Chapter 4: I GOT THIS!
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Alex’s POV;
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This day had seemed so far away when I got that call for an interview, but it was so much in-my-face today, it’s impossible to overlook.
My easy-going, laid-back attitude was quickly thrown out of the window as I neared the address. The huge building towered over me, daunting as it stood with its head among the clouds. ‘Signature Heights’ written in bold were engraved on a wall at the entrance gate.
In a hurry, I parked my car in the nearest available parking space and entered the building on shaky legs. The interior was just as nice as the outside and it did not in the slightest ease the daunting fear that enveloped me.
I swallowed the lump that seemed to rise in my throat and walked towards the reception as I forced myself to smile. “Hy, I’m here for the job interview…”
The receptionist instantly understood what I was talking about and soon I was directed towards a waiting room on the seventh floor, where I was left with my thoughts to drown in my anxiety. I neared a chair in the lounge area and settled myself in it.
The soft clicking of heels on the polished granite floor was a constant reminder of other people’s presence, and I looked down at my feet clad in white Nike sneakers rethinking my choice.
‘This is crazy. Why the heck am I second-guessing myself?’ I forced myself to take deep breaths and willed my heart rate to calm down, but it was near impossible for my body to relax, my shoulders were locked, tensed as my eyes darted across the length of the room.
Few other candidates were with me in the same place, all men and women in their perfectly cut suits and with a mask of professionalism. All my insecurities were throwing a huge party right now and there was hardly anything I could do to gather myself.
The seriousness of the situation was far too evident, and also the fact that I had a really slim chance at this job. Even though in the last few days Kate had helped me understand the inner workings of this company to better prepare myself for today, I was still very doubtful.
It wasn’t at all surprising that these people were eager to join this company, the little bit of research that I did yesterday to prep myself was enough to clear my doubts about the company’s thriving status and its well-defined focus.
Signature Heights was well rounded and highly successful, their business had reached out to many thriving industries but their main focus was real estate development and airlines.
I doubted my past internships and jobs experiences were enough to back me up for a job of such a high calibre. Plus I had a gaping two years gap in my resume, I doubt they’ll be happy about that.
The leather file I held in my hands started escaping my grip, as my fingertips were now moist with sweat, I held on tighter.
Names were called, people trickled in and out of the interview hall, the clock ticked on, and my nerves refused to settle.
“Alexandra Brook?”
Someone said, and immediately had my attention, I looked up and blinked at the middle-aged women who smiled at me kindly.
“Yes.” my voice came out stronger than I felt.
“Whenever you’re ready,” she said and I stood up to walk towards the door of the interview room.
‘I’m not ready.’ my thoughts were safely bottled to myself.
My throat was closing in on itself and I desperately wished for a glass of water, but pushing all these thoughts away I steeled my resolve and reached my hand forward towards the doorknob.
I forced myself to think;
I got this.
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I had a big smile shining through my eyes, the nervousness I felt before was entirely replaced by a blissful feeling rushing through my veins.
I saw Kate standing a few doors down the long spacious corridor and I waved at her, barely bottling my excitement.
As I walked up to her she curiously asked me through edgy gritted teeth, while looking at me like she was trying to figure out the inner workings of my brain. “How was it?!”
I tried not to let my smile spillover, but it was too difficult to contain. “Amazing!” I said, failing to tone down my excitement and grinned like my mouth was going to split into two.
“Yeah, the overly huge grin says it all” she informed me jokingly before she lunged forward to hug me, and we sort of swayed from side to side while locked in a breath-stealing embrace.
“I know I shouldn’t get my hopes up, but gotta say I’m feeling very optimistic about this one,” I told her seriously, as we pulled apart.
“I can’t believe how good it was Kate, the interviewer might as well be my long lost friend” I breathed, my smile was getting broader and broader if it was even possible. “I feared that it was going to turn into an interrogation but it seemed like an easy-going conversation, I almost forgot I was there for an interview.”
She smiled at me and teased “Are you sure you graduating on top of your class from Harvard business school had nothing to do with it?”
“Maybe…” I pursed my lips and winked at her.
Taking in my attire she complimented “Nice transformation by the way…”
I looked down at my sneakers, black columnist pants, fitted plain white top and bragged a little “I do clean up pretty well, don’t I?” We both chuckled. “Kate, let’s go out for a coffee” I suggested, suddenly craving caffeine.
Her eyes lit up, but then the spark diminished gradually “No, I can’t… sorry, my boss is returning today, and I have to be here” She frowned apologetically.
“Com’on don’t be so uptight, we still have like, a half-hour before he arrives, we’ll be back in no time” I insisted. “Or you can just ditch him” I smirked playfully.
“He’s not my brother Alex, he’s my boss” she rolls her eyes at me, obviously finding my suggestion useless.
“You are neglecting some major best-friend obligations right now” I warn her, she rolls her eyes. “This day would forever remain engraved in history as the day you chose your boss over our friendship.” This just made her straight out laugh, while I was busy holding a very serious frown.
“I’m sorry, but this is non-negotiable, we’ll celebrate some other time. It’ll be on me.” She pleaded while giving me her puppy eyes. Gaah…I can’t win with her!
