The Long-Awaited Heir

Chapter 10 I HAVE a Job Interview

Matthew, in the corridor of Andrade Clinic, becomes suspicious of the origin of the call. But since the possibility of a criminal or swindler calling him is almost null, he shrugs his shoulders and decides to answer.

“Hello?”

“Mr. Silva?” The friendly voice of a lady sweetened Matthew’s ear.

“Hello, who am I talking to?” Matthew smiles in disbelief. Is it raining girls in his garden?

“This is Elaine speaking. I’m an employee of the publishing house Golden Letters. We’re contacting you for a job interview, as you left your resume with us.”

Matthew is left open-mouthed and pale. Walter leaves Sheila’s room and finds his best friend stunned by the information.

“Miss, there must be some mistake.” Matthew states, “I didn’t leave any resume at a publishing house. I’m a Business student, and—”

“OK, I admit that your resume wasn’t for Business Administration, but for any available position. Well, we have an assistant vacancy.” Elaine tries hard, “Don’t you remember, Mr. Silva? We’re sorry for the delay, but we didn’t have any vacancies before.”

Matthew holds the cell phone away from his ear and speaks quietly to Walter, “Some crazy person is saying that I put my CV in with a publisher, that’s crazy!”

“What’s the name of the publishing company?” Walter asks, interested.

“Golden Letters.”

“It’s not a scam.” Walter shakes his head, “A famous publishing house like it wouldn’t low itself to prank calls. Tell her you’ll take this interview.”

“But I didn’t put out any resume!” Matthew exclaims desperately, “Do you know what will happen? I’m going to show up, this Elaine is going to say there was a mistake and I’m going to be humiliated like I always have been!”

Matthew hangs up on Elaine, furious, “DAMN IT! Why do they make fun of poor people?”

Evan observed everything with annoyance. The young man needs to learn a lesson.

“Mr. Silva, haven’t you learned to appreciate the opportunities that appear in your life? Is that why your life is always like this, stuck and like stagnant water?”

Matthew glares at Evan, “Who are you to talk to me like that? You know nothing about my life, got it? NOTHING!”

“I know enough to understand that you always prefer to cross your arms and be a victim.” Evan has a scowl as he spits out truths, “You thought it was a lie when they told you your mother was transferred here, and now we see that your mother is getting the best medical care she’s received in years. Why did you react the same way when you received a call from an important company wanting to hire you?”

Walter crosses his arms, “The new inspector is right, Matt! If I were you, I would go home right now, take a good shower, put on some clean clothes, and go to the publishing house and get that job. Working at the university kiosk is not worth it anymore, my friend! Move!”

Matthew feels encouraged by Wallace and Evan’s words. He begins to ponder his attitude and smiles, “You guys are right. I’ve been a crybaby, but that’s going to change! Excuse me, I need to say goodbye to my mother!”

Matthew runs into the bedroom. Walter smiles in relief.

But when he turned around to thank Evan, he was already gone. Walter frowns.

******

Matthew appears at the publishing house’s entrance. The place was a well-built five-story building with a facade of huge glass covered in microfilm.

“A publishing company that still exists in times of E-Books and free P*F books. How does it still survive? Well, maybe that’s why a vacancy came up for me. The oldest employees are leaving for the digital era.”

Shaking his head, Matthew enters.

Upon passing through the revolving door, he stands still for a few seconds, cooling off in the air conditioning. Why was it hot at a time when he needed to stay cool?

The olive green T-shirt had sweat marks on the armpits, making the employees look at Matthew with disbelief and disgust. The receptionist discreetly pressed a red button under the counter to alert security.

Matthew smiles kindly at her, “Good afternoon! Elaine called me here. I have a job interview for an assistant.”

“Name?” The secretary with glasses and a severe hairstyle began typing.

If Matthew craned his neck, he would see that the secretary had her screen open on Solitaire and was not checking any scheduled appointments.

“Matthew Silva. I submitted my resume a while ago and now I’ve been called. Are you Elaine?”

“I can’t find any appointments scheduled for you, and no Elaine works here.”

The secretary’s voice is rough like sandpaper. Matthew’s smile disappears like magic.

“What did you say? I was called for a job interview later today. I was at the hospital seeing my mother sick and I came running to—”

“That explains this disgusting sweat!” The secretary shakes her nose, childishly, “Get out of here because I’ve already called security!”

The security guards, equally burly as those at the hospital, appear without asking and already grab Matthew by the arms.

The other employees passing through the lobby laughed and recorded it on their cell phones to post on social media.

“We have the new meme of 2022!”

“Hey, what’s going on here? Let me go!” Matthew struggles, but the security guards are relentless.

“And don’t ever come back! It’s every poor guy that comes around here!” The secretary screams at the top of her lungs, “Every week a salesman shows up wanting to come in here to sell cheap perfume or chocolates! Now they pretend they’ve come for a job interview!”

“But I didn’t see any perfume or candy...” One of the employees decides to use her brain.

