The next morning, I woke up feeling so hungover that I wanted to throw my alarm clock out the window when it went off. Despite the pounding headache, I managed to stumble down the hallway and miraculously make it through the shower without tripping. After getting dressed, I dragged myself downstairs to the kitchen.
My parents, Grace and Jacob Sheppard, were already in the kitchen, preparing to leave for their respective jobs. "Good luck," Mom said as she approached me while I poured coffee into my travel mug. "I'm confident you'll do well in the interview. This job is going to change your life; I can feel it."
I kissed Mom on the cheek and replied, "It's a job in the mailroom; I'm not going to save the company."
"My woman's intuition tells me you'll be doing more than you think," she said, smiling.
I turned to face Dad, who simply shrugged and said, "Listen to your mother; she's right more often than she's wrong."
"Women are always right; I learned that, and maybe you will, too," Mom teased, her smile widening.
*********************************
The headquarters for Bridge Financial were in a 15-story building in downtown Seattle, just a few blocks from the Space Needle. After gathering my belongings and locking the car, I walked through the underground parking garage to the elevator, which took me to the first floor, where I checked in with the receptionist.
I then took the elevator to the eighth floor and found myself seated across from a small conference room. Another man took a seat next to me shortly after I arrived. Before I could say anything, he put out his hand and introduced himself, "Hi, my name is Kelsey."
"Pleased to meet you; my name is Matthew," I said, shaking his hand. "You must have been popular with the school bullies."
"Kelsey hasn't been just a girl's name for quite a while," Kelsey said, glaring at me. "Haven’t you heard of Kelsey Grammer?"
"Sorry about that. What brings you here?"
“I’m interviewing for a position in IT,” Kelsey said as he sat back in his chair. “How about you?”
“I have a Bachelor's in Corporate Finance; unfortunately, the only position they're hiring for is the mailroom.”
“Hey, at least it’s a job.” With a sympathetic smile, Kelsey added, “There’s nothing wrong with starting from the bottom and working your way up from there.”
I was about to respond when I noticed a well-dressed young woman approaching from around the corner. I quickly got the impression that she wasn't expecting to see us, which was reinforced when she came to a halt and said, "Dammit Beth; how difficult is it to make two phone calls?" After taking a few deep breaths, she approached us and asked, "Kelsey Bailey and Matthew Sheppard, right?"
“That’s right,” I said, looking at her. “Is there a problem?”
"In fact, there is; I have to fire my assistant because she is incompetent at her job. Unfortunately for the two of you, the positions you were supposed to be interviewing for have been filled," she said as she came to a halt in front of us.
“And so the fates take a steaming dump on my birthday cake,” Kelsey said, annoyed.
“Once again, I’m sorry for any inconvenience this may have caused. I’m more than willing to cover any travel expenses.”
Kelsey’s voice was filled with anger as he responded, “Are you going to put us in touch with people who are hiring? Because we could have lined up other interviews if it weren’t for your screwup.”
Kelsey started walking down the hallway; I ran to catch up with him, saying, “Hey man, I saw a bar not far from here. You feel like getting a drink?”
Kelsey smiled at me and said, “Sure; I could really use a drink right about now.”
We were almost to the end of the corridor when Addison blurted out, “I may have another job opportunity for you both. It’s not what you were originally looking for; but it’s still a foot in the door.”
Kelsey and I both spun around to look at Addison. “What’s the job?” I asked inquisitively.
Addison approached us cautiously, saying, “Two of our executives are looking for secretaries.”
“That’s not exactly ideal,” I said with displeasure.
Kelsey looked unsure of himself for a second. “This may sound sexist, but isn’t being a secretary a woman’s job?”
“That doesn’t sound sexist, Mr. Bailey; it is sexist.” Then, looking at the two of us, she said, “But it works out; in order to qualify you for these positions, we have to turn you into women.”  indicates the next chapter needs to be written. |
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