Fourteen

ELLA'S POV 

When I was asked to see the vice president first thing in the morning, I never could have imagined it would be concerning Eve's interview and her subsequent rejection. 

After having the panel reject her the previous day, I had slept like a baby, happy that I had finally executed my revenge. Keeping Eve out of the company almost made up for that time in college when I lost the scholarship to her. And, not only had I managed to cost her a job at the prestigious Edwards Group, but also I had tarnished her reputation at the same time.

 I had been certain that once the words spread in the industry, Eve would have a hard time finding a job elsewhere.

With all the happy imaginations in my head, I hadn't foreseen what was currently happening, sitting opposite a righteous-looking Eve, under the strict scrutiny of the Edwards Group's, vice president.

Why was Dickson paying so much attention to Eve's case, anyway? The man rejected hundreds of applicants daily and forgot about it. If he was acting as he usually did, he wouldn't be questioning the panel's decision to reject Eve.

I and my colleagues were entrusted with the duty of rejecting applicants or approving them, and nobody has to ever questioned our process before. So, why was Mr Dickson suddenly interfering?.

"Ella?" the vice president urged when I remained silent for too long.

 "ls there a reason why you gave Ms Eve the wrong examination paper?"

"It was a mistake”, I said, hoping to not make an issue of that.

 If the vice president knew that I had deliberately given a more advanced paper to Eve in an attempt to make her fail, I could even lose my job. 

"I did not realise it until she was through.", I added to sound more convincing.

Dickson's firm gaze on me didn't relent.

 "Really? Because according to the records, you personally took the examination from the office. You specifically asked for a senior designer examination, even though yesterday, we weren't interviewing any senior designers."

I bit down on my bottom lip. He had checked that too?.

Does he know Eve personally or something?. 

Bowing my head slightly, attempting to appear contrite, I said.

 "I must have not been paying attention. I apologise."

"My assistant seems to remember you clearly making a request for a single senior paper while you were collecting the other papers meant for the other junior applicants. Do you still want to claim that it was a mistake?”,

My gaze shifted to the assistant who was standing a little behind the vice president, with a tablet in her hand. I knew it would be useless to argue against her. She had been working for Mr Dickson for many years and was known to be very efficient. 

The vice president would never take my words over hers…

I felt my inside squirm. I was smart enough to recognise that I had been backed into a corner. The vice president had already claimed that he would contact the college about the accusations that Eve stole a design. If he does, he would find out the truth. And, once he finds out that I was lying, the rest of my lies would crumble…

I wiped away my suddenly sweaty palms on my pants. It was better to come clean right now, I decided. If I did, and apologised, I might still have a chance of keeping my job. But if I held onto my lies and the vice president's office wasted their time and resources on the investigation, only to discover my deception, I would have no chance of saving my job.

"Sir, I.." I swallowed, cast a side long glance at Eve, then refocused on the vice president. 

"I’m sorry, it was intentional, and I lied about everything else too"

Mr Dickson straiahtened in his seat. his dark eyes digging into mine.

“Why did you do that?”,

"I did not want her to join the company" I admitted. 

"I hate her, and l didn't want to work in the same place as her. That's why I made up the rumours."

"Let me get this clear, you are admitting that every accusation you made about Ms Luciano's character was fabricated"

I dropped my head in shame. 

"Yes."

"Do you know how serious this is? Do you have any idea how many company guidelines you have violated?"

I lifted my head and clasped my hands in front of me, giving him a pleading glance. 

"I know, and I'm terribly sorry, sir. I….It was a bad judgement on my part. I promise to not let my personal grudges affect my decision-making from now on. I truly regret my actions, sir".

"Do you?" he demanded. 

"Just a few minutes ago, you were sitting here, lying to my face even after giving you a chance to come clean. You must know that we do not condone this sort of unprofessional behaviour at the Edwards Group."

"I know, I know sir. And I promise that I will never repeat it again."

“You do not need to worry about that. You are fired”,

My eyes widened at Mr Dickson’s resolute words. Fired?, He was firing me? Just like that?.

