Shattered Dreams
Chapter - 22
After meeting Susan, Alex was waiting for the elevator when someone tapped on his shoulder from behind. When he turned around to look, he found a girl about the same age as him, smiling at him. With a round face and shoulder-length hair, the girl could be considered tall, as she was able to reach Alex's shoulder. Though she was not on par with Margaret, she was just a notch below, or maybe she was just not his type.
Alex looked at her for a while, trying to guess if he knew her or he could have met her somewhere, but having no recollection of her, he could only apologise.
"Sorry, but do I know you?" Alex asked apologetically.
"Ehhh... you don't remember me? Now that's meeean," The girl said dramatically.
"Have we met before?" Alex could not put a finger on when he met this girl, but the way she acted, was as if they knew each other. Could she be someone from his past? Alex grew a bit excited and hopeful.
"You really don't remember?" The girl asked again.
"No, I don't. Tell me already," Alex was getting impatient.
"Well, I am a new joiner, just like you. We came face to face during the interviews. Maybe you don't remember," The girl reminded him.
"Ohh... so you also got the job. Congratulations," Alex now had a faint recollection of the girl. Her name was like Amy or something... He was way too nervous to remember about others who were there with him in the interviews. But still, meeting a fellow newcomer, Alex was more than happy to befriend her.
*Ding the elevator arrived.
Chatting with each other, the both of them got on the elevator and soon arrived on the fourth floor. By the time they entered the PR department, it was already bustling with beauties, Alex couldn't take his eyes from.
The lady who presided over their interview, the PR head, was giving instructions to the ladies. When she saw the two of them entered, she gestured them to come to her.
"You both are here! That too on-time, not bad, not bad at all. Come let me introduce you to the others," the PR head said as she clapped her hands to bring everyone's attention to herself.
"Alright everyone, attention, please. Like you all know, we had interviews a few days ago. These two are the new recruits we decided upon in the last interview. This cute lady over here is Amber Smith, a recent graduate, and the handsome looking boy here is Alex Rutherford," the PR head introduced them to the club. Then she turned towards the two of them and continued.
"I could not introduce myself on the day of the interview since we didn't know if that would be of any use. Now that you both have officially joined us, let me introduce myself properly. I am Karen, the head of the PR department. Make sure that whenever you are stuck somewhere, don't come to me. I already have a lot on my plate. You have these nice, beautiful seniors to help you," the PR head introduced herself.
"We finally got a man to ourselves," one of the ladies said.
"Well, I wouldn't go calling him a man. Didn't you just hear the boss? He is just a boy," another lady made fun of Alex.
"A pretty boy at that," someone added.
"Look at his face, so cute. Makes me want to gobble him whole."
"Should I get a divorce? He is totally my type."
"You are old enough to be his mother. Don't you feel pity for his mother?"
"Who are you calling old? This lady is still in her prime."
Alex was getting more and more embarrassed which every remark they made. Karen looked at his face and felt pity for him. She decided to intervene.
"Are you all going to keep this up? And why are you all not introducing yourself?" Karen scolded them.
Getting rebuked by Karen, all of them gradually quieted down.
"Hi guys, I am Elaine, the Social media manager. If you need any help, you can always come to me. Especially you pretty boy," one of the ladies said and winked at him.
"Get aside, I am Hazel and the PR strategist. Since everyone here is ogling over the boy, I will hold on to the girl," the other lady said.
And following them, the others also introduced themselves.
"I am Jennifer, the publicist of the PR department," the last of the ladies said weakly.
"Since both of you are new here, right now, you are going to assist all of them here. Whoever needs you, will call for you. After three months, depending on your performance, we will decide if we are going to keep you or kick. So you better work your butts off. Your seats are over there. Now all of you get back to work". Karen assigned work to the two of them and walked towards her office.
After Karen left, Alex and Amber went to their desks. Standing in front of his desk, Alex stared at it and felt pumped up. 'Now, all I need to do is work harder than anyone else and soon, climb up the corporate ladder. My name will be among the most competent men in the company, and after that, I will be getting offers from every major company out there. But rejecting them all, I will...' Just as Alex was reaching the climax of his dream, He was interrupted by a voice.
"Hey, newbie. Are you listening to me?" Alex heard someone.
"He looked around and found the one named Elaine looking at him.
"Did you say something to me?" Alex asked.
"I said. Get me a coffee. And only add one cube of sugar. I am on a diet," Elaine said and averted his gaze back to her computer screen.
Alex stood there without moving. He looked around to confirm if what he was thinking was true but found no one else other than himself. He looked at Elaine, who was again looking at him when he didn't move and pointed the finger towards himself, to which Elaine nodded.
Alex was shaken to the core. Is this for real? All his dreams were shattered in a moment.