The next morning at 6 o'clock, Jake was in his car driving to the Glendale Train Station. The morning was cool and foggy, as September mornings were prone to being, and the traffic was unusually light. He had told his parents about the job interview but he omitted the fact that it had come in the form of a mysterious letter. He didn't want them to worry; they'd probably think it was a kidnapping attempt or something like that.
He arrived quite early, before 6:30. Jake always tried to be a punctual person and he certainly didn't want to be late for this. He hoped that the limo would be early also. He counted the minutes down until 7 o'clock. By 7:15, he was getting worried. By 7:30 the limousine was still not there. Jake began to think that it might have been a cruel hoax. He resolved to wait until 8:00. Finally, 8:00 came around and Jake got in his car and turned on the ignition. Just as the car started, a limo pulled into the parking lot. Jake turned the car off and got out, locking the car door behind him. He walked quickly over to the vehicle. It was white and long. It wasn’t the kind of limo he was expecting. It was an SUV type; very large and showy.
The driver got out. He was a tall black man, about forty years old. He was also a little overweight, for which Jake felt immediate sympathy. His expression was dour and he got right down to business.
“Jake Martinez?”
“Yes, sir,” Jake answered with a smile, hoping to lighten the mood.
“I’ve been hired provide your transportation. I’m not often late but I couldn’t avoid some road debris on the freeway and I lost a tire. Please get in. There are some breakfast items in there for you, please help yourself to anything you find, it’s all been paid for. I expect the trip to be about thirty minutes but it could be longer depending on traffic.”
“Can you tell me where we’re going?”
“I’m sorry; I’ve been instructed not to discuss that with you. Please get in, we’re already quite a bit behind and I don’t want to lose my payment.”
Jake was disappointed about not knowing the destination but nervous about the interview. He’d been up late the night before looking at interview techniques online. He expected that this interview wouldn’t be a normal one but it couldn’t hurt to brush up just the same.
Knowing that the trip would take half an hour didn’t exactly narrow things down a lot. Jake expected they’d be headed to downtown Los Angeles but he couldn’t be sure.
As the limousine started up, Jake was fishing through the fridge and found some apple juice. He’d already had breakfast but he wasn’t one to turn down free food and drinks. He also had a couple of the pastries that were laid out for him. They were the really expensive kind, not cheap like donuts. He also found a classy glass water bottle that he decided to take with him.
He wasn’t used to such upper crust treatment. The backpack he had brought with his interview supplies looked very low class in comparison to the inside of the limo. The suit he was wearing also didn’t seem on par with the occasion.
There was a TV in the passenger compartment showing a local morning news program. Watching it made him feel car sick and he decided to just look out the window. It didn’t look like they were headed to downtown LA. In fact, it looked like they were traveling through the San Fernando Valley. Finally they arrived at a small airport. Jake assumed that it was Whiteman but his geography wasn’t good enough to be sure and he missed the sign. The car stopped in the lot and the driver opened the door. Jake had not expected a plane ride. He wondered if his parents would be worried. He decided to phone them.
“This is your stop, sir.” The driver told him. “See that plane over there, that’s yours.”
The plane looked like a private jet. The engines were already running and the stair case was at the door. It was probably too late to turn back now so Jake thanked the driver and began walking towards the small plane. When he reached it, he climbed the stairs and got on board. He had wondered if there would be any other interviewees on board but the passenger compartment was empty and there was no access to the pilot’s compartment. As soon as Jake settled into a seat and was ready to call his parents, the door to the airplane closed. The flash by the window looked like the limo driver but he couldn’t be sure. His phone had been turned off and before he could get it booted up to make the call, the engines revved up and the plane started taxiing down the runway.
