ALZENA

Interview

According to what the receptionist -the second one - told me, I was going to be interviewed by the Human Resource Manager: Mrs Rossi. She left me at the entrance to what I am assuming is Mrs Rossi's office and walked back the way we came.

I knocked on the brown door and after hearing a faint 'come in', I walked in, hoping that I looked confident enough and not like a dying squid trying to survive on land.

Mrs Rossi is a 5'7 brunette with an athletic build. She was sporting a navy blue chiffon top with a set of black office pants and a pair of black stilettos.

While I was admiring her outfit, I didn't realize that she has asked a question and was waiting for me to answer.

She had a look of irritation on her face...you know, the type that you give when you could be doing a thousand other things instead of waiting for some unserious child to answer your question.

' I'm sorry, what did you say? I didn't quite catch that ma'am.' I asked 'The receptionist will see you out.' Was all she said before looking back down at the piles of papers on the table.

My heart sank down to the bottom of my stomach when I finally understood the meaning of what she has just told me.

'I just lost the only opportunity of money I had left '

Tears welled up in my eyes, almost falling out. The woman breathed out a sigh of frustration, probably annoyed at the fact that I was still seated in her office sobbing like a three-year-old child.

She pressed a button and a few seconds later, the receptionist that brought me here appeared. To avoid any further embarrassment my part, I took whatever dignity I had left and walked out with the receptionist.

When I got to the outside part of the office, I could not hold it in anymore- I burst out in tears, not caring whether I was being stared at or not, I didn't care. All of a sudden, my phone started buzzing, snapping me out of the trance of tears. I looked at the screen and it was my mom calling, by now, I was on a bus back home.

'Probably wants money for one of her man-whores' I thought.

' Look, mom now is not the time, and besides, why are you calling me so early, aren't you meant to be at 'work' by this time' I said the moment I picked the call, not even allowing her to start talking.

'At least one of us has a steady job, even though she's just a whore'

'Zena, Zena!!! Help me please, they are coming after me. I can't stop it, I need your help please, baby please come ba...'

'POW POW!!'

'Mum, mum are you there, mamma, per favore stai bene?'  I asked her, hoping to hear her voice, trying to ignore the fact that I heard gunshots echoing through the phone.

  ' please, don't hurt her, please I can't lose her too. She wasn't the best but she was still my mum.' I thought to myself.

'Non-preoccuparti di tornare, è morta.'
A deep voice said through the phone, then ended the call. ( Don't bother coming back, she is dead).

I tried calling back the number all while holding back more tears, the number wasn't going through.

'Mamma, no mamma!! don't leave me too'.