Job interview

Felicity glanced up from her résumé to check the clock for the hundredth time in the past hour. The first few times, she'd tried to hide the gesture, but she no longer cared if the receptionist noticed her impatience. She had options, darn it. Yes, Stark Industries had the best IT department in the world. Yes, it offered the best professional development pathways out of all the companies she'd applied to. But she didn't have to be here. She already had an offer from Queen Consolidated — a pretty good one for a new grad — and their interview panel hadn't left her hanging.

Maybe she should leave; staying was clearly a waste of her time and theirs. If they didn't value the interview enough to show basic levels of courtesy, she wasn't sure if she even wanted her application to progress further.

She reached down for her handbag, ready to make her excuses, but something kept her muscles locked in place.

Ever since Felicity told her mom she had an interview slot at Stark Industries, she'd been over the moon, daydreaming and gushing about what a charming son-in-law Tony Stark would make. She'd been like a veritable Mrs Bennet, convinced she could manifest a relationship into being if she just rambled long enough.

'Charming playboys usually don't make good husbands,' Felicity had shot back.

'Maybe not,' her mom had said, as lightly as if Felicity had been talking about whether a particular skirt suited her or not. 'But someone who knows about computers would make a good husband for you.'

A giggle had bubbled up in Felicity's throat. "Knows about computers" was a massive understatement for the man who had revolutionised the tech industry a dozen times over. She'd bitten down on the urge to laugh, though, not wanting to offend her mom when she was genuinely trying to think about what Felicity might want.

Felicity riffled through her handbag in case the receptionist had noticed her lift it, then set it back down again. Her mom would kill her if she passed up the opportunity to rub shoulders, or more intimate body parts, with Stark. Besides, Stark Industries was the most exciting tech employer in the world; she couldn't risk getting blacklisted by them, especially so early in her career.

I'll give them ten more minutes, then I'll say I have to leave for another appointment soon and ask to reschedule, she decided.

Satisfied with her compromise, she settled back into the couch's soft cushions. At least the foyer was comfortable, with plush leather seats that made her feel like a fairy queen drifting on a throne of clouds. Machine blueprints and abstract paintings hung on the walls in an odd cocktail of invention and artistry that somehow worked, while rock music banged away in the background. It felt so creative and free and chaotic — the kind of place where someone could follow their instincts down a crazy rabbit hole of trial, error and progress and be encouraged instead of censured.

Her fingers longed for a laptop to play with. It was almost enough to soothe the sting of being stood up.

Almost.

Eight more minutes, then she'd leave as professionally as she could. Appearing like a pushover could be just as damaging to her professional reputation as being seen as impolite.

Heels clipped against floorboards, and a tall woman with a low sunset-auburn ponytail emerged from a hallway. With perfect posture and an impeccably pressed dress, she looked like a picture from a textbook. Felicity clenched her fingers together to keep from fidgeting with her own recently ironed pants. She'd thought she looked office-appropriate, but next to the other woman, she was little more than a child playing dress-up. 'Felicity?'

'Yes, that's me.'

'I'm Pepper, Tony Stark's PA,' she said with genuine warmth. 'Thank you so much for your patience; if you follow me, we can get this interview started. Tony hoped to be here today, but he is unfortunately indisposed, so I will be standing in for him.'

Indisposed? Pepper sounded friendly enough, but a hint of ice crept into her voice on that word.

Felicity raised an eyebrow. Spoken in that tone, indisposed meant one of three things: blind-off-his-face drunk, hungover, or entertaining female company. Or hungover from getting blind-off-his-face drunk with female company. Perhaps she should have expected it, given what she'd heard on the news about his laid-back approach to business. Naïvely, she'd assumed the gossip was exaggerated.

The friendliness faded from Pepper's face, and she pursed her lips stonily. 'Working here, I find that gossip is always exaggerated, Felicity.'

Crap! A chill swept through Felicity, leaving her mouth dry and stomach heavy. Why did she always come down with a bad case of word vomit at the worst possible time? Some thoughts were better left as that: thoughts.

'I'm so sorry; that was inappropriate. I don't know where it came from.' She knitted her fingers together to keep from running her hand through her hair and messing up her ponytail. Forcing a bright tone, she added, 'I guess it's a good thing I studied IT instead of HR. There are less opportunities for me to put my foot in my mouth.'

Pepper still looked unimpressed, but the faintest hint of a smile softened her face. 'It was, but I understand why you would make that assumption. It's hard to escape the constant web articles about him.'

Felicity should have backed out when she had the chance. 'Would you like me to leave? I understand if you don't want to interview someone who just insulted your boss.'

The smile broadened. 'If we kicked out everybody who ever said something insensitive, I wouldn't even have a boss. If you're ready, let's get started. I'm sure you have plans for your afternoon, and I'd hate to keep you from them any longer.'

Although Felicity still wasn't convinced she could salvage the situation, it was worth a try. At the very least, it was more interview practice. She obediently followed Pepper down the hallway, running through common interview questions in her head to try to get back into the right headspace.

-x-

Felicity tapped out a rhythm on the steering wheel as she waited at the traffic lights, which shone red against the golden midday. Thankfully, the interview had gone better than the introduction. She'd fumbled the first few questions before finding her footing and, in her humble opinion, hitting it out of the park for the rest of the interview. A man from the IT department had joined them, asking the technical questions while Pepper covered soft skills.

The only question — other than whether a stellar interview could make up for a terrible beginning — was whether she even wanted the role. As the world leader in technology and weapons, Stark Industries was the crème de la crème when it came to entry-level IT. Felicity could work under the most talented security engineers in the country, if not the world, learning industry best practices and maintaining a computer system that was so cutting-edge it made her mouth water.

But it wasn't a good sign that Tony Stark flaked on the meeting. From the resigned way the other interviewer replied when Pepper told him their boss wasn't coming, this wasn't out of character for him. Did Felicity really want to work under an unreliable boss who thought nothing about leaving employees and job applicants waiting upwards of an hour before telling them he was bailing? Whoever got the position wouldn't be working for him directly, but his flakiness would still affect them.

In contrast, she'd got nothing but good vibes from the Queen Consolidated hiring team. Their technology wasn't as breathtaking as Stark's, but they were organised and professional, and she could still get a lot of good experience there.

The lights turned a vibrant verdant green, and she pressed her foot down on the accelerator. She wished the interview had gone differently, but she'd learnt not to ignore red flags when they were waving in the wind mere inches from her face.

Starling City it was, then.

Hopefully her mom wouldn't badger her too much about lost opportunities.