Hire Me?

[Cerridwen Cardosi]

Arriving in the middle of Italy, in a magical community by the Knight Bus, Cerridwen Dragonova looked at the building that was none other than Cardosi Incorporated. She heard rumors about this place, and the Russian princess wanted nothing more than to work for someone who only hired the best of the best, which were pure-bloods. Anything less were stuck in dead end jobs. She needed something much more, and since her parents finally cut her off on her expensive needs, she needed a job. Her parents might have been separated and divorced, she was forced to see the two of them agree on this one little matter. She was not poor. She refused to believe that. No, she was just a rich girl who did not have any money. It was clearly that simple. Cerri wondered if her parents would ever get back together. It would be nice, though she did prefer the name she had now. Dragonova went with her name better than Khamidouline. Cerri let out a sigh and she walked into the building that she needed, no, demanded, a job in. She had an interview, and she was not about to screw it up because of tardiness from the knight bus.

She approached the counter and she asked where the office that she was in a meeting with today was. She was being interviewed by Kane Cardosi. He was not the CEO of this place, but apparently he was really high up and in Collineus’ favors. That alone made her instantly eager to get to his office in a quicker manner. Shoving her way to the elevator, she touched the button for the proper floor, and hung on tight. She loathed elevators, plus her shoes didn’t suit so well with the floor. Once she arrived to the office, she knocked and slowly entered without waiting for someone to say for her to come in. She was eager, determined to know this man. Her soft, gray eyes landed on the male and her pink lips curled into a gentle smile, yet her eyes showed that she was definitely not nice at all, "I'm here for my interview, Mister Cardosi." She made sure that her Russian accent was not as laced around her words, so that she could be more understandable to people here. English was not her first language but she had long since mastered that. Her placed her hands in front of her, clasped together. She had to make sure to be professional.​

 

[Kane Cardosi]

Kane sat in his office pouring over the stack of papers he had on his desk. The 29 year old had worked his way up in his cousins' company and it would never be known that it was because he was family and his cousin played favourites with him. No. Kane was a hard worker and he prided himself on that fact. From a young age he knew what he wanted and he always got what he wanted. Granted, he came from money and because money was never an issue he never had any problems attaining any material things that he desired. Although his family was a strong business based family and he was never afraid of a bit of hard work so when it came to getting everything else he wanted that money couldn't buy he worked his hardest and wouldn't rest until he achieved it. Sometimes this didn't always work in his favour as he was seen as harsh and demanding which, to his surprise, people sometimes frowned upon. He never let this bother him though, if people didn't like how he acted his simply ignored them, knowing they weren't worthy enough of his time or thoughts.

That was still the case today. He was still a hard worker and it showed. In his personal life he had the nicest clothes, nicest house, nicest everything he wanted. Then in his work life he had the nicest office, with the best view and a job that was coveted and unlikely for someone as young as him to have. His job wasn't without its challenges but he thieved on being challenged instead of doing the same boring job day after day - that was something he did not want. Today was another one of those days where he was dealing with a new task. As the new Manager heading up the Potions Department of the company it was up to him to do the hiring and firing and today was a day for hiring. As this job was just new to him, he found the need to hire a secretary so he could spread the amount of the new work load so he could focus on finding his feet in the new role.

He had a handful of resumes in his hands as he looked for the one that belonged to his next candidate. Cerridwen Dragonova. Ah yes, he remembered reading over her resume the first time, there didn't seem to be much experience on his which intrigued him. Every other resume he read had mountains of experience that made them exceptional candidates but they were all so boring, so he figured to give her a shot and call her an interview and see if his intuition was spot on. Hearing a soft knock on the door he looked up and frowned his eyebrows as he saw the door open right away, no-one entered without permission. His eyes landed on a young woman, someone he didn't recognise from the office at all and before he could question her bold move she talked. Taking a small sigh he placed the resume on his desk in front of him and straightened himself up on his chair. Looking up at the woman he extended his hand to the empty seat in front of him, "Take a seat Ms Dragonova." Sure she hadn't introduced herself but she wasn't the only one that could be bold. After offering her the obligatory drink before starting the interview he took a sip of his own coffee and began the interview. "So Ms Dragonova. I can see here that you don't have much experience, so what makes you think you could be my secretary?" he asked, not one for beating around the bush he jumped right into the hard questions.

