The Woman He Mocked Was His Final Interviewer

Over the holiday weekend, I took the high-speed train to another city to serve as an interviewer for the civil service exam.

I'd barely sat down when a girl leaned over. Hey, can we swap seats? I want to sit next to my boyfriend.

I pressed a hand to my stomach and shook my head. Sorry, my stomach's acting up. I'd rather not move.

Her expression soured instantly. "Wait, are you into my boyfriend? Is that why you won't switch? So you can sit next to him?"

"My boyfriend is going to be a government official! I've seen plenty of women like you, trying to latch onto a man with a secure career."

The boyfriend chimed in right on cue. "Hey, miss, don't be like that. I already have a girlfriend."

I almost laughed. I was about to tell them my kid was already in high school.

Before the words left my mouth, the guy grabbed my arm and yanked me out of my seat.

The girl dropped into it, crossed her legs, and smirked. "See? Would've been so much easier if you'd just cooperated from the start."

They settled in side by side, chatting away like nothing had happened.

She scrolled through her phone, voice bright with excitement. "Your interview's tomorrow, babe. You've totally got this!"

I looked at her, my voice flat and cold. "Don't worry. Your boyfriend definitely won't pass."

"What did you just say?"

Her voice shot up about three octaves.

I held her gaze and repeated myself, word by word. "I said, someone like him will never pass."

Before the last syllable faded, she shot to her feet, jabbed a finger at me, and addressed the entire train car.

"Everybody, look at this! This woman wanted to sit next to my boyfriend Glen James, and when I wouldn't let her, she cursed him and said he'd fail his exam!"

A dozen pairs of eyes swiveled toward us all at once.

I frowned. "I never wanted to sit next to him. Get your story straight."

"Oh, you didn't? Then why wouldn't you swap seats when we asked?"

Her logic was so absurd it almost made me laugh. "Why should I swap just because you want me to?"

Her voice climbed even higher. "I don't care! If you won't swap, you're deliberately keeping us apart. You did it on purpose!"

"Your seating arrangement isn't my problem," I said. "My stomach hurts and I didn't want to move. Is that so hard to understand?"

"You're just doing this to mess with us!" Her face flushed a deep red. "You refuse to swap seats, then you curse my boyfriend's exam results. You're sick in the head!"

I opened my mouth to respond, but she steamrolled right over me.

"Look at you, riding the train dressed like that. Skirt that short? You're obviously trying to seduce men."

"What I wear is my business."

"Your business?" She let out a sharp laugh. "Please. You're trying to get your hooks into my boyfriend. He's about to become a government official. I've seen your type a hundred times, always sniffing around men with stable careers!"

A middle-aged woman in the next row spoke up. "Honey, cursing someone's exam results is a bit much."

"Exactly." A man across the aisle nodded along.

I blinked. "I didn't"

"Didn't what?" The girl's voice turned shrill. "You said it to his face, that he wouldn't pass. The whole car heard you!"

The boyfriend finally spoke, unhurried, chin tilted up just slightly. "How could I possibly not pass? General management position at the Ashford City Health Bureau. I placed first on the written exam, thirteen points above second place."

Something clicked. The general management position at the Health Bureau. That was the exact position I'd been assigned to interview for.

I studied him more carefully. I hadn't cursed him. But after years of conducting these interviews, I could spot the type. He couldn't keep his composure. Candidates like that rarely made it through.

I kept my mouth shut.

The girl kept gloating, her voice piercing enough to cut glass. "Did you hear that? Thirteen points above second place! He's practically already got the job!"

She took a step closer. "Meanwhile, you're out here all dolled up, prancing around in public. You're just looking for some man to be your meal ticket, aren't you?"

"Especially a catch like my boyfriend. You'd be crazy not to throw yourself at him, right?"

I took a deep breath. "I told you. I wouldn't look twice at your boyfriend."

"Wouldn't look twice?" The girl sneered, hands on her hips. "Then why'd you jinx him? You're getting on your knees and apologizing to him. Right now."

