn't come to work at Blackwell.
So I agreed, and that's why I'm here. Although I'm surprised she wanted me to come here, considering how Leonard Blackwell acted after Cesar performed a disappearing act.
I had gone inside my room after Cesar had pulled that ridiculous prank on me. I don't know what the hell he was thinking. I rushed into my room, closed the door behind me, and worked on controlling my breathing. I knew I had to forget whatever it was that had happened five years ago, and especially forget what happened when Cesar pulled me into his room.
I got myself ready and went down the stairs, but when I reached there, there was no sign of Cesar. His dad asked me to go tell him to come downstairs. I didn't want to, but I had no choice. I felt as if this was Cesar's way to get me to go to his room again. But when I reached there, he was nowhere to be seen. And when I went downstairs and told them he wasn't there, his dad called Cesar, and whatever it was the two of them talked about made his dad really mad. We had to postpone going skiing since Mom had to go upstairs and talk to Leonard.
I thought that was the end of it, but a few hours later, they came back downstairs and Leonard said they were not going to let Cesar destroy our vacation, and that's how we went on. But I could see that Cesar's dad, Mr. Blackwell, wasn't happy.
So last night, when Mom came into my room at the Blackwells estate and told me that she had just been talking to Cesar and that I should be here early this morning, I was surprised.
"Aren't you mad at him?" I asked her.
She frowned. "Mad at him? What do you mean?"
"I mean, I thought after he did that whole disappearing act, you guys were going to not talk to him for a while until he apologizes. He was so rude..."
My mom smiled as she came and sat beside me on the bed. "Cesar and Leonard have a complicated relationship. So moving forward, we will be seeing Cesar at the house now and then. You'll be seeing them have a few disagreements. Just don't get into it, okay?"
I nodded, even though I didn't understand. I didn't care what their relationship was like anyway.
She stood up, dusted her skirt—even though it wasn't dirty—and said, "Don't forget to wake up really early and be there in time, okay? It was such a huge deal for Leonard to ask Cesar to take you under his wing at the company. So don't let him down."
I took a deep breath. "Okay, maybe I'll be so bad that he'll just fire me on the first day."
My mother looked horrified. "Don't joke about such a thing, Casey," she said as she kissed my forehead and left.
But of course, when she reached the door, she reminded me again. "Don't forget to wake up early. In fact, you know what? I'll just come and wake you up myself."
And so that is how I managed to be here so early. Considering the Blackwells estate is so far from the city, I had to wake up really early to get there. I guess this is where I'm spending the next few years of my life.
It took longer than I thought necessary for Cesar to acknowledge me—thank God I was playing Candy Crush on my phone and lost track of time—I realized I had been waiting for an hour and a half just to see Cesar.
Who does he think he is, the president? I don't even think it takes that long to see the president.
After an hour and a half, a woman dressed neatly walked toward me. She exuded confidence, her posture poised. She wore a white shirt that was slightly see-through, revealing her figure and the bra beneath. Her pencil skirt was so short that I questioned if it was even appropriate business attire. She paired it with high heels—shoes I would never find myself walking in. She carried a bright, practised smile, one that felt almost too perfect.
She stopped at the receptionist's desk, exchanging a few words before turning toward me, that same perfect smile still in place.
"Casey Moon?" she asked.
"Yes," I replied, since I didn't know her name.
"My name is Juliette Rose, and I will be one of the people interviewing you today. If you don't mind, would you accompany me upstairs?"
An interview?
Nobody told me there was going to be an interview. I thought that when Cesar agreed to hire me, I had already passed whatever test I needed to. So while I had been sitting here, wasting time playing Candy Crush, I should have been getting ready for an interview.
Why didn't my mom say anything? She would have said something if she had known. My mom was obsessed with lists, she wouldn't forget something like that.
I gritted my teeth, forcing myself to push down my irritation. Without another word, I stood up and started following Juliette toward the elevators.
My mind was such a mess I didn't even know what floor we were on when Juliette got outside, gave me a tight smile, continued down the line, and reached towards a room that was at the centre of offices around it.
She said, "I'll call you in in a few minutes." And then she went inside, leaving me behind.
There were seats there, so I sat down and thought to myself, '
What the hell, what the hell, what the hell.'
I was freaking out, and I didn't know why. I did not know why. This was an interview, and I had no idea about it. What if I mess this up? Oh my gosh, a disappointment. I could almost see Cesar's smile when I flopped this interview. And I could see my mom and Leonard's disapproval, disappointment, and I really did not want to disappoint them.
I better just refuse this job altogether. It's better than actually failing at this interview.
The room was made of windows in the middle of the floor, but it had this greyish half, nearly half of its side, so I couldn't really— even though I could see the ceiling and inside the room, I couldn't see the people inside. I didn't know how many people were waiting for me there. I didn't know what they were going to ask me. I was freaking out.
I took out my phone and started googling what kind of questions you get asked for a PA job. And even before I got to read it, Juliette came back and told me,
"We are ready for you." And then she walked inside. I tapped the screen to press knowing I was going to flop this and walked in after her.
I walked in to find a panel of three women sitting at the head of the table. Juliette went in and joined them, becoming the fourth-panel member. I stood up there, still trying to control my nerves, when one of the women who was at the centre introduced herself as the head of HR and asked me to take a seat.
Then she introduced the other women who were there at the head of the table, including Juliette, who I now just found out is actually Cesar's secretary. And then we had her, and then we had a woman from finance—I didn't know why she was here. And we had another one who came from the marketing team. Again, I didn't know why she was there. I understood the HR being here, but the other ones? I don't know.
I waited for her as she asked me if I was comfortable for them to begin the interview. Once I told them, yeah, I was comfortable to begin the interview, she asked me if it was okay for them to film it.
"Okay, I would just like to let you know, Ms. Moon, that we will be recording this interview."
As she said this, Juliette stood up and went towards the camera that was sitting right next to her. I hadn't actually noticed it since I was all over in my head. She pressed it and came back. And then the questions began.