By now, he was done with his dressing. There would be no
breakfast for him today, same as other days he went out to continue his
screening. Eating wouldn’t just be a waste of precious time which he now
presently lacked about to head out to Victoria Island on a busy Lagos morning,
but eating will cause him anxiety, fear and even worry on his way and at the
interviewer’s place. He decided against that and dropped to his knees,
shielding his face with his elbows criss-crossed on the sofa. He would read the
devotional for the day on his phone; thank God it was now mobile with an app.
He spent some minutes praying after he stood up.
He looked himself in the mirror and re adjusted the red tie
in front of his sky blue shirt and black pants. His heel clicked as he
attempted a short walk in front of the mirror, camouflaging like one of those
fashionistas on the Lagos runway. He picked the car keys as he dropped them again,
deciding again against it.
“Of what use will a car be?” he asked himself. After all he
wasn’t ready to re tell the story of his bad deeds; he resolved to take bus . He dashed out his Agege house and made do for the bus park: the one
that took him to Victoria Island.
Surprisingly, there was no traffic. He was extremely happy
as he walked into KPMG alongside some applicants and workers. The building was
one of the tallest sky scrapers in the area. After exchanging formalities and
introducing himself, stating his mission, he was directed to the lift. The air
there was tranquil. All members of the staff smiled at him, from the friendly
receptionist to the least staff- cleaners, too. He was pleased and seemed very
happy and poised to perform effectively. He was treated with courtesy all
through and he was more convinced and assured that he will thrive in this
environment as a staff too.
He stood in front of the lift waiting for someone to open
it. He looked round and called for assistance. No one heard him; they were all
busy with their activities, he never used a lift before and he was careful not
to spoil anything. The button he pressed earlier didn’t respond.
“Hey,’’ a voice replied him, tapping him on the shoulder.
“Hi,’’ He responded, showing his whitened teeth. “The lift,”
he said “I need help with it.”
“Oh,” she replied and smiled beautifully, flashing a toothy
smile
“You are new here, aren’t you,” She engaged him with her
well-polished-American tune
“Yes, I am,” Jerry replied, not too enthusiastic with his
response. “I am part of the applicants for today’s job interview,” he
explained.
She smiled again, noticing his embarrassment. “Don’t worry,”
she said, “you will do well.” She pressed two buttons and the lift slowly
opened. She led the way and he followed.
On reaching the tenth floor, she informed him, through their
small talk, that he would be dropping one floor ahead. She had already set the
lift to stop on the floor. She gave him a firm hand shake and wished him well.
Jerry walked down the passage till he got to the waiting
room where he went met scores of people waiting to be interviewed. He was
shocked at first and moved on to take his seat. The names were called randomly
and he was lucky not to be amongst the first three called. He took his seat
amongst the rest and relived his happy moment in the lift.
“ Jerry Oluwatosin Meyer, you attention is being requested
in the inner room.”
to be continued in the next episode......
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