At First Sight

2.

I sat up straight, eyes still half shut from sleep. I looked around, still disoriented from sleep.

"Mom?" I called, looking around.

The room looked off like I was still dreaming. I rubbed my eyes. Maybe I'm still asleep. Then I smelled it, the smell that must have woken me.

"Mom?!" I yelled, jumping off the sofa.

I ran through the fog towards the smell and there she was, standing over the stove, something burning in the pan. I moved her from the stove and extinguish the fire and then I noticed the time.

"Oh shit! I'm be gonna be late!"

I sat my mom back on the sofa in front of the tv.

"Kay will be here any minute, okay? I'm going to get ready for my interview."

Kay is my other best friend. We met in college. She's a nurse, and she watches my mom anytime she can because my mom ran out the last two nurses I hired and I don't want to put her in a home even if I could afford it.

I was running towards the stairs as Kay ran through the door.

"I'm here! Damn girl, where's the fire?"

"In the kitchen. I'm gonna be late!" I yelled, running towards the bathroom.

"I didn't mean that literally," she yelled up to me.

I hurriedly took a shower and slicked my hair back into a nice bun. Slipped on my deep purple pencil skirt and a white blouse.

"Where the fuck are my shoes?"

I found them by my closet door. I slipped the heels on and grabbed my folder and purse, and ran out the door.

"Good luck!" I heard Kay yell.

It took me 30 minutes to get to the building, got lost twice. I parked my car and got out, admiring the building.

Hope. I loved the sound of that name. I hurried inside and made it to the receptionist's desk without a minute to spare.

"Are you here for the 9 o'clock interview?" the middle-aged lady at the desk asked.

"Yes."

"They're waiting on you," she pointed to a group of men standing to the side.

I made my way over to them nervously. They all looked so young. I'll say all of them were between the ages of twenty-five to thirty-five.

"Hi," I began going for a handshake.

"Your... Miss Shaw, right?" he asked, gripping my hand firmly.

"Yes." I smiled.

"Terry," he stated his name. "And this is Jacob, Larry, and Tez." he introduced his co-workers. They were all dressed so sharply in their dress shirts and slacks and their nice haircuts.

"We are heading to the conference room to await the boss man. Follow us."

They went towards the elevators. I noticed how spacious the receptionist's area was with the desk sitting in the middle. Chairs aligned both walls and a back door that held an 'employees only' sign. Hopefully, I will be one soon. I smiled to myself.

"After you." Terry motioned for me to board the elevator first.

There were twelve floors, and we were going to floor sixth. Oh, my god I'm about to interview for my dream job. I fidgeted with my watch while biting my lower lip.

"Nervous?" Terry asked.

I chuckled. "That obvious?"

He laughed. "Don't be. I'm sure you can't do worse than Larry over here."

"Terry don't start." Larry laughed.

"Larry was so nervous pitching his idea he farted during his interview."

Everyone in the elevator laughed.

"The smell was so bad we had to leave the room."

"But my idea is so brilliant and one of the leading programs in this company, I might add, so he forgot all about it."

Jacob laughed. "Yeah, if you want to believe that. Fart boy."

"Shut up."

The elevator doors open and they led me to a room with glass windows surrounding it and a table in the middle and a projector screen.

"Okay, so here's the laptop. Everything is already in place for you. We'll start when the boss man arrives." Terry explained.

"Thanks," I smiled at him.

I sat my purse down on the table beside me and dug out my flash drive to insert it into the computer. After I located my file, I looked through my folder to see if I had everything I needed.

"Good morning everyone." A cheerful, husky voice entered the room.

"Boss man."

"Morning."

I looked up to see who walked in and my whole body froze. No, please no, no, no. Our eyes connect and the same shock I feel was all over his face. His locks were nicely pulled back with a fresh lining and he had on a black tailored suit with a black dress shirt under it and a navy blue tie. He looked good as hell.

He started walking towards me, and I wanted to climb into the wall behind me.

"Good morning," he said, looking everywhere on my body but my face.

Great, now he's going to think I'm some sort of meat because of what happened last night. If I would have known I would be in front of him, giving an interview today, I wouldn't have been on top of him last night.

"So you're the amazing, talented grad student looking to improve my company?"

"You're the founder and CEO of Hope?"

"In the flesh."

Aw hell.

"My eyes are up here, sir."

His eyes slowly climbed up to mine. "Sir?" He smirked.

"Look, if I would have known who you were last night wouldn't have happened. Can we be professional?" I whispered.

"Sure," he said with a glint in his eyes, licking his full lips. I can still feel those lips on my neck, my breast. I wanted to curse myself for the way my heart quickened.

He turned, walking away.

"Okay Miss Shaw, show me why this company should hire you," he said, taking his seat.

I gave myself a mental shake. Okay, Chelle, you got this. Blow em away.

I cleared my throat. "We all know that children are the future. They are our key and what we teach them follows them their whole lives. What we instill in them shapes them to be the person they grow up to be. A doctor, a lawyer, even a bum on the street. If we constantly tell and show a child that they are nothing, chances are that they are going to be nothing. That mentality will be embedded in their minds. But if you tell that child how great he or she is, push and support them, they will be great. I introduce to you, Yes I Can. A program that nurtures the greatness already planted inside every child. In this program, the child will see people like them achieving greatness, get guidance and encouragement towards their passion and goals. In this program, every child will have the chance to gain the skills needed to succeed out there in the world."

My presentation lasted about twenty minutes, which was followed by many questions and scattered applause. I'll go on a whim and say I got the job