It seems like weeks, not days, have passed since Mika took part in the recruitment process for a Software Engineer role at his dream company. They decided to stay with Chris for a few more days in Prague and spend some time exploring it.

They went to all of the typical tourist places like the Old Town, Prague Castle, and Wenceslas Square. They didn’t miss their chance to try local food - in their opinion, trdelník* was way too sweet and overrated, but goulash and nakládaný hermelín* went well with beer.

After taking an evening walk along the Vltava river, they found themselves on the Charles Bridge, heading back to the hotel. The scenery was beautiful, even breathtaking, but Mika’s head was lost in thought. 

He was constantly thinking about that interview day when he met four different people from his potential team - if he gets hired, he will probably end up working with them.

His day started early because he had to be in the office at 8 a.m. Once he arrived there, he was greeted by Anna, a recruiter who was waiting for him. They went upstairs and she gave him an overview of how his day would look, who he would meet with, as well as what the company has to offer in terms of the working conditions.

While he appreciated the fact that Anna shared so many details and was well prepared, he was simply overwhelmed with the amount of information that was provided to him, and he couldn’t remember everything that he had been told. All he could care about were the technical interviews, which were the true test for him.

His first interviewer was a middle-aged man who introduced himself as Ken. Ken looked like someone who didn’t enjoy spending time with other people, as he was very quiet, and Mika had to ask him several times to repeat his question, as he couldn't hear what he was talking about.

That was a disaster. I’m sure he never had a candidate who asked him to repeat himself so many times. He’ll probably reject me.

Once he finished, he had a 5-minute break, and then the next person came into the room. That was Natalia, and she was a manager. They briefly talked about Mika’s experience, and she seemed like she was genuinely interested not only in what he had to say but also wanted to know what kind of a person he was, as she was asking a lot of follow-up questions.

Then she shared some insights about herself and her career, including funny moments as well as those challenging ones. Mika was hypnotized as he was listening to her story. 

This was probably the first time he met someone who was so open to talking about the struggles and efforts she had to put into being where she is right now.

“I am a woman who decided to work in tech, and I went through a lot. I had situations where people looked down on me, questioning my skills and knowledge just because of my gender. Sometimes they were laughing behind my back. I cried countless times, but I always knew my true value and had a lot of support from my family. While there are those who are supportive and trying to make tech a better place, that’s not always the case, as there is still a lot of bias. You need to be tough in order to survive here.“

Mika couldn’t hide his emotions as he could relate to what he just heard. “While I was looking for my first job as a Developer, I was having a really hard time as some managers were clearly saying they wouldn’t hire me because of my non-technical background.”

“But you made it and you’re here, interviewing for a Software Engineer role at one of the biggest IT companies. You should be proud of yourself.”

She seems to be a reasonable person with lots of confidence. I feel that I could make the impossible possible if I worked with her.

The third interview was with Anthony, who joined the team recently. He was talking a lot about himself and how amazing everything was – from the office itself to the people he interacted with daily. His voice was loud, and he was gesticulating quite wildly. Almost like someone who had too much coffee in the morning. 

”You know, the best part is the project itself. The scope of the tasks we’re doing is wide, like suuuuper wide, which might seem challenging at first, but it gets better once you get up to speed. I’m sure you’ll have many opportunities to learn and grow here.”

“That’s what I was hoping for, and I’m up for it.”

“I like your can-do attitude, that’s the spirit!”

The technical task that Anthony gave him was rather hard, yet he managed to complete it within the given time frame. If only I had a few more minutes, I’m sure I would come up with a better solution. He remembered how sweaty his hands became at the end of the interview and that he was rushing to provide an answer.

Mika started thinking about the last interview. Half alive after all the technical conversations he had with Anthony, he was praying that the last interviewer would go easy on him.

Heaven listened to me because meeting Aleksandr was the best thing that could have happened to me that day.

“Knock, knock. Mika, are you there?” A sudden question snapped Mika back to reality. Chris, Mika's much older and taller blonde boyfriend with dark blue eyes and a well-defined chin, was walking beside him.

Mika shook his head vigorously before replying. “Yeah, I’m here. Sorry...but I just can’t stop thinking about the interviews.”

“You know there’s nothing you can do about it now, why bother? And you better stop checking your phone every minute,” Chris scolded Mika, clearly irritated that Mika was not focusing on him 100%.

Mika stopped walking and looked at Chris with a questioning expression. Of all people, Chris should have been the one to understand Mika and what he was going through. “Don’t you remember how much this means to me? Getting into that company will finally make my dreams come true. Of course, I'm impatient, nervous, and waiting for their feedback!”

Passersby looked at them, turning their heads in Mika’s direction. Even among the bustling crowd, Mika’s voice could be heard loud and clear. He was louder than a group of lively Spanish tourists who just walked by them.

Chris leaned closer to Mika, ready to remind him that he should behave. “Stop shouting and behave yourself, people are staring at us. You know what? I don’t think coming here together was a good idea. You should have come alone. Your body's here, but your mind is somewhere else. ”
 

Mika sighed and, after lowering his head, apologized, “I’m sorry. You are not alone, I’m here.”

“It doesn’t look like that. Maybe we should get back to Berlin sooner so you can think about the interviews all day?” he retorted.

“Chris, please...it’s not like that…” Mika started but couldn’t find the right words to finish with.
 

He noticed that in the past few days there was something different in the way Chris talked to him. They had been together for almost a year and had never argued. They never had a single fight or misunderstanding. They both laughed that they were the perfect couple and even talked about plans to start living together.

Mika didn’t want to admit it, but he started to feel a distance between them. Almost like there’s an invisible wall between them that’s getting bigger with every conversation they’re having. Those strange and unusual emotions were something that Mika became afraid of. He was scared that if this continued, they would stop speaking with each other and would slowly grow apart. 

This is why he was the first one to break the silence, even though it wasn’t easy for him.
 

“Was there anything you’d like to do or a place you’d like to see?” he asked, putting on his usual smile and reaching out his hand to Chris. He wanted to touch his cheek, to feel the familiar warmth. He wanted to make sure that everything was fine, just as it used to be.

“Forget about this, I’m not in the mood. Let’s get back to the hotel,” Chris replied coldly. Then he took a step back, making it impossible for Mika to touch his face.

The silence that had started on the Charles Bridge continued even after they reached their hotel room. Chris was lying on a bed, his gaze fixed on his phone, while Mika sat beside him.
 

“Should I take a shower?” Mika asked.

Chris shrugged, his eyes remaining focused on the screen.


“Maybe we could…” he paused, his hand resting on Chris’s leg before slowly sliding up toward the jeans’ zipper.

 
“I’m tired,” Chris said, turning his back on Mika.

Once again, he didn’t want to... Mika tried to maintain his smile, but tears began welling up in the corners of his eyes. 

Despite the warmth outside, the room felt cold.

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Dictionary:
- trdelník - chimney cake

- nakládaný hermelín - Czech marinated cheese / Marinated hermelín