He stood in a line, uncomfortable. Stuck between two near men. He looked around trying to judge his competition. The other two seemed content, comfortable and confident. He shifted his weight, wiped the sweat from his temples; generally a confident arrogant pompous young man, he seemed anything but that at the moment. The pretty boy in front of him fiddled with his coat pockets and pulled out a cigarette, he turned and asked him and the other boy if they had a light on them. They both replied in negative. Non smokers the pretty boy thought, he gave them a smirk and in his head concluded that only real men smoke. He fiddled again in his pocket and after an effort that seemed to last hours produced a lighter from his pockets. He lit up his cigarette and breathed a sigh of relief. The boy in the middle realized he was going to smoke away the tension, he relaxed a little seeking relief in the fact that he wasn't the only one tensed. The pretty boy finally took his first puff and smoked it away while gazing into the distance. It seemed like he was living somewhere far from this place and you could almost be fooled in thinking that this man was a thinker, a soulful thinker. He looked at the pretty boy again, he hadn't thought of him as a thinker. Quite the contrary he thought something was wrong with his eyes, not in vision vise terms but there was something off about them, he just couldn't put his finger down on as to what exactly.
He turned to the one behind him in the line, for the sake of comfort lets call him Daddy's Boy. He though seemed confident on the exterior but a closer look made you realize he was anything but confident. DB(Daddy's Boy) kept on muttering to himself in English, made you slightly uncomfortable. What was DB doing he thought, was he praying ? turning to the lord at this moment of need ? No no, he wasn't praying the mutterings didn't sound like prayers rather they sounded like an interview. Oh so he was pre-planning his interview. Oh DB what a foolish strategy that would be he thought and out came his arrogance yet again. This was the real him. He slouched to his right side and ran a hand through his hair, he was a done deal for this he thought. If nothing works he'll just charm them; this thought came from his flawed opinion of himself. In his own head he was quite the charmer, but sadly only in his own head.
All of a sudden, the air smelt different. No no that can't be right he thought, it was just his head playing games with him. But this smell was really familiar ... it was almost like someone was smoking weed. He took a loud audible sniff to make sure that it wasn't his head playing games. The pretty boy upon hearing the sniff turned and said want a hit ? And extended his joint to both of them. He was yet again declined by both of them and he again met them with the same smirk that said pathetic losers. Pretty boy was smoking up before an important interview he thought , surely this border lined on craziness or was it a mechanism of relaxing himself ? In all honesty it wasn't a method to soothe anything, it spoke volumes about PB. He was always like that, slightly on the edge. He rarely cared about what people will think about him and today was no different. Though did get a lot more weirder when PB decided to sing ghazals out loud. Was it because he was high, no no it couldn't have acted this fast or could it have? He was trying to come to some conclusion of sorts with regards to PB's behavior when it all came to a sudden halt. PB threw the half smoked joint on the ground and just walked off. Leaving the two behind slightly dazed. But if you asked anyone who knew PB, this was to be expected. He always was about himself and never about others. He was a self indulgent young angry man who at the end of the day couldn't care less about responsibility or anything serious. You could bet that he was the type of person who could spend his entire day in front of the mirror.Only one thing was of importance to him, his own desires. These few lines sort of summed him perfectly.
With Pretty Boy out of the picture he realized that the competition was lessened and his odds had definitely risen. But his momentary happiness was shot down by the brute reality, he was the next in line for the interview. He suddenly became very uneasy and felt suffocated in his formal wear. The collar of his dress shirt tighten around his neck, he unbuttoned it to give him breathing space but surprisingly or not so surprisingly it didn't help at all. The breathing problems continued and these problems were to increase ten folds.
He turned to see if DB could tell that he was a nervous wreck but DB seemed preoccupied with his phone and looked almost as panicky as he was if not any more. Who was he calling he thought. Maybe a friend to ask something or his girl so that she could wish her luck or maybe his mom for prayers ? All these questions were answered when DB said " Hello dad." Ah he was talking to his dad, must be seeking advice. DB gave him a suspicious look and lowered his voice. Something didn't seem right, what was DB up to, judging from his discomfort and lowered voice it was obviously that he was up to no good. He strained to catch DB's words and when he overheard him saying " At an interview... Please take care of it for me", his worst fears came true. DB was using his daddy's authority and power to get an underhanded advantage. He gave him a stone cold stare and felt like punching him. It took much restrain not to harm him and only once again in his life will he show so much restrain but that's a story for another time. DB seemed more confident after the phone call, he was smiling with his shiny bright white teeth showing off in all their glory. Oh how i would like to knock those teeth out he thought, he was so angry that he forgot about anxiety and everything that came with it.
He was determined now to win this and only for the sake to wipe that confident broad smile of DB and to show him talent and hard work can overcome anything. A look of desire and determination overtook his face, this was the game face he talked about to everyone when they said he was the self appointed jester of the group. He buttoned up his collar and stood dead straight for the first time since he had arrived here. If this was a Japanese anime you could imagine motivating music playing in the background and him, obviously being the hero, delivering a speech that spoke about his clan values, his worth ethic and his sad childhood. Then jumping in the air and kicking every bad guy's ass before touching the ground. But sadly this wasn't an anime, this was the real world. And the real world is a bitch, that too one with a cruel heart. Determination and hard work takes you far indeed but money can buy anything in this world as was to he find out.
A lady walked out of door right in front of them. He thought she was going to call him for the interview, he quickly recapped his 3 strengths and 3 weaknesses. But what she said took both him and DB completely off guard. She announced out loud that the position that was up for grabs has been filled and they weren't required anymore. But how he wondered, no one gave an interview. He even questioned the lady she just said a good enough candidate came and got it hence the rest of the interviews were not necessary and hurried back in before she could be quizzed again. He hung his head in shame, he was disappointed and broken. DB was equally shocked he was talking on the phone again, presumably with his dad. He kept on shouting on the phone obviously he was as displeased as him. They both were so close but in the end even a millimeter seemed too far. Rumor has it the person selected barely made it through from university, didn't have the necessary interview skills or test skills but what was of importance was the fact that he had a dad well placed in the government. And what was of more importance was the fact that they choose him, he may have loved them or it was his dream thing, but a union is only possible if both parties agree.
It made him doubt himself. He looked into the mirror and thought, was there something wrong with me ?
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