"Don't overdo it. Just a light touch of makeup." The saleswoman smiled. "You want to look fresh for the interview, not heavy."
"Thank you," Evelyn said.
Light makeup didn't take long.
Once Evelyn was done, Emily grinned. "You look so much prettier."
"Your features are delicate. A little makeup goes a long way," the saleswoman added.
"She's very photogenic," Emily agreed.
The saleswoman helped Emily with her makeup too.
Then they headed to Sterling Group headquarters for the interview.
The place was packed.
They were picking ten people out of a hundred.
And that didn't even count those who submitted resumes but hadn't been called yet.
The competition was brutal.
Evelyn felt her chances slipping away.
"This gets my blood pumping," Emily said, excited.
"Why?"
"If we get in, doesn't that mean we're awesome?" Emily was optimistic.
Evelyn laughed. Emily had a point.
What if they actually made it?
She calmed down.
They entered the exam room and found seats.
The test papers were handed out, one per person.
Evelyn scanned the questions. Her jaw dropped.
There was no way to finish this in an hour. Half a day wouldn't be enough.
And they couldn't look anything up. It was all from memory.
But the HR assistant said anyone who handed in the paper after an hour would be disqualified.
Everyone bent over their desks, scribbling away.
Time was too short. If they didn't hurry, they'd never finish.
Evelyn looked over the entire test. It was impossible to do it all.
She decided to pick the questions she was most sure about.
So she read through first, then chose.
When she got to the second-to-last question, she saw a note.
It said: The questions above are for reference only and won't be scored. Please start from the next question. Only those will count toward your total score.
What did that mean?
Had she done all that work for nothing?
Evelyn felt uneasy. She wanted to look back at Emily.
But when she turned her head, she saw the invigilator staring right at her.
She laughed awkwardly and turned back.
She had no choice now. She had to treat this like a last resort.
She could finish those three questions in an hour.
She took a deep breath and started answering seriously.
An hour flew by.
The assistant announced there were only five minutes left.
When time was up, everyone had to leave the exam room and wait for news.
Evelyn and Emily walked out together. Neither spoke.
At the elevator, Evelyn turned to Emily. "Did you see the note at the end?"
"You saw it too, right?" Emily said, excited.
"Just do the last three questions?" Evelyn smiled.
"Yes. I didn't see it at first. Then I realized I couldn't finish everything, so I flipped to the last page. I wanted to tell you, but you wouldn't look back," Emily said.
"I wanted to tell you too. But the invigilator kept staring at me!"
"Haha, I thought she was staring because you're pretty!"
"No way!"
"What note?" a boy asked.
"The last page. It says to only do the last three questions," Emily explained.
"There was a note like that?" the boy asked, dismayed.
"I didn't see it either!" another girl said.
Suddenly, the elevator was noisy. Some said they saw it. Others said they didn't.
Emily and Evelyn felt their ears ringing.
The elevator doors slid open. They slipped out.
They found a quiet corner and looked at each other. Then they burst out laughing.
"You looked so dumb just now!"
"You're the one who looked dumber!"
"We shouldn't have said anything back there."
"Yeah. I think we shocked the ones who didn't see the note."
"Forget it. We might not even get in ourselves."
"Mm," Evelyn nodded.
"Let's eat. I'm exhausted. And hungry." Emily patted her stomach.
"You were too nervous!"
"Don't tell me you weren't."
"I was nervous too. I couldn't sleep last night." Evelyn stopped herself.
She had been too nervous to sleep in the first half of the night. But she overslept in the morning.
They went to eat nearby.
After eating, they went home.
That evening, Alexander came back from work.
They were having dinner and chatting.
"How was the interview?" he asked.
"The written test had several pages of questions. We had to finish in an hour. Anyone who went over time was disqualified. You know, most people couldn't finish in an hour. So I decided to pick a few easy ones. Then I saw a note at the end. It said to only do the last three questions." Evelyn laughed.
"So you only did the last three?" Alexander looked at her, smiling.
"Yes. We had to follow the instructions."
"Did you remember to write your name?"
"Huh?" Evelyn stared at him, confused.
"If you finished everything correctly but forgot your name, wouldn't that be a waste?" Alexander continued.
"I think I wrote it down..." Evelyn said hesitantly.
"Shouldn't you know that better than me?" Alexander smiled.
"Oh no. I don't remember. I might have written it. Or maybe I didn't." Evelyn felt like crying.
"It's okay. Next time, the first thing you do is write your name. Then worry about everything else."
"But will there be a next time?"
"If you don't get into Sterling Group, there are other companies."
"But if I don't get in, you'll be embarrassed," Evelyn said, looking at him.
"Too bad. The deal is done. No returns now." Alexander sighed, pretending to accept his fate.
Evelyn froze for a second. Then she realized he was teasing her.
She lightly punched his arm. "You're mean. You're bullying me again."
"I bully you at home. You can protest. But if someone bullies you at the company, what will you do?"
"It depends. If I did something wrong and got scolded... that's fair. I'd have to learn from it and not make the same mistake again. But if someone is deliberately bullying me, I'd bear it for now. I'd work hard and prove myself. Then they'd see me differently." Evelyn thought for a long time before answering.
"You wouldn't come to me to complain?" Alexander asked.