'You can do this! Vanessa Scott, you can do this!' Vanessa chanted to herself as she planted herself in front of her dressing mirror, dressing up for a job interview.
It wasn't any job interview, but one with one of the biggest fashion companies in the country, Moore's Apparel. They had put out a job vacancy ad which had lasted for less than twenty-four hours and had gotten over hundred applications. They had then carried out an online selection process by conducting aptitude tests to narrow down the total number of candidates to twenty. The chosen twenty were then asked to submit the best designs in their portfolio to pick the top five.
Luckily, she was on that stage. Now, here she was getting ready for the final round of the interview where just two persons would be picked —a male and a female. To the best of her knowledge, the top five consisted of three females and two males.
"I don't think you should wear that," Sophia said when she walked into the bedroom and saw Vanessa wearing a black knee-length dress and a red stiletto.
"Why not? It looks corporate enough." Vanessa said as she eyed her outfit in the mirror.
"Maybe if you were going for an interview as an air hostess or a secretary, yeah. But it's a fashion-related interview, and you must give them an idea of your sense of fashion, right?" Sophia asked, making Vanessa roll her eyes.
Sometimes she doubted her kid sister's age. She always seemed to give a lot of thought to things, even more than she did herself, "It's a fashion line for kids, not for adults, remember?" Vanessa said as she went about combing her long hair.
"I don't think kids will be the ones interviewing you, are they?" Sophia crooked her lips, making Vanessa sigh. Okay, maybe she had a point.
"Besides, you never can tell who you might bump into while you're there," Sophia added with a mischievous smile. Her subtle way of telling her older sister she was long overdue for a relationship. Girls her age were constantly pining for that loving man that'd have them falling headfirst into the highly sensationalized and poorly understood feeling called love, as they bare their hearts to them and sweetly whisper heart-melting promises of love to them. But her sister constantly showed her disinterest in what others would call 'the best dream of life.'
"I'm not bumping into anyone," Vanessa said, further driving Sophia's opinion about her to the finishing line. "But about wearing something fashionable, I think you might have a point. So what do you suggest I wear?" Vanessa asked curiously.
Sophia held back the helpless sigh about to tip off her lips. "Why are you asking me that? I'm not the fashion person here, am I?" Sophia asked with a fake grin as she picked up her school bag, "I'm off to school. Good luck with the job interview." She said as she embraced Vanessa. She silently prayed that she got this job and could keep it. A good job would at least reel in some rays of light and relief from all her days of wiping tables and tirelessly doing jobs that were beneath her to keep their family sustained.
"Have a lovely day at school," Vanessa said as she watched her leave. It was about two weeks since the incident with the money lenders, and she was grateful that Sophia had gotten over it.
Vanessa had been to the doctor's office two days earlier since she had been asked to report there two days after her ovulation kit confirmed she was ovulating. The doctor had inserted the sperm into her uterus using a catheter. She sighed when she remembered the look on the doctor's face when he realized that she was a virgin. She knew there were better ways of getting deflowered instead of using a catheter, but of what use were those ways if she couldn't even take care of her sister?
Thinking about providing a good life for Sophia and maybe herself was a much better exercise on her mind than cringing at the hellish way of losing her virtue.
All she needed now was to score this job and make enough money to feed them both and take care of Sophia for the next couple of months before she was paid again. Sophia needed a change of wardrobe and other basic things girls her age owned. She also needed them, but Sophia's needs came first. She snapped out of her thoughts and quickly took off her dress when she realized that the time hadn't paused simply because she was thinking.
Thirty-five minutes later, she got out of the cab, dressed in an orange-colored three-quarter Palazzo trouser with a purple-colored off-shoulder top tucked into it. Her long hair was let down her shoulder since her neck was bare. On one hand, she was carrying a black handbag that matched the black stiletto she was wearing, and on the other hand, she was holding a file that contained her documents and her sketchbook, which had different clothing designs she had made for kids.
She took in a deep breath as she looked around her. Needless to say, the company building was a very large one, and it looked intimidating and unwelcoming for someone like her. She shuddered at the thought of being humiliated here as she had been at her previous places of work.
"Relax, Van. Things are going to be different this time." She promised herself before marching forward. She was going to give this her best shot and hope for the best.
She walked to the reception desk and was directed to the hall, where the other candidates for the interview were already seated. As she walked into the hall, she noticed there were about three of them in the hall already, two young men and a young lady. There were all dressed in a suit, and she looked odd. She looked at her outfit and couldn't help feeling like she was dressed too casually, so she decided to do something about it. She checked the time and excused herself when she noticed they still had about thirty minutes before the interview.
She silently cursed herself for listening to Sophia as she looked around for the restroom. Immediately after she walked into the restroom, she dropped her file and sketchbook before planting herself in front of the sink where the mirror was located.
Just as she pulled her hair up in a ponytail, she heard someone's phone ring inside one of the toilet stalls but paid no mind to it as she focused on arranging her hair.
"Yeah, I'm there already. I think I ate something bad, so I'm using the toilet." A feminine voice said from behind the closed door.
"Why should I be worried about the interview?" The lady asked with a scoff, making Vanessa's ears perk up.
'This should be interesting,' She thought.