 

[Cerridwen Cardosi]

Cerri pushed her hair over her shoulder as she received some acknowledgement from the man named Kane Cardosi. She might not have much experience upon her resume, but she could use her certain aspects and her skills to win her the job. He offered her the seat in front of the desk, which her eyes fell upon. Nodding, she walked over to the chair, her heels tapping on the floor with each step. She took her seat and crossed her legs. The slit in her dress exposed much of her thigh as she sat in this manner. He addressed her with politeness, but even she knew that this place would not hold such kindness and generosity to the employees. She heard rumors, but all that just enticed her more. She accepted a drink of course, and sipped it gently as she was asked the hardest of all of the questions. She did not have much experience at all, so what made her worthy enough to work here as a secretary? A smile crossed her lips as she set the glass onto her lap, with her hand cradling it, "You over exaggerate my resume a little bit. I have absolutely no experience in the field of office work. After all, I only graduated three years ago." Cerri knew that this might make her less appealing, but she had to go for it. All or nothing.

"On the contrary, I do have a lot of work with potions, and anything in the potion department is what I desire. You'll find my knowledge on ingredients, potions and poisons to be most impressive. I can extent this knowledge to other areas, such as paperwork. Not to mention that you only hire pure-bloods in respectable positions. You don't know how much that means to me." Cerri took another sip of her drink before she looked over the manager. Oh, he was handsome. The Cardosi genes really proved themselves, since she had never seen it in person. Collineus was a handsome man, but she heard that he was engaged to his secretary or something. "Unlike other candidates, I am bold, outspoken, and when I want something, I go for it. The extent of what I would do to get what I want would make others question morality of today's youth. There's also the boring stuff like being neat, organized, and whatnot." She would go to great lengths to move up. Just about anything. The rest seemed so blah to her.​

 

[Kane Cardosi]

Kane observed the young woman as she approached him and took her seat. He couldn't help but notice her elegant and delicate moves were, she was petite and very pretty so he didn't expect much less from her. He was already pleased with himself for giving her this chance for an interview. Sure Kane was very much all business but he could appreciate how looks helped in business. Even Kane himself took pride in his appearance, he made sure he was always well groomed and wore the best and most expensive clothes, he didn't have anything against showing off his money it showed how successful he was and he wanted people to know how much better he was than them. Although in the case of Cerridwen, he knew that having a hot secretary would benefit him in the long run, as she would be the first point of contact for any of his business partners it would reflect well on him. Letting those thoughts retreat to the back of his mind, he focused on the interview at hand. He was caught of guard at Cerridwen's response, she was very open - something he appreciated but he made sure not to let her know that. Something Kane worked hard on maintaining was that his employees didn't see any weaknesses in him and made sure they always knew he was their boss and had the power to make or break them - he rather enjoyed it actually.

He continued to listen to the young woman as she made her case, he believed in giving everyone a chance to have their say while he silently judged them. So far his opinion of Cerridwen was that she knew what she wanted and Kane admired that, he was also impressed that she seemed to have a vast knowledge of potions and that she had great respect for how this was an organisation that gave Pure Bloods the power and positions that they deserved. He never liked the girly girls in school who didn't like to get their hands dirty and couldn't handle something as simple as getting the pus from a Bubotuber and Cerridwen didn't seem to be one of those girls. Kane raised from his seat and moved to the other side of his desk until he was beside Cerridwen, he leaned against the desk and folded his arms, never breaking eye contact from the interviewee. Now that he seemed to have a better idea about her work ethic he decided to move to the more personal questions. "So what brings you here to work, telling by your accent you aren't local?" he asked, his own words laced by the local dialect. Granted this wasn't necessarily a part of the interview or really something he needed to know but he had already more or less made up his mind.

 

[Cerridwen Cardosi]

Cerri noticed his movements and watched as he moved so that he was leaning against the desk. Was that giving him a better view of her? She wondered if she should have wore more revealing clothes. After all, men were men in the end. However, he seemed to take in the answers she gave him, but only moved to the more personal questions. Cerri moved her hair from her eyes and she stared up at Kane. No, she was definitely not local. She decided she might as well tell him why she sought him out for employment. She let out a sigh and looked down at the floor. "You are right, I am not local at all. I came from Russia, Yaroslavl to be exact. Well, this is going to sound tragic but since my parents cut me off from their money, I really needed a good job to pay for my living needs." Cerri was willing to move anywhere to get what she needed, and that included leaving her parents behind. Cerri laughed softly, while she continued, "My siblings found no trouble at all with finding jobs and spouses to live off of. I, on the other hand, didn't have that luxury. My skills are limited to potions, and I'd prefer to work in a nice company."

