Chapter 6
The large double doors of constellation LTD looked over him as Remus took a deep breath and pushed open the door with a false confidence. The entry hall was lavishly finished with black shiny laminate flooring and decor of dried flowers in various dark green vases. The ceiling was unnecessarily tall, Remus thought and from it hung a large chandelier consisting of many white spheres all glowing at once; a sharp contrast to the dark surroundings. It reminded Remus of stars. The front desk itself was covered with the same shiny material that the floor was made out of. With a black marble counter to match.
"Cheery," Remus noted
As he walked towards the counter the sound of his crutch tapping on the floor echoed throughout the large hall. That truly did make him uneasy. And how stupid it was, his own crutch felt menacing. It sounded like a clock ticking. Towards what? His interview. Employment? Downfall. Perhaps both.
As Remus awkwardly approached the front desk he was taken out of his thoughts by a receptionist greeting him with a voice far too jolly for that time in the morning,
“Good Morning, can I help you?”
“Morning -umm- I’m here for an interview”, Remus responded with far less enthusiasm, his morning coffee had yet to kick in fully.
“I’ll call down someone to guide you to the interview room right away” she said with a smile as she picked up a small phone on the desk and tapped in a number. The phone rung twice before someone picked up
“Yes, hello, good you? Yeah yeah, I have umm”
The secretary put her phone in front of the speaker and turned to Remus
“Sorry, what was your name?”
“Uh Lupin, Remus Lupin”
She nodded and put her hand down to stop blocking the mic.
“Mr. Lupin here for an interview? Yep, yeah, ok, all right, thank you, buh bye now”
She put the phone down with a click.
“Someone will be here Shortly,”
she eyed his crutch.
“Feel free to wait over there, please sit down If you need to”
Remus made his way over to a black leather sofa that stood by the lifts. The secretary turned out to be correct, with less than two minutes a young woman in her early twenties stepped out one of the lifts.
“Mr.Lupin?” She asked as if he wasn't the only one there in the reception. Remus nodded.
“Right this way please,” she said with a smile and held open the lift door for him
The elevator ride up to the 11th floor passed mostly in silence. Remus didn't attempt to make conversation and neither did the lady, whose name badge said Dorcas. So apart from a polite good morning they stood in a comfortable silence. Remus was grateful for this in a way, it meant that he could go over potential questions in his head to prepare the best he could. Not to be dramatic but his life kind of did depend on getting a job and this chance was as good as any.
The elevator let out a little ding song notifying the pair that they had reaches the right floor. The doors opened into a long corridor with large black tinted windows making up most of the walls of the office. Remus followed Dorcas as she stepped out and walked into the second room on the right. She held the door open for him.
"After you," she said politely.
She closed the door behind them.
"Please take a seat,” she paused as he sat down across from her, "Right, so Mr Lupin, it's a pleasure to have you here. Let's begin right away, may I ask under what circumstances you left your last job?"
Well shit. He wasn't about to say 'quit on a whim because my, now ex, boyfriend pissed me off and I didn’t like any of my other co-workers besides from my boss whose house I currently reside in '
"My previous employment did not offer a suitable working environment, I want to progress with my career without those unnecessary blocks," he answered instead, sounding rather well rehearsed.
"What type of blocks?"
Remus nodded his head in the direction of his crutch,
"Intolerant people I'm afraid"
"Well I'm afraid Intolerant people are everywhere Mr. Lupin, part of your job may be to deal with them"
The emotion Remus felt was not one he could define.
"Although, please be aware that we do not tolerate discrimination here, whether it's to you or from you,” she quickly added, seeing the look on his face.
"Right, thank you."
"Okay, let's continue shall we."
Though it definitely felt like he was being assessed, Dorcas spoke so nonchalantly he couldn't help but think she might not care. Despite this she radiated an air of confidence that could be sensed by anyone close to her. 'As she should' Remus thought. She was breathtaking. The woman had dark tight curls that framed her face perfectly and even in this dark room her eyes reflected the light ever so beautifully.
"What made you consider this position?”
“Well I have experience in office work, um I try not to make a fuss and uh-”
Remus paused to take a moment to collect himself.
‘Breathe, Remus. Breathe’ he told himself.
