How do you know when you've met the 'one'?
Does that moment come with a background soundtrack as they do in movies...including her walking in slow motion, hair blowing in the wind and all?
Well, I don't know how you met yours but my moment was as clumsy as they come.
There I was, at the lobby of a local advertising firm.
This was my 13th scheduled interview in as nearly as many months.
"13th time lucky," I kept telling myself.
The receptionist, a lady who looked to be in her late 20s, kept throwing glances my way as I fiddled on my phone.
The 32-inch TV screen mounted behind her mahogany desk was showing those in-company infomercials that play on loop...over and over and over again.
This was why I was engrossed in a racing game on my phone. It was also why I didn't notice a fellow interviewee taking up a seat right next to me.
Most of the seats in the lobby were filled with people just like me. Optimistic Kenyans looking to secure a job, after one of the most devastating years in the 'employment industry'.
You could tell we were all there for an interview by our matching suits and shiny shoes.
Anyway, by the time I walked in, a quick mental calculation informed me that I'd be there for at least 3 to 4 hours.
Thank God for racing games... or so I thought.
Back to the stranger seated right next to me...
Just as I was upgrading my imaginary car for a new imaginary race, I heard it.
It was a voice I hadn't heard in over a decade.
Despite the 10 plus years, it was one of those voices I could pick out from any crowd.
"This here game is more than the rep you carry, the corner you hold. You gotta be fierce, I know that. But more than that, you gotta show some flex. Give and take on both sides," the voice echoed across the lobby from the stranger's phone.
It was the voice of one of my all-time favourite movie characters. Russell Stringer Bell. A key figure in my all-time favourite TV series, The Wire.
I immediately looked up, almost on auto-pilot.
That's when I saw her.
Seated on my left was this beautiful being...a look of embarrassment strewn all over her face.
This was due to the fact that her earphones had somehow gotten disconnected from her phone, and everyone in the lobby was now looking at her...with the receptionist casting a menacing look her way as well.
The stranger had midnight-black hair which flowed over her shoulders.
"Apologies," she said, coyly.
"Stringer Bell apologises to no one," I blurted out, almost instinctively.
Ok, for those of you who haven't watched The Wire, here's a crash course on Stringer Bell...just to get us all on the same page.
Russell "Stringer" Bell is a fictional character in the show, played by Idris Elba. He serves as drug kingpin Avon Barksdale's second-in-command.
Stringer hopes to maximize profits by applying economic theory to the operation. He takes a macroeconomics class at the local community college and reads Adam Smith’s Wealth of Nations, and frequently explains economic principles to his dealers.
He doesn’t think about the Barksdale operation as a criminal conspiracy – but rather wants to run it like a “true business.”
He endeavors to leave the drug trade behind by developing real estate in downtown Baltimore.
Film critics have described him as confident, refined, and ambitious, but also dangerous and just plain cool.
Ok...back to my chance encounter with the beautiful stranger.
She looked surprised.
"How did you know it was Stringer," she asked, hitting the pause button on her Showmax App at the same time.
"Were you peeping at my phone," she added in a playful tone that drew me in.
"Haha, no I wasn't," I said, trying my best to sound cool and all.
"The last time I heard Stringer's voice was back in my high school days but the show left a lasting impression on me. It's still one of my all-time favourites," I added, with the enthusiasm of a 4-year-old.
I haven’t found a movie guy who can get me a clean and clear copy of this particular show.
Not even Kevo, the most hyped movie dealer in Jeri (Jericho Estate) and its environs.
Yet here was this beautiful bubbly being enjoying it in crisp clear quality on her Showmax App, while waiting to be interviewed.
I’m also a loyal subscriber to the awesome streaming app, but my everyday routine over the last 2 or so years went something like this.
Open the App. Click on More (when using it via phone). Click on Sports
Repeat.
“What are the odds of me running into a fellow fan...during an interview no less,” she said, bringing the million questions running through my head to an unexpected stop.
We spent the next hour lost in our own little fictional world.
I got to know that her favourite character from the show was D'Angelo...which gave me a glimpse into her own personality...
A deep thinker, morally sound, aggressive, vocal in expressing her opinion when needed, loyal to a fault.
I don't have any sort of scientific evidence to back my personality test theory, but if you tell me your favorite movie character, I can more often than not make correct guesses on your personality traits.
Anyway, the beautiful stranger filled me in on all I had been missing each time I dived right to the Sports Category section on the Showmax App.
From recommending shows I need to check out, namely Fargo, Monica and Kina...to informing me that there was an ongoing offer whereby renewing my monthly subscription would get me 2 free months of viewing.
I was skeptical about her movie recommendations, but she soon had me convinced.
"The scripting is next level;the acting is amazing...Our very own stars have grown in leaps and bounds over the last years. You'll be calling me even before you're done with episode 1," she remarked with an air of adorable arrogance.
"I'd need your number for that," I countered with so much zeal that she let out a hearty chuckle.
"Christopher Nyaga... Christopher Nyaga," the receptionist called out repeatedly.
I was so engrossed and enchanted by the stranger sitting next to me that the fact that my name was being called out didn't register.
The cells tasked with relaying that crucial bit of information to my brain must have been on a tea break.
"Christopher Nyaga," the receptionist barked out again, this time with a pinch of frustration and anger in her voice.
"Is that you? Are you Christopher Nyaga?" my new found friend asked with a concerned look on her face.
"Yes, how on earth did you guess both names correctly," my bemused self asked....clearly my brain cells had abandoned their posts.
"I think it's your turn," she said, laughing and pointing towards the receptionist who was almost in a fit of rage by this point.
I jumped up, hurriedly...with my leather case containing all the documents I hoped would convince my 13th interviewers that I was made for this job.
"All the best," I heard her say, as I raced towards the conference room.
Catch the Trailer of The Wire on Showmax below:
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