CHAPTER 5

BIANCA'S POV

We all ascended the stairs. I didn't know if it was just me, or if every other person was feeling as giddy as I was feeling. We followed the dark man through a long hallway until we came before a door. He opened it and ushered us in. In a single file, approximately 12 of us walked in through the doors and appeared inside a fairly large hall. There were paired desk and seats, neatly arranged in the hall.

"Please, get sitted and make yourselves comfortable." He informed, before making his way out. It was in that moment I realized not everyone felt giddy like me. Some of them felt tensed. I watched in suprise as a petite looking lady who was dressed in a black gown that definitely looked bigger than her, and a black rimmed glass that covered half of her face, randomly hit more than a few desks in the process of finding the perfect seat to occupy. She finally hit another desk and her pen fell from her hand. As she bent to pick up the pen, she muttered a few curse words and some words of apology. She had gotten everyone's attention at the time.

"My God!" She muttered. "Please I'm sorry. I'm not usually so clumsy. I'm just so tensed." I thought I had said 'Don't worry, it's fine.', but later realized that I only said it in my head. "A~hah!" She sighed when she finally saw the pen she had been looking around for, just under one of the desks. She quickly bent lower to get it and then, her glasses fell right off her face. "Oh God." She whimpered. The glasses were just few few inches away from her, but I was suprised when she kept hitting the floor around her, trying to find the glasses. At first, everywhere was quiet, and I thought it was because every other person had been caught off guard just like I was. Atleast, that was until a guy muttered some rather silly words to himself. Everybody heard him, making them burst into laughter.

"Apparently, she's not only funny looking and clumsy, but blind as a bat." That was what the prick had said, and that was no funny thing to say. So why was everyone laughing? Atleast, not all of them, but most of them.

Immediately, I stood up to go help her get her glasses. I squatted to her level, picked them up, and held her hand in mine. She gave a slight whimper as she probably did not expect being touched by anyone.

"Here are your glasses, love." I said, putting the glasses into her hand. A closer look at her and I realized she wasn't as old as I may have thought. She pretty much looked my age. The glasses, her rather elderly looking hairstyle, and the oversized clothes she wore, made her look a bit older.

"Ah?" She sounded surprised and shocked at the same time. Hadn't someone been nice to her before? "Thank you." Her words held so much gratitude and all I could do was nod. She put her glasses back on, picked up her pen and finally sat on the empty seat in front of her. I quickly made my way back to my seat and sat down. But that wasn't all, I had something to say to 'Mr stupid talk'.

"And you think your words make you appear funny or smart? You're just a coward." Wait a minute. Did I really just say that? Jeez. I wanted to hold back from saying more, but I couldn't. "Making fun of someone in need of help? You think you're still a kid?" I laughed humourlessly as the guy looked at me in embarrassment, and what looked like anger. "In case you're yet to realize it, you're here for a job! You're looking for a Goddamned job! You're grown already, man. Act like it." I shook my head in disbelief as everyone remained silent. Good.

Just then, the dark guy walked back inside the hall where we were sitted, with another man following him behind.

"Good morning everyone!" He greeted.

"Good morning." We chorusly replied.

"I trust we all are here for the job openings under Russo? My name is Edgar, and I'm the assistant to the HR Manager. With me is Pablo. He is an intern working with us, and would be supervising you during this short test. This test is what would qualify you to bag a job here in A. Russo. There are currently 3 job openings, and I'm sure all of you didn't come here for the same thing. A paper would be passed around now. Please fill in appropriately; Your name and the specific job you're here for." As soon as he said that, Pablo dropped a paper on top of Mr stupid talk's desk. Gradually, the paper was passed around and when it got to me, I quickly looked over the information everyone else had written. Wow! Seems like more of us were here for the position of the P.A to the CEO. Are you kidding? The possibility of getting the job suddenly look slim to me. I didn't know if most of them were more intelligent than I was. Regardless, I filled in my own information and passed the paper to the next person behind me. The paper was passed around real quick and soon, we were done.

Mr Edgar walked out once more, leaving Pablo behind in the hall. Just then, we heard some voices outside the hall and the next minute, two other ladies walked in. At first, I thought they worked in Russo, until they each ran towrds empty seats and sat down calmly. Ohhh, they were late. That would have been my fate if I had spent some extra minutes at home. We all waited patiently for Mr Edgar to return because clearly, Pablo didn't have an idea as to what was to come next. After a long period of waiting, Mr Edgar finally walked in with some sheets in his hand. He handed them over to Pablo, who began sharing the sheets.

"That sheet contains your supplied details, and the questions you have to answer during your 30 minutes exam. Also, more than enough space has been provided for you to share your thoughts and answers with us. Good luck!" With that, he walked out of the hall and we all got to business. I first looked my questions over and thought about answers, before going ahead to write. Some of the questions seemed a bit tricky, but I managed.

"Please, put away your pens this instant." The sudden order made me look up, only to see Mr Edgar standing in front of the hall. "Pablo, please walk round and collect everyone's sheet. Anyone seen still writing, would be automatically disqualified." At the sound of the last statement, I quickly dropped my pen and sighed heavily. I know I tried my best. What's the worst that could happen after all? 'That's you losing the job!' My inner mind chided, making me shiver at the thought. I had come this far, all I wanted was just this job. Apart from Manuel, I needed the obvious stability athat would come with it. I watched in silence as Pablo got to my desk and picked up my sheet. After everyone's sheets were collected, Mr Edgar walked back to the front of the hall and gave a small smile.

