Chapter 4

[Hannah]

Hannah Barker had gone to great lengths just to ask her boss for permission to take the day off. As expected, her stingy boss didn’t give it to her for free. Hannah had to accept a deduction from her pay so she could attend today’s all-important event: a job interview.

For some reason, she had a good feeling. It seemed like this might become her first corporate job. She was determined to do whatever it took today to get accepted, so that her salary deduction and her new outfit would not go to waste.

Hannah actually had a formal-looking blouse she usually wore for job hunting. But since she always failed with that particular blouse, she thought it was bad luck. She chose to buy a new pastel-colored blouse, a black knee-length skirt to make her look professional, and closed-toe flats.

Her makeup was kept light, the important thing was to look fresh. Too much makeup would make her unrecognizable.

Don’t forget, the recruiter had accepted her application after she submitted a photo in which she looked absolutely terrible. Just looking at the photo, it felt like you could smell the stench of a dirty kitchen wafting from it. Who knows what kind of appearance expectations they had for a secretary position. Isn't a secretary supposed to always be beautiful and neat?

Strange.

But maybe this was her fate.

Hannah grinned at herself in the mirror. “Not bad at all.”

Physical preparation, done.

Mental preparation. That seemed to be the difficult part.

Hannah did her homework diligently. She researched the RQL company extensively. Previously, she only knew it was a fast-moving consumer goods company operating on a multinational scale. The instant noodles and coffee she often bought were products from the RQL group. She planned to bring this up during the interview to show that she was a fan of the company’s products.

But, beyond that, she also read news about the company. For example, their plans for launching a personal care product line, as well as their expansion plans into several countries in Southeast Asia.

“It’s just that, apparently, penetrating the market there is very difficult because consumers are price-sensitive and there are also distribution challenges,” Hannah muttered her memorized answer while fixing her hair. “Whoa, I sound so professional.”

One thing that bothered her was Damian Lee. His name had been mentioned during the pre-screening, and he was likely to be her superior. Damian Lee’s name did indeed appear frequently in news stories about the RQL Group.

The problem was, it was a different story when she tried searching for him on social media. Damian Lee sounded like a public figure. No, more like an idol. He’s popular and adored by random women thirsting over him. Most of the photos of Damian Lee circulating on social media are just blurry shots, as if taken from a distance.

And they had captions like, “He’s so damn hot here.”

Hannah didn’t understand how someone with an unclear face in a blurry picture would be considered “DAMN HOT”. Did they have some kind of sixth sense? X-ray vision?

Well, she will just have to wait and see what he’s really like.

***

Hannah arrived earlier than the others. The receptionist asked her to wait in the boardroom on the 11th floor.

The room wasn’t very large, with two separate seating areas. At the front, chairs for the executives were lined up along a long table. Across from them, chairs and a long table formed a semicircle, facing the executives’ seating area.

As per the invitation, the interview was conducted directly with all the candidates. Hannah took the seat closest to the entrance.

A few minutes later, other candidates began to arrive. As anyone would expect, they were all good-looking people.

She glanced at the wall clock in the room. It was already 2:05. The interview should have started five minutes ago.

A woman had just opened the door. The woman was incredibly pretty. She was wearing a black long-sleeved blazer and a black skirt that was a little intimidating. Her sleek black hair fell straight down her back. Nothing flashy, yet her aura reeked of money. If this secretary selection was based on looks, she would not stand a chance against candidates like this.

The woman stood at the door, scanning the people inside.

“I think you are late,” Hannah, sitting closest to the door, said to her. “We candidates were supposed to be here before 2:00.”

The woman looked surprised, but Hannah was just as surprised by her own words. Had her competitive instinct made her subtly shoo the woman away? She didn’t understand.

“So, I’m not supposed to be here?” The woman tucked her hair behind her ear.

The air changed. Hannah suddenly felt the need to apologize. “No, I’m sorry, that’s not what I meant.”

Two people with ID cards appeared behind the woman.