Cerri did not want to reveal more into her past than that. Her parents were divorced, and the only thing they agreed on for the past century was to cut her off, and make her get a job! Cerri thought that was harsh, but she guessed that she needed to get started on her life. She stood up from the chair, and she brushed her skirt down. She approached Kane until she was standing directly in front of him. She had to look up due to how small she was. "But don't let my lack of Italian turn you off toward hiring me. After all, I am definitely willing to relocate. Anywhere I am needed." She might have been flirting with the look from her eyes. She really wanted to ensure that she would have this job, and she would definitely not go down without a fight. Smiling mischievously, she resumed her seat, crossing her legs and sitting like a true lady. Her hands rested upon the arms, as she awaited for the rest of the questions for her interview. She hoped that she had impressed him.​

 

[Kane Cardosi]

Kane was impressed that Cerridwen opened up without much pushing from himself. Most Purebloods he encountered were all very closed off and didn’t like to open up about their personal lives, especially when it showed them having any sort of weaknesses. Kane himself was closed off but had become slightly desensitised to it when he attended school. His mother had gone to Beauxbaton and his father to Durmstrang so when it came to his schooling, they couldn’t decide so when he got his letter for Hogwarts Scotland it became the best option for him. Although during that time he was exposed to a lot of people that weren’t like him and while he only tried to associate with his own kind of people it was hard to completely ignore the rest of the entire school population. Although whenever he returned home his family made sure that any of that weakness was cleared from him and he was his usual self again. Kane listened as Cerridwen open up about her current situation and the young man felt some form of compassion towards the woman sitting in front of him, but didn’t let it show. He knew what it was like to come from a privileged family and couldn’t imagine what it would be like to be cut off from them completely and left to fend for himself. Granted Kane had been lucky in that he always worked hard for his luxurious lifestyle and rarely fobbed off from his parents but it wasn’t hard to imagine what it would be like.

Kane admired that Cerridwen, even though she was struggling, that she still had enough drive, or maybe it was stubbornness, to want to utilise her skills and find a good job and not just marry some rich guy just so would have money again. Kane was taken off guard when she got up out of her chair and approached him. Only being this close to her didn’t he realise just her small her frame was but also noticed her delicate features and could really appreciate just how pretty she really was. Kane didn’t allow himself to become distracted by her close presence and clear flirting – if she hadn’t already impressed him, Kane would have her own on her broke ass faster that you could apparate. Kane let out a quiet sigh as he watched her return to her seat and stare up at him. Without breaking eye contact, he reached behind him to the intercom he had out to her personal secretary. Speaking in Italian he asked the woman to bring in the new hire forms, knowing Cerridwen wouldn’t know what he was actually saying. He sat in silence until the door opened and his secretary entered, papers in hand. He thanked her as he took them and returned to his own seat.

Sitting in silence for a moment he dipped his quill in the ink and started to fill out the forms. Once he was done he placed them in front of Cerridwen, “The job is yours if you want it. All you have to do is sign.” he just came out with it, there was no point beating around the bush. “We also have a few apartments under the company name if you need somewhere to live until you get your feet on the ground, they are local and handpicked by myself so you can guarantee that they are of a high standard.” he pointed out, realising this may be something she could use. “Now don’t think this is hand out or a pity offer, it’s merely company policy for new hires that have to relocate.” he added, not wanting her to think he was taking pity on her, she didn’t seem like the type of person that would appreciate that.

 

[Cerridwen Cardosi]

Though it was true that her parents cut her off, Cerridwen did not want to express the true reason why. How she vanished for a year without telling anyone, and what happened to her. How she gave up her pure-blood son to his father's family to raise. She could not live with a child dragging her down, and a constant reminder of her mistakes. Her eyes narrowed as Kane summoned a secretary to his office, with papers. She waited in silence, but she was very curious over the result of the interview. And then he said that the job was hers if she wanted it. She had to take a deep breath to contain her excitement. She could not let him know how desperate she was. However, she was also stopped short when he said that they had a few apartments under the company's name. She smiled softly, and murmured, "How great this company is, I cannot express it in words. High standard is what I live for." She reached out for a quill, and she quickly signed the papers. "I appreciate it, more than you will ever know."

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A few months pass...

