Lina carries a rehearsed achievement into an interview. A question about her absence brings the missing colleagues back into her account.
01Read the Arabic story
الْمُقَابَلَةُ بَعْدَ إِغْلَاقِ الشَّرِكَةِ
بَعْدَ إِغْلَاقِ الشَّرِكَةِ بِثَلَاثَةِ أَسَابِيعَ، وَضَعَتْ لِينَا سِيرَتَهَا الْمِهْنِيَّةَ فِي مِلَفٍّ أَزْرَقَ وَذَهَبَتْ إِلَى مُقَابَلَةٍ. بَقِيَتْ بِطَاقَةُ الْعَمَلِ الْقَدِيمَةُ، بِمِشْبَكِهَا الْمَشْقُوقِ، فِي جَيْبٍ دَاخِلِيٍّ. لَمْ تَكُنْ تَصْلُحُ لِدُخُولِ أَيِّ بَابٍ، لَكِنَّ لِينَا لَمْ تُخْرِجْهَا بَعْدُ. قَرَأَتْ فِي الْمَصْعَدِ جُمْلَتَهَا الْمَحْفُوظَةَ: أَنْجَزْتُ تَنْظِيمَ الْأَرْشِيفِ فِي سِتَّةِ أَسَابِيعَ.
كَانَتِ الْجُمْلَةُ صَحِيحَةً مِنْ وَجْهٍ؛ فَهِيَ قَادَتِ الْمَشْرُوعَ وَسَلَّمَتْهُ فِي مَوْعِدِهِ. وَكَانَتْ تَخْشَى أَنْ يَجْعَلَ ذِكْرُ الْإِغْلَاقِ كُلَّ مَا سَبَقَهُ فَشَلًا، فَأَحْكَمَتْ رِوَايَةَ النَّجَاحِ حَتَّى لَمْ يَبْقَ فِيهَا مَكَانٌ لِغَيْرِهَا. فِي غُرْفَةِ الْمُقَابَلَةِ، وَضَعَتْ وَرَقَتَيْنِ عَلَى الطَّاوِلَةِ، بِجَانِبِ كَأْسِ مَاءٍ، وَبَدَأَتْ تَشْرَحُ كَيْفَ حَوَّلَتِ الْفَوْضَى إِلَى نِظَامٍ.
سَأَلَهَا الْمُحَاوِرُ عَمَّا كَانَ سَيَتَأَخَّرُ لَوْ غَابَتْ عَنِ الْفَرِيقِ أُسْبُوعًا. هَمَّتْ أَنْ تَقُولَ: كُلُّ شَيْءٍ. ثُمَّ تَذَكَّرَتْ أَنَّ نَدِيمًا اكْتَشَفَ الْمِلَفَّاتِ الْمُكَرَّرَةَ، وَأَنَّ رَانِيَا أَعَادَتْ تَصْنِيفَ مَا وَضَعَتْهُ هِيَ فِي الْقِسْمِ الْخَطَأِ. شَرِبَتْ قَلِيلًا، وَقَالَتْ إِنَّ تَحْدِيدَ الْأَوْلَوِيَّاتِ كَانَ سَيَتَأَخَّرُ، أَمَّا التَّصْحِيحُ فَكَانَ يُمْكِنُ أَنْ يَسْتَمِرَّ دُونَهَا.
لَمْ تُقَدِّمْ أَسْمَاءَهُمَا زِينَةً لِحَدِيثِهَا، بَلْ شَرَحَتْ مَا غَيَّرَهُ عَمَلُهُمَا فِي خُطَّتِهَا. وَلَمْ تُنْكِرْ أَنَّ قَرَارَهَا بِتَقْسِيمِ الْعَمَلِ سَاعَدَ عَلَى إِتْمَامِهِ، وَإِنْ لَمْ يَجْعَلْهَا صَاحِبَةَ كُلِّ خُطْوَةٍ فِيهِ. وَاعْتَرَفَتْ بِأَنَّهَا وَعَدَتْ بِمَوْعِدٍ قَبْلَ أَنْ تَعْرِفَ حَجْمَ التَّصْحِيحِ الْمَطْلُوبِ. سَأَلَ الْمُحَاوِرُ سُؤَالًا آخَرَ وَكَتَبَ مُلَاحَظَةً. لَمْ تَعْرِفْ إِنْ كَانَ يُقَدِّرُ دِقَّتَهَا أَوْ يُسَجِّلُ تَرَدُّدَهَا؛ فَالْقَلَمُ لَا يَشْرَحُ مَا يَكْتُبُ.