"Please wait behind, the results would be announced soon. Then, we would know who got the jobs, and who did not. Goodluck guys." After talking, he walked through the doors, out of the hall, with pablo following behind. The entire hall was quiet immediately they left. Before we had written the tests, they muttered amongst themselves but now, everyone single person was so quiet. Didn't their tests go well? Not like I had so much trust in my own answers, but it wasn't that bad.

I looked around to see the only person who happened to be in good spirits. The glass girl. I subconsciously smiled when I noticed she was just fine. For her to be so chill meant she was quite smart after all. I sighed and relaxed into my seat as thoughts of how I was gonna break the wonderful news of my new job to my parents croseed my mind. They were going to be so happy. Okay, get a grip Bianca! I'm not even sure I was gonna be hired yet. We waited for what seemed to be almost an hour. At the time, I guess most of the job seekers had gotten over their initial cold feet and were interacting with each other again. The moment Pablo walked in, everywhere went silent. Why did it feel like we were in high school all of a sudden? I fought the urge to laugh out loud and bit my bottom lips instead.

"Hello everyone. So sorry for the long wait. Please I would ask you all to quickly go through your mails." The moment he said that, we all brought out our phones. I quickly checked my mail and I saw a fresh mail from A. Russo. I may have thought I was good at managing anxiety, but at that moment my heart failed me. I could hear my loud heartbeat in my ears, as I wondered what was in the mail I was yet to open.

I could already hear murmurs around the hall. Apparently, a lot of us were not given the job. That was much expected. When I saw the glass girl letting out funny squeals, I smiled and got encouraged to open the mail. She was clearly given the job. I inhaled and exhaled sharply, before opening the mail. 'Congratulations Miss Bianca Bianchi! You have been offered the position of the Personal Assistant to the Chief executive officer, A. Russo company. We welcome you to our work space and hope to have a good work experience with you.' That was what the mail said. If I had been alone, I would have yelled at the top of my lungs, but seeing as others were probably sulking due to their inability to get their desired jobs, I had to do my wild celebratory dance in my head. Finally!!! I was extremely happy. The more I looked at my phone, the more it dawned on me that my life was about to change.

"Miss Laura Marino, Mr Ricardo Fernando, and Miss Bianca Bianchi. Welcome to A. Russo. Plesse come with me." He started walking out of the hall and I hurriedly carried my bag and phone, before following the lady I now knew to be Laura Marino. I didn't know why, but I felt good about the fact she got the job. But what I certainly didn't feel good about was when the man who was apparently Ricardo, was none other than the dumb guy who had made jest of Laura some moments back. If I were in charge, I definitely wasn't gonna give him the job but then again, this wasn't a movie. This was life. In life, not everything happens the way you want.

I quickly tore my eyes away from his face on focused them on Laura's petite form. I wondered if the rest who came for the interview were just going to return home defeated, but then again, that was life.

We got into an elevator that took us another floor which screamed 'executive'!! We walked through the hallway with so many doors by the sides, until we came to a stop at a very large door. Above it was written 'CEO, A. RUSSO'. This was Alexander Russo's office!! I danced in my head.

"This would be our stop for you, Miss Bianchi. When you step in, you'd see Mr Edgar, who would make the necessary introductions between yourself and your new boss. Please step in." He requested. I could feel my hands shake as I knocked twice, before holding the door knob to turn it open. The moment I was in, I could hear them walk away. I faced the door for quite a while, before finally building up some courage and turning to see my new boss. There he was, sitting calmly as he went through some documents on his desk. I didn't know if he hadn't noticed my presence, and was about to announce myself when another voice beat me to it.

"Sir, this is..." Edgar was still talking when Alexander cut him off.

"No need to stress yourself Ed. I pretty much know who she is." He sighed, finally removing his eyes from the papers and fixing them on me. I suddenly felt so tiny in his presence and beneath his look, that I didn't even know when I looked down at my hands.

"Good morning Sir. My name is Bianca Bianchi...." I said, suddenly at loss for words. If I was behaving this way with him, then how was I going to react when I saw Manuel face to face for the first time?

"Ed, please leave us." He ordered and Mr Edgar calmly made his way out, leaving us alone. My supposed boss sized me up for a few seconds, before speaking. "Miss Bianchi, I love people who are strictly professional, I do not appreciate lateness, and I like smart people." He adjusted his position in his seat, before looking at me again. "Can you be all of that?" He asked, and I nodded.

"Of course, Sir. I would deliver."

"I like the sound of that." He muttered. "You're to resume work by 8am every week day. I get to the office by 9am, so my coffe should be done and ready 5 minutes earlier. My schedule for each day should be sent to my mail before I get to work. Lastly, you would be on a week probation, after which we'd both be sure if we really want to work hand in hand. As for your salary, please discuss that with Edgar." It took a few seconds to completely register all he had said in my mind.

"Okay Sir." I nodded.

"You can leave now. Boost up your energy and resume work tomorrow. Remember, I hate tardiness."