A Quiet Seat in the Waiting Room
A young man sat upright on a blue office chair, his hands resting on his denim trousers as he smoothed the frayed collar of his jacket.
Around him, applicants in tailored navy suits flipped through resumes and typed on their phones. One man leaned down from his seat, tilting his head with a smirk and whispering that Arslan had walked into the wrong building.
Arslan did not pull his shoulders in or look down at the floor. He simply kept his posture straight and turned his eyes toward the hallway.
Moments later, he stepped into a wood-paneled executive office and pulled out a chair across from the company director. The interviewer flipped open a brown cardboard folder, scanned the single sheet of paper inside, and dropped it onto the mahogany desk.
The Paper Across the Desk
The manager leaned back, tapping his pen against the edge of the blotter. He pointed out the absence of an elite university degree and asked why he should spend another minute talking.
Arslan folded his hands across his lap and explained quietly that he wrote the core software running their daily corporate operations.
The interviewer threw his head back against the leather headrest and let out a loud laugh, scoffing that if that were true, he must be royalty. The words cut through the room, but Arslan remained completely still, his eyes fixed on the man across the table.
A young woman in a modest pale blue blouse stepped through the door carrying a tray. Her hands trembled slightly as she set a clear glass of tap water beside Arslan’s elbow.
She leaned toward him and whispered softly that he should pay no attention to the laughter. Her eyes were red around the rims, yet she offered a gentle nod before stepping back toward the corner of the office.
An Abrupt Entrance
The heavy office door swung open wide, hitting the rubber wall bumper with a dull thud. A senior executive with silver hair strode past the threshold, clutching a stack of blue folders against his chest.
He scanned the room in three quick glances and asked in an urgent tone if Arslan had arrived yet. The interviewer rose from his swivel chair, stammering that they were simply running through an ordinary applicant screening.
The senior executive cut him off immediately, pointing across the conference table toward the young man in the frayed jacket. He identified Arslan as the owner of Nexasoft, the software powerhouse set to purchase their entire firm the following morning.
The interviewer’s fingers locked around the edge of his mahogany desk. His mouth opened, but no words came out as he slumped slightly in his chair.
Arslan pushed his chair back from the table and rose smoothly to his feet. He adjusted his jacket cuffs, looked at the interviewer, and said that the meeting was officially over.
An Offer Across the Room
Arslan turned his back on the desk and walked directly over to the young assistant standing near the credenza. She blinked back moisture on her eyelashes, clutching her notepad against her ribs.
Arslan looked directly into her eyes and noted that she had treated him with decency when nobody was watching. He extended an invitation for her to join his executive staff as his personal assistant.
A tear tracked down her cheek, and she let out a breathy laugh, nodding repeatedly as she accepted the position.
The scene shifted to a bright, sunlit corner office lined with framed certificates. Arslan, dressed in a sharp navy blazer, rested his hands on the corner of a clean desk and leaned in, smiling as he reviewed dynamic performance charts on a desktop monitor alongside his newly hired assistant.
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