Page 81 of If We Meet Again

“Do you have an interview too?”

The man glared and responded abruptly, “Yes.”

Thankfully, the elevator ride only lasted a matter of seconds after the awkward interaction. They both exited on the tenth floor and walked directly toward the beaming red-haired receptionist.

“Good luck,” Ashley whispered. Nothing in response, as expected.What a rude man,she thought.

“Hello, my name is Ashley Stewart, I have an interview at 11:30.” She tapped away ferociouslyat the keys.

“Hello, Ashley, I can see you’re being interviewed by Sonia. She is running a few minutes behind schedule due to a last-minute meeting this morning, so there might be a wait of around twenty minutes. If you want to take a seat over by the window, I will let you know when she’s ready to see you. Feel free to help yourself to the refreshments on offer.” The spiel was well-rehearsed and finished off with a beaming smile.

“Thank you so much.”

“You’re welcome.”

The bubbly, tactically attractive receptionist was a nice touch. It seemed someone was looking down on her after all; God had granted her the time to eat a complimentary muffin to curb the hunger and relax—or not.

“Ashley Stewart.”

The mouthful of exceptionally moist baked goods muffled her response,“That’s me.”

“Please,follow me.”

Ashley jumped up, throwing the remains of the muffin directly in the trash. She ran her hands down the front of her skin-tight black shirt ironing out the creases as she scuttled to keep up. The red-haired distraction led her directly to a glass office at the far end of the corridor. Inside sat a large conference-style glass table; she gestured to enter and as she did, the lonewoman stood.

“You must be Ashley.” She extended her hand.

“Hello, yesthat’s me.”

“I’m Sonia, nice to meet you. Please, take a seat.” Sonia pulled the chair forward and returned to her cross-legged position.

“So, Ashley. I am one of the deputy managing editors here atThe New York Times. I have been in this position for four years now, working for the paper for ten in total, and I started exactly where you are today. The aim of the residency is to find up-and-coming editors. There are six positions in total and over a hundred applicants have been narrowed down to just twenty who are interviewing with me this week. So, to be sitting here now is an achievement in itself—you should be proud of that.” Sonia was mesmerising. The words escaped her lips with such passion and finesse. “What you’re probably thinking is, that’s not good enough, right?” Ashley nodded. “Exactly, you want to be one of the six, and this is your opportunity to shine. Other than a brief recommendation from a fellow editor, I don’t know who you are or what you’re capable of. So, the floor is yours. Why don’t you start by telling me a little bit about yourself?”

***

Ashley exited the large silver doors of the skyscraper one hour later. The interview time slots had been forty-five minutes long, which left her with the confidence that it hadn’t tanked completely. After all, having too much to say was better than nothing at all. Now, all that was left to do was wait. The outcome would be made public knowledge as of the following Monday. Only seven long excruciating days to wait to see if her dream career would start and she could leave the late nights in the barbehind her.

The moment she pulled her cellphone from her satchel, it started to ring; itwas Madison.

“Hey, you.”

“Howdid it go?”

“Good, I think. Sonia was really nice. She seemed interested in what I had to say and we had a few things in common, which made it flow a little easier.”

“So,out of ten?”

“I’d say a solid eight.”

“That’s amazing. You’re always modest, so that probably means it was more of a nine. I’m very proud of you,” Madison said.

“Thank you.”

“Are you coming back home now?”

“Yes, do you want something picking upfor lunch?”

“No, it’s okay. I said I’d go into work early, they’re understaffed. They asked me to ask you, but I know you’ve got plans.” The plans she’d tried so hard not to fixate on since Friday.