فِي الْحَافِلَةِ، شَطَبَتْ بِقَلَمِ رَصَاصٍ كَلِمَةَ «أَنْجَزْتُ» وَكَتَبَتْ: قُدْتُ فَرِيقًا أَنْجَزَ. بَدَتِ الْجُمْلَةُ الْجَدِيدَةُ أَقَلَّ لَمَعَانًا، وَاحْتَاجَتْ إِلَى سَطْرٍ أَطْوَلَ. أَعَادَتِ الْوَرَقَتَيْنِ إِلَى الْمِلَفِّ، وَتَرَكَتِ الْبِطَاقَةَ فِي جَيْبِهَا. لَمْ يَصِلْهَا عَرْضُ عَمَلٍ ذَلِكَ الْمَسَاءَ، وَمَعَ ذَلِكَ فَتَحَتْ سِيرَتَهَا عَلَى الْحَاسُوبِ وَحَفِظَتِ التَّعْدِيلَ.
Show English translationHide English translation
Three weeks after the company closed, Lina put her CV in a blue folder and went to an interview. Her old work badge, with its cracked clip, remained in an inner pocket. It could no longer open any door, but Lina had not taken it out yet. In the lift she read her rehearsed sentence: “I completed the organisation of the archive in six weeks.”
The sentence was true in one respect: she had led the project and delivered it on time. She feared that mentioning the closure would make everything before it look like failure, so she tightened her account of success until it left no room for anyone else. In the interview room, she placed two sheets on the table beside a glass of water and began explaining how she had turned disorder into order.
The interviewer asked what would have been delayed if she had been away from the team for a week. She almost said, “Everything.” Then she remembered that Nadim had found the duplicate files, and that Rania had reclassified what Lina herself had put in the wrong section. She drank a little and said that setting priorities would have been delayed, whereas the corrections could have continued without her.
She did not offer their names as decoration for her account; she explained what their work had changed in her plan. She did not deny that her decision to divide the work had helped complete it, although that did not mean she had carried out every step herself. She acknowledged that she had promised a deadline before knowing how much correction was needed. The interviewer asked another question and wrote a note. She did not know whether he valued her accuracy or was recording her hesitation: a pen does not explain what it writes.
On the bus, she crossed out “I completed” in pencil and wrote, “I led a team that completed.” The new sentence seemed less dazzling and needed a longer line. She returned the two sheets to the folder and left the badge in her pocket. No job offer reached her that evening; nevertheless, she opened her CV on the computer and saved the revision.
02Useful words from the story
| Arabic in the story | Meaning here |
|---|---|
| بِمِشْبَكِهَا الْمَشْقُوقِ | with its cracked clip |
| الْمَحْفُوظَةَ | rehearsed; memorised |
| مِنْ وَجْهٍ | in one respect |
| فَأَحْكَمَتْ | so she tightened; made more controlled |
| الْمُكَرَّرَةَ | duplicated |
| تَصْنِيفَ | classification |
| الْأَوْلَوِيَّاتِ | priorities |
| تَرَدُّدَهَا | her hesitation |
| شَطَبَتْ | she crossed out |
| أَقَلَّ لَمَعَانًا | less dazzling |
03Check your understanding
Choose one answer. Trace what changes in the account, and distinguish evidence from assumptions about the outcome.
What to remember
- Giving colleagues precise credit can preserve leadership while making the account more truthful.
- An interviewer’s written note does not reveal its judgement; the ending leaves the job outcome open.
Explore the Arabic in this story
Related grammar and vocabularyOpen Araqick guides connected to this story.
Lam in Arabic: How to Say “Did Not”
لَمْ تَعْرِفْ إِنْ كَانَ يُقَدِّرُ دِقَّتَهَا
Read lam as giving past negative meaning to Lina’s uncertainty about the interviewer’s assessment.
Kana in Arabic: Was and Were
كَانَتِ الْجُمْلَةُ صَحِيحَةً
Identify the nominative noun and accusative adjective in the past description of the sentence.