Still living in the apartment that was owned by the company, Cerridwen was making a killing working here. She was amazed with how everything was turning out to be. So far, she had not heard from any of her relatives, which might be a blessing in disguise. Maybe one of the reasons why she did not hear back from her parents would be because of what all she said to them, that made them cut her off from their money. How she could do what she wanted, how she could manipulate those that were lower than her. The destruction she performed with her former partner in crime. How she became mixed up with one of the darkest families in the world. Everything was a blasphemy to her family, and she betrayed them all. Cerridwen looked in the mirror and did not regret anything at all. In fact, she was looking forward to going to work today. She would be able to see her boss. He was handsome, so she could have her eyes feast on him from afar. She might be his personal secretary and that's it, it still was a job and she needed to make money. And wow, did she ever make money!

She finished tying her hair into a ponytail, and putting on her best dress outfit, which was a mid-thigh length skirt the color of black, with a suit jacket on top of a white blouse. This was something she had bought with her first paycheck. Now, she had the funds to keep her living as she should, while still saving up for her own place. She was not that far off. She walked over to the company, which was thankfully not far. She entered the lobby, and was greeted by some of the other employees. This was definitely the type of greeting that she deserved. She walked to the elevator, and pressed the right button so that she would be whizzed to the right office. Eventually, she made it, and she went to make some forms out for Kane, seeing as she needed to this almost every Tuesday morning. She filed a few, and then carefully had the stack in her hands. She walked into his office, before laying them on the desk, "Morning, Kane. Firing anyone unimportant today?" She had no worries since Cerridwen knew that she was good at what she did. Sure, she wanted to make more potions, but she could settle for now.

Hope you don't mind the time skip!

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[Kane Cardosi]

Today was just like another day for the young Cardosi. Life had become rather uneventful as of late and Kane didn’t like this one bit. He knew he didn’t want to become complacent with life when he knew that his life was really a blessing. He didn’t know what had got him in this funk, it wasn’t the job per say, he loved his job and being the boss over so many people. It wasn’t his personal life as he had everything he could ever really want. Regardless of what had got him into this funk he knew he had to get out of it one way or another so he decided to hone in on some of his hobbies. Kane had always had a great eye for detail and always had a hunger to know more. Know more spells, know more potions, and know more about people. Kane had always been keen on knowing everything that had to be known about people, especially the ones that he had to interact with on a day to day basis. He took it upon himself to do the background checks on all the staff he hired because then if anything was to come up that could be unfortunate for the company then the responsibility fell with him and he would only have to answer to himself.

Kane had to admit to himself that he had fallen behind all the background checks he had to take out on people but in the past months he had hired a number of new people and he liked to be thorough with each and every one of them. As he made his way through the recent applicants background checks he realised that a number of people hadn’t been as true to him as he had hoped they would be. In most cases what he found were minor indiscretions that he honestly wouldn’t have thought about twice if they were open about it in their original application and interview and because of this he took no mercy and fired them on the spot. Kane needed to make sure that this company had standards and if people weren’t willing to meet those standards then they didn’t deserve to work there.

This morning Kane was going through the details he had found on one of his most recent new hires and he wasn’t sure what to make of what he found. Looking up as he heard someone enter his office, his eyes fell on Cerridwen – how apt. “I don’t know yet…” he said with his eyes falling back on the pieces of parchments in front of him. “Why don’t you sit and help me make my decision. See what my job entails” He said, extending his hand to the empty seat in front of him. He was going to have some fun with this. “Tell me, how should I deal with someone who hasn’t been fully open and honest with me? Am I not fair? Have I not given them ample opportunities to fully disclose all aspects of their personal details which would deem appropriate for me to know?” He rambled on, in a calm voice, never letting anger or any emotion really show in his voice. He looked at Cerridwen waiting for her to answer, particularly interested in what she might have to say about this.

 

[Cerridwen Cardosi]

What Cerri did not realize was that there was something wrong here. Someone really was getting canned, and she bet that it was not her. Sure, she might not have told Kane anything about her past, other than her parents cutting her off the family wealth. When she had a father that owned a broom making company, she was definitely in business. But, her father cut her off, and so did her mom. She would forever hold that against them. However, his words made her feel a little more curious. He said that he did not know yet. Her fingers traced a small design on his desk, while she waited for more information. She thought about sitting on top of it, but that would be far too forward. She knew better than to dip her claws into the company ink, no matter how deliciously handsome he was. Her eyes stared upon her boss, as she wondered what else he might say. Cerri smiled graciously, "Anything you wish, Kane." Cerri sat down in the seat in front of him, and crossed her legs like a lady. She would be very happy to help him, and even more so to help fire someone. That opened up a possible position for her, and she would leap at that opportunity.

