Bedmates Soulmates

interview today."

*Today? Really?"

'Yes. It's set for two pm. Please be punctual. We look forward to seeing you there." With that, the call ended.

Kira gripped her phone and put it in front of her face.

She stared at the screen as if to make sure she had not imagined the call just now.

Her trusty second-hand phone faithfully displayed the call.

Unknown caller ID.

Call duration-22 seconds,

Just to be sure, she asked Giana, 'Pinch me.'

Her friend complied.

"Ow!" Kira grimaced, but soon, she was on cloud nine.

She resisted the urge to jump up from her seat and shout for joy.

'Giana!' she grabbed her friend's hand and shook it. 'Guess who just called? The M Group! Yes you heard me. THE M Group!" Giana cocked an eyebrow. 'Didn't you tell me you went to their interview yesterday? Why are you getting another call today?"

Uh-oh Busted.

Forcing out a chuckle, Kira made up a lame excuse. 'Did I tell you I went to the M Group? Oh, I must've gotten mixed up. The interview yesterday was with a different company, a smaller one. But this is the M Group for real! The crème de la crème! I still can't believe it.' "Do you want me to give you another pinch?"

"Oh no no, thank you. I'm quite sure I'm not dreaming."

'What time's your interview?"

"Two o'clock. Kira checked the time on her phone. "I still have a couple of hours."

"It's best to get there ahead of time. You don't want to be late for an interview this important. Besides, you might want some time to clear your head before you go in."

"You're right." Kira blew a kiss to her best friend. I should go home and change. I'm not dressed for an Interview. Could you help me take attendance later?

'Only if you promise to treat me to dinner after the interview."

'Dinner's on me.' Kira winked. If things go well, you'll be dining with the newest recruit of the M Group tonight. We can totally pig out."

Giana watched her friend bound away with a spring in her step, doing a little skip and hop like a happy bunny.

She knew Kira was keeping something from her.

Maybe the girl hadn't realised she blinked faster when she was fibbing.

But Giana didn't pry

She and Kira were best pals, but everyone was entitled to their privacy.

Whatever secret the girl was keeping, Giana was sure Kira would let her in when she was ready.

The Wheel Of Fortune Spun Too Fast

Kira stood on the pavement and admired the monolithic glass-and-chrome building.

The M Group's headquarters sat on fourteen thousand square metres of prime real estate in downtown Stamford.

It had fifty-one floors and a revolving restaurant at the top.

The group's annual turnover was more than two trillion dollars, a number that boggled Kira's mind.

At one forty-five, she whipped out a mirror from her backpack, tucked a strand of stray hair behind her ear, and smoothed out the wrinkles in her t-shirt

The bus she was on crashed into the back of a stationary van.

No one was injured, but the bus captain was detained by traffic police for questioning.

There was no time to go home and change.

Taking a deep breath, Kira walked into the brightly lit lobby, approached the front desk with more confidence than she was feeling, and gave the receptionist her name. I'm here for an interview with Mr Paul Flenderson,' she said.

"Miss Hewitt, please follow me. A woman in a knee-length skirt showed up two minutes after the receptionist made a call.

She turned around, her heels clicking efficiently on the marble floor.

Kira noticed the strange look on the woman's face, but she was too thrilled and nervous about the interview to ask anything.

When she stepped out of the elevator on the twenty-second floor, she realised the reason for the secretary's look.

Six other interviewees sat in a row, waiting to be called.

The three men were dressed in suits, wearing oxfords or brogues.

The three women wore either pantsuits or blouses with skirts.

Standing in her white t-shirt, shorts and sneakers, Kira looked more like a delivery girl than an interviewee.

Her heart sank.

She could kiss her dream of landing the job goodbye.

The interviewer would probably show her the door the moment they saw her. Crestfallen, Kira took a seat at the end of the row and kept her eyes on the floor. The other interviewees sized her up and shook their heads at her casual attire. They soon dismissed her as a serious threat.

Half an hour later, Kira was called into the HR manager's room.

The dark-suited man behind the desk introduced himself as Paul Flenderson.

He looked at Kira from head to toe several times.

Kira straightened her back and tried not to flinch under his appraising gaze.

'I apologise for the informal dress code,' she spoke up Circumstances prevented me from being able to go home and change."

'That's quite alright. Miss Hewitt, please have a seat. Paul waved a hand at the chair in front of the desk.

"Who is this girl?" Paul wondered, "Mr McCarthy went to the trouble of calling me into his office specifically to talk about her."

The HR manager was summoned into the president's office earlier that morning.

Paul thought his boss wanted to talk about the quarterly performance reviews.

He even brought the files.

But the boss threw a curveball and asked if he'd received a resume from a junior year college student by

the name of Kira Hewitt.

The manager received hundreds of applications each day.

He had to trawl through the database to find the girl's CV.

"Hire her,' said the president without an explanation. 'But don't tell her the decision came from me.

Thinking of this, Paul scrutinised the girl again.

Try as he might, he could not find anything unusual about this particular candidate.

Her grades were good, but so were the other interviewees.

No extra-curricular activities.

No awards.

No prior industry attachments.

Her resume paled in comparison with those of the other candidates.

Showing up underdressed was a big no-no.

Paul would have written her off if not for his boss' order.

How did the president know a girl like this?

What was their relationship?

Paul dismissed these gossipy thoughts as he donned his professional interviewer's look. 'Miss Hewitt, I see here you're from Stamford University?"

'Yes, I major in Communications and Media Studies, which I believe is the right fit for the position I'm applying for..."

Paul went through the motions of asking her all the standard questions

After a suitably long period of time had passed, he nodded and said, 'I see. Thank you for taking the time to come down here today. I enjoyed getting to know you. I'm pleased to inform you that we would like to offer you the position. Congratulations, Miss Hewitt. You are hired. You can start at the M Group

tomorrow."