Chapter 44: Interview
Chapter 44: Interview
"Ma?" A young male voice was heard as it's owner sat up on his bed.
Cleaning his eyes over and over again, the young man who looked to be in his mid twenties. Stared at the wall for a while as though trying to reregister his environment into his mind.
"Gabriel get up, you will be late" the female voice was heard again but this time much closer as soon the door opened revealing an elderly woman
"Okay ma" Gabriel replied as he slapped himself twice with both hands to wake himself up fully.
With that he immediately jumped up from the bed to get himself ready to face the day. Turning, he immediately began to make his bed and after that was straight to the showers.
Twenty five minutes later, he was fully dressed and ready for the day. Smelling nice and ready to face the world, he picked up his phone.
"Mommy, what did you say the time was again?" He asked as he left his room to the main living area
"4:56, what happened... get ready this boy you will be late" The woman said again
"Mommy, it's just four o'clock on the morning... where will I even find keke1 that is going there" Gabriel complained
"Trek, na person you be2" the woman said before placing a plate full of food on the table before him
"But mommy, this thing you're doing is not good o" Gabriel continued
"See look, this is a chance we may never see again... how many interviews have you been to now? They are all looking for ten years experience from fresh graduates... this one is outright asking for you people, do you know how many people will rush it... my son better shine your eyes3 for this Abuja" she advised
"Okay ma, I get you but four o'clock... haba"!"
"That one concern you oo, sha3 just do and start going before people full there" she said as she sat and watched him eat
Less than thirty minutes later, Gabriel was at the door ready to leave. His mother could be seen knotting his tie better and ensuring he looked as presentable as possible.
"Make sure you get a job this time" the woman shouted after him
"I will try!" Gabriel replied before taking in a deep breath and stepping out into the road.
Entering vehicle after vehicle, almost an hour later and with a whole new hatred for humanity. He finally made it to his destination, the large compound building with the sign 'Nous Industries' on it.
"Omo" this place big oo" Gabriel commented as he admired the new environment
"Gabriel!... na you be that?" A new voice called out
Turning to the source, Gabriel saw a young man of similar or slightly above. Like him, he too made sure to be as presentable as possible
"Matthew dem no teach you respect for house which kind heart attack you wan give me like this" Gabriel shouted as he quickly smacled his friend on the head
Dodging his hand, the friend, Matthew retaliate with a slap of his own. The two laughed it off almost as though the brief show of violence was a normal occurance.
"What are you doing here?" Matthew asked
"What else"
"Ah, Software engineers" the two said in unison while giving each other a weird look After that the two began walking towards the main building, as they walked, they came upon more and more people. All dressed and seemingly ready for the interview.
Looking at them, Gabriel began to feel nervous. Many of them looked smarter than he did in fact if he took the place of the company, he would hire them and leave him behind.
Despite the dark and it being the early hours of the morning, Gabriel could see several hundreds of people standing and waiting already for the interview ro start.
The company had yet to even open it's gates in fact the security guard had yet to even come but they were here.
"This reminds me of school those days" Gabriel said looking around
"I swear... ah imagine we finish waiting and they come and tell us that they can't attend to our set"
"God abeg, this one no be school oo" Gabriel exclaimed
Almost an hour later, they finally saw someone related to the building before them. It was a security guard, walking past them as though they didn't matter.
All he did was simply open the gates to the seemingly large compound. The man let them in and let them stay within the safety of the company's walls.
"I don't know why you guys came this early, the interviews start by eight o'clock in the morning" the guard said as he observed the many people in crowd
"Anyway you all should stay here, I can't help you with the cold but at least you're safer here than out there" the man said before leaving.
Several minutes later, they all saw him return with a chair as he sat just a few meters away from them. He sat at a location just far enough that he could watch over everything but close enough to control them effectively.
His duty was still to guard the company's properties. Gabriel and co simply found any space they could to sit and wait... many needed to sleep so after ensuring that all their belongings are well safeguarded, they did so.
Hours passed as they saw more and more people enter the compound, however many of them were simply workers who matched straight to the covered up section of the compound.
They didn't know what was going on there but anyone could guess what it was from the heavy duty machinery that were littered everywhere in the area.
"When are these people finally going to start this thing?" They all haard someone complain
Hearing the shout, silence reigned since they somewhat expected something to happen but after seeing the lack of reaction from the security guard and the others who were with him. They all simply nodded in agreement, they all felt as though they had waited for too long but since they were here for a job, none spoke out.
More time passed and it was almost time, there was still no announcements neither had they seen anyone come address them, they didn't know what was happening and they hoped things
will go well.
While they waited with even less hope that before, they all finally saw it. The most controversial vehicle they had ever seen in their lives.
It was a nice SUV, it had a light brown paint with golden accents and on its front was the most important part of the machine, it's logo. The Lamborghini logo stuck out like a sore thumb
"Since when Lamborghini create this one abeg?" Someone asked, speaking the minds of everyone in the crowd.
As soon as the car stopped, the security guard immediately stood up and ran towards it. Seeing this display, they all understood that whoever was inside the vehicle was definitely
important.
"Good morning madam!" The security guard greeted as soon as the door opened to reveal a young woman in a fancy suit.
"Good morning, you know you don't have to come greet me personally right?" Fadila asked "Don't worry ma, I just prefer it this way" the man answered with a smile
"Well then suit yourself... are they all here for the interview?" Fadila asked as she pointed
towards them
"Yes, ma"
"Okay then once it's time, I'll inform you and remember batches of ten each"
"Yes ma'am" the man answered and began walking towards his position again.
With that as well, Fadila turned and walked into the building. Nous Industries currently had
zero employees apart from th security guard.
Even the security guard wasn't even an employee yet, He was just a homeless guy that used to stay near the company's environment so David decided to give him the job considering that despite the man's situation, he was still quite educated.
Like many other there, the man was simply an unfortunate soul who got dealt an extremely bad set of cards. Ignoring all the noise as the people got prepared for the interview.
All began to check their documents to confirm if all was in order, others began checking their dressing hoping to make a good impression.
Since many of them had experiences being rejected for various reasons during other interviews, they all tried their best to ensure that everything would go well.
This was a once in a lifetime opportunity, Gabriel sat where he was after ensuring that his documents were in order watching even as his heart beat rapidly in his chest.
This was the only place that would give him a good job, many companies and jobs were either looking for someone with ten years of experience or could only be gotten through connections. Nous Industries, specifically stated that they only wanted fresh graduates within
a span of three years.
1. 'Keke' is simply a slang name for Tricycles, they are popular in Nigeria and are a major
means of transportation.
2. 'Na person you be' translates to 'you are a person'. She is simply telling him that he can do it
like many others before him
3. 'shine your eyes' simply means 'be cautious' or 'be prepared for anything'. Something along that line. Simply means that you should be ready for anything
4&5. 'Haba' & 'Sha' have no real meaning. They are either there to enhance the flair or the meaning of the sentence or they are just exaggerating quotes or something similar
6. 'Omo' has no real meaning in this context however it is a Yoruba word which means 'Child of'. You can remove it from the sentence and it will still make perfect sense
7. 'Dem' simply a pidgin version of 'them'. Usually used when referring to a specific group of
people