Repetition Compulsion

15.

Sera

Abimbola Blake's office was large, spacious and extremely organized—much like his apartment loft. The walls were made of glass, and it had a balcony view overlooking the rest of the city. There was a bookshelf on one corner of the room, filled to its brim with a variety of books.

Right in the middle of his office, there was a large, round table which looked like it could be used for meetings, and on the other corner of the room there was a mini writing station which consisted of a cute little table, a chair, and a bunch of stationery neatly organized in a little green container.

Sera also noticed that the office had a lot of green plants, and that all the files were stacked neatly, and color coordinated.

In fact, everything was so ridiculously neat and put together that it made her feel more nauseous than she already felt.

"Sit." Abimbola commanded, whilst motioning to the chair right opposite him.

Sera sat.

"So...I assume you finally made it home safely?", he asked whilst pulling his own chair to sit.

Sera gulped, but otherwise nodded in response. She didn't understand why she was so nervous. She wasn't in the wrong here. She was well within her rights to leave without saying goodbye as soon as she found out he had a wife. It was the right thing to do. But she also knew she couldn't say that out loud because she desperately needed this job. She could suck up for a couple of minutes need be.

"How come you didn't tell me...you were...Abimbola Blake of Blake and Gray Publications?", Sera countered, despite the dryness in her throat.

Abimbola sat still, his hands subtly stroking his beard, whilst watching her intently."Does my identity bother you?". 

His voice was deep, raspy, and booming with the confidence of a commander in his element. 

Dammit, Sera! Focus. 

"No--no", Sera replied. Which wasn't a lie. His identity didn't bother her. His infidelity did. "It's j-just..nevermind...I would just really like to know why I'm here in your office instead of out there waiting my turn in line with all the other interviewees."

"I'm not like the other CEO's. I like to pick out and hire all my employees."

Sera was confused, but unfortunately for her, he didn't offer her anymore explanations. He just continued staring at her with a stern expression on his face. For a minute Sera was convinced she had some peanut butter on her face, even though she hadn't had anything to eat on that day. Then, after a minute of quiet contemplation, he motioned towards the wet copy of Timeless Tribulations that Sera had placed face down on his desk upon entering.

"Is that Timeless Tribulations?"

"Uhm...yeah...", Sera replied, picking it back up, and setting it on her lap. She had forgotten it was wet and soggy.

"That's why", he said.

"I beg your pardon?"

"You asked why I called you to my office. Just now, you were awfully distracted...talking about things that don't matter, but when I asked you about Timeless Tribulations, your eyes immediately lit up. The look that I just saw on your face? That right there was pure passion, and nothing can top that. Don't believe me? Look outside at your fellow candidates. Do you see anyone with a book out?"

Even though Sera knew the answer to the question, she still felt obligated to turn around and look outside as she had been instructed. To her surprise, she found that as she turned to look, the heads of the other candidates jolted in surprise. This could have only meant that they too had been doing some spying and snooping of their own.