Don't Look Back

Chapter 2

The entire room was tensed and it felt like Khel was about to take his college entrance exams, again.

Kasalukuyan siyang nakaupo sa tila isang exam room sa ikasampung palapag ng SuperiorV building. Lahat ng mga kasabay niya sa silid na iyon ay malalakas ang dating at maayos ang porma, habang siya ay medyo pawisan at halatang kinakabahan.

Walang nagsasalita ni isa sa kanila at pakiramdam ni Khel ay hindi job application ang pinunta niya. Nakaupo siya sa pinakadulong upuan dahil medyo nahuli siya ng dating.

For the fifth time around, he took his handkerchief and wiped the sweat from his forehead and neck. Hindi niya alam kung bakit siya pawis-na pawis gayung napakalakas naman ng air-conditioning sa silid na iyon. Nararamdaman na din niyang basang-basa na ang likod niya.

Naagaw ang atensiyon nilang lahat nang may narinig silang magsalita sa harap. It was a middle aged lady wearing thick glasses and corporate attire.

"Good morning everyone. The written exam will commence in five minutes. As soon as you finish, you can submit your paper and we will verify your score on the spot. Those who get satisfactory scores will be interviewed by Mr. Vassinov himself. For those who didn't, you'll head straight to the HR department for further evaluation. Good luck."

The lady walked out of the room and four men entered the room carrying piles of questionnaires which was immediately distributed to them.

Agad na nagsimula ang exam niya. Twenty-five items lamang ito ngunit napansin agad ni Khel na challenging ang mga tanong. Mostly related to finance, taxation and corporate laws, but Khel seemed to know what he was going to write. He even spotted every easter egg in the question so di siya naconfuse sa pagsagot.

The last part was a three-hundred word essay writing about how to deal with the given erroneous accounting information. Khel was quite challenged by this part because there were a lot of information to discuss but only had limited number of words.

Everyone else in the room already stood up and passed their papers. But each one of them were greeted with disappointment as they found out that their scores did not qualify. Lahat ng nauna ay wala pa ring nakakapasok para sa interview with the president.

Khel suddenly felt nervous about his answers. Sa sobrang kaba ay pumapangit na ang sulat-kamay niya. But he paused a bit to breath then composed himself.

Siya ang pinakahuling natapos at nang macheck sa makina ang sagot niya, lahat ng natitirang tao sa silid na iyon ay nagulat nang makitang nakuha nito lahat ng sagot.

Dapat ay matutuwa si Khel sa resulta ngunit sa pagkakataong iyon ay hindi. Dahil mas kinakabahan siya sa oral interview. Magaling siya pagdating sa written works pero mahina siya pagdating sa speech kaya medyo nababahala siya.

"Well done, Mr. Arellon. Please proceed to the president's office. Sasamahan ka ni Harold papunta doon." The proctor said as she gestured at the guy standing at the doorway. "Please take this with you and give it to Mr. Vassinov before the interview starts." The woman said as she handed out his checked paper along with his essays na may mga nakahighlight nang mga salita.

Tumango si Khel at sumunod sa lalaking itinuro ng proctor. Sumakay sila sa elevator at pinindot ng kasama niya ang button papuntang Penthouse. Di pa rin mawala ang kaba ni Khel at mahigpit siyang napahawak  sa kanyang pulsuhan.

It took around one minute bago sila makarating sa top floor.

"Please walk towards that room, sir. Knock first then enter even without any response. I'll be heading back to the exam room to fetch other passers, if there are any more." Wika ng lalaki saka siya pinalabas ng elevator.