Glass Hearts

Chapter 15: Questioning

Kevin Kim

Who is this poised woman? Draped in all white, the stranger glides across the room with sure steps. When Kim Senior turns to face her, it's like she comes alive. Flashing a brilliant smile, her big brown eyes dazzle him momentarily.

Is this the same Samantha who fidgets with her hands and freezes when she doesn't know what to say? I can barely get her to make eye contact with me but here she is shaking Kim Senior's hand like it's nothing.

Gary and Samantha both take a seat at the table, the wheels on the chairs scraping against the floor. Samantha crosses her legs and then sits perfectly still in her chair, waiting for me to start.

I can't help but stare as I try to figure out what brought on this change in attitude. The drunk woman I was with last night apologized profusely when her fingers grazed my hand by mistake. The way she recoiled when I had to scoot closer to her, let me know she was on edge just from sitting next to me.

Once she started downing drinks, she spilled a drink on Chris and dropped her shot glass. Exploding into tiny shards, we all advised her to leave it but she refused to listen to reason. With slurred words and a melancholic disposition, she reached down and cut herself on one of the pieces.

One of the girls from the marketing department took her to the bathroom and got her hand cleaned up. She didn't talk anymore when they returned, her eyes glued to the floor out of embarrassment.

Taking her to the side to talk, I asked her if there was someone who could pick her up. She burst into tears and told me she had no one.

In a way I understood what she meant. I don't have anyone at home waiting up for me, so her words rang truer than she intended. That's what made me help look through her phone for someone to call...

Kim Senior takes the seat next to me, bringing me back to the present.

"Good afternoon. You both know my fath-" I pause, realizing what I started to say. It's bad enough everyone knows he's my father. I don't want to remind them of that fact.

Clearing my throat, I continue. "I mean the chairman, Kwang-Seok Kim,"

"He will be sitting in on the interview today but he is just here to observe." I emphasize to Kim Senior in a stern voice. He barged into my office unannounced and demanded to be a part of the interview process.

 At first I refused, not liking his need to micromanage me. Although I've worked for him for several years, he shot me that look. The same piercing glare from my childhood that says you don't know what you're doing.

I reluctantly agreed and now here we are. Sitting side by side, but somehow still far apart.

***

"You can't just dismiss him like that. We're in the middle of an interview." I say, swiveling my chair to face Kim Senior. I am at a loss for how to deal with this man. After Samantha exited the room, he told Gary Johnson the interview was over. The color drained from Gary's face, his eyes widening in shock. He packed up his things in a daze, his hands shuffling around the same four papers.

Gary's faint footsteps echo through the silent conference room, his dress shoes squeaking down the hall.

I can't help my growing discomfort, it's a sinking feeling that I can't shake. I shift in my chair, the sensation making me want to throw out Kim Senior and bring Gary back into the room. Kim Senior's been undermining me all morning but this is another layer of disrespect.