Seven

     The strict man, also Mr Fish, stared at her rather expressionless. He took his seat once again with a calm gesture to the seat before him, which was separated by a large desk.

Faith shut her mouth and went to sit on the offered chair, but not tearing her eyes away from his face.  'Mr strict fish,' she concluded the name in her mind which, to her surprise, made the man look back at her after he had looked away to bring out a file from his locker.

'Oh! Could his scary face be the reason they were all disappointed? Of course not. The last man had explained. But– Why is he looking at me the way a lion looks when scheming a way to devour its prey?' Faith thought. 

Mr. Strict fish spoke first. "What do you want?" he asked nonchalantly. 

'He's rude. Mr. Rude strict fish,' Faith thought.  "Ehm! I saw the sign out there that a chauffeur is needed, so that is the reason I am here," she said and started wondering why he acted mute that night when he could actually talk. He had a nice voice, anyway. 

Desmond neglected her thoughts. "You did not put your name in here. I just attended to the last person on the list," he said, referring to the list of applicants in the file with him. 

"That is because I just saw the vacancy on my way home now and I've been waiting for some hours now," she explained. 

"Miss –?" 

"Faith Smith," she put in. 

"Miss Faith, I am sorry I can not hire you," he said. 

She looked at him with her 'For what reason?' gaze but he didn't waver a bit. Why would he, anyway? 

"You're a female," he tried to reason. 

That was not a genuine reason not to hire her. That was not an excuse. She felt depressed, but didn't show it. She would not give up that easily. She would try to weave her way through him first and see how it would turn out." But I am educated. I can drive as well. I have my license. I - Please, hire me, Mr. Fi —," she stopped. She could not ruin her mini speech with that name. That would leave her with zero chance. "Mister —?" 

"Desmond Anderson," he answered coolly. 

She put on a sad expression. "Mr. Desmond, please," she pleaded. 

"Miss, we have no appointment together, so you should not be here," he said in his calmest voice and rose to his feet, ready to leave. 

"Now that I am here, can you not just do it for me? Interview me," Faith said in a pleading tone. 

Desmond stared at her, speechless at her being gutsy. He realized she looked more beautiful than she had been at the birthday party of his friend. 

'You'd better interview me now before I go out there and shout to the world how rude and disrespectful you are.'

Desmond's expression turned calm as he averted his gaze. What had he just heard? Spread rumor? He was really sure she had said that in her mind, but how did he know? How come he could hear what she was thinking? 

That night at the party as well, she had called him a fish, but had not said that aloud, yet, he heard. He had thought that to be mere coincidences that night, but now that it happened again, he didn't know what to think. 

Could he possibly be a mind reader? 

But he could not hear what other people were thinking. It only happened with her. What was going on? 

"Okay," Desmond concurred as he took his seat back before her. 

Faith sighed with relief as her hands moved to her chest in a hug. 'Yes, I did it! A fish - rude strict fish like you wouldn't be able to resist my charming plea, Faith thought and chuckled. 

Getting annoyed, he quickly said in response to what she was thinking. "Just saying, I didn't agree because you begged me," he mentioned with a glare. 

"You did." 

"No, I didn't," he argued. 

"Then, why did you suddenly agree?" Faith questioned. 

"Well...." Not knowing the perfect excuse, he paused. He could not possibly tell her he agreed because he was afraid of the false rumor she had threatened to create if she was not offered the job. He did not like the press and he always avoided anything that would make him face them. He had been successful on that for years now and hoped he would continue to be.  "Forget that," he surrendered with his left palm waved across the face. 

"So, you finally agree that you concurred as a result of not being able to resist my voice which is as lovely –" she was saying. 

Why was she acting like a flirt? How could a woman be that sweet mouthed? He cut her in, "Miss Faith, forget about that. If you really need this job, then let's go about it. If you don't, I will appreciate it if you will excuse me. Don't waste my time," he said and then added almost immediately, "I will love to go home." 

"Then, let me drive you home. You can use that to test my driving skills," Faith said in aplomb. 

"What? You've not been interviewed yet. And what gave you the assurance that I want to hire a female driver," Desmond uttered. 

"A female driver is the best for you. There is absolutely nothing better than working with the opposite sex. It will also give your reputation a clearer sight as an erotologist. You should always deal with women from time to time," Faith suggested sweetly. 

Desmond didn't know what to think at that moment. The way she talked and suggested things awed him. " How can you be so gutsy, huh? And how did you know my profession? Oh, you know me because I am famous, right?" He paused and met her gaze. "Just so you know, I can not hire a female driver just because I mostly counsel them. I counsel men also, don't you know that?" He said as he retrieved his car keys and briefcase and rose to his feet. 

He gestured his hand forward, which meant he had to go. " But if you insist,"he started again, but didn't sit down. He walked to the door and held the knob. He turned back and found Faith standing, but had not turned to face him. He watched silently as she turned to face him with a glum expression and that touched him to the bone. 

She was disappointed. Only if she'd known she would end up like other applicants, she would not have made the attempt to go into his office. She had come there with hope and confidence that she would emerge from his office with laughter. She thought she could do it, but she was really wrong. 

There was no job in the country and the one she luckily found would not just 'click'. Was she supposed to give up now? She had been looking for job opportunities for months now before finding the  'not-to-be-expected' job with a strict - rude fish as the employer who would not be considerate. 

'He is such a selfish bastard fish,' Faith thought.