CH 9 THE INTERVIEW
ASHER SHALOM MAXON SHREAVE
Time to interview the girls, I reminded myself for the millionth time. I paced the hallway outside the interview room nervously. When I was let in to see the first girl, my heart sank. It was Lady Roselyn, the one whose date I ruined on accident. Well, here goes nothing.
"Hi there Lady Roselyn," I greeted, trying to give her my most natural smile. You're not shy, you're not shy.
"Good morning, Your Highness," she answered, a little forced.
"So, tell me about your family," I inquired, remembering back to the list of questions my tutor had walked me through. Roselyn blushed a little bit and looked away. Did I ask the wrong thing? Wait, I'm the one asking the questions, why should it matter?
"Well, my parents are both Fours, and my oldest sister Katelyn married a Six, and my other sister Lettie… she's an Eight," she whispered, tapering off at the end. I tried not to let my surprise register on my face.
"Um… that's nice… why don't you tell me about your job?" I fumbled, trying to change the subject. Roselyn looked a lot happier, and started telling me that she was an insurance broker back in Whites, and was the most dedicated worker in her firm. She talked passionately about her job until the five-minute time bell dinged, and then she got up, gave a little curtsey, and left.
Next, in walked the famous soccer player, Lady Maia. She had never really struck me as the type to want to be in a Selection, but right now she seemed happy enough. i
"Morning Lady Maia," I smiled. She smiled back.
"Hi there Your Highness. How are you this morning?"
"I'm well, thank you, but that's really not what we're here to talk about. Do you want to tell me about your home, where you grew up?"
"Well, I'm from Bonita. It's pretty nice there, but there weren't many good fields by where I lived. My mom used to have to drive me thirty minutes to and from practice every day, which I guess was cool, so… yeah."
"That's really interesting," I lied. "Tell me about your mother, and the rest of your family."
"Well, my mom's a baker and my dad owns the bakery, it's kind of like a family business. My younger brother Keith works in the bakery too. They're not really that interesting, I guess."
The rest of the time I fished around for Maia to tell me something interesting about herself but all I got were facetious facts and meaningless descriptions. The five minute bell went off and Maia left, and soon her spot was taken by Lady Engalu. I groaned inside.
"Hi there, Lady Engalu," I greeted, plastering a smile on my face that I could only pray looked happy.
"Hello Prince-y. You look very nice today," Engalu grinned, and I could almost feel her eyes roaming up and down my figure, but I couldn't be sure because her eyes were obscured by a mask of thick green eyelashes that couldn't possibly be real.
"So, Engalu, tell me about your friends," I grimaced as she sat down, dreading the next five minutes.
"Well, Christy Heart, you must have heard of her, she's a singer, and Joni, Joni Mason, she's a socialite in Angeles but she's really sweet. Oh, and Mikaella Castroneves, she's great, she's like… one of the best actresses I know, and I'm sure you've met Lauri Burns, she talks about you all the time, and -" at this point I started to tune out her ramblings and think about other things I could be wasting my time doing. I almost didn't hear the five minute timer bell, partly because I wasn't paying attention and partly because Engalu was still talking at the speed of light.
"I'm so sorry Lady Engalu, but I think that's all the time we have for today," I cut in, disturbing her rant about Coco London Cook, apparently a famous party girl. Who knew the kinds of things people can get famous for these days?
Engalu left, with much flourish, and soon I was greeted by the much less colorful face of Lady Laila. She smiled tightly as she sat down but didn't say anything, and instead hunched her shoulders over protectively, like she was expecting to be interrogated.
"Well, um, hi there Lady Laila. Are you ready to begin?" She nodded once. I smiled a little bit, trying my best to make her feel more comfortable, because I knew she came from a lower caste.
"Why don't you tell me a little bit about your favorite foods?" I inquired gently, like I was talking to a young child.
"I like anything, really," Laila replied tersely. I noticed she was sitting on the edge of her chair like she was preparing to bolt at any minute.
"Um, then why don't you tell me a little bit about your home?" I asked, hoping that it wasn't a sensitive question for her.
"Well, I was a Six but my parents disowned me, so I guess I don't really have a home," she explained. Oops, probably a sensitive issue. Oh well, at least I got a more verbose answer this time. The rest of the time was spent with me asking worthless questions and her shutting down a little bit more with every answer she was forced to give. At the bell, Laila flinched and practically sprinted from the room. Was I really that intimidating? Before I could give the issue another thought, the next girl waltzed in. Lady Ariella, if I was correct.
"Hi, I'm Arielle, how are you?" she began, sitting down politely. I smiled a little bit - oh wait, she was Arielle, not Ariella.
"I'm doing fine, thanks, how are you?" I asked. At least someone was willing to talk to me like I was a human being.
"I'm fantastic," she answered, her smile growing even bigger. "You have a really nice home."
"It's really lovely, I've been told, although I'm afraid I fail to see most of the wonder of it, I suppose because I've grown up here. Anyway, tell me about your home, as I'm sure it's much more interesting than mine."
"Well, my mom and my brother and I lived in a flat above our sewing shop, where my mom and I worked, but it was a really nice atmosphere. Much homier than the palace, if you don't mind me saying," she added quickly.
"It's fine," I shrugged it off. I'd always known that the palace was one of those homes where the look-but-don't-touch rule was strictly enforced. I didn't even realize that five minutes could possibly go so fast, until the bell rang. I was sorry to see Arielle go, mostly because she was the first girl I'd actually connected with. But no time to dwell on that, because whomever was in charge just kept sending girls in and I was soon seated face-to-face with Lady Wren. She didn't really stick out to me in the Selecting, when I saw her photo on the screen, and we hadn't really gotten a chance to talk, but for the first time I could feel myself getting nervous. She was absolutely breathtaking. She had an intelligent air about her, but she was quiet in demeanor.
"Um… hi there," I stammered. Control yourself, you're the Prince. She should be nervous.
"Hi, Your Highness," Wren answered with a little of a half-smile.
"Please, call me Asher. Now tell me, what was your job back home?"
"Well, I played the flute in a woodwind quintet with a few of my good friends, but other than that I didn't really have a job job. It was okay though, paid fairly well."
"That's interesting, I've never heard a woodwind quintet before. That's five instruments, correct?"
"Yes, a flute, a clarinet, an oboe, a horn, and a bassoon. We weren't really that good."
"I'm sure it was amazing. Were all of your friends musicians?"
"Well, most of them were, but…" I tried to listen to what she was saying but the way she moved was just so intriguing. She was so animated, talking about what she loved, so passionate, and the passion was raw and clear to see. We talked for several more minutes until the bell rang.
"I hope that we can continue our conversation again," I called, just before she turned and left. Instead, she looked at me and gave me another breathtaking smile.
"I do too," she grinned, and left.
Author's Note
Okay, I hoped you liked this crappy little filler, but I've been trying to get back on track with my writing because I started slacking for a week or so, as you probably know. Speaking of which, I'm kind of slacking on the blog too. I need to go update that. Thanks for reminding me. Anyway, I'm going to try to update on Tuesdays and maybe on the weekends again, but not this weekend, definitely not, I have rehearsals for a show in May and rehearsals and tech for a show on Saturday, and it's just crazy. Love you lots and remember to pester me about updating if I miss a week without an explanation on the blog or a little note posted here. Muah!
-Margidee
Questions:
Who do you think Asher would like the most (of the girls whose interviews you didn't get to read)?
What are your plans for spring break?