“-I want to work. I want to prove myself in this industry, I can't keep living not knowing where my place is. I can follow instructions, work extra hours and I don't need holidays”
It's not like he was about to visit his remaining family, scarce as it was. He continued.
“I'm experienced in office jobs I can carry out whatever you need, and more, if that's what is required for me, I just-”
‘Need this job’ he thought to himself.
“Need this job?” Dorcas asked.
Remus was taken aback, was he really that easy to read?
“ Look I'm not judging Mr.Lupin, that's generally why people apply to jobs. But if I may ask, do you have any university qualifications? You haven't listed any”
“I um- was unable to finish my degree because of personal issues, I wanted to, if I get the means, I will finish it at some point.”
“Well you’ll be glad to hear you don't need a degree for this role.”
Internally, Remus let out a sigh of relief.
“Alright, well, I have one more question for you if you don't mind, before I let you go,”
Remus braced himself.
“Are you single?”
I'm sorry. What the fuck . Remus was taken aback.
“I um- excuse me?”
“Never mind, just asking for a friend.”
How could she say that with such a nonchalant air?
“Well if that's all Mr.Lupin we will be in contact with you shortly regarding your potential acceptance. If you hear nothing back within two weeks,please assume we’ve gone in another direction. I'll see you out”
Remus admired her ability to say anything on her mind, it seemed, with no care for others. Though why the single question? What the fuck? Oh well no point dwelling on it now. She saw him to the door of the room . And before realised they were in the lift, going down.
A phone began to ring.
“Apologies, that's me” Dorcas said and she picked up the phone,
“Yes reg? Mhm. Nope not yet. Just interviewing new hires today. Yeah mhm-” she kept going as they reached the bottom floor and the doors opened. Dorcas covered the speaker
“You can see yourself out from here?”
“Mhm”
Remus nodded and stepped out. He gave Dorcas a slight nod goodbye as the doors closed and her voice grew quieter.
“Went well?” He heard the secretary ask. He looked over at her. She returned a warm smile.
“I honestly don't know, I hope so”
“Me too” the lady smiled
Remus headed to the exit “ have a nice day”
“Thanks, you too,” she said as she waved at him.
He stepped outside, the sun extra bright on his face compared with the darkness of the halls. He squinted his eyes and he turned to walk back to Minnie's house.
Wait a second. The person Dorcas had been talking to. ‘Reg’ that name seemed familiar, Remus thought for a minute but couldn't place it. And he headed back.
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The front door clicked behind him. Only Poppy was home.
“How did it go darling?”
“Well I don't think it went awfully, nothing was set on fire and the office didn't combust so…”
“Successful then, well done love, I'm sure you did great. Let's get you some tea,
yeah?”
“Yeah, sounds good”
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When Remus returned home Poppy poured the tea and they sat and chatted about whatever came to mind; Remus enjoyed her company greatly and 3 hours passed in what seemed like a matter of minutes, they were only interrupted by the sound of a notification ringing from where Remus had left his laptop earlier in the day.
Remus involuntarily found his head turning rapidly in the direction of the noise.
“Go check it love, maybe it's that company?”
It was too early for that, it had to be. And yet Remus could feel his heart beating in his throat. He swallowed as he made his way toward the laptop. He picked it up and opened it to press on the notification from. Shit. The notification from Constellation LTD. But it was so soon. Dorcas’ words echoed in his head:
“If you hear nothing back, assume we’ve gone in another direction.”
So they did have time for him. He tried not to get his hopes up but he couldn't seem to push them down either. The email loaded onto his screen:
From: [email protected]
Dear Mr.Lupin,
We are pleased to offer you the role of secretary in light of your successful interview earlier today. Please respond to this email confirming your new role and see your contract attached below. We hope to see you promptly at 8:00am next Monday. We wish you luck and look forward to seeing you flourish in your role.
Dorcas Meadowes, head of Public affairs and new hires Constellation LTD
He couldn't believe it. Maybe the universe didn't have it out for him after all. Poppy saw the look on his face.
“Oh sweetheart, well done. I'm so proud of you,” she said as she pulled him into a warm embrace
Maybe the Stars were shining on him.