Chapter 7 - The Interview
I bought a sensible navy-blue suit from a thrift store.
Marta ironed it for me.
She even watched Lily while I took the subway downtown.
The Cole Meridian building was a towering skyscraper of glass and steel.
My hands were sweating.
I felt like a fraud. An imposter.
The receptionist looked at my name and pressed a button.
“Mr. Cole is waiting for you on the top floor.”
Not HR. Not a manager.
Marcus himself.
When the elevator doors opened, I stepped into a world of power.
Marcus was sitting behind a massive oak desk.
He gestured to a chair.
“Sit, Maya.”
For the next hour, he didn't ask me about cleaning.
He didn't ask about Vanessa or the police.
He grilled me on logistics. On supply chain issues. On crisis management.
He was relentless.
I stumbled at first.
But then, I remembered the nights I spent reading textbooks while Lily slept.
I found my voice.
I answered his questions. I even challenged one of his theories on shipping routes.
When we finished, silence hung in the room.
Marcus leaned back in his chair.
He tapped a pen against the desk.
“You’re entirely unqualified on paper,” he said.
My heart sank.
“But your instincts are sharper than half the executives on this floor.”
He slid a piece of paper across the desk.
A contract.
“You start on Monday. And Maya?”
“Yes, sir?”
“Stop calling me sir. My name is Marcus.”
I looked at the salary on the contract.
Tears blurred my vision.
It wasn't just a job.
It was a lifeline.
May you like
It was a future for Lily.
“Thank you, Marcus,” I whispered.
