6The Offer
Two more weeks had passed when Brian once again walked into Crossroads. It was a Tuesday happy hour, so every seat at the bar was filled except one towards the middle. He immediately grabbed it and sat down.
“Well, look what the cat dragged in . . .” Jack immediately came over to him and extended his hand. “You had an interview, a couple of weeks ago, right?”
“Right,” Brian answered.
“Well?” Jack fired back after a short uncomfortable pause.
“Well . . . I didn’t get it.” Brian’s shoulders slumped forward. “They said it was a tough decision. That I was very qualified, but ultimately the deciding factor between me and another finalist were the intangibles. A gut feeling like the other person would fit in better.”
“What do you mean?” Jack asked.
Brian took a deep breath.
“I had prepared all my answers about where I went to school, team sports, work to date at my last job to show my ability to work in a team environment, my job experience to date . . . even that weird question they always ask about ‘what is your biggest weakness?’ I was prepared.”
Jack nodded.
“The interview was going great. And then the interviewer asked me if I had any questions.”
“And what did you say?”
“Well, I asked how much the job paid, how many weeks vacation we got, what kind of office would I be in. Stuff like that. I wanted to make it seem like I was already there. You know, like already part of the company.”
“Hmm . . . ,” Jack stroked his chin.
“When I got the call and asked the woman why ...
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