The Power Of Destiny - Short Story
‘We still have a lot of time, let’s show Lillie the place we used to work’ Gary said and Martin applauded. ‘Great idea!’ he said.
‘Do you know Lilly that before Concerto bought us, we used to be a small friendly company and we had an outstanding office in the City?’ Martin asked.‘Really? I knew that Bico was once a different company as we still sit in a separate office area and have separate management and finances, but had no idea about location.’ Lilly said quite interested in the topic.
Gary, Martin and Lilly were three colleagues working for the same company located in Canary Wharf. Bico was supporting financial institutions in market trading and Lilly joined them less than a year ago. In fact she joined Concerto, but the name Bico was still widely used as Concerto acquired Bico less than two years earlier so they were still in the integration process. Bico department wasn’t big but most people were working with each other for quite a long time so they knew their products very well.
Bico used to be a great small company where people mattered a lot and they could achieve plenty. If they worked hard they could expect high financial rewards on products successful releases and they used to go to the pub together every Friday. There was also a social fund used to order pizzas or other snacks for the long meetings.
Unfortunately things started to change where they joined Concerto. They become a step brother nobody really cared about but expected great results. No more pizzas, no substantial bonuses and the only time they had social gatherings on the company cost where when someone was joining or leaving the company.
And the latter was happening more often these days. Great people have been feeling they are not rewarded properly for their expertise and hard work and started to think that maybe they would be better off somewhere else. The head hunters’ calls they used to reject were more welcome these days and one after another was giving his monthly notice.
So Gary, Martin and Lilly were just heading to another leaving do. This was for Marie, their quality tester. She decided to leave as she was fed up with lack of opportunities and worried that she will miss her chances. Apart from Lilly and her there were no other girls in the Bico group. Marie organised her do in one of the popular pubs in the City of London as she lived nearby and she liked this place, so they all had to travel there from work.
They left early to have a bite to eat before a party and because they still had plenty of time and were in the City already, guys wanted to show Lilly where they used to work in these good old days. They were all walking lazily and telling her how great the life was back then. Lilly was looking around and started to recognize some streets.
She remembered her first visit to London, she came for a week of holiday and had an interview planned. She didn’t get the job back then but the time she spent in this city, helped her to make decision about moving to England. She also remembered that the company where she had her interview was located somewhere nearby as the area looked familiar.
‘Guys, I’ve been somewhere here once’ she said. ‘I was looking for a job and it was my very first interview in London’ she added. ‘What was the company?’ Gary asked wondering if knew it. ‘I don’t remember but I should be able to find the place so I can show you’ Lilly said.
They kept going into the direction of the old Bico office and surroundings become even more familiar to Lilly. ‘Guys, if I remember correctly, there should be a small gated side street very soon - I hope the gate is open so I can show you which office it is’ she said excitedly. ‘Of course there is, we are heading directly there!’ Martin said with amusement in his voice. ‘Sounds like the company had its office next to ours’ Gary added smiling. ‘How long ago did you try for this job?’ he asked. ‘Almost three years ago now’ she answered and pointed her finger at the tiny side street. ‘Look, it’s here and the gate is open’ she added. ‘Let’s see it then’ Martin headed towards the cul de sac.
Lilly looked around and checked her memory, yes it was there on the right hand side, second entrance – it looked exactly the same as in her memories. ‘Here it is’ she moved towards the doors looking for the sign of any company occupying the space. ‘You must be joking!’ Gary said in shocked voice.’ It used to be Bico office!’ Lilly looked at him with surprise ‘Are you saying that I had an interview at Bico three years ago?’ she asked with disbelief in her voice. ‘Either that or it was a different location’ said Gary smiling. ‘Tell me what you remember from the office design’ he added.
And Lilly described what she remembered but she still wasn’t convinced even though they could match the details. It was really hard to believe in such a coincidence but she knew how to find out. She knew she has the details of this interview somewhere in her paperwork.
It was the first thing she did when she has got home this night. She rummaged through the old papers and she found it eventually. Around midnight she saw a Bico sign on her interview invitation. She shook her head in disbelief. ‘Looks like the destiny can always find its way‘ she thought smiling.