“Okay, then I’ll get going,” I said in a fake sad voice “Alone….all alone…”
Kate obviously saw right through my act but I kept up the charade anyway, even when she says “Don’t do anything stupid.”
I enact an exaggerated gasp, “Have you no faith in me?!”
She made a face at my dramatics but gave me another hug before leaving to attend to her ‘important work’.
I looked around, taking in the fancy office environment and made my way towards the elevator. Getting out at the ground floor I walked towards the door which functions as the main common entry and exit for the building, again I was pleasantly surprised with the beautiful paintings and indoor fountain over there, it had a refined look to it, eye-catching yet perfect for the work environment. Without my anxiety playing a part, I was able to appreciate it better this time around.
After exiting the building, I headed towards the wide-open parking space and started looking for my car in a sea of automobiles. The wind was indefatigably sweeping and swirling, tangling my loose tresses as I walked, the warm weather continued to lift my mood.
I made note of a coffee shop, a few blocks down the road, and when I got seated in my car I decided to stop there to quench my never-ending thirst for caffeine. The big smile still intact on my lips, it felt like nothing could bring me down from cloud nine.
As soon as the engine hollered to life, I switched the gear to reverse and pulled out of the parking space, when at the last moment I noticed another car coming right into the same small space, I tried to stop my car but since the other person did not seem to have put any effort, the whole thing resulted in a big fat collision.
I was thrown forward in my seat, but my seatbelt quickly locked and pulled me back, cutting into my ribs but keeping me in my place. I breathed in relief, which quickly morphed into anger as I look at my rearview mirror.
Oh no, you did not!!
I got out of the car furiously when I saw a man climbing out from the other car, “What on earth-?!”
“What the hell!”
We both yelled as we met each other’s glares.
The phone that he held to his ear was soon tucked inside his pocket. “You!” he shouted like he wanted to be the sole cause of sound pollution, and I immediately thought he was familiar.
My mind made the connection. “Oh, that jerk-…” with a real bad case of self-obsession!’ I caught my tongue before all the words could flare out, I quickly recognised the man from that cursed restaurant fiasco as my mind stacked all the pieces together to place him.
The look he shot at me, was a humourless deadpan.
“What the hell are you doing here?” I gasped loudly, “Are you following me now?” To take revenge? That sounds like a lot of effort, to be honest.
“Excuse me? Don’t jump to such outlandish conclusions, why on earth would I follow you? I have better things to do…” He snapped with a pointed laser look pinned right on me.
I was about to say something equally biting, but instead, my hand flew to my heart as I half gasped-half cried when I took in the beaten condition of my car. The tail light was shattered into tiny pieces on the ground, ocean deep dents on the side of the trunk and a mile-long crack on the window frame.
“Oh my, I’m so sorry! You’ll be just fine, please hang in there” I murmured as I lovingly caressed my car. It was my first car, the one I bought with my own hard work.
“Did you just apologise to a-” His words were cut short by mine.
“Look what you did!” I shouted at the man who was simply standing and staring at me with perplex and… humour?
“What ‘I’ did? You were the one who came out of nowhere.” he said angrily. It seemed he was about to glow incandescent with rage.
“Oh yeah? Then who was the one dashing towards me into the same parking area, and who was talking on the phone while driving?” I asked, faking pure confusion. “And there’s something called ‘turn signals’, maybe you should learn to use them,” I said. He didn’t have anything in his defence so he just retorted to glaring. “Are you blind? Couldn’t you see this space was already taken?” I remarked, matching his anger.
“Well, that’s my reserved parking space and as far as I remember no one dares to take that spot.” he specifies in his signature overly arrogant voice. Wow, can his head get any bigger? And what the hell was he trying to insinuate by saying ‘no one dares’?
“What rubbish! It’s not like you own it-“
“I own this building.” he supplied not so helpfully. Oh.
I tried keeping a level head as I spoke further “And how was I to know that?”
“I don’t expect you to, but at least you could read.” He audaciously pointed down at the flat surface which said ‘RESERVED’ in big block letters with paint that has faded a bit over time.Â
Holy moly. How the heck did I miss that?! And what’s with my habit of not looking down at the floor? Okay……so this place was officially his, which immediately made me want to face-palm myself repeatedly for even bringing that up, but what do I know? The word was painted in white on the rugged floor and if I wasn’t looking directly down at the pavement I would miss it, which I totally did.
I would have apologized for my mistake if it wasn’t for the way he was acting and was slowly pissing me off. I back-pedalled a little bit, “You have an answer to everything, don’t you? Can’t you just accept the fact that it was your fault as much as it was mine?”
“Well, you scratched my car… so we’re even.” He scoffed repeating my words from before, as he looked away in annoyance and started texting on his phone like I was not even there, having a civil conversation with this man was out of the question.
That angered me more. “Mister whatever-your-name-is look at me when I’m talking to you!”
He didn’t bother looking at me as he shook his head to himself, glanced down at his Rolex which sparkled in the sunlight and then irritatedly snapped “I don’t have time for this, just tell me how much the compensation is and….leave.” He said vaguely, gesturing to my car.
