Liability

Chapter Three: Interviews and First Impressions

  Head poised, fingers curled into the silk of my skirt—meticulously pressed in preparation for the events which were to transpire—, I stood in quiet deliberation.

  Eyes trained on the offending building before me, I couldn’t help but admire the skilful architecture. It was understated, undeniably so. Intricately designed, the steel crafting wove together in a synchronised development of idealism—a true testament to the power of an ever evolving society, brimming with the pursuits of a people indicative of the influence within the modern world we reside.

  I pondered for a moment, my eyes grazing over the smooth surface of the ‘Wade building’, my curiosity rising in dual companionship with my thoughts—they were unattainable, perceptive in their sovereignty; an attribute I had attributed to my admirable ability of detecting the unperceivable, a quality which had assisted me considerably in my desired profession. In this midst of this, however, I realised that my awe enthused state was derived from the illuminating fact that in all my eternal debating, I had created an image within my mind that presented the industry of my future employer to be nothing more than an insignificant  shadow of their prosperity.

  I was undoubtedly mistaken, of course. They were most definitely not short of clients, which I admittedly, in all my hesitancy, found to be rather endearing.  Who wanted to work for a company wallowing in their own incompetence? Even I had standards; granted they were minimal, but I still had to think of my future, a future until three days ago I was dubious about.

   It was impressive, to say the least, and predictably, I couldn’t help but feel inferior in the presence of such an impeccable structure. It was still a foreign concept to me, and over the past four days, I had become increasingly more sceptical. It wasn’t exactly an outrageous multitude of emotions; in many ways, it was expected—what company at the peak of their dominance as one of the state’s most remunerative Law Firms would find it in any way beneficial to add me, a fresh-faced law graduate with no prospects, future or otherwise, to their payroll; not to mention the unconventional way in which they expressed their interest.

  I had been asking myself the same question for days, specifically Friday as, in keeping with her promise, I received confirmation of our transactions from ‘Miss Incognito’, more specifically her requests; requests in which required me to partake in an interview—not exactly an activity I thrived in, but nonetheless, I relented, allowing her the liberty.

  I still couldn’t comprehend how, but on the day of the long awaited decision, after much deliberating, much of which derived from Abigail who took it upon herself to contemplate the multitude of possible outcomes if I were not to take the position—I had yielded in the face of opposition—, she rang me; awaiting patiently for the communication, it wasn’t a surprising occurrence. I had quickly come to the realisation that if ‘Miss Incognito’ wished to be found, she would make such a desire know, much to Abby’s disdain; she was very much in favour of de-masking the identity of my… generous benefactor. However, it wasn’t her phone call which had perplexed me, it was the fact that she was unsurprised at my acceptance, giving me the impression she had rang me merely out of obligation to our earlier agreement, already under the pretence that I had accepted the position. 

  Such a reaction shouldn’t have astonished me, considering she offered me the job—under the general belief I would accept her proposition—of, as I had found out during our interaction via telephone on Friday, a junior law associate. Essentially my job would be similar to that of a Paralegal, a career of which I was qualified in but expressed no obvious interest in; I wished to engage my talents in greater challenges which a “full service” firm such as this could accommodate. However, my enthusiasm, or lack thereof, at the job title finally brought to my attention was simply an aspiration, at this stage. As per her instructions, I was merely here under the optimism of attaining the job. I had been preparing myself all weekend, mentally and physically—I couldn’t exactly give the impression I was the binge eating melodramatic twenty four-year old I was perceived to be; this shit was serious.