The secretary sneers, “Of course, they were inside that torn faux leather bag of his. Let’s get back to work, guys, the show is over!”

Elaine passes through the lobby just at this moment, finding the commotion strange, “Hey, what’s going on here? Did the security guards kick someone out?”

The secretary smiles evilly, “Ask them to share it with you. It was hilarious.”

The other employee who was nearby wasted no time and sent the video to Elaine’s Zap.

Elaine felt her cell phone vibrate in her jeans. She picks up the device, checks the message... and is horrified to see who was kicked out this time!

******

Meanwhile, the security guards not only expel Matthew but also punch the poor guy.

“And don’t come back here again, you lying salesman! The week before last one of you sold a perfume claiming to be Paco Rabanne, but the smell didn’t last even ten minutes!”

Matthew could deny that he was selling counterfeit perfume, but he was so stunned by the punch and the mistreatment that he couldn’t form words in his mind.

He fell straight to the ground, and because he was close to the five-step staircase, he rolled down, falling on the sidewalk and getting dirty.

Anyone passing by on the sidewalk thought Matthew was drunk or drugged.

“So young and throwing his life in the trash...” An elderly woman shook her head.

Matthew stayed on the ground for a few seconds, trying to get up with his hands resting on the dirty asphalt. Where were the street cleaners to sweep the streets?

He took a deep breath and tried to catch his breath.

Only after that, without caring about the passersby who only criticized and judged, Matthew got up and started walking.

Blood was running from his nose, his clothes were dirty, and some papers flew out of his bag, but he continued on his way home without caring about anything else.

******

The next day, Matthew is woken up by his cell phone ringing. He mumbles, rubs his eyes, and reluctantly takes out his cell phone to find out who it is.

Walter.

“Oh, shit, here we go...” Matthew picks up, “Please don’t...”

On the other side, Walter is in his bedroom. The contrast is stark. While Matthew is lying on his back with the blanket covering him from the waist down in a chaotic and messy room, Walter is also lying on his back with the blanket covering him from the waist down, but the difference is that Walter’s room is double in size, the place is impeccably clean and tidy, the bed is double, and the blanket is imported white linen.

“No what? Don’t tell me you didn’t get the job!” Walter insists.

“Walt, exactly what I told you happened.” Matthew complains, “They denied there was a job interview for me. In fact, I didn’t even make it past the lobby! The receptionist said there was no employee named Elaine. It was indeed a prank call!”

Walter purses his lips, and then continues, “Explain to me why someone would prank you.”

“I don’t know, man, it’s how life works for me!” Matthew yells. He pulls back the grimy blanket and sits on the bed, looking for his underwear on the floor, “I wasn’t born to have luck in my life. And the quicker everyone accepts what I’ve already accepted, the better for me.”

“You’re wrong, man. Royally wrong. And life will prove it to you.” Walter becomes impatient with his friend and turns off his cell phone.

Matthew shrugs and puts his cell phone on the bed. When he doesn’t find his underwear in the mess, he decides to go to the bathroom as he was.

******

At Sterling University, Abner was early in his new office looking forward to the news.

Evan, however, enters with a complicated expression. Abner’s smile crumbles like a house of cards.

“Don’t tell me they didn’t hire the kid!”

Evan clears his throat over and over, “Boss... They didn’t let the poor guy past the lobby!”

Abner reaches into countless papers on the desk and drops them on the floor. He yells in impatience, “ARGH! Why is it so hard to obey a simple order? What did Elaine tell you?”

“She hasn’t told me anything yet. I found out on social media. Search for ‘fake job applicant turned perfume hawker ejected from company premises’.”

Abner is not one to check gossip and ‘memes’, but just because it was Matthew, he leaned over the computer and typed the information into the search field.

It didn’t take long for Abner to find the video. Matthew was shooed away without the slightest consideration, his rights being violated. The worst thing was seeing everyone in the video applauding and more people who didn’t know the truth spewing venom in the comments section.

“Arrange for Matthew to be hired today.” Abner just says this in a seemingly calm tone.

Only Evan knew that when Abner’s voice was strangely calm, it was because he was erupting inside! “Yes, sir, immediately.”

As Evan leaves, he passes by Meirelles who tries to block access to an irritating David.

“Mr. Rocha, please, I’m begging you! Mr. Sterling isn’t in the mood to see anyone right now.”

“I’m not ‘nobody’, I’m DAVID ROCHA!” David bellows, “I can’t believe I have to state the obvious every time in this educational establishment. I’m going to call my dad—”

Evan loses his temper, “Yeah, DO IT! Call your father, you entitled bastard! Let’s see if he’ll answer your whim! I know he prefers your legitimate siblings!”

Meirelles is filled with courage after seeing Evan, “If it was the Princess of Lagoon City in trouble, he would move heaven and earth, but he’s just the bastard of the worst concubine that Mr. Rocha had the displeasure of impregnating.”

David is horrified and awestruck by everyone losing their fear of saying things like they are. He had his hand in his pocket to pull out his cell phone, but after that, he couldn’t even act anymore.