Power Play - Episode 5

Text: @stsciurussimblr / Screenshots: stories4sims

So when it was Caleb’s turn to be interviewed, Gerv came and got me, and we were both seated when the blond young man came in. The look on Caleb’s face of complete astonishment when he saw me sitting there was priceless!

“Have a seat. Mr.—“ Gerv looked at the resumé in front of him, “Vancortlandt. I am Gervais Bachman, creative director, and this is Mr. Hastings, owner of Hastings Adworks.”
Caleb had collected himself and tried to offer his hand to me, but I had deliberately taken the resumé in my hands and was pretending to peruse it. Caleb offered his hand instead to Gerv who shook it briefly.
And then what followed were the usual bullshit questions and bullshit answers that go on in every interview, questions like “What do you think is your greatest weakness?” with answers like “I think I sometimes work too hard. I don’t know when to quit, if I’m really trying to figure something out.”

Caleb tried over and over again to address me, but I steadfastly looked at the resumé and pretended to ignore him. In doing so, I discovered something interesting: Caleb was older than I thought. Instead of 21 or so, he was nearly 30! There was a gap in his record between the time he graduated from high school and the time he entered the university. Not that that concerned me much. His portfolio looked good, and he had gotten top marks.

When the interview was nearly over, I got up from my chair, gave Caleb as neutral a look as I could muster, and told Gerv that I had another meeting and would talk with him later. Then I left the room.

A short time later, Gerv found me in my own office. 

“So do you want me to hire him or reject him?” he asked.

I laughed. “Do whatever you think best. I’ve had my revenge. If you like him, go ahead and hire him. It won’t bother me either way if he works in your department.”

And so Caleb was hired—I hoped and presumed because Gerv thought him the best person for the job. And truly, it made almost no difference in my life at that point. As owner of the company, I mostly dealt with department heads and major clients. If Caleb was there, I barely noticed him. Barely noticed him, that is, until the night of the Gay Men’s Health Center Gala.