Suddenly, I Am Rich

The room fell into a moment of silence once the door closed.

For the first time all morning, there were no more applicants waiting outside.

Now, it was just the four of them—Gray, Marcus, and Caesar, along with Ms. Lopez, who was still standing by the side with her clipboard held firmly to her chest.

Gray leaned back in his chair, finally letting out the breath he hadn’t realized he’d been holding.

”That’s all five,” Marcus said, uncapping his pen again and tapping it gently against his notepad. ”Now comes the hard part.”

Caesar chuckled under his breath. ”I agree with you, Marcus.”

Gray chuckled at it. He knew Caesar wasn’t wrong.

Ms. Lopez stepped forward from her place and placed the finalized scoring sheet on the table.

”They all performed well,” she said softly. ”But you’ll need to pick one at the end.”

The table fell silent again.

Marcus flipped his notepad closed and leaned forward, elbows resting on the wood.

”Alright. I think we can all agree Lionel’s out,” he started. ”He was too rehearsed. It felt like he came here to deliver lines, not hold a conversation.”

”Agreed,” Caesar nodded. ”He had good answers, but there was no sense of authenticity in the way he said it. I don’t want to see someone who spends more time trying to sound correct than actually doing the work.”

”I agree with that,” Gray glanced briefly at his own notes.

”How about Ando?” Caesar asked, tilting his head to the side.

”He was steady and consistent,” Marcus said. ”But too reserved. If we’re looking for someone to grow into a leadership role eventually, I don’t see him stepping up without a nudge.”

”He’s reliable,” Gray added. ”But not what I need right now.”

”Alright.” Caesar crossed both Lionel and Ando off his own list. ”That leaves Diana, Clarisse, and Joel.”

Ms. Lopez spoke next, surprising all three.

”Diana is exceptional,” she said. ”Professional, composed, and the most prepared, in my opinion.”

”She was sharp,” Marcus agreed. ”But her experience... I’m not quite sure about it. On paper, yes, she’s good but in person, I don’t know. I wasn’t that impressed by her answers compared to the others.”

”I see...” Gray mentally took notes of everything they were saying so far.

He might have the final say on everything, but he also had to consider their words and opinions. After all, they were much more experienced than him.

”She’s a perfectionist,” Ms. Lopez added. ”Which can be good. But for the current team, I don’t think it’s what they need right now.”

Caesar scratched his chin, his expression thoughtful.

”Fair enough. I’ll admit, I liked her clarity. But if the goal is to bring in someone who will blend well with an existing team, then you’re right.”

”So that leaves us with two,” Marcus said, flipping back to his notes. ”Clarisse and Joel.”

Gray remained silent, waiting for them to say something.

Caesar leaned back into his seat, exhaling slowly. ”Clarisse had something. It wasn’t impressive in the typical way, but I liked her answers.”

”She’s honest,” Marcus said. ”And she works hard. You could tell. She didn’t sugarcoat anything either. Her answers weren’t perfect, but they were real.”

Gray stayed quiet for a moment longer. He opened Clarisse’s folder, looked through her notes, then reached for Joel’s file beside it.

”And Joel?” he asked.

Marcus shrugged lightly. ”He’s good. He’s not the most experienced in large environments, but the way he handled those situational questions? He didn’t need training on how to react. It’s built into him.”

”I could also see that,” Ms. Lopez said. ”Even in the way he sat and answered. He paid attention. He also appeared to be friendly.”

Gray nodded slowly. He agreed with every word. But that was the problem. He agreed with what they said about both of them.

Clarisse was soft but solid. Joel was raw but commendable.

”Between the two of them,” Marcus said, ”I’d be happy with either. But we’ve got to make a call.”

Gray ran a hand across his chin and leaned back again, staring at the ceiling light above the table.

Caesar gave him a side glance. ”You’re still not decided, are you?”

”Not yet,” Gray admitted. ”Because I see value in both of them. Clarisse has the work ethic, the humility, and the loyalty. She’d grow fast. Joel has the experience, the judgment, and something else I can’t quite define. I’m sure he’d be ready now.”

”Then we need to decide what we’re hiring for,” Marcus said. ”Growth or immediate strength.”

”That is what’s hard...” Gray sighed. He needed both of those now.

The three stared at Gray as they waited for his decision. Their stares placed a great burden on his shoulders.

Not knowing what to do, Gray could only think of one thing now.

”I want to call them both in again.”

Caesar blinked. ”What?”

Ms. Lopez looked up from her clipboard. ”Sir?”

”Call Clarisse and Joel,” Gray said again. ”Ask if they can return before the end of the day. I want to speak to them one last time. Not for a formal interview, just to... have a conversation.”

It would be weird if he said he would like to look at them, right?

”It’s already almost three,” Marcus said, frowning. ”Office hours are closing soon. Do we really need to do that?”

”We do,” Gray said firmly.

Caesar raised a brow.

”You seriously want to bring them back now? What are you hoping to get out of this?”

Gray looked at both of them, then at Ms. Lopez.

”I just need to see something,” he said.

Marcus leaned back in his chair and exchanged a glance with Caesar.

”You’re going to make your decision based on a gut feeling?” Caesar asked.

Gray smiled faintly.

”No,” he said. ”I’m going to make it based on the right one. So can we call them?”

Ms. Lopez didn’t wait. She nodded once and turned to step out of the room, her phone already in hand.

Marcus chuckled under his breath and muttered, ”This is either brilliant or completely unnecessary.”

”Let’s hope it’s the first one,” Caesar said.

Gray looked at them and smiled.

”Just trust me on this one.”