"Hey Simon, is that you?" Mom, calls as I return home from a run.
"Yeah, Mom, it's me," I call back. "Have you seen my phone?"
I'm waiting in nervous excitement for a call about a job that I recently attended an interview for. It's almost five in the evening and they said that I would hear back by the end of the day. The anticipation has been torturing me for days. I went for a run, as a way of killing some time and to take my mind off things for a while. The only issue being that I forgot to take my phone with me when I left.
"I haven't," Mom calls back. "But I thought I heard something vibrating a little while ago."
"Fuck!" I exclaim.
I rush upstairs to my room, as that's the last place I can remember having it. I burst in and immediately start searching the most likely places it could be.
"Come on!" I say anxiously. "Where is it?"
I can't see it anywhere. I can't see it anywhere, so I start pulling my bedsheets off and throwing stuff onto the floor in a frantic search. Mom suddenly appears in the doorway.
"Well?" She asks expectantly.
"I can't find my phone!" I cry.
"I think it might have been downstairs when I heard it," she replies.
"Ah!" I reply in sudden realisation. "Kitchen!"
I jump up and rush towards the doorway, almost knocking Mom over as I barrel my way past her. This isn't just my first job, it's my future. The company isn't just employing me, they're going to train me up and put me through all my certifications. It's the kind of business that if you give them five years, they'll give you a career for life. I'd never been sold on the idea of going to university, and I've been pinning all my hopes on this coming through.
I race down the stairs, stumbling on the third step from the bottom, but manage to save myself just in time. I rush towards the kitchen almost taking the hinges off the door as I burst through it. I hurriedly scan the usual places where I would've left it, spotting it lying on the table top. I quickly rush over and grab it.
The second I press the fingerprint sensor to open my phone I see the icon for missed calls along with an answerphone message. I quickly press the icon for answerphone and press the dial button.
Within seconds the automated voice starts, though it immediately begins to frustrate me as it slowly makes its way through its dialog. I repeatedly press the number on my keypad for messages, but it's too soon. And I have to wait in agony as the recording continues.
Finally, after what feels like a lifetime, the recording ends and begins to list the options available to me. I press the number one on my keypad, and the recording pauses briefly.".
The recording slowly says, "You received a call today at fifteen forty p.m." It then proceeds to slowly read out the phone number.
"Why?" I exclaim in frustration. "Just play the fucking message!"
Finally, the recording finishes reciting the number.
"Hi, Simon, it's Maxwell Richardson from ITNRP. I was hoping to catch you before the weekend. If you could call me back on this number before half five today that'd be great. Thanks."
The message fills me with hope but I do my best to hold it inside. It could still be a rejection. I immediately hang up and dial the number from my missed calls. The phone begins to ring. It rings several times, each ring heightening my almost debilitating anxiety.".
"Hello?" The familiar voice says.
"Hi, Maxwell, this is Simon Thomas. I received a message for me to call you," I nervously respond.
"Yes, Simon," he replies. "How are you?"
"I'm good thanks," I reply, almost ready to burst.
"Good...look I won't beat about the bush. I'm delighted inform you that you've been successful in your application and we're looking forward to having you join us...Should you still want to that is?" he says triumphantly.
"Of course, I do," I reply. "Thank you."
Relief and joy surge through me. My mind blanks, and the rest of the call becomes a blur. Luckily, he says he'll send me an email with all the details. I thank him one last time and hang up the call.
"Fucking get in!" I shout before letting out a loud cheer.
Mom appears in the doorway, sporting a huge smile.
"Did you get it?" She asks hopefully.
"Yeah!" I shout in glee.
"Oh my God!" She exclaims as she rushes towards me, throwing her arms around me. She gives me a big squeeze as she jumps for joy. "I'm so proud of you!"
"Thanks mom," I reply.
"I knew you could do it," she replies.
"I know," I reply sarcastically.
"We're going to have to celebrate," she replies.
"Yeah," I reply.
"How about a BBQ tomorrow?" She replies. "Get your friends over and have a good piss up. Yeah?"
"Sounds good to me," I reply.
"I'm so proud of you," she shrieks in a giddy voice.
Mom and I open a few drinks to celebrate. Later, I head out with my friends, and the celebrations go late into the night.
The next day mom and I head to the shops to buy in the supplies for the afternoon. Mom goes all out, spending hundreds on packs of different kinds of meats and several cases of beer, easily more than we'd be able to drink in a day. Add in the snacks, we barely have enough room in her car to fit it all.
We arrive home just after half eleven and begin to unload the car. It's a perfect day for a BBQ, the suns out, barely a cloud in the sky or a breath of wind and the temperatures climbing by the minute. I carry a couple of cases of beer into the house before making my way back to the car. I pass Mom, who's heading to the house with a few packs of meat.
"Hi, Simon," Mrs. Taylor says with a smile as she passes.
"Hi, Mrs. Taylor," I reply.
"How many times Simon," she replies in a disapproving tone. "Call me Leanne."
"Sorry, Leanne," I reply.
"Are you having a party?" she asks with a kind smile on her face.
"Yes, we are," mom interrupts as she arrives back at the car. "Simons just got a new job."
"Oh, wow," she replies, "Congratulations"
"Thanks," I reply.
"And here's me thinking that you were still at school," she replies.
