When James lands the final interview for a job after being without one for 6 months, he realises the owner of the company is his ex-girlfriend. The same one he used and dump many years ago.

Love hurts, if it doesn’t, it’s not love.

My first attempt at a love story. Hope you guys would like it. i dedicate this to everyone who has experienced a heartbreak before.

*Play this while you read*

It was my 3rd interview in the company. I think I’m almost at the finish line.

It’s not easy coming this far but I felt I have done adequately well.

I impressed not only the HR, but also my immediate superior, Clement.

Clement likes the experience I have and that I’m pretty much an all-rounder. Together with the letter of recommendation from my previous office that has since folded, I’m pretty confident I can nail this final interview.

The 1st round felt like the company is thinning the herd of applicants.

Due to the pandemic, there are 620 applicants applying for that 1 position. Everyone was only given 10 minutes for a quick chat and even then, it took almost a month before the company gave me a call.

It’s a really sought-after position to manage operations in a developer firm and I made it to the 2nd round.

There are about 30 candidates shortlisted in the 2nd round base on what HR told me. During the 2nd round, I spent almost an hour with HR and Clement. We talked about my past experience, my salary expectations, the usual stuff.

I could tell they are interested in me and my asking pay is well within their manpower budget set for my role. The most telling sign was when Clement walked with me to the lift.

He asked me if offered the position, can I start immediately.

“of course I can.” I replied with a smile. “oh and those old drawing files you mentioned earlier, if they are just for archival and not confidential, send them to me. I’ll help you work on the versions and plot it out. Don’t worry, no obligations, haha, I just like to solve problems.”

Clement nodded and gave me a thumbs up.

He gave me a pat on my back and said;

“ I like you James, you have the attitude I’m looking for. I’ll make sure I put you in the final interview with the boss. “

True to his word, I was informed about the 3rd and final interview about 2 weeks later.

By then, Clement revealed that it was just between me and another candidate. He told me on the phone that he has already put me as his preferred choice and the final interview is just a customary meeting with the boss.

“ It’s an informal chat. So don’t worry about it.” Clement said. “ And I need to warn you, boss is a bit of a character, so she can be pretty nasty at times. Just smile and it will be over in no time.”


“I see. So the other candidate..?”

“Don’t worry about her, our boss may be a woman, but she hates working with other women, the other candidate has practically no chance.” Clement reassured me.

I thanked him for the heads up and I could feel my heart beating pretty fast.

I’ve been out of a job since my company folded at the beginning of the pandemic. I do have some savings but 6 months into this, my account balance is starting to look a little sad.

I’m asking for 5.3k for this position and HR seems willing to offer me that amount which is just $100 from my last drawn pay. On top of that, with 18 days annual leave, medical and hospitalisation benefits, this job is almost like striking the lottery in this climate.

I’ve also talked to people in the industry about this boutique developer, their bonuses averages 3-4 months a year. Even during the pandemic where everyone is trying hard to cut cost, they still gave their employees a 1.5 month bonus.

I put on my best suit that day and arrived 30 minutes early. There’s no chance in hell I’ll be late. When I arrived close to lunch, I saw what I assumed was the female candidate walking out.

Her eyes were red and she looked like she was on the verge of tears. She must have a hard time with the boss.

Poor girl.

The girl from HR, Cindy, showed me the way to the pantry, telling me that Boss is talking to Clement.

“ help yourself to a drink. I’ll bring you in when they’re ready for you.”

I got myself a glass of water to keep my lips moist.

1 minute before my scheduled time at 1pm, Cindy opened the pantry door and said they are ready to see me.

I took a deep breath, buttoned up my coat and followed behind Cindy.

Cindy brought me to the board room, knocked twice on the frosted glass door before opening it.

When the door swung opened, I first saw Clement smiling at me. Cindy walked over to take the seat beside Clement.

Then I saw the boss.

Her eyes were looking down at what I could tell, my resume.

I saw how tightly she was gripping the files to the point her knuckles turned white. Her fingers clamped tightly onto my file and I could almost feel the angst and fury of her grip as she literally crumpled up my resume much to Clement’s horror.

When her eyes looked up at me, I felt my ball shrink and I trembled where I stood.

Yes, flashbacks of my younger days came into my head like someone holding a bunch of flashcards.

One after another, the cards changed, bringing back memories of my youth.

I swallowed a gulp of saliva as the ferocity of that gaze seared my rectinas.

The boss.

I know the boss.

In fact, I know the boss on a really intimate level from a long time ago.

Xinru.

Yes, Xinru, the name suddenly clicked in my head.

I recalled all the horrible things I did to her.

I used her like a sex object when I was 19 and she was 17. I knew she loved me a lot and she did everything for me.

She’ll be waiting for me at home when I book out from camp when I was serving my time in the military. Xinru is that sweet obliging girl that will let a sexually deprived man do anything she wants to her.

I was the one who took her virginity as well. Everyone of my friends called me a jerk for not being nicer to her and all of Xinru’s friends chided her, saying that she deserves someone better.

When she told me she’s heading to Melbourne for her studies, I took the opportunity to break up with her the moment she landed. I changed my number, ignore her emails and messages because I already have a new girl in my sights.

Someone hotter, with bigger boobs, dance better in a club and a lot wilder in bed.

I knew I broke her heart but we were all young back then.

I definitely didn’t expect to meet her again under these circumstances.

I knew barely a few seconds passed but it felt like time stood still as more and more memories of what I did to Xinru came flooding into my head like the dam holding it back collapsed.

All of these moments flashed into my head one after another as I looked at Xinru in horror.

She’s no longer that innocent, sweet looking girl I hold absolute control over.

She’s no longer that 17, 18 year old sweet young thing that always smile and nod her head at me.

Xinru looked ravishing at 30 years old.

She used to have short cropped hair but now her hair is kept long and she has them tied up in a tight bun.

Her silk blouse stretched tightly across her chest, and her boobs looked bigger than I remembered. No longer a A cup. It’s either she has grown or she did something to them.

Xinru stood up and threw my resume at me, and when she did, I saw the short dress she was wearing rise up a couple of inches, revealing that pair of perfect creamy thighs I used to host on my shoulders while doing the dirty.

As the file flew across the board room and hit me squarely on my chest, it startled everyone in the room while leaving me petrified by the door.

Clement looked like he has seen a ghost as his face turned a shade of white while alternating looks between Xinru and me.

Cindy covered her mouth as she looked at boss in horror, fearful of what is about to come.

At that very moment, I came to terms with my maker, finally believing that is something call Karma.

“I’m, I’m sorry, I erm, I’m sorry.” I mumbled as I turned and was about to get out of the room when I heard Xinru slammed both her fist on the table.

The solid oak table vibrated angrily and Xinru’s outburst sent Clement and Cindy backing away a good metre from the table.

Looking at my ex-girlfriend who looked like she was out for blood, I found that I could not even bring myself to open the door and leave.

Xinru clenched both fist and rest them on the board room table and I could literally hear a growl leave her lips.

“Sit down, let’s begin”

11800 words

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