Chapter 13
"I see no point in us picking someone who has no experience over someone who does." Mrs Joan was fuming at Mr Kenny and Miss Kira. "How do we even explain this madness to the board? Especially to Mr Rowan Xi?"
Mr Kenny's impatience was wearing out. It was obvious in the way his voice was down.
"Mrs Joan, I believe I have the right to make decisions regarding whom I choose to partner with. It works for us. Why are we even turning this into an argument?"
"Because it does not make any sense to me. Amanda has absolutely no experience! She was just a cleaner for multiple restaurants and different hotels…"
"But she got a course from a prestigious institution for hospitality and management," Kira cut in, her frustration evident in her cracked voice. " I just think you do not like her, Mrs Joan. You are judging her from your emotions."
"If anyone is using emotions here, it must be you. You feel like you should take her probably because you two share a uni experience. I feel that is a very unprofessional attitude towards recruitment."
"Urgh!" Mr Kenny yelled. "Enough! It is my decision to make eventually. We will see how it goes. But left to me, Amanda is a better option. She is gentle and easy going. She also seems like she pays attention to detail and is industrious to have worked in all those places within such a short time. Meriyl is great too for the role, but I would rather we take Amanda."
Mrs Joan Rivers was still not satisfied and would stop at nothing to drive her point to them.
"Can I ask you some important question, Mr Kenny?" She asked with a haughty expression.
"Go on… even though I am sincerely exhausted by your nagging attitude."
"Is there a personal interest, Mr. Kenny? I ask this because I fail to understand the logic behind this baseless argument."
Mr Kenny became furious at her and would not condone her questioning.
"Are you suggesting that I may be interested in Miss Amanda?" He raged.
Miss Kira and Mrs Joan exchanged glances and Kira put her face down, wondering why Joan always had to be that difficult.
Mr Kenny ranted at her, referring to her as uptight and cruel.
"I regret that I had to involve you in this panel, to be honest. Do not let me think too deeply about these things, you know. I do not want to make this work environment unfriendly. If you think you have any objections to my recruitment procedure today, please report to the appropriate office. At this point, I will not tolerate any form of insubordination from you anymore."
Mrs Joan could see how angered he was, so she kept quiet. She could not go beyond the level she was with him. It had become edgy and uncomfortable.
She fought back the urge to speak further and, instead of taking the matter further, she grudgingly said;
"I am sorry, Mr Kenny."
Mr Kenny nodded angrily and turned to Nondon, who had been quiet ever since the entire process.
"Prepare an email with an offer letter and send it to Amanda and Jacob. They are our new supervisors and they are to resume in three days."
"Alright Sir," Nondon said and took her work items out of the conference room, into her own office to get to work.
"That will be all ladies," Mr Kenny said to Joan and Kira, before stepping out of the room.
Kira Mason turned to Joan, who was feeling defeated.
"She will do it proudly, I am certain of it."
Joan gave her a haughty look and hissed heavily before stepping out of the conference room.
"Angry bird," Kira cursed out at her and then hissed back.
Amanda got out of the cab and ran towards the park. She collapsed on the bench and planted her face in between her thighs as hot tears rushed down her face.
The burning hot sun was scorching her, but she felt nothing but a cold shiver.
Shame engulfed her as she thought of the horrible words Mrs Joan had said to her.
"What do you want from a hotel if you have not ever worked in one? All you have been is a cleaner. How can you possibly fit into this role that requires a wealth of experience? Do you think you are qualified? Who goes from being a cleaner to suddenly becoming a hotel supervisor? I mean, being a cleaner or working in the laundry unit would have been more appropriate for a lady without experience. Don't try to force yourself into a role that does not fit you!"
Her words were cold and mean. Amanda cried her eyes to a pulp. She felt drenched in tears. She was shivering from the pain of being bashed by a lady like herself.
She was stunned at how the interview turned out; it started beautifully and ended as such a hot mess with her being terribly disgraced.
"Why am I so unlucky?" She yelled , slamming her hands on the bench.
"Why can't I have anything good in life?"
After a long afternoon of feeling terrible and depressed and crying her eyes out, Amanda picked up her phone to dial her mother's contact.
She called her but her mother was not picking.
She tried reaching out to their neighbor to know why her mother was not picking up the phone.
Her neighbour picked up after the third ring.
"Hi," came her tiny voice over the phone.
"Hello, Good afternoon Mira. It's Amanda; your neighbour. I am sorry to bother you but I have been trying to reach my mother for almost 30-45 minutes. Have you come across her since morning? cos I am getting worried."
"Well, I think I saw her rushing down the street, carrying one of your babies. I am not sure where they were going to."
"Oh my God! What could have happened? Is everything okay?"
"I cannot answer all this. Just try calling her for a little while longer," Mira suggested.
Amanda hurriedly thanked her and ended the call. She was panicking and her hands were shaking.
She returned to dialing her mother's line, becoming increasingly worried.
Her mother finally picked up the call after several calls.
"Oh mother… I have called a million times. What is going on?"
Her mother could hear the panic in her voice.
"Daughter, I am sorry for the missed calls. It has been a crazy, heartbreaking afternoon." Her mother's voice was indicating something was not right.
"What is going on, mother?"
"We almost lost one of the Quadruplets today," Mrs Roberts replied with a burst of tears.
Amanda's hands shook till the phone fell off her hands and the line went dead.