Peeking out of the elevator, Shannon noticed a young woman standing by her office. A slim one; no baker then. What a pity. She drove out and straight to her door, hurrying to have the interview done ASAP. Sitting in her cart, she looked more like oversized blob, her overflowing pillowlike gut being the first thing anyone noticed.
The candidate certainly did. She blinked, taking in the sheer size of her potential boss. Most likely she had never seen a woman of her size before but she rallied quickly. “Hello, Ma'am, I'm Penny Simon. Here to see Mrs. Polluck regarding my application.” She grinned a tad nervously.
Now it was time for Shannon to study her potential personal assistant. She was such a tiny little thing! After years spent dealing with school employees or hobnobbing with other dignitaries who enjoyed all the benefits of associating with Yeng, she could hardly believe someone could be so thin. She could almost wrap her waist in her hands (if her digits weren't so thick).
“Ah, yes, yes, that would be me. Come in, follow me, have a seat.” Penny Simon? The headmistress seemed to recall seeing such a name in the pile of resumes. She even vaguely remembered it stuck out for some reason, but why? Was it good or bad? It didn't matter now anyway. The main thing was that Penny was here now. Hopefully she was ready to serve… err, to assist her boss. She slid behind her desk and smiled widely, causing a little chinquake. “So you would be ready to start immediately?”
“Yes, I would.” The girl (she was nothing more than that) rushed to her seat with enviable ease and pushed her glasses up her nose. “What would my duties involve?”
“Oh, just… organizing my timetable, keeping contact with school sponsors, liaising with the Vice-Principal… Generally assisting me in leading the school.”
“Could you be more specific? Regarding the working hours, remuneration and perks and so on?”
Such insolence! Luckily Shannon remembered the good Dr. Hinamizawa had prepared something of the sort back when they'd discussed this problem. “Actually I can. And I can also show you what your duties would include while we are at it. Pass me the file marked 'Personnel, Admin,' over there,” and she pointed to the upper row in the file cabinet next to her. Sure, she could take it herself but she'd have to stand up. Better use this opportunity to see how helpful the girl is willing to be.
Penny proved to be compliant enough. She jumped up and retrieved the file in a fraction of time it would take the humongous headmistress. “Here you go, Ma'am.”
“Thanks,” Shannon took the file from her and nearly dropped it. It was so heavy! In this kind of situation her gut shelf came in handy. She rested it there while leafing through. “Ah! Here it is.” As she pulled out the single sheet Fukuda had printed her back then, her stomach growled in displeasure. Possibly it didn't like being squished, probably it was feeling peckish again, most likely both.
“But first, would you be so kind and bring me a couple Yeng bars from the vending machine in the hallway? Here, take this,” Shannon reached into her breast pocket gave her a bright pink bracelet, “pass it by the sensor and everything'll be free. Take something for yourself too, if you like.”
She knew she wasn't supposed to let the bracelet out of her sight but what harm could it do? Besides, she'd told dr. Hinamizawa to make it wider, it wasn't her fault it didn't fit around her wrist. “Go on, what are you waiting for?”
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