THE JOB INTERVIEW
"Please take a seat, Sir."
The man sat down silently in the chair offered to him, folding his hands together.
"So… Mister Relski? Am I pronouncing that correctly?"
"Yes."
"Good. If you don't mind me saying so, you do not have any trace of an accent. Are only your ancestors Polish?"
"Correct. My grandparents moved from Poland to here many years ago. I was born and bred here in England. Surrey, to be precise."
"Ah, that is very interesting. Please, tell me about yourself."
"Well, I exceeded school, sixth form and university, achieving the highest grades possible and I want to become a head teacher."
"Were you involved in many extra-curricular activities?"
The man curled his lip. "Goodness no. I could not stand all that simpering put on for the ones who failed. Besides, I did not like my fellow pupils."
"Why not?"
"They… were envious of me, of my intelligence and my far superior worth. And before you delve deeper into any other extra-curricular activities I partook in as a youth, I was captain of the local chess club held in town. I won every single match. I was only eight years old and all of my competitors were at a much older age, ranging from twelve to sixteen."
"Impressive."
"Indeed."
The interviewer smiled slightly. "Tell me about your experience in teaching."
"I was a senior school teacher for fifteen years in one of the best schools in the country. My class was the most well-behaved in the entire school, as well as the most gifted. Their grades were the highest in the entire country. Then for the last twenty years, I have been head of house at one of the finest boarding schools in the country for young men. I was teaching history and geography to boys between the ages of eleven and eighteen and believe me, they achieved the highest O Level grades this country has ever seen. I can whip any class of children into geniuses, believe me. Even the nastiest little toe-rags can be straightened out."
"You believe that some children are toe-rags?"
"Some? All of them are nuisances. Childhood is a waste of time after all."
"Mr Relski… I'm… I'm speechless… I understand that teaching can be difficult at times and there is a lot of frustration involved, but the satisfaction… It really does baffle me… Why do you work with children if you hate them so much?"
The man opposite him stiffened in body, but his hand slowly raised up to his eyelevel, fingers removing the glasses to reveal intoxicating green eyes.
"Look into my eyes… and I will tell you…"