A Surprise Interview

[Drew Conner]

Most corporations had entire sectors dedicated to the interviewing, selection and handling of interns.  Interns in the corporate world fulfilled more duties than simply getting senior employees coffee and making copies.  It served as the farm system for the company itself.  Promising interns were often offered entry level positions and placed on a fast track to advancement.  Armed with knowledge of the inner workings of the office, a well-educated intern-turned-employee could prove a valuable tool as the company moved into the future.  Drew was well aware of this, which was why Conner Industries and its subsidiaries had robust internship programs in place to recruit from.  This, however, was no normal interview.

There was a very clear reason, even though Poppy Lockwood  hadn't been told as much, that this particular interview wasn't being held with the executive in charge of interns nor located in any sort of corporate office.  This interview was taking place within the almost frighteningly secure confines of the Conner residence.  The car she had been herded into the back seat of stopped at a gate just outside the property where the driver, who'd remained silent during the entire trip handed over an ID card before being waved through by a uniformed guard carrying an assault rifle slung over one shoulder.  It couldn't be said that Drew didn't take his home's security to ridiculous levels.

The car came to a stop in front of the large, main house and the door opened, allowing Poppy to climb out.  A stoic, suited man gestured for her to follow.  "Sorry for the secrecy, Miss Lockwood."  He said, offering the young woman a polite, almost apologetic smile as he led her into the mammoth home.  "Mister Conner's placed a great deal of emphasis on security these days, I hope you understand.  I'm Alistair Holmes ."  He said.  "Mister Conner's head of security.  He's waiting for you."

Once inside, Alistair led Poppy through the house, quickly turning down a long hallway Drew, himself, was moving along.  With his phone glued to the side of his face, Drew's eyes caught the pair as they stepped into the hallway and he issued a low sigh.  "I have to go."  He said into the phone, stopping in front of Alistair and Poppy, lifting a finger and giving a nod.  "I've got a meeting.  I'll pick Isaac up when I'm finished."  A small smile touched his lips as he spoke.  "Right.  Love you, bye."  And with that he ended the call and pocketed his phone.  "Miss Lockwood."  Drew said, putting on a polite smile as he extended a hand.  "It's a pleasure to finally meet you.  I'm sorry for keeping you in the dark, can never be too careful."  He gave a short nod in Alistair's direction, causing the bodyguard to step away and head off until needed again.

"Come on in and have a seat."  Drew turned on his heel and stepped into a large office, gesturing toward one of the chairs sitting in front of a lavish, wooden desk.  "I'm not the one usually conducting these interviews so I hope you don't mind if it's a little informal."  He rounded the desk and took a seat in his high-backed chair.

[Poppy Lockwood]

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Poppy Lockwood sat in the car bored out of her mind. She knew she had an interview to intern in Conner Industries. It was one of the requirements for her course so when she knew they were looking for interns, she applied. Conner Industries was a major deal and the fact that she got shortlisted for the interview, it became a bigger deal to her. There were some from her course she knew that were not as lucky as she had been.

That morning, she dressed simple. Jeans, long sleeves, a jacket and a pair of very comfy sneakers. Her spirits were up and ready for the interview. But when she reached the building, she was led into a car. Poppy was skeptical at first but the car had the corporation's sign so she went it anyway much to her wariness. The driver would not say anything. Zipped. Not a single word. He would not even reply to her greeting, or turn on the radio either when she had asked. She told him he was probably good in poker because of his poker face, but even that did not get her any reaction.

The assault rifle slung on the man at the guard house did not go unnoticed by Poppy. Is he in some big scandal? She was pretty ignorant about these things. Once the house waa in view, she was relieved to know she was not led to a prison. Poppy followed the head of security, into the house. Her nerves had settled -- just a little bit -- at the sight of Alistair's welcoming face, but it came back when she realized the owner of the corporation himself was interviewing her.

When Drew Conner came into her field of vision, she felt a little undeniably frightened. Poppy gave herself two choices;

1. Stay put.

2. Run and risk security with their rifles.

This interview was very imporant to her. She wanted to nail it and get the internship. So her feet stayed where they were and her hand shook his. You got this. Without much experience with interviews, the brunette was nervous. "Hi...Mister Conner. Please, the pleasure is all mine." Poppy wondered what the business man had to be careful about, but it was not her place to question it. "Totally, you never know when someone wants to crash in your birthday party." Joking? Was that even cool?

Poppy took a seat and kept her eyes on the man in order not to miss a word he said. But sometimes her eyes darted around the room noting the clock, other chairs, etc. Her mind tried to work out the pros and cons of being interviewed by Drew Conner. Surely, it was a good thing. At least she hoped it was. "Informality is fine. As long as you promise not to shoot me if I fail this interview. This goes for Alistair or any one of your men. Then all is good."

