Lena had always lived with the hum of luxury in the background, like a soft, unspoken promise that her life would be smooth. Her father’s law firm sat at the top of the city’s skyline, a glittering tower she had grown up gazing at from her bedroom window. She’d never wanted for anything—private tutors, family vacations to Paris, summer internships lined up before she even knew what the word meant.

Today, she was staring at her reflection in a sleek glass door of a downtown office building, checking her makeup one last time. The job interview was for a junior position at one of the country’s top consulting firms. It wasn’t glamorous, but it was a stepping stone. The kind of thing that would look impressive on her resume, the kind of thing that would keep her on the path that had already been paved for her.

Across town, Malik was on the bus, clutching his phone in one hand and a coffee cup in the other. The screen was cracked, the coffee lukewarm. He adjusted the straps on his backpack, counting the minutes until he had to meet with a potential employer in a small co-working space on the outskirts of the city. He had barely made it to the interview. His last-minute suit was too big on him, borrowed from a friend who worked at the warehouse, and the shoes had a scuff on the toe from running through the rain.

Malik didn’t have connections or a trust fund. What he had was a fierce determination to make it. He’d grown up in a run-down apartment complex with his single mother, who had worked long hours at a diner just to keep food on the table. His college application had been a gamble, but he’d somehow managed to get a scholarship. Now, he was scraping through the last of his savings, hoping for a job that would pull him out of the cycle of part-time work and rent checks that never seemed to stretch far enough.

Lena sat in the high-rise waiting room, her legs crossed, scrolling through her phone. A receptionist greeted her with a smile, and Lena gave her a polite nod. She had been to enough interviews to know how to play the part—maintaining the right balance of confidence and humility, offering just enough personality to seem approachable but not too much to appear overbearing.

Her interviewer, a man in his late forties, called her in with a warm handshake. He was well-dressed, well-groomed, and had a smile that didn’t quite reach his eyes. They exchanged pleasantries, and soon Lena was answering questions about her education, her internships, and her well-connected family. The conversation flowed easily. She had the right answers.

Meanwhile, Malik had arrived at the co-working space, late by a few minutes, his heart pounding in his chest. He checked his reflection in the building’s glass doors and adjusted his collar. He didn’t belong here, he thought. He had spent the whole week preparing for this moment—rehearsing answers, researching the company, trying to come across as professional despite the unpolished appearance.

The interviewer—a woman with glasses and a no-nonsense expression—tapped her pen against the desk as Malik took a seat. Her office was small, the walls bare, the air filled with the sound of clicking keyboards from other employees. She looked at him with an unreadable expression.

"So, Malik," she said, leaning forward. "What makes you stand out from the hundreds of other applicants we’ve seen?"

Malik felt his throat tighten. His mind raced, but his response came from somewhere deep within him. “I don’t have the same advantages as other candidates,” he said, his voice steady despite the nerves. “But what I do have is grit. I’ve worked my way through every setback, every barrier. I’ll give you everything I have—because I don’t have anything to lose.”

Lena’s interview ended with a firm handshake, and she walked out of the high-rise, her head held high. She knew she would get the job—after all, it was just a matter of time before she took her place at the table.

But as she walked down the street, a small voice inside her wondered: What would it be like to fight for something, to have to prove yourself when no one expects you to?

On the other side of the city, Malik left the co-working space with his heart still racing. He had no idea if he’d gotten the job, but he felt something shift inside him. It wasn’t just about this one position—it was about the future he was carving out, no matter how many doors got slammed in his face.

Lena and Malik were both part of the same city, but they were worlds apart. The challenges they faced in the job market were like two different games being played on opposite ends of the spectrum. But as Malik stood on the bus ride home, he allowed himself a small hope, a hope that sometimes, the hardest paths led to the most unexpected victories.