As soon as Kane said what he should do with someone that did not open up fully, her smirk faded completely. Her heart started to beat a little faster. She was not completely honest with him, but that was because she did not want to have her past bite her in the ass. If she ignored it and pretend it never happened, then she would never have to see it. She cleared her throat, and decided to make this as professional as possible, as well as covering for herself, "That really depends on what they are hiding, to me anyway. If they are a criminal or did some really crazy things, then you have every right to know. You need to know who you are hiring. Some personal things like relationships and marriages, they might not be as much unless they had a mudblood or halfbreed. Given that they would be pure." Cerri paused, hoping that she was not too suspicious, but her tapping her finger on the arm of the chair was a dead giveaway. She could lie, and her face would not betray her, but her hands told a whole other story instead.​

 

[Kane Cardosi]

Kane appreciated Cerridwen, she was a good secretary and in general she was a good employee. Really she was an ideal employee. Always willing to go above and beyond her call of duty, would stay late if needed and Kane could trust she would get the job done – whatever it would be. Although it would be hard for him to say that he trusted her. Kane found it hard to trust people right off the bat. He had to spend time to get to know them and really get to know them before he would trust them. He even went so far as to do his own personal background checks on people, not just his employees but his acquaintances and his few friends. He needed to make sure that he knew any sort of dirt that could be dug up on them so that if his trust was even misplaced he could use them on them to show just how much of a mistake it was to really do him wrong. Some would see his methods as a bit extreme but he didn’t get to where he was at today but trusting everyone that came his way and thinking the best in everyone, Merlin only knew what hole he would be in if had been that type of person.

Staring at his secretary he listened to her reply to his question. He could tell that he had spooked her slightly but didn’t give away his position. He didn’t like having to give people a second chance to be honest with him but he liked Cerridwen, for some unknown reason he liked her, and wanted to have her stay around if he could help it. He listened to her response, it was a well put together response and if he was any other employer then he might go as far as to agree with her and let that be the end of it – but he wasn’t just any other employer, he was Kane Cardosi and that wasn’t how he ran things. “I see your point but I don’t ask a lot of my employees, all I ask is that they be honest with me so I can best protect this company. I’ve seen it happen far too many times; some trivial piece of information goes without being mentioned until years down the line the truth rears its ugly head and people are worse off for not just mentioning it when they originally had the chance.” He stopped and took in a deep breath, not breaking eye contact with Cerridwen.

“You wouldn’t keep anything from me now, would you?” He asked in a sinister yet calm voice. He stared her down, hoping that she would come out with it herself so he didn’t have to do it for her.

 

[Cerridwen Cardosi]

Cerridwen narrowed her eyes as she started to study the man. Kane was really starting to dig deep, and she was getting suspicious upon where this was going. She was not going to give in to him. She would keep her past behind her. She could not face it. Especially not in front of a stranger. She had done so well to remove all evidence. As he spoke, she could feel the sweat starting to form on the back of her neck. She knew that this was going to end badly. He then mentioned that the line of truth comes forth, and people were worse off for not mentioning it when they had the chance. She could barely breathe now. Not much had her scared, but she was terrified right now. Her expression did not betray her this time. "I agree. People need to be honest when it comes to the safety of this company. However, it may not apply to just everything. Some details wouldn't hurt such a business." Cerri was being clever, and dodging every which turn that could lead to her darkest secret revealed. She just hoped that he did not question her. Otherwise, she might not be able to hold back the tide.

Then, his voice came, and asked if she would keep anything from him. 'He knows,' thought Cerri. That was it. Her dark past was rearing its ugly head. She could not handle it. She sighed, defeated. Cerri folded her arms across her chest, and now she was no longer nervous. Instead, she had this challenging look upon her face. "What do you know, Kane?" Cerridween started. She did not want to come out with it, but out it came. "What do you know about my past? The fact that I raised hell years ago? The fact that I bore a bastard's child and gave it up without blinking? The fact that I have a twin sister that doesn't even bother to mail me because I'm such a disgrace? I don't regret any of it. I came here for a fresh start, and I demand to continue to live my life without reliving my past. I don't know what I need to do to ensure my stay here, but I'll do anything you desire." Cerridwen finally closed her mouth, and waited for judgment to come down on her.​