Reflections
(Harry) I'm not one to put much stock in or spend much time on reflecting on personal feelings or personal relationships outside those required by my work. However, since Ruth Evershed has entered into my sphere of existence, I have found myself drawn to such reflections.
My work is my life and in my work I am comfortable. I am given information and make decisions. People's lives depend on me being decisive. There is no allowance for waffling or considering feelings. Then the whirlwind who is Ruth Evershed joined our team on the Grid and things changed and there were times I wondered if the change was good or bad. It is this wondering that has led to my beginning to reflect.
(Ruth) I have finally been able to realize a dream of mine and even though it is only a secondment to MI-5, I made it. I'm really here and I plan to do my absolute best. Maybe it will be good enough so I'll be able to stay on once they see what I can do. My interview was only two weeks ago and waiting to hear whether or not I got the job were some of the longest days of my working life.
The interview, yes the interview. I know it wasn't an interrogation but it sure felt like it sometimes. Never have I been in an interview like that…questions coming at me one right after the other by the Head of Section D himself, Harry Pearce. I felt that either he was trying to catch me out or trying to get me so confused that I made a fool of myself. In fact, at one point I asked him was he trying to confuse me or was he confused himself. I suppose no one has asked him that before because I think I surprised him.
(Harry) I hate interviewing potential members to our team on the grid. HR ploughs through all of the applicants, gives me a few CV's to look over and I then pick the ones I want to interview. It's a cumbersome process but at least I don't have to go through ALL the CV's. If I don't like what I'm given, I tell HR to go try again.
Ruth's CV is very impressive. She speaks multiple languages, did extremely well in her university classes and was immediately hired at GCHQ. While there she received outstanding evaluations from her supervisors and was quickly given more challenging information to analyze. She came to the interview with glowing recommendations from her GCHQ supervisors. She looked a little too perfect on paper.
During her interview I peppered Ruth with questions, one right after the other and she gave her answers, one right after the other. And good answers too. She even called me out asking me if I was trying to confuse her or couldn't I keep up.