Emma was sitting on the porch with her laptop on her lap. She was searching for jobs as she was tired of the current one. It was 12 am and the sky was full of stars. Emma could hear crickets from a distance and she really wanted to sleep since she had a rough day at the office, but she was determined to find an alternative. Doing celebrity interviews and knowing about their likes and dislikes didn’t interest her. She wanted to move a step forward; somewhere she had always dreamed of being. There are more pressing problems going on in the world than knowing about the lives of celebrities– She had been thinking since the day she took the job she was currently employed in then. After graduating in journalism two years ago, Emma had taken a job of hosting a celebrity show. Since she was a fresh graduate and it was the best option she had back then so she couldn’t go against it, no matter how much she abhorred it. She had always dreamed of the sparkling start of her career as a professional journalist, and wanted to cover the critical issues of the world. After dropping her CV at various email addresses she found through searching, she finally felt dizzy. It was 1 am and she was supposed to be at the office by 7:30 am the next morning.
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She got up at 5 am the next morning, changed quickly, grabbed a sandwich, and left the house. She was completely unprepared for the interview she was going to conduct that day. There wasn’t a single question in her mind. The clock was showing 5:45 am when she reached her office. She took a chair and began jotting down important questions that came to her mind. It was again a television actor she was going to interview. She had mastered this skills interviewing. It had become her thing then, but she didn’t want that. Only within thirty minutes, she prepared for a live interview of forty minutes. By 6:30 am she was ready for the makeover. She was in her worst condition; the lividness was visible on her face due to the lack of sleep and exhaustive searching on the laptop. She had the best makeup artist in town and it was a dream job for many, but not for her. The makeup did the best to hide all her facial flaws. By 7 am, she was ready with her team to leave the office. Their appointment for Spector Barren’s house was booked for 7:30 am. He was a busy man of course; they had to be there on time.
“Hello, is this Emma speaking?” Emma received a call right when she was stepping out of the limousine.
“Yes, this is Emma.” Emma replied; guessing who can call her at that hour.
“This is Jack from ABC news. I received your CV a few days ago. Can you come over to have a few quick words with us?” It was a call from a local news channel. Emma suddenly got excited.
“Oh, sure. When and where do you want me to come?” For a minute, she forgot she was here for an interview with a celebrity. Thousands of fans used to wait for her every week, and the person for the interview that week was long been waited.
“I’ll text you the address and timings right after the call. Okay?” A man on the other side of the phone had a polite accent.
“Yes. Fine.” A sudden feeling of excitement permeated her body. She became even more uninterested in that day’s show.
“Emma, should we go in now?” Yachel, the director and Emma’s good friend, asked her. He was in a hurry.
“Yeah. Sure.” Emma frowned at Yachel. Her mind was stuck on the call she just received.
The interview went flawlessly; another successful episode of Emma’s career. She received appreciations from her team members. They didn’t know she was preparing to quit. Yachel was a good friend of hers, but she didn’t want to disclose it to him even. Emma always believed in keeping the next move private. It was one of the reasons of her success. She had to be at the ABC office within two hours. Her makeover was fine, but she needed to change and dress more formally. She asked Yachel for an early leave; feigning a severe headache. The pallidness on her face hid the lie successfully.
“Rest enough before coming tomorrow. You look horrible. I will contact a few figures for the next interview till then and see what I can arrange.” Yachel briefed her. Emma nodded and left in excitement.
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“So Emma you have been working since two years there. I can see that your current salary package is very attractive. Why do you want to quit this job?” The interviewer was the same person who called her. He was a good looking man with broad shoulders and stubbles on his face that made him look even more handsome. For a moment, Emma got stuck at him.
“I don’t enjoy doing this. As a journalist, I should be covering some serious issues that are going on in the world.” Emma was saying matter-of-factly.
“I see. What pressing problems you want to highlight, Miss Emma?” His husky voice was making him even more attractive to Emma.
“There are wars going on in the world. We hear news of murders and killings everyday and we are just fine with it. If I cannot do anything to stop it, I think I can at least speak up for them. There are a handsome amount of people like me who are already doing celebrity interviews. I want to do something for the stricken people.” Emma was replying even more confidently. She had impressed the interviewer.
“I am impressed, Miss Emma. But I am afraid we have a weekend show for movies. We cannot hire you for the job you are asking for at the moment. Would you like to join us? I can assure you that the salary package will be more attractive than your current one.” The interviewer asked monotonously. Within seconds, Emma’s exhilaration converted into dismay.
“Sorry, it’s not about the money as you can see my current salary is enough for me. I have a dream of doing something that would be useful. I am sorry, but I cannot take this job.” Emma was standing up, preparing to leave.
“We will call you when we have a job of your interest.” The interviewer assured her. It did nothing to lessen her disappointment.
“Thank you.” She left, disappointedly.
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Emma’s distress was growing into frustration. She was loathing her job even more with each passing day. Watching news on the television and applying for the new jobs after coming home from work became her routine.
The number of deaths in Syria has grown to one hundred and fifty in the past three days. People have just one question in their minds, whether it was going to stop or not? The residents of Syria are fed up of the years old conflict. They want a solution now, but who is there with a solution? –Emma was watching BBC news. This is where I belong. That’s my thing. She used to think whenever she watched news of Palestine-Israel or Syria.
She went to her room, turned on her laptop, and started searching for the history of the war in Syria. She had made her decision. She did a thorough research that night; from the reason of war to the maps of the region, she left nothing. This is very complicated and this is the best topic to work on. Why didn’t I find it earlier? – She thought. After searching for almost four hours, she felt tired. The next thing she decided was looking for a platform to speak her voice, but, required more searching. Where should she go? She opened a new tab and typed most famous news channels in Pakistan. A bundle of options appeared on the screen. She continued researching for the next hour. After that, she finally went to bed. She was determined to take her next step.