“Please come in, Ma’am. Mr. Lee is still in a meeting. We should go ahead with the interview,” said one of them.

The woman, addressed as “Ma’am,” nodded and then walked over to the executive chair.

‘That’s the end of me,’ Hannah thought to herself. Realizing the embarrassing mistake she made.

“Good afternoon,” the woman said at the front. “Thank you for coming to today’s interview. I am Maria.” She introduced herself, then invited the person beside her to speak.

“I’m Andrew, from HR.”

“Grace, senior secretary.”

Maria continued. “As mentioned in the ad, we’re currently hiring for a secretary position on the executive assistant team. This team reports directly to Mr. Damian Lee, the Chief Strategy Officer here.”

“Actually, this position was originally intended to be temporary. But depending on your performance, it could become permanent.”

Hannah could swear she saw Maria smirk as she said that.

“Well then… please introduce yourselves.” With a hand gesture, Maria invited the candidate on the right to begin.

That meant Hannah would go last. Happy? No. She was forced to listen to introductions from candidates with far stronger qualifications than hers. At that point, she felt she did not need to make any impression at all.

Because it would be useless anyway.

Breathe in.

Nothing to lose.

“I am Hannah Barker. I graduated from the Faculty of Management at University U. I currently work as a waitress at a bakery. My previous experience includes being a teaching assistant, tutor, translator, and typist. Honestly, I can do almost anything as long as I am not fired.”

“Anything?” Maria laughed softly while writing something on her evaluation sheet.

Hannah felt she might have said something wrong.

“Miss Barker,” Andrew said, “Compared to other candidates, you have no experience as a secretary. Are you sure about applying for this position?”

Right.

“I don’t have secretary experience because I was never given the opportunity to be one. That does not mean I cannot do the job. That is why I am applying.”

Grace spoke in a cold tone. “Your previous jobs were only part-time. They do not carry the same pressure as full-time work where you have to meet targets. Especially for a secretary position. We often work overtime until late at night.”

“I am very familiar with that. My part-time job required thirteen-hour workdays. I usually get home at 10 PM.”

Grace nodded without smiling and wrote something on her evaluation sheet.

Hannah sat back down in her chair. She tried to hide her resignation by forcing a confident smile onto her face.

There was a knock on the door. A man in his late thirties appeared in the doorway. He glanced back, made a gesture with his hand, and then another man entered the room.

Hannah’s jaw dropped.

Because the man was incredibly handsome.

All the captions she had read about Damian Lee suddenly felt completely justified.

‘He’s so damn hot here.’

‘What a cutie.’

‘Look at those eyes.’

Hannah felt she wasn’t the only one staring intently at the man. But standing right in front of her was someone so handsome that she didn’t want to turn her head just to confirm her suspicions.

Without saying a word, the man hurried forward.

Grace immediately stepped aside to give up her seat. He approached Maria and whispered something.

He looked at each candidate in the room.

“Good afternoon, I am Damian Lee.”

Maria moved closer to him, and the two of them whispered to each other. Hannah had no idea what they were saying. To her, it didn’t seem like they were discussing anything important. On the contrary, Damian looked completely relaxed.

Shortly after, Damian Lee left the room.

Everyone was stunned. They had expected a Q&A session with him, but there was none. The interview ended immediately, and all candidates were asked to leave. One selected candidate would be contacted later.

As they walked out, Hannah overheard others saying that none of them had been accepted.

Honestly, it made sense. Damian Lee was so unimpressed with the candidates that he didn’t even want to interview them further, which is why the interview ended immediately. Well, maybe it was also because there was another batch of interviews with different candidates. But whatever the reason, it sounded like bad news for them.

“Let’s just assume we were all rejected.”

Everyone agreed, and they went their separate ways after leaving the building.

At the bus stop, Hannah took out her phone and turned it on after keeping it off during the interview.

A notification immediately appeared on the screen:

‘Congratulations! You are hired.’

“Huh?”