Heart of Gold | The Ink Well Prompt #77

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Ashura lived in a remote village where there is no electricity nor pipe borne water. She couldn't afford to live in the urban area where life is luxurious and all facilities are in place.

Since she graduated from the university, the rate of unemployment is crazy. Everyone has to go learn a trade after their university education to get engaged to earn a living.

Luckily, she got a job as a poultry attendant. Her responsibilities was to clean the facility and manage the feeding proceedings of the birds. And this, she did with all of her strength.

Advantageously, she had access to the solar power supply that was available at the poultry each time she was at work. From time to time, she checks for jobs online so that she could leverage her living standards like the graduate she is.

Mr Femi, the owner of the bird farmer, had become so comfortable with Ashura for her diligence and accountability that he left everything in her hands for a couple of months while he traveled abroad on vacation with his family.

On his return, she has made a lot of progress in the farm, courtesy of Ashura. But she had gotten an offer for an interview from a telecommunication company in the city, a two hours drive from her current residence.

With her permission granted, Ashura woke up very early in the morning of the said interview date. She is an early bird and wouldn't like to leave a wrong impression of herself to the interviewer. While she waited to catch a taxi to convey her to the city, a utility vehicle, on an average speed, splashed muddy water on her.

Ashura was so devastated.

This cloth was the only ironed attire she had and now, this careless driver had ruined it for her.

She muttered.

The man who was driving in the vehicle, reversed to apologise to Ashura who did not utter any statement but just winked in agreement, that his apologies were accepted.

Quickly, she ran back home to take a shower and dress in another cloth. This she did in a jiffy so as to catch up with the interview.

By 6:50 am, she was standing at the gate of the company where the interview was to be conducted.

"How lucky she has been. Who knows if the other occurrence of the muddy water was a blessing in disguise."

Every applicant was made to register at the security unit. They ought to write the time they got there too.

After the registration, Ashura and other applicants went to the lounge and waited as they were told.

Everyone who has come for this interview buried their heads, reading one book or the other, supposedly to grab one fact or the other that may be in the interview question.

It was at that point that they were all ushered into the interview hall. It was a large hall with a smartboard at the podium. The room is painted in an off white colour and that made it cool.

Each of them was served a question paper and an answer script where they are to write answers to the questions.

At the end of the written exams, only three of the eighteen applicants scaled the standards of the company, Ashura was one of them. As the rest of them were asked to leave, Ashura and two others were led to the reception for the final rounds of the interview, an oral interview with the managing director of the company.

The first person, Haneef, was called in. And after about ten minutes, he came out and bid farewell to the Ashurah and Ijeh. When Ijeh was called in to the M.D's office, she spent less than ten minutes and was out too.

They were told they will be contacted afterward.

Ashura was ushered into the office. She stood while the man, supposedly the M.D, buried his head with eyes glued to the newspaper. Ashura stood there, and greeted, "good day, sir".

He did not respond until about two minutes when he said:

" Young lady, you can have your seat".

The M.D has a plaque with his name inscribed on it in his table. Arowojobe K. Lukeson, Phd.

She sat and thanked him.

The other applicants who came this far sat even before they were asked to, the M.D said. You seem to be a responsible lady. As he raised his head to look up the second time, he noticed that her face looked like someone he had seen earlier.

"Are you from Okegun?". The M.D asked her.

" Yes, I am, sir". Ashura replied, with a voice as silent as that of an angel.

"Oh! You are the young lady whom I mistakenly splashed water on while driving to work this morning." The M.D said, standing from his seat and pleading with her once again.

You have this job already because you are well behaved. Someone else would have heaped a rain of abuses or curses at that instant. But you handled it fairly.

Her job as the Secretary to the M.D was to handle all company meetings and take minutes and also handle the appointments of the M.D both locally and internationally. The offer came with a porch apartment and a car for mobility with a fat salary.