[Drew Conner]

While it was hardly a factor of arrogance Drew was used to the reaction he received from in such settings. He wasn't particularly fond of people being nervous around him. Even with his unorthodox upbringing having molded him to seamlessly transition from student to head of a corporate power there remained something very strange about people finding a 22 year old intimidating.

"Relax." He said, lifting a hand to Poppy. A thin smirk tugged at the corner of Drew's lips. "No one's getting shot and if I believed in any way you'd fail this interview, you wouldn't be here." The confidence not only in his own station but also of the young woman's potential was evident in his voice.

Upon settling into his place behind the desk, Drew pulled a folder to him and slowly opened it. "I do owe you an explanation." He said, lifting his eyes from the pages in the folder to the young woman. "You should be meeting the head of our intern programs, though I'm sorry to inform you I've no intention of interviewing you for an internship with Conner Industries, per se. You're part of a select few candidates I've tabbed to interview for a handful of positions acting as my personal assistants. I'm hoping knowing you're one of only four being interviewed for this shows my confidence and interest in you." His eyes never left Poppy. She garnered his complete attention even though he didn't study her with a scrutinizing gaze. "Now, if you would, tell me why you'd like to work for Conner Industries and what can you offer us that no one else can?"

[Poppy Lockwood]

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Her mind made up that she was more intimidated by the tight and high security of the house rather than the man of the house himself. The fact that he told her to relax made her even less relaxed. But when she found out she was one of the selecteds, Poppy was delighted. Now that helped her to relax and boost her confidence.

With her ears perked up, she listened carefully to his words. She liked that Drew Conner looked at her every time he spoke to her. That way, her eyes managed to stop darting around and she could focus. And then came the question she dreaded.

Dun dun dun. That seemed like the most famous kind question ever and yet, Poppy never knew the right answer. So instead of thinking too much about it -- like she rarely does anyway -- she blurted the first thing that popped into her head. "Why don't you hire me an find out?" She chuckled. "Well that would be my answer but after answering something similar on a college application and did not get accepted, I think it's got to be more than that. Look," she said as she used her power to turn off the gravity around the folder in his hand and floated it closer to her.

"Huh? I can do that." Laughing at her own joke, she stopped messing around and the file dropped onto the table. True to her personality, that was such an impulsive move. "Okay, I like to work for it cause it's great. Which I'm pretty sure you know. So instead of giving you praises you've already heard, I'm gonna be a lil narcissist." She smiled and pointed to herself hoping it did not blow up in her face.

"You see, getting this would definitely help with my course, I'll be honest. And the company is a huge success. So only the best I'm sure would be there. I like being one of those. Furthermore, personally, I am not different from others. I can tell you I'm a hard worker but everyone says that. So, Mister Conner, whatever your people can do, I will do it better. If I can't, then I'll learn and never quit. Whatever it is. I intend to be the very best."

[Drew Conner]

There was no hiding how unimpressed Drew was with the poor attempt at humor. He understood what Poppy was trying to do in being unique and remaining loose though it was apparent it wasn't going to fly. He scrutinized Poppy with a wary eye but remained quiet and allowed her to continue.

Thankfully the young woman did manage to make up some ground the longer she spoke. It felt as though she gained traction and charged forward, elaborating her answer with increasing confidence and focus. Drew valued enthusiasm and self assuredness far more than he did humorous challenges to hire someone he truthfully could do without.

Drew nodded as he listened. Poppy certainly had finished strong and that was what salvaged the interview. "Okay." He said with a nod as he scooped up a pen from his desktop and scribbled a couple quick notes on one of the documents. "Aside from knowing we're successful, how much do you know about Conner Industries? Are you familiar with our presence in and around Kalispell? How we got our start?"

[Poppy Lockwood]

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Once she had finished, she was glad to see he had a pleasant look instead of the wariness he looked earlier when she made her little joke. Phew. Poppy should have known that facts always most times win over humor when it came to these situations. Whilst it was fun being a smart ass, sometimes it was better to just answer the god damn question.

Going in both directions, she now had a rough idea on which direction she should be heading. She waited for the next question to come and when it did, she took her time to answer. Realizing she had not done her homework thoroughly, Poppy decided not to fabricate a lie but instead be honest about it. If she blew the interview, at least she was truthful whilst she was at it.

"I'll be honest with you, I do not know a lot about the background. Just what I read last minute..." she quoted a couple lines from the article she read a few nights ago. Poppy continued, "There are a few corporations under Conner Industries, like a military and research facility. Oh, one in the entertainment industry as well I believe. You have branches in what over 10 countries? Possibly more."