"On my knees?"

I thought I'd misheard her.

"That's right. On your knees." The girl folded her arms across her chest, chin tilted high.

"You cursed my boyfriend and said he'd fail. Do you have any idea how long he's been preparing for this position? A vicious woman like you needs to be taught a lesson before she learns to keep her mouth shut."

I was stunned.

Forty-some years on this earth, over twenty of them working in the public sector, and I had never encountered anyone this unreasonable.

"You sure about that?" I asked.

"What's the matter? Scared now?" The girl sneered and turned to the other passengers. "Everyone, tell me I'm wrong. She cursed someone's exam results. Doesn't she owe him an apology?"

"An apology, sure, but making someone kneel is a bit much," someone murmured.

"Yeah, the kneeling part is going too far."

The girl's expression shifted instantly, her voice cracking with a teary quiver:

"You don't know what my boyfriend sacrificed for this! He studied until two in the morning every single night. He lost twenty pounds. And she thinks she can destroy all of that with one sentence?"

The boy lowered his head on cue, looking dejected.

The mood in the car shifted again.

"Well, that does sound rough."

"The civil service exam is brutal these days. Cursing someone like that really is rotten."

"Making her kneel is a stretch, but she should at least apologize."

Listening to all of this, my chest felt like it had a stone lodged in it.

"I'm not apologizing." My voice came out cold. "And I'm certainly not kneeling."

The girl's eyes went wide. She whipped out her phone and aimed it straight at my face. "Come on, everyone, get a good look at this woman! Dressed like that to seduce someone else's boyfriend, and when he wouldn't bite, she cursed his exam. Now she won't even kneel and apologize!"

She advanced step by step, phone raised. "I'm recording this. Let's make you famous!"

Instinctively, I lifted my hand to shield my face.

That was when the train attendant pushed through the crowd.

"What's going on here?"

The girl switched masks in an instant, pointing at me with a wounded, pitiful expression:

"My boyfriend and I just wanted to sit together. We asked her to swap seats, and she refused. Fine, whatever. But then she cursed my boyfriend and said he'd fail the civil service exam! His test is tomorrow!"

She even dabbed at her eyes when she finished. Whether the tears were real was anyone's guess.

The attendant frowned and turned to me. "Ma'am, is that what happened?"

I took a deep breath, pulled my ticket from my bag, and handed it over.

"See for yourself whether I was the one who switched."

The attendant took the ticket, glanced at the seat number, then looked at where I was actually sitting. She paused.

"My assigned seat is over there." I pointed to the seat the girl had taken. "They grabbed it from me."

"I did not!" the girl shrieked immediately. "She got up on her own!"

"Your boyfriend pulled me out of my seat." My voice was perfectly even. "Check the security cameras."

The attendant looked at me, then at the couple. Two seconds of silence. Then she turned to me:

"Ms. Finch, would you like me to contact the transit police?"

The color drained from the girl's face before the words had fully left the attendant's mouth.

"No, don't call the police!" Her voice went soft in an instant, eyes rimming red. "We were wrong, we were totally wrong! My boyfriend has his exam tomorrow. He can't have something like this on his record!"

The boy panicked too, scrambling to his feet. "We're sorry, we're so sorry. It was our fault. My girlfriend has a temper. Please, ma'am, be the bigger person here."

The passengers around us started chiming in.

"Let it go, let it go. It's not that big a deal." An older man waved his hand dismissively.

"Honey, don't push it too far. They already apologized." The woman who'd been taking their side earlier had softened her tone.

"Exactly. Live and let live. The kid's got an exam tomorrow." The man across the aisle joined in.

"Come on, young lady. That's enough. Don't ruin someone's future over this."

One after another.

But not a single one of them mentioned the part where she'd demanded I get on my knees and apologize.

I glanced at the girl. Her head was down, shoulders trembling, fingers clenched tight around the hem of her boyfriend's jacket.

A wave of exhaustion washed over me.

Forget it. They were young. There was no point in dragging this out.

