Hell with it. Might as well get some work done.
She turned and flipped off the light, moving out into the living room to where her briefcase rested on the coffee table. She unzipped it and pulled her laptop out, plugging in the custom cord built specifically for that purpose, and booting it up. Then she went into the kitchen and looked at the coffee machine, bypassing it and going to the refrigerator instead.
She poured a glass of milk from the dispenser, then added three squirts of chocolate syrup and mixed it. She sipped at the beverage as she seated herself on the long, leather couch and punched the buttons that would start a connection to the office.
A flick of the control turned on the large screen TV while she was waiting, and she surfed through the cable channels, bypassing CNN and MSNBC and settling on the Cartoon Network, which was showing Space Ghost Coast to Coast.
“Better commentary than Dan Rather,” she muttered, as she glanced down, watching her e-mail download. She leaned back against the cushions, then decided to lie down full length and balance the laptop on her stomach.
She let her eyes scan down the listings, and her eyes brightened a little when Tropical Storm 65
she saw Kerry’s name listed.
“Probably wants to say no thanks,” Dar murmured after a moment’s reflection. “After she slept on it.” For a moment, her mouse hovered over the entry, then finally she clicked on the mail, feeling an odd dryness in her mouth as she waited for the contents to appear in her preview pane.
Sent by: Kerry Stuart
Subject: Assistant’s Job
Time: 1:01 AM
Hi.
I know you’re thinking “what is this crazy woman
doing, sending mail at one AM after a day like today?”
Well, I didn’t start out to do that. I took a shower, and got changed, and fluffed up my pillows, and answered the two frantic messages on my machine because people saw my car towed back here, and then I was laying there figuring this sleep thing wasn’t going to be a problem.
But I kind of got to thinking, that there was
something I hadn’t done, and it kept bugging me and bugging me until I just gave up and figured out what it was.
It was deciding what I wanted to do, as in, with my life at this point, and I know you’re probably sitting there reading this thinking I’ve flipped my lid, but…I haven’t.
I decided if you were serious about that assistant job of yours, then I was going to apply for it. I know there are probably ten thousand other people more
qualified, but I have this crazy idea that maybe I can find better ways for people to do things, so that it’s not so brutal, and it doesn’t hurt people inside just to do business.
That’s pretty naïve sounding. I sound like some
Midwestern rube just out of certification school, don’t I? Yikes.
So anyway, what I did was logon, and I found that
posting of yours, and I submitted a formal request for consideration. I also attached my résumé, like it said.
Though figuring out where to click in that CAS
application is a real pain in the neck, you know? I feel better now, and I think I’ll be able to sleep.
I know I don’t have much of a chance at it. It’s so weird to think that I was cursing your name before dinner time, and hoping I get to work for you at midnight.
If you can squeeze me back into my old job, though, that would be fantastic. Monday is going to be really crazy, and there’s one thing I forgot to thank you for—
and that was the severance packages. It changes firing someone from a hateful sentence, to what I can present as a good chance for change, so that these people can find something else, without having the pressure of bills 66 Melissa Good hanging over their heads. You don’t know now much that means, especially since four of the people have school age children who were covered under the insurance.
Thank you, Dar. I really mean that.
Have a great weekend.
Kerry
Dar felt a grin coming on, and she let it, as she read the mail twice over.
Then she very deliberately logged into her CAS session and reviewed her work list. An eyebrow went up when she saw the thirty or so responses, and she scanned the names. All qualified, pretty much. Most junior, but a few senior account managers, with lots of experience in what she did. Several candidates, in fact, were already assistants to other VPs. Good, solid employees, with stable backgrounds and excellent references.
She clicked on Kerry’s submission and reviewed it. Absolutely no experience in any facet of what she did. Absolutely no experience in multiple markets, no experience overseas, no experience in corporate takeovers. She had absolutely nothing in her favor, in fact, except for guts, and brains, and a beautiful smile.
A reckless, piratical gleam entered Dar’s blue eyes. It was so easy. Two clicks and an F3 submit key. “Oh look.” Dar did it before she could stop and think better of anything. “I just hired an assistant.” She took a deep breath.
“Isn’t technology wonderful?”
She almost felt lightheaded. Making decisions was second nature to her, but she knew this one was different. Mariana was going to kill her. Company regulations stipulated that she had to interview and evaluate each candidate, and produce written documentation to back up her choice. Hell with it. She clicked over to mail.
Sent by: Dar Roberts
Subject: New Assistant
Mari—
Just hired Kerry Stuart from the Associated
Synergenics account as my assistant. Please process her paperwork. I figured it would be easier on you since she’s technically an outside candidate—you can hire and transition her all at once.
Bring her in as a 10, standard package, the works.
I’ll send her over to fill out forms some time next week.
I know everyone will bitch. Just tell them manager’s discretion, and they can see me personally if they have a problem.
Dar
A loophole. Dar loved loopholes. Bringing in Kerry as an outside posting would circumvent most of the hysteria, and she could just ignore the rest.
Mariana was used to that anyway, manager’s discretion was a watchword in the company. A lot of the rules were left deliberately vague, and you had to take responsibility for what you decided.
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Dar always had. Even when the decisions had turned out wrong, she still refused to hide behind anyone, and took the brunt of the blame on her own shoulders. It was the one thing that kept everyone at bay, even those people who hated her…and there were a lot of those. She’d made a lot of enemies and few friends in her years at the company, but it was the one thing that everyone respected her for. When Dar Roberts made a decision, she stood behind it, one hundred percent.
With a grin, she rubbed her hands together, then took a long drink of her chocolate milk before she started typing.
Sent by: Dar Roberts
Subject: re: Assistant’s Job
Kerry,
Got your note.
Attached to this e-mail you’ll find corporate
policies and procedures, including the dress code. You might want to take a look at that. Jeans are not allowed during normal business hours.
I estimate it should take about a week to get the
paperwork completed, and that will give you a chance to settle your current assignment. Call me if you have any questions.
Dar
With a sense of inevitability, she hit Send. She still had some doubts, still had some questions as to whether she was doing the right thing for Kerry, but it was done. Time would tell if this was a good decision, or one of the ones she lived to regret.