What If Instead Of...

28 Vivian

"Hello, Vivian! Come in, come in, have a seat. My name is Inga," an employee of the museum's HR department greets me with a friendly smile.
She is a blooming, middle–aged brunette - the complete opposite of Mrs. Adler. "You must have never been to an interview?"

All my bravado is completely gone, "Nice to meet you. Yes, to tell the truth, I haven't had a chance yet. I was hired on a part–time basis, when I was still a student, on the recommendation of the university, and after graduation I stayed there."

"There? In that museum you were talking about on the phone?"

Perhaps this is a trick of my wild imagination, but I notice that the woman's eyes no longer radiate friendliness. Rather, on the contrary – hostility hidden behind courtesy.

"Maybe that's the reason why you don't know what a CV is?" she continues. "Do you have it at all, or did you just forget to send it?"

"No, I never needed it," I answer, gathering my courage.
With every word I get more and more uncomfortable in her presence.

"I didn't insist, because I immediately understood a lot about you from the conversation," Inga smiles condescendingly. "So, let's get down to business as soon as possible, because I have another meeting in half an hour. Show me your documents."

I have to take a deep breath to reply, "Unfortunately, I don't have them. But I can answer your questions or take a test..."

"No, no, first I need to make sure we can hire you with official documents if you suit us. Do you even have a passport? How did they let you in here?"

"I showed an invitation letter from you from the inbox on the email."

The woman rolls her eyes and sighs heavily, probably unhappy with the security's work, "We'll deal with this later," then she straightens up in her chair and puts her hands on the table, crossing her fingers. "Vivian, darling, we try to do everything according to the law. Of course, it's not the blind following like yours over there, but it's good in its own way. I see you are not just a fraud from the street, but a well-mannered and educated girl - perhaps you are the best of us, however without documents we have nothing to talk about. I have to see the official papers, do you understand?"

"I understand," I sigh resignedly, anticipating a complete failure in advance. Goodbye, work in my specialty...

Seeing how upset I am, Inga hurries to console, "Let's do the following: I will schedule you a second interview in a week, you will prepare all the necessary documents and we will meet again, how do you like it?"

"Okay, thank you very much," I say, barely squeezing out a smile.

"Then see you soon!"

"See you soon."

I almost run out of the office, managing, nevertheless, to notice a couple more candidates for the job in the waiting room. Surely their documents are all right...

It's so strange, I planned to slowly wander around the halls after the interview, absorbing beauty and inspiration, but instead I want to escape from here as soon as possible.

I barely have time to step onto the main staircase to go down to the exit, when someone gently grabs my wrist and pulls me close.

"Where are you going?" a beloved voice is heard.

I take Aiden's hand, but I don't have time to say anything before he puts his finger to his lips and leads me to the open door of what seems to be a storage room.

As soon as we are inside, the guy closes the door and pulls me to his waist.

"I don't think what we're doing is right," I say with a smile.