[Drew Conner]

Drew studied Poppy, carefully scrutinizing every word as she spoke. He didn't express his disappointment in her lack of knowledge for the corporation she was applying for as it showed poor preparation. He knew immediately that if she had been up for a traditional internship position the executive in charge that would have been conducting this interview would have crossed her name off the list right then and there. And yet, there was something still intriguing about her. Something with potential Drew suspected could be nurtured into something special. For better or worse, Drew tended to follow his gut in these cases.

"If you'll allow me to be candid, Miss Lockwood." Drew closed the folder and leaned back in his chair. He was through with the formalities. He'd never cared much for them to begin with. His sister, Eve, was far more into such things than he'd ever been. "Mister Price is the executive overseeing our internship program and I can tell you for a fact he would have ended this interview already." He paused a moment to let this sink in before giving a faint shrug of his shoulders. "Which is why you're here, talking to me instead. I need someone who's organized, flexible, intelligent and honest. What I don't need is someone who wants to come in here and throw numbers and figures they read off Wikipedia at me." Drew was now veering drastically away from the norm. There were still candidates yet to interview, a number of other factors to mull over before a proper decision could be made. "I appreciate your candor but there's one thing I need to know before we continued." Drew eyed Poppy skeptically as he leaned forward, folding his hands together and resting them on the desk in front of him. "Do you like dogs?"

[Poppy Lockwood]

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Her lack of preparation worried her a little. Drew Conner's clam and collected demeanor was a contributing factor to it. Perhaps she should not have been so honest but that doubt was immediately brushed away. If Popy had managed to get the job with a lie, she was positive she would not perform as expected therefore losing it not long after. By being truthful, this man would make his judgements based on who she was and the girl knew there was no other way she would have it.

As he spoke, a laugh escaped her lips. The brunette was glad that -- if she aced the interview -- she would get the chance to work with someone as wise as Drew. He had his wits about him in not qualifying someone by how they impressed him with facts -- which he probably already knew -- they could easily get off on public websites. Interviewed by Drew Conner was better than whoever Mister Price was.

"Thank you," she said with a smile. His next question certainly threw her off guard. "Come again, dogs?" It was a rhetorical question, she let it sank in. Briefly she wondered why he had asked such a question. Was that what it meant by being one of his personal assistants -- being his dog sitter from time to time?

"I have nothing against them. They're fun to have around. Like any other animal companion I guess." She thought of Coca-Cola back in the dorm. Oh how she loved her cat. "Just thinking out loud here, am I being interviewed for the position of a dog sitter? Because if I am, no offence to you but...I believe I'm more than just that." Depiste how successful the man was, Poppy did not appreciate if he thought that was all to it of her.

[Drew Conner]

A thin smirk touched Drew's lips. It extended all the way into his dark eyes which gleamed with a certain mischievous light. There was something boyishly innocent about the expression and yet it seemed calm, in control, almost arrogant but not quite. "I travel a lot." Drew said. There was no hiding the amusement Poppy's response had given him even if he didn't quite burst into laughter. "More often than not I bring my dog, Argos, with me. He'd be here right now if he wasn't taking a walk with my son. I don't need anyone to look after him, he'll just be around a lot and it's easier if you get along."

Drew leaned back in his chair and studied Poppy. He often found he could glean more about a person's true intentions from watching their reactions than the words that came from their mouths. Lost in everything he'd just said about his dog was that, in so many words, was that he'd all but offered the internship position to Poppy already. It was a bold, possibly brash decision but he hadn't pushed his family's company to previously unfathomable new heights by playing it safe. Poppy had a personality and a certain quality about her he found intriguing. She wasn't going to be asked to oversee multi-billion dollar projects just yet. Drew could stand to take a chance on a wildcard now and again.

[Poppy Lockwood]

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The successful businessman remained calm and collected but as he spoke, the slight hint of amusement in his tone did not go undetected by the nineteen year old. From her time with adults, -- mostly the ones to tell her off for pranking -- Poppy knew the change of tone was a good thing. At least that was what her optimistic side was betting on. Drew seemed like someone who had some sense of humor and was not Mr. Serious all the time, unlike the counselor in the academy she had the displeasure of meeting every few weeks.

The girl was relieved to know that she was not in the position of a dog sitter. He painted the image that if she was to take on the job, she would be travelling with him and his pet. To which Poppy found pretty cool of Drew to bring his dog along instead of leaving him behind in someone else's care. "Yeah, totally fine with it," she replied with a smile.

As he studied her, the brunette realized some time during their interview the tension in her shoulders had eased away. Even under his gaze, Poppy felt relaxed. Perhaps from what he had said, it sounded like she had the internship, but that did not let her get her hopes up just yet.

"So what type of a dog is Argos?" she asked out of curiosity. She was not sure if that was wise for the interviewed to question but it was out there already. Oh well.

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| OOC Note: Discontinued but canon. |