“Is this what you always do? Pay off all your mistakes? It must be really hard to break the habit.”
“What nonsense.” He muttered, his eyes flashing with hostility.
I retorted turbulently “Nonsense indeed. I don’t want your stupid money, but clearly, a simple apology is too much to expect from someone like you.”
He fumed silently, “It wasn’t my fault, it was yours.”
“Just because you refuse to accept your mistake doesn’t negate it,” I said as if I was telling him the basic unbiased fact of the matter. “I didn’t see the reserved sign, that was my fault I accept it, but that’s where it ends.”
“Damn it, woman, what do you want from me?” He said exasperatedly.
He should apologise, he was the one to crash into my car after all. “I want you to own up to your mistake, is that too much to ask from your pristine self?” I said caustically. I wondered if I crossed a line with that tone, maybe I shouldn’t have been so mocking, but his ever-growing outrage only managed to anger me.
He took a step forward, as if to scare me with his intimidating aura, “I suggest you choose your words more carefully when you speak to me.” his voice was barely above a whisper, but the sizzling intensity in his eyes made up for it.
I hate to say that his methods were working, a cold shiver ran down my spine and I froze momentarily, but I refused to cower in fear in front of him, and my words took on a more serious tone. “There isn’t always a price tag on everything but people like you won’t understand that you just want to influence everything with the power of your wealth, but I suggest you save it for someone else because this arrogance of yours is only making me want to hurl something hard at your stupid head.” I blurted out in anger whatever came to my mind at that moment but strangely enough, I meant every word I said.
He scoffed, “Threatening violence? as if reckless driving was not enough…”
“Don’t you dare put this all on me, there wouldn’t be a crash if two people weren’t involved.” I pointed out while holding up two fingers for emphasis. He was one with reckless driving anyway…
“Yeah, one being a freak of nature.” He mumbled, but loud enough for me to hear.
Takes one to know one. I couldn’t not smirk, “Of course, because you’re highness is as flawless as they come.” The sarcasm in my voice was undeniable, and amusement evident at his growing frustration.
He glared like he was holding back from causing some serious physical destruction, I wasn’t afraid and paid him no heed, only turned to look at my car and investigate the damage. Oh god, I need a mechanic! My thoughts were scrambled with slight panic.
A masculine voice demanded my attention, and I turned to look at the man standing there with me, his stony eyes held danger, and so did his low tone “You have no idea what I can-“
My laugh cut him off, “Wow, are you really threatening me right now? That’s a new low.” He realised what he was doing and stopped abruptly, seemingly at war with himself.
I crossed my arms and absently leaned on the side of my car, “I understand your bruised ego and all that…..but I can’t excuse you disfiguring my car, not when you haven’t apologized.”
“What makes you think I will?” with that he clarified any doubts I had.
My answering smile was mocking, “I know, I know…..your ‘big-head’ won’t let you, which is why I’m burdened to compensate for it some other way.”
A frown marred his face “In this collision, did you…hit your head or something?” He spoke uncertainly, sounding very genuinely curious, the patronising hint, however, wasn’t lost on me. “Cause that would explain your absurdity.”
I glared up at him when he said that.
“Gaah…. there’s no point to this conversation” I definitely didn’t hit my head but somebody sure is gonna lose a limb or two when I run him over with my car and I shouldn’t be held responsible for my actions.
“Glad we can agree on something.”Â
Ignoring him completely, I opened my car door and got in the driver’s seat. Sliding the window down, I glanced back at him.
“Giving up already?” He smirked.
“I suggest you move your car if you don’t want it to suffer.” I wanted to leave but the space wasn’t enough, his car was slightly blocking the way.
“Is that a threat?” He raised a brow as if he refused to believe what he just heard, his eyes pointedly saying ‘look who’s threatening now?’
I thought for a moment, “No. Just a piece of not-so-friendly advice.”
“Or else?” He sure was pressing my buttons
“Or else…… you’ll be sorry.” I shrugged.
He scoffed, “Make me.” It was a challenge like he believed I didn’t have the guts, it was a very clear challenge and….. a mistake.
I grew frustrated, but now I had made up my mind. Here goes nothing. He saw the determination in my eyes and looked alarmed but it was too late.
Gripping the steering wheel tightly in my hands, I reversed and once again collided with his car, this time intentionally and forcefully pushing it out of the way.
He seemed taken aback as he jumped out of the way, his jaw went a little slack and his eyes blazed and widened with shock, but there was nothing he could do.
The broken headlights of his car gave me immense satisfaction as I made a fast and sharp turn in the space that I created and drove away ignoring his enraged shouting behind me.
Serves you right sucker!
At that moment I didn’t even care that I probably should be expecting a lawsuit after what I did.
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What do you think of this argument?
Who do you think is right here?
And what would you have done in a similar situation?
Let me know…
This chapter is dedicated to QueenFierce45. Thank you for your support, feedback, all the kind words and all your efforts. I am immensely grateful.Â
Vote, comment and share if you like the story.Â
I hope you liked the chapter.
Thanks for reading.
-Vinee
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