Arcane

Chapter 5: Results

ALORA

I was dumbstruck after seeing Mr. Darling- I mean Mr. ROWAN KESTER sitting there. When I first met him, I thought he was jobless. I should stop pre assuming things. He is a nice and friendly guy though. He is handsome too. After doing a pretty good job of embarrassing myself, here I am. Rowan cleared his throat awkwardly after shouting like a creep just like I did. " So, Miss Alora Laurence kindly introduce yourself" one of the interviewers spoke. This is my time to shine.

I was seated on the couch of the waiting room in the lobby just as Rowan wanted me to. He messaged me saying that he was to announce a break and come to meet me here real quick. Even after urging him to not delay his work because of me, he was persistent. My grandma and this guy are just too similar. What if HE is Grandma's secret grandson? ( stop thinking nonsense, will ya?)
"Hi there! Boss Lady." Rowan beamed, popping out of nowhere. I flinched at the sudden greetings. "Jeez, you scared me dude" I spoke, placing a hand on my chest.
"OMaaaGaawwddd, I-I mean S-Sir. I am so sorry" I apologised, after realising what have I said. He is your interviewer, dumbass. "Hey, come on. You can't treat me like a 'sir', you know. We are friends, okay? I mean, we took down a freaking muscle pig together.So, you better drop the formalities." Rowan fussed. It caused me to grin. He is such a sweetheart and down to earth person. "Alright then, Mr. dArLinG" I mocked him. He rubbed the nape of his name and chucked, embarrassed. "It was just for fun, you know and why do I think I am forgetting some-
OH RIGHT! YOUR INTERVIEW! YOU TOTALLY ROCKED IT LADY!" He blared. I put the palms of my hand to both of ears to prevent my eardrums from bursting. "I tried my best, do you think the others will like it too?" I questioned. " Of course, they will! You were the first one who was so confident and bold plus, your already have a working experience of two years at the age of twenty three only! I shall never forget the way you said 'Isn't this why we all work, for money? to feed ourselves and our family? But then, a time comes when you start getting bored and slacking off. I am not speaking this, my working experience is. Now, what if the Passion to do your job ignites the urge to earn money in you? to make your work praise-worthy? To make whatever task you do exquisite? That's exactly what I can do, without disappointing anyone, respected gentlemen.' OH MAN! You should've taken a look at Steve's face, It was worth clicking a picture of. He got insulted and answered to in a VERY polite manner." He finally completed in a very excited state. " How can you remember what I spoke , word to word? Do you have a superficial memory?' I inquired, genuinely interested. He shrugged casually. "Maybe" he said, raising his eyebrows and putting a hand on his chin. Man. He looks kinda hot like this. No wonder, he has got a very fine face and body. He has a pale complexion, dreamy grey eyes and long lashes. He has fluffy and bouncy blonde hair which cover his forehead, his lips are full and pinkish. He is will built too. Tall legs and broad shoulders, he was currently clad in a formal, navy coloured suit which looked quite( no, gravely) expensive and well polished black shoes which seemed more expensive than my whole outfit. "Now now, Miss Alora Laurence, kindly stop staring at my shoes and inform me about when are you going to treat me?" he spoke, breaking my chain of thoughts. My cheeks became red from embarrassment. He must've realised that I was indirectly checking him out. Idiot. I looked up at him. "Treat you? For what?" I questioned, confused. He looked at me with a bored expression and pointed towards one of the huge screens in the lobby. I looked at it, squinting my eyes to get a better vision. I walked towards it and-and it read 'Results for the interview of the contestants numbered 1 to 20' no no no, this can't be happening, how are they so fast? It usually takes a day for them to announce the results right? I closed my eyes, not wanting to take a look at it. What if I fail miserably? "The Allisons follow a different procedure, if you don't know. We put the results out in parts so that too many people do not get disheartened at once." Rowan completed, coming out from the waiting room and standing behind me.

ROWAN

I stood behind her, taking in her back profile. She undoubtedly looked formidably elegant and professional today. Quite opposite of the cinnamon roll look she had that Sunday. She wore a pretty white silk top with long sleeves, black pencil skirt that hugged her curves right, not to mention, the small sized, lethal waist she had. My hands would probably cover the whole of her waist. What are you even thinking, bastard? The choice of her heels was good, black matt with some stones at the bottom. She had some light makeup on. "Why don't you open your eyes dear?" I whisper, coming near her left ear, still standing behind. I can examine how the baby hairs on the back of her neck stood up due to goosebumps. My lips tug up from the corner. I slowly moved beside her and watched her opening her eyes. Those eyes of her look so innocent and encoring. Her eyes widened and her lips parted in shock. She covered her mouth with the palms of her hands, It is a habit of hers. Her eyes brimmed with tears. She looked at me and suddenly something happened which drove me crazy. She jumped on me, cradling my waist, hugging me tightly, her face in the crook if my neck as I felt her tears coming out and making my shoulder wet. My hands remained in air and my heartbeat escalated with an inhuman speed. I.was.completely.out.of.it.
"I dit it, I dit it, I dit it-"  I was brought back to earth, hearing her fluttery voice and her breath hitting my neck, ticking it. I slowly hugged her back and patted her head, comforting her. " Yes, you did it sweetheart" I whispered to her. She held me tighter. I adjusted her legs on my waist properly, preventing her from falling down. My heart was about to come out of the ribcage. I felt stares of a million people directed at us and I sickened at the murmurs and uncomfortable glances of people. The fuck? Why can't they mind their own damn business? I heard small whimpers of Alora and heard her speaking something. I slowly walked towards the waiting room, still having her in my embrace. I picked up her purse from the couch and gradually walked out of the building. She stuck to me like a koala on the branch. "I thought I will not be able to work again, he made me hate it. He said that I will not be able to work again" she softly murmured in a broken voice. Who is 'he'? A heavy feeling settled in my chest. Who made her miserable? I will get back at him. No.matter.what. " Who is 'he' sweetheart?"I asked softly.She suddenly seemed to stop her movements. Ahh. She must've realised that she was sticking to a guy that she met only three days ago. She must not feel like opening up about 'him'. I do not have any problem with that. At least not for now.She came out of her dejecting state and hopped down from my hold, causing all of the warmth and fuzziness to fade away from me. She looked down in embarrassment and glued her eyes to the floor, slowly adjusting her hairs. A blush crept up to her face, causing her to look so.damn.cute. She rubbed her hands nervously. "I-I d-din't m-me-mean t-to
I w-was j-ju-st-" I cut her off by speaking up.
"It is okay sweetheart, you got hired resulting to you get emotional, not a big deal". I ruffled her hair. I played it cool, like my I didn't have a heart attack just now. A sudden ring erupted and I realised that it was my phone. Steve's calling. This bish. I must get back to work. "Oh no, your work got delayed because of me. Go on. Hurry back inside. They must require you. I promise to treat you. Will message you the venue, time and date" she completed in breath. "But-" she cut me off. "Go on. You don't want to get scolded by your boss, Do you?" She said, pushing me inside. I chuckled at the thought of Zyran scolding me. Fun Fact: I let a girl let this close to me after a whole year, after my heartbreak, after her.