A few hours later, sitting in her car, hiding from the sun, Tara got the call. “How soon can you come in?”
“I haven’t left yet.”
“Excellent.”
An hour later Tara was back in the building, getting steered around the office by Ms. Black’s hand on her shoulders. She was lead to an office door, which Piper knocked on and then headed in without waiting for a response. She interrupted a conversation. Sitting at the desk was a woman in her early 30s, a little older than Piper, her textured hair braided into a pony tail. She was a little thick set, broad, solid, but not yet plump. The woman standing there talking to her was intimidating to Tara. Tall, svelte, with a tall graceful nose (unlike Tara’s), dark skin, and her long dark hair in a french braid, wearing a striking green jacket and skirt combo that matched her eyes, a tasteful amount of gold jewelry and a complete makeup package, Tara couldn’t help feel a little shabby and underprepared seeing her.
“Hey Nia, Sorry to interrupt, I got another one for you. Count yourself lucky, I got a good feeling about this one.”
“...this is the new Sales Team Leader you mentioned?” Nia looked Tara up and down skeptically.
“Yep. She comes with experience at the position.” Piper patted Tara on the back. “Tara, this is Nia Lancer, your new supervisor.”
“Pleased to meet you Ms. Lancer…or is it Mrs?”
“Miss.” Nia said with a note of dreaded finality. She took a deep breath in through her nose. “Priya, we’ll talk about this later. I gotta handle this.”
Priya nodded. “Yes, Ma’am.” And left without saying a word to Tara.
Nia stood up. “Priya is our best sales team leader. Let’s hope you’re as good as Piper says, she could use the competition.”
“Yes, Ma’am.” Tara nodded.
“Let’s show you to your team. The way this works is a group of salespeople work under a team leader, that’s you, and a group of sales leaders report to the Sales Division Leader, that’s me. Your job is to make sure each of your salespeople get their best performance, and my job is to do the same with you. So let’s get to it.”
The room where Tara would be working was a limited open office plan. Group of five desks she could watch over, with hers closest to the door able to see everyone. It was lunch hour, so only two of her employees were in to introduce themselves.
“Hi, I’m Stephanie Park.” A short girl, with long blonde hair, tanned skin from the southern sun, and blue eyes shook Tara’s hand. She wore her office shirt with a tie, and tucked them into a pair of skinny jeans. Business casual. No one saw you at this job from the waist down. Tara got sorority girl vibes from her.
“And I’m Naomi Kim.” Another short one, this one more globular. Naomi looked like a Korean American marshmallow, and while she wasn’t extraordinarily fat, the straining buttons on her shirt and her exceptionally chubby cheeks for her size did her no favors. Nor did eating through meeting her new boss…
–
Tara was woken up the next morning by a tapping on her window. She woke up in a panic, expecting a cop, and getting something worse. She rolled down the window.
“Ms. Black?”
“Are you sleeping in your car?”
“What…no, no.” Tara smiled nervously, “I just…got here early and thought I’d catch a quick power neck.”
“Nah. Come on, let’s talk. I’ll buy you breakfast.” Piper wasn’t buying it.
Piper dragged Tara over to a Latin American dinner for breakfast, ordered herself a big styrofoam box full of gallo pinto, a few arepas with ham and eggs, and a tall coffee and ordered the same for Tara.
“Trust me, I know what’s good.” She patted her belly and gave it a little jiggle for emphasis. Once she had their food, she lead them to a small, cramped table in the back. “Have a seat Tara.”
“...Ms. Black I know what it looks like but–”
“Relax, you’re not in trouble! I meant have a seat, not have a seat. Come on, before I eat yours.” Reluctantly, Tara sat down and had a little bit of the ham and cheese treat. It DID taste so good. “I get it, my mom worked to take care of three daughters, and she didn’t have a college degree. It’s nothing I haven’t seen before. But I’m like…I’m human resources. Looking out for the humans here is my job. So…least I can do is treat you to breakfast.”
“...Thanks.” Tara said, finally relaxing. It felt mortifying to have to take help like this, but knowing someone cared enough to help meant so much.
“Don’t worry about it. You got a plan?” Piper asked before digging in. Tara was momentarily stunned. Piper just…demolished her portion. She wasn’t kidding that Tara would have to eat fast or she’d eat it for her. She’d never seen someone shovel so much rice onto one fork full. She’d never seen someone swallow so much without chewing. It took Tara a short while to realize she was staring, and that was rude.
“Uh, yeah, I’m just saving up paychecks until I can make a downpayment on an apartment. Things kind of fell apart after my last job, and so I can’t afford a place in Charleston, but I really want this job…”
“Hey, I’m marking this in your review. That shows, dedication. And Yeng? Yeng isn’t like other companies. They appreciate that kind of dedication.” Ms. Black said that with such emotion and commitment, Tara really understood this woman came from harder times than Tara had known. This living in her car thing was really only for a few weeks.
“Buuuut, you don’t have to sleep in your car…”
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