Wrong choice (Ferran Torres)

Chapter 2

The first interview was going to take place in Madrid, so Anna was at the train station very early on a Wednesday morning. She had gone over what she could bring to the job so many times, that it started to sound stupid whenever she said it out loud. So she just picked up the book she had packed and spent the trip reading.

It had been a while since she had been in Madrid so she almost called a taxi to take her to the interview. But if living in London had taught her something, it was to move around in public transport. So after looking at the underground map a few times, she found the perfect route to reach her destination.

"Hi", she said to get the receptionist's attention. "I'm here for an interview".

"Name?"

"Anna Durán. I think I'm a little early".

"Better that than late. Sit there to wait, please".

Anna looked around the place while she waited. Her choice of jobs to go for had been very deliberate. One was an independent media company, but it specialised in English football and she had lived in England for 6 years. Her experience and her skills in speaking languages should play in her favour even if the job didn't pay as well. The other was a more traditional media job in Barcelona.

"Anna?", called a man she recognised as Pau, the channel's presenter,. "Come in, please".

She got up from the chair and followed him inside the office. "Hi. It's nice meeting you".

"You too", said Pau, shaking the hand Anna was offering. "I'll go straight to the point if that's ok".

"Sure".

"We've been talking about this job offer for you for a few weeks now. You like the job and we like you. We don't really do job interviews often and just talk to the people we're really interested in hiring".

"So...I got the job?"

"If you want it", smiled Pau and Anna smiled back.

"I really do. And knowing I can do most of the work from Barcelona is so great, thank you".

"Ok then. Let's just go over everything once again before you sign the contract".

It didn't take them long to go over every detail a few more times and then it was time for Anna to put her signature in the contract and feel relief. At least she got one of the two jobs. She'd get to work and get a salary to pay her rent. It was a very good start.

"Welcome to the family".

"Thank you", beamed Anna after shaking Pau's hand again.

The meeting didn't take too long so she had some time to walk around Madrid before heading back to Barcelona. But first, she needed to write on her family's WhatsApp group that she had gotten the job. Everyone was waiting to hear from her and congratulated her immediately.

The next day, it was time for her job interview in Barcelona. Anna knew this was going to be the harder job to get but was confident after how well the previous day went.

"Miss Durán, it'll be someone else who can talk to you today. The boss is away on a last minute trip. You know how it is".

Anna smiled because it seemed like the thing to do. But she didn't know how it was. And it worried her that she'd have to talk to someone she hadn't communicated with before.

"Hi there. Anna? I'm Hugo".

"Hi. Nice meeting you".

"You too", said Hugo. "Sorry about Joan not being here today. But we're pretty much in the same position in the company so it's not the first time I have to be the one doing a job interview".

"That's ok".

"And he left some notes. Really good notes. But I have more questions for you".

Anna tried not to look too nervous and kept answering the questions. It was easy to talk to Hugo. And to look at him too but she couldn't be thinking about how cute the guy who interviewed her was if she wanted to answer properly.

"It's a really impressive CV for someone so young. And all of this is done abroad. As you can imagine, speaking English so well is a big plus. You obviously speak Catalan too...".

"I speak a bit of French too but never add it because I'm afraid people will expect my level to be higher".

Hugo looked up at her and smiled. "A woman of many talents. Just what this radio station needs".

However, this wasn't like the previous interview and she wasn't told whether she had gotten the job or not. There were more journalists who had to be interviewed before so she said goodbye to Hugo while she hoped for the best.

"I hope I see you again soon", he told her while he still held her hand.

"Yeah, me too. Thank you for your time today".

To celebrate being done with the interviews, Anna bought her favourite cheap wine and ordered some food. She was halfway through eating it when her phone rang. Pau.

"Hi Pau. How are you?"

"I'm great. Hope you're doing well too. How did that other job interview go?"

Anna smiled knowing he had remembered. "I think it went well but I haven't been told if I got the job yet".

"They'd be stupid not to hire you but I wasn't just calling to ask about that".

"Of course. What is it?"

"I need you to do your first interview for us on Saturday morning", he announced and Anna felt so excited by the prospect of doing her first interview in Spain.

"That is fine. Where do I have to go?"

"You don't need to go anywhere for this interview. It's in Barcelona".

"Cool. Who is it I'm talking to?", she asked, eager to find out.

"Ferran Torres".

"Ok, can do".

"I'll send you the details via email".

"Sounds good. Thank you again for this opportunity", she repeated, feeling the need to show Pau how grateful she was for this job again.

"No need to thank me. Just prove to me I made the right choice", he said, but Anna could hear he was joking.

Anna finished the rest of her meal quickly and picked up her laptop to start writing questions she could ask Ferran Torres. She first tried to remember what she already knew about him.

"Ok...born in Valencia, played for their academy, moved to City but didn't stay there long and then moved to play for Barça", she then started to read the first few details her Google search showed and frowned. "Born in 2000? A baby".