Six

  'Driver?' Faith wondered as she entered into the gate of the big firm called Anderson consults. She found herself looking in amazement at the big firm and had her mouth agape after entering the front gate.

"Hey! Where do you think you are going that you just enter like that?" A man in a security uniform said to her, making her turn back and glare at him.

'Idiot,' Faith thought after assuming the man to be the security guard. "Were you not the one who is in need of a driver?" Faith answered with an irritating tone.

"So, you can't greet and ask for details? Don't you know you can never be employed if I don't permit it?"

Faith laughed hard.  "I don't know CEOs are now wearing security uniforms. I will make your life awful if I finally get this job," she threatened. 

It was the guard's turn to reveal the inside of his mouth in laughter.  "What makes you so sure you'll be employed? My boss doesn't like girls, so don't even think you are going to charm him with your beauty. It's even a driving job, you better go back home." 

Angrily, she stomped toward the entrance of the building.  "I am going to surprise you," she said with gritted teeth as she entered the reception. She had decided to test her luck the moment he saw the board outside the gate that a chauffeur was needed. She was not going to back out all because of what a security guard said. 

She had been looking for a suitable job for two months, but to no avail. She could not find one that did not require her to give herself out to the owner or have some connections with the owners. Though she did not like the one she was checking out now, she was left with no choice. She had to get a job quickly, so she would be able to take care of herself and her mother. 

She prayed that the salary would be handsome enough to clear her mother's debts. At least, that would make her have savings in case of any emergency. 

He got to where dozens of men were sitting, probably waiting to be attended to. She watched a man emerge from a room which had 'Interview in progress' glued in front of the door. 

Another man rushed in as one emerged. Faith decided to ask what was happening from the man who walked sadly past her. It could not be that all of them wanted to be chauffeurs. "Excuse me, please," Faith said in her loveliest tone. She was surprised to find the man smiling by the time he turned around to face her.  'Why is he smiling?' she wondered. 

"Miss, I must confess you have a lovely voice," the man said. 

Faith started scanning him. He would probably be close to forty five years of age.  "Oh, really? Thank you so much," she said. 

"Yes, my dear. But anyway, why did you call me?" the man inquired.

"Hum... I just wanted to ask why these men are on queue," Faith replied. 

The man smiled and shook his head. "We all applied for the driving job and were scheduled to come for an interview today. We seem to be much, right?" 

"Yes, we seem to be much," she said unconsciously while nodding her head as her eyes strayed around the room. 

The man looked dazed at her repetition of what he had said. Did that mean she also wanted to apply? 

Seems strange. 

Nodding his thoughts off, he said to her, "I must tell you, the man is strict. So strict and merciless. He kept rejecting us as we went in one after the other."

"Ow! That's bad, but I still have to try my luck," she replied in her confident, yet calm tone. 

"But – Well, good luck. I will be glad if we can meet again someday. I have a bachelor son," the man teased with a smile before taking his leave, while Faith was laughing. 

Faith went to take her seat as she waited in silence and watched those who go in with hope and enthusiasm coming back with disappointments. Some of them even cursed a few times. 

She started wondering what could have been the reason why most men left unhappily. Could the strict man be asking for driving school certificates and all? Was that the reason the elderly men were rejected? Because they did not have? If that were the case, she was going to end up like them because she did not have one, too. 

The person sitting before her stood and went inside the room after exhaling a few times. The man seemed scared because she could see his whole body shaking. That awakened fear inside of her, too. Her heart started thumping hard. She began to produce the beads of perspiration on her temples. How could the man not find a suitable driver out of tons of men that applied? What was the probability that she would get accepted when the guard had even mentioned that he did not like girls? He must be strict indeed. 

Faith jumped to her feet as the man that had entered earlier emerged with the same same expression as the rest of the men. "That man is crazy. Is it necessary for a driver to be educated?" she heard the man say angrily before going out. 

"Oh, now I get it. He wants a graduate as his driver. He must be crazy. Which graduate would want to take the job of a driver or chauffeur?" she muttered to herself and then realized she was the one crazy. She was a graduate of Mechanical engineering and she was more than willing to take any job, even the job of a driver or dishwasher as long as money was involved. 

Faith made a cross sign on her forehead and chest and opened the door of the interview. The strict interviewer was already getting ready to leave. When he looked up and met her eyes, she covered her mouth with her two palms in shock. 

"Mr. Fi –," the rest of the words were hindered by her palms. 'Mister Fish!' she screamed in her mind.