Chapter2
It was almost eleven o'clock at night when Mello got back to his place. He walked wearily up the narrow stairs, fumbling in his pocket for the key to his bedroom.
"Good to see you." Mello shivered and looked back to see the boy in a striped shirt leaning against staircase handrails. Matt smoked a cigarette, with all his eyes on the PSP in his hands.
"Hey, Matt. Why are you standing there silently?" Mello protested loudly.
Matt was Mello's classmate and roommate. Mello lived in the bedroom facing south on the second floor. Matt lived in a bedroom facing north on the second floor. They shared this house with three college students. Mello and Matt had known each other for many years and were both from Winchester, studying different majors in the same college.
Mello had planned to booked the campus dormitory, where most of his classmates lived, but he changed his choice when Matt told him a house three kilometers away from the campus, with a rent one-third cheaper than the campus dormitory.
"I'm going to get the laundry from the basement," Matt paused. "Why do you come back so late?"
"Today the restaurant was too busy. I didn't finish work until ten o' clock." Mello explained absentmindedly as he stuck his key in the lock.
"You know I'm not talking about that. You went out with Linda and your teammates and stayed out all night."
Matt continued to click the keys on his PSP. "I hadn't woken up yet this morning when Linda called me to ask if you had come back. She sounded very anxious. It wasn't long before she told me it was all right."
"I called her." Mello said, looking down.
"You didn't even come back last night. Where the hell did you go after you left the pub?" Mart walked to him. "You have such a poor tolerance for alcohol. You always get drunk after a few drinks. You didn't hug the toilet in the pub all night, did you?"
"A game geek who is addicted to games doesn't even know what to do in a bar." Mello blurted out.
"Did I bother you by playing games?" Matt said discontentedly. "You're being evasive. I remember you usually start your work of the restaurant in the afternoon." He put his elbow on Mello's shoulder, a wicked grin playing at the corner of his mouth. "Was there a fling?"
"You've been watching too many films." Mello frowned and impatiently pushed Matt away, walking quickly into his bedroom.
"Did I guess right? Is she hot?" Mello said nothing and closed the door, leaving Matt outside the door.
"Huh. Friends all concerned about him, but he's so ungrateful." Matt mumbled and scratched his head as he descended the stairs.
Mello immediately rushed to the convention centre with his bag after a mathematical analysis class, ignoring despite hunger. Mello waited in the long queue at the entrance of the convention center. He ate the chocolate bar as he scanned through his CV prepared by staying up late last night.
"I heard that some employers attending the career fair today will delivered offers soon." said a boy standing behind Mello.
"I wonder if there are any gorgeous recruiters," said another boy.
"You come here for checking out pretties."
" I just saw a hot blonde at the library entrance, whom I had never met before at campus ."
"Did you ask for her phone number?"
"No. She doesn't look like a student or staff of our college."
"You're making excuses for your cowardice," several boys standing behind Mello chuckled.
"I think that beautiful lady must be one of those businesses employees in the convention center. We'll see her later."
Mello turned around and glanced at the noisy boy with a contemptuous gaze. He actually would graduate the year after next, but he wanted to try his luck today. After all, he couldn't have been working at the restaurant all the time. He had come to London from Winchester, hoping to find a proper stage to show his talents.
When he entered the convention center, he was surprised to see that there were long queues in front of every employer's boards. The first company he queued up was an established Internet company. He introduced himself and was directly asked to apply for an internship position online. He then went to the board of a famous trading company, after waiting for 15 minutes. The trading company mainly recruited salesmen, a job that required a lot of travelling, running back and forth across Europe and even around the world. This was a job type he liked, but the trading company didn't need interns and told him to submit his CV next year. He knew it wasn't that easy to find a job or an internship, but he regretted wasting his time attending this job fair after repeating the same self-introductions twice. He might as well just submit his CV online. As he was about to reach the exit, he saw there was no one queuing in front of a company's board he hadn't notice, presumably because the employers was going to leave. He walked over and looked at the banners. This was a bank based in Manhattan if he remembered correctly.
"Hello, I'm glad to meet you. Do you want to submit your resume?" The one who spoke was a middle-aged woman, not tall and wearing a pair of black-rimmed glasses.
Mello nodded a little awkwardly. In fact, he didn't want to answer, because the bank was not his ideal workplace at all, he didn't like the feeling that bank clerks were constrained in professional clothes every day. He prefered the job leave more freedom to employees.
"Can you tell me a little bit about yourself?" The woman looked Mello up and down. " What's your major?"
"I majored in economics and politics."
"Any experience interning in the financial industry?"
"No."
"What about internships?"
"I've only been doing some part-time jobs. I'm a sophomore. I'm looking for internship opportunity."
"You are a sophomore? "
"I just want to get an internship."
"Internships for non-graduates require online application, but application was closed a few days ago."
Mello was silent. He had never paid much attention to the bank's recruitment. The recruiters stopped him, as he turned to leave.
"Can you leave me your resume?"
She took a sheaf of paper from Mello and scanned them.
"Mihael Keehl. Good marks. What's this?" The woman noticed a piece between the pages.
Mello pinched his nose. "I sometimes contribute to magazines. "
"The analysis of investor psychology during the global economic downturn?" The woman smiled at Mello and read carefully. "I like some of your points of view. It's hard to believe that this is an article written by an undergraduate."
"There will be an interview for interns at the London branch this Friday afternoon. Would you like to come?"
"You said that the online application was closed."
"I receive your application. It is a loss for GM bank that such a talented student has been missed."
"Thank you."
"You are welcome. I haven't introduced myself. I'm Emma, and work in the human resources department of GW Bank London Branch." She reached out her hand to Mello. "Pay attention to your mailbox, and you will receive an e-mail about the interview arrangements tomorrow."
The next morning, Melo read the interview invitation on his mobile phone. Mello immediately went back to his apartment after classes on Friday morning and put on a neatly ironed suit that Matt borrowed for him in the mirror, standing in front of the cracked mirror in his bedroom and wearing a tie. He hated everything that restrict people's nature, including suits. If it wasn't for the interview, he would never wear a suit.
When Mello got out of the elevator, he saw several interviewees.
"Are you here for an interview? Tell me your name and wait in this room." A girl with short ear-length hair came over and brought a glass of water to Mello. There were a total of 6 people waiting including Mello, 3 males and 3 females. They seem to be about the same age as Mello.
An asian boy sitting opposite Mello kept looking around and shaking his knees. He looked very nervous. To his left was a white girl with dark brown hair. She pressed the keys on her phone with a slight smile on her lips. She seemed to be texting with her boyfriend or crush. A petite Asian girl wearing a very short suit skirt, sat on the sofa at the corner with her legs folded, as if she was afraid of others peeking at her. Sitting next to Mello was a black-haired man wearing gold-rimmed glasses. Although he was more than two meters away from him, Mello could still smell the strong perfume smell emanating from him. He kept tapping the armrest of the sofa with his hands, while glancing at Mello from time to time. Mello became impatient with his gaze and glared at him fiercely. Unexpectedly, he looked at Mello more blatantly.
The door to the conference room opened, and a man showed his head and shouted loudly. "Charles Lee, please come."
The boy sitting opposite Mello stood up and walked in the conference room. Mello tried to guess when was his turn. He carefully prepared answers for the questions that might be asked in the interview last night. He took out the chocolate and thought about the answers he thought last night.
The door of the conference room opened again, and the boy who had just entered hurried out.
"Mihael Keehl. Please come in."
Melo had thought he would be the last one and hadn't expected that he would be the second one.