Mila wiped her clammy hands on her new charcoal skirt and adjusted her white blouse. Willing herself not to loose her balance she walked into the room. It had been months since she had worn proper shoes. The new shoes pinched at her heels. The forced confidence shattered as she felt the eyes of the interview panel. An Englishman with two ladies in either side. Bored with the interrogation, heavily made-up Chinese lady in her late twenties yawned. She motioned for the assistant to fetch her another cup of coffee. She wore a tight low cut blouse and did not make eye contact with Mila. The main interviewer, a well preserved Englishman in his fifties spoke. “You missed out three errors in the editing test. This is just unacceptable. You should seriously consider a different career. You have essentially wasted a trip here” Mila nodded blankly, too stunned to respond. She couldn’t wait to get out of that room.
The day after the interview was a chance to escape and forget her misery. Her friend Kim was taking her out for high tea at the posh Regis hotel insisting that it was her treat. Mila hated making anyone pay for her, but lately she had been compromising her own rules. Kim insisted it was her treat. Recently promoted to Director of Marketing at the Pharmaceutical, success had left her unchanged. She remained the same humble girl Mila had known since they were in University.
Mila sunk her teeth into freshly made cucumber sandwiches with cream cheese. This was heaven. For a moment her current anxieties were suspended. She wished she could do her life over. The mistakes she had made in life were now clear. She knew exactly what to correct if she could go back in time. First she would have taken a professional degree rather than the useless Bachelor of Arts. Mila knew this was wishful thinking but she indulged in it frequently. What she really wanted to do though, was to write.