I shook my head. 

"No, please sir, don't do this. This is my first violation. Can't you suspend me instead? You can even suspend my salary for a month, but please, don't fire me”,

"You went too far, Ms Ella. You fabricated rumours that can impact Ms Eve’s entire career, and you abused your power as part of the HR. We cannot keep you in the company anymore."

"No, please no. I need this job, I worked so hard to get into the Edwards Group”.

 Suddenly, I turned to Eve, who was sitting still in her seat, observing the spectacle. 

"Eve, I am so sorry. I apologise for making up lies about you and causing you unfair rejection. I swear I'll never do it again. Please forgive me and don't let them fire me."

EVE'S POV 

I was, to say the least, shocked at the turn of events. I had never thought I would see the day Ella pleaded with me for anything, least of all forgiveness. 

Then again, I also hadn't thought she would admit her lies.

"Please leave" Mr Dickson addressed Ella. 

"My decision is final, and not even Ms Luciano's kindness can save you”.

Ella's pleading eyes switched from me and back to the vice president.

To everyone's shock, she fell to her knees and clutched unto Mr Dickson's leg.

“Please sir, don't do this”, she kept on pleading.

Mr Dickson sighed as he looked down at her, then turned to address his assistant. 

"Call in the security guards to take her away”.

While Ella continued to beg the vice president, I stood by and watched. 

The woman's lies had not only almost cost me a job I not only deserved and needed, but also nearly ruined my reputation. 

Given how word spread quickly within the industry thanks to social media, there was a chance that I would have been rejected by other companies, if at all I was going to be invited for interviews-based on the lies she had made up.

Knowing that, and remembering all the hate the woman had directed at me during our college days, I didn't feel even the least bit inclined to plead for her. Not only that, but knowing Ella's personality, I also felt that she wasn't being sincere with her apologies. 

If she was allowed to stay at her job, she would soon be cooking up new ways to have me fired. So ‘No!!’, I wasn't going to contest the vice president's decision in any way.

A minute later, a security guard appeared and pulled Ella from the vice president.

 She struggled at first, but the guard successfully dragged her out of the room.

As soon as she was gone, Mr Dickson turned back to me.

“I'm sorry about this, Ms Luciano. I want you to know that our company does not condone such practices by our employees and we are committed to ensuring fair evaluation of all our applicants."

"Yes, I..uh, thank you;' I said, still dazed from everything that had transpired. 

If I didn't know better, I would have thought I was dreaming. Or watching a TV drama. 

This day was going nothing like I had expected.

 "I'm so happy to hear that, Mr Dickson.", I added.

"We are truly sorry about all this" one of the other previous interviewers told me as he stood from his seat.

"We had no idea that she had fabricated everything she told us while we were evaluating your paper. We will be more diligent in the future”.

One by one, the other interviewers stood up and apologised to me. Then they left, leaving me alone with Mr Dickson and his assistant.

I felt gratitude brimming in my heart as I faced the man.

 "Thank you very much, sir. If it were not for you, I would not have been able to

clear my name."

He shook his head and smiled warmly. 

"Don't mention it, it's my job to ensure something like this doesn't happen. I sincerely apologise for any trouble this might have caused you. Since you passed the interview and meet all our qualifications. We would like to invite you to undergo the remaining rounds of the interview. While you have exceeded our expectations in the first round, you have to complete the other interviews before we can hire you officially”

"Of course, I understand" I agreed, feeling like I had struck gold.

 "l would be happy to attend the other interviews”, I added.

"Liliana will brief you accordingly" he told me, indicating his assistant.

 "I must excuse myself now”, he said and left with a smile on his face.

After the vice president left and Liliana filled me in on the remaining interviews, I couldn't help but wonder. 

Considering how Mr Dickson had handled my case, one would think I had a personal connection to him. But I had never even met him before. Maybe he was just a really fair man who took his job seriously, I concluded at last.

 Whatever the case may be, I was glad to have him on her side and can't wait to break the news to Morgan.