318 Epilogue 1, London

"I need to re-evaluate our selection criteria in the college. What kind of people have we put there, students and teachers both? This guy didn't know anything nor did he have the right attitude. I abhor arrogant pricks," Hui was irritated beyond measure.

The company was expanding and as promised to the college which he had sponsored, he wanted to give the first opportunity of jobs to the alumni from that college. But since morning the quality of candidates had been steadily decreasing rather than increasing. And the last guy simply took the cake away in terms of idiocy, brashness and more.

Eric tried to calm his boss down. He knew that Hui couldn't tolerate ill-behaved people around him.

"Let's take a look the next one. Then we shall break for the day. I will have a word with the dean tomorrow myself, highlighting these issues," he told Hui in a placating tone.

Hui nodded shortly and buzzed the reception to send in the last candidate for the day.

A bespectacled short girl with an unruly curly mop of hair, stepped into the cabin. She didn't meet the eyes of the interviewers and took the seat which was offered, quietly. Her hands were twitching nervously around the folder which she was holding.

"Hi, Ms. Vaughn. My name is Eric and I am the COO at Earthly Matters. I can see from your resume that you have been a top scorer and an accelerated learner all throughout your academic life. I would you like to tell us a little about yourself which is not mentioned here," he started in a soothing voice.

Jessica cleared her throat a couple of times before speaking meekly, "hi, I am Jessica. I am 21 years old and have done my dissertation on finding new ways to contribute towards Earth conservation. Conducting experiments, and trekking are my hobbies. I am a huge fan of Mr. Ying Hui and have been following his lectures and discoveries for the past five years."

At this, Hui looked up from the resume that he was reading. 

"So, what was the result of your dissertation?" he asked her, a hint of challenge in his voice.

He was still smarting from the rude answers which the previous guy had given.

"Build a forest within the city, every 20kilometers apart. Adapt the vegetation or plantation as per congenial to the environment of that area. Barring the wild animals, everything else will be nearly the same as it is in the forest. I am aware that for any ecosystem to thrive, the food chain needs to be complete, but I also believe that we need the greenery around us in a much larger amount than it already exists," her voice had steadily risen as she spoke about her idea.

Hui personally thought that her idea was seeped into idealism rather than reality but he appreciated the sentiment behind it.

"So tell me what has fascinated you about Mr. Ying's research work which you said you have been following so keenly?" Eric tested her claim by throwing that question at her.

Her eyes lit up as if she had suddenly discovered a delicious treat. She launched into a detailed technical narrative about Hui's earliest discoveries to his latest methods for extraction of rare elements from other metals. By the time she finished speaking, Eric had nearly snoozed off. But Hui had come alive. He couldn't believe that he had someone sitting in front of him who knew about his stuff almost as much as he did.

Jessica suddenly realised that the room was completely silent. The COO's head was lolling on the side and Mr. Ying was staring at her in what she assumed was boredom.

"I… I am sorry. I guess I got slightly carried away. Like I had mentioned, I am a huge fan of your work," she said, in an embarrassed manner.

Hui cleared his throat loudly to get Eric's attention.

Leaning forward in his chair, he said, "Ms. Vaughn, I am pleased to inform you that we shall be happy to take you on board. The HR team would reach out and discuss the role and monetary aspects. Is there anything that you wish to ask us currently?"

Jessica gave a disbelieving smile and said, "thank you, thank you so much. I just …uh, I am sorry but I wanted to enquire whether the person before me was also selected or not?"

Hui frowned at her but before he could say something rude, Eric intervened.

"I am sorry, it's against our policy to discuss about another candidate. May I know why are you so interested though?" he said politely.

Jessica blushed at the question and stammered her reply, "actually, err… that is to say, he is my boyfriend. Well, he is way better than me in all senses but he had decided that he will join wherever I was offered a job. He is very protective, you see! Honestly I wasn't expecting to be selected today. But now that I have made it, I just wanted to confirm that you have offered him a job here as well or not." 

Hui looked at her in surprise. She was clearly unaware of her own intelligence. But how was that possible? Didn't her results speak for themselves?

"So you are trying to say that you won't join us if your boyfriend is not offered a job here?" Eric asked her.

She looked torn between her loyalty towards the boyfriend and the opportunity to work with her IDOL. But she nodded her head in agreement, miserably.

"We would be announcing the results for the rest of the candidates next week. You managed to impress us enough to get a spot offer but the others haven't been evaluated fully yet. We will keep you posted. Thank you for coming in today," Eric told her smoothly.

With a polite nod, she got up and bid them farewell.

"I can't believe that she is dating that klutz. But the more surprising part is that she actually believes that he is better than her… what a moron?" Hui said the minute she left the room.

"It is not as simple as it looks. She may be a genius but she is also a girl, and a normal one who needs validation. It seems that she would be the perfect prey for a guy like him. When I had shortlisted his resume, it was on the basis of the fabulous resume which he had sent. But now that I compare the two resumes, I can see remarkable similarities. I even suspect the reason for the boyfriend to come up with that clause of joining work together. He would probably be the kind to piggyback on others," he theorised.

"Well, I am not going to hire a moron just because the girl is too blind to figure out otherwise. Let her go," Hui said. 

"Don't be too hasty… maybe there is a better way to handle the situation. Her clause doesn't stipulate what kind of job offer do we make to the guy, right? I personally don't think that we should let such a good resource walk away from our company," Eric replied with a wink.

Hui pondered over his statement and gave a reluctant nod.

Eric hid his gleeful smile. In the past twenty minutes, while Hui had realised the girl's work competence, Eric had discovered her potential as …. well, too soon to put a name to it. She was a little younger that he ideally would have liked her to be, but hey, age was a number. Also, such a young girl would have nearly zero emotional baggage from the past, current useless boyfriend notwithstanding.

Interesting possibilities…