"It's fine." I tucked my ticket away and turned to the attendant. "Drop it."

The attendant nodded, visibly relieved. "Alright then, everyone settle down. Let's not disturb the other passengers."

The girl pulled the boy back into their seats without lifting her head.

They didn't bother me for the rest of the trip.

The next morning at seven, I was buying a bagel from a stand outside the exam venue.

"Well, well! Look who it is."

That voice.

I looked up.

The couple from the train was standing right behind me. The girl looked me up and down. "What are you doing here?"

I said nothing and took my bagel.

She stepped closer, her voice climbing. "I'm talking to you. Are you following us?"

"Me?"

"You tried to seduce my boyfriend on the train yesterday and failed, so now you've tracked us all the way to the exam site?" Her voice kept rising. "Are you out of your mind?"

"I didn't."

"You didn't?" The girl let out a cold laugh. "Then tell me, what are you doing at an exam venue? Don't even try to say you're here to take the test. Who do you think you're fooling?"

The boy frowned, impatience bleeding through his voice. "Lady, I made myself perfectly clear yesterday. I have a girlfriend. What's the point of stalking us?"

People nearby were starting to stare.

I took a deep breath. I absolutely could not tell them I was an examiner.

If I did, today's interview wouldn't be able to proceed normally.

"I'm here to take the exam," I said.

The girl blinked. Then she laughed, loud and sharp.

"You? Taking the exam?" She clapped a hand over her mouth and turned to the boy. "Babe, did you hear that? She says she's here for the exam!"

The boy laughed too.

"Come on, lady," he said. "Do you even know what exam this is? It's the civil service interview. Did you even pass the written test?"

"That's none of your business," I said flatly.

The girl looked at me with open contempt.

"I don't think you're here for any exam. You're here fishing for a man with a government salary, aren't you? Throw on a blazer and try to sneak into the venue, all so you can land yourself some guy with a secure paycheck?"

She stepped closer, eyes raking over me from head to toe.

"Let me tell you something. I've seen plenty of women like you, trying to latch onto a man with a stable career. Take a good look in the mirror first."

The boy wrapped an arm around his girlfriend and shook his head with a smile. "Forget it, babe. Don't waste your breath on her. I'm heading in."

"Go ahead." The girl kissed him on the cheek. "I'll wait for you right here. We'll celebrate when you come out."

The boy walked toward the exam hall entrance. After a couple of steps, he turned back and shot me one last mocking look.

The girl stood there, watching me.

"Take my advice and give it up." She flicked her hair over her shoulder. "My boyfriend is about to become a civil servant. A woman like you can't even get past the front door."

I didn't wait for her to finish. I turned and walked toward the exam hall entrance.

"Where do you think you're going?" she called after me. "You're actually going in? Like they'd even let you through?"

I didn't look back. A security guard stepped in front of me. "Badge, please."

I pulled my credentials from my bag and handed them over.

He glanced down, then straightened up. "Go right in."

I walked into the examination building.

Behind me, the girl's voice carried over.

"She's actually here to take the exam?"

I didn't look back.

The interview started shortly after.

The room was so quiet you could hear the hum of the air conditioning.

And I was today's lead interviewer.

"Candidate number one, please enter."

A staff member opened the door, and a young woman with a ponytail walked in, her voice trembling before she even spoke.

I listened to her answers and made notes on the scoring sheet.

Then came number two, number three, number four.

Each one more nervous than the last, but at least they all managed to finish their responses.

"Candidate number five, please enter."

The staff member stepped out to bring him in.

The door swung open. It was the boy from the train.

He lifted his head and looked toward the panel.

Our eyes met.

The smile froze on his face. The admission badge slipped from his fingers and hit the floor with a sharp clap.

"What are you doing here?"

His voice came out thin, unmoored. His lips were shaking.

"Candidate number five." My voice was perfectly even. "Please introduce yourself."

"I... I..." He opened his mouth, eyes locked on me. "Why are you sitting there?"