IDA Chapter Two

Chapter Two

         Amy got off the bus, looking around for the address on the business card.  She half expected the address not to exist.  After she saw the table was gone, she frantically searched her pocket for the business card, terrified that somehow the encounter had been in her imagination, though she couldn’t understand how.  Her fears were partially lifted as she had gazed down at the card.
         
Still, she thought as she looked for the address, it’s unnerving.  Her spirits lifted as she spotted the building she was looking for.  She crossed the street, and entered the building, reveling in the air conditioning.  The AC on the bus had been broken, and May can be warm.  She walked up to the front desk, asking for directions to the Intuition Detective Agency.  A few minutes later, she found herself in front of the suite door.  She hesitated, her hand above the knob.  Her stomach clenched in nervousness.  This was her first real job interview.  The interview for the library job had been a joke.  They had been desperate for help, and practically hired her as she walked through the door.  She straightened, remembering that according to Gwyn, this interview would be just as procedural, a technicality.  She quenched down the gnawing thought that Gwyn might have under-exaggerated the importance of this meeting and turned the knob.
         
She walked through the doorway and found herself in a tiