The Second Interview

Amira had been scoring the written tests for two hours when she finished the stack. The candidates had been numbered, not named, so that nothing could influence the marking. Number seven was the best by a wide margin.

Only when she opened the key to schedule the interviews did she see who number seven was. Gisela. The name stopped her hand halfway to the keyboard.

Six years earlier, the two of them had ended things calmly, in a kitchen, with a list of who would keep which pans. Gisela had accepted a job overseas, and Amira had stayed. They had exchanged a few warm messages afterward, then none at all.

Amira read the score sheet again. She had given Gisela the top mark before she knew whose work it was, and she was sure it was deserved. However, she was no longer sure she could judge the interview without noticing every pause, every smile.

If she lowered a score out of caution, that would be unfair. If she raised one out of nostalgia, that would be unfair too. Either way, a stranger's work would be measured against an old story.

So she walked down the corridor and knocked on her director's door. "I have to step back from this hiring," she said. "One of the candidates is someone I used to be close to. I can't be neutral."

Her director nodded without asking for details. By the end of the day, a colleague had taken over the interviews, and two weeks later the panel agreed unanimously. Gisela was offered the job and accepted.

Amira kept away from the second-floor kitchen for most of Gisela's first week, until an email appeared in her inbox. It was short: "I heard you stepped aside. Could I buy you a coffee?"

They met at the café on the corner, where the tables wobbled. For a minute they discussed the weather, as if neither of them could afford any other topic.

"Did you know when you marked my test?" Gisela finally asked.

"No. I found out afterward."

"Would it have changed anything?"

"Probably," Amira said. "I might have marked you down just to prove I could. And you? Would you have applied if you had known I was the manager?"

Gisela turned her cup slowly on the saucer. "I might have withdrawn. Which would have been a mistake, because I wanted that job."

"Your test was very good," Amira said.

"I know." Gisela smiled. "I'm trying to be humble about it."

When the bill arrived, they both reached for it, and Gisela won. "Same time next week?" she asked.

"Ask me after your first performance review," Amira said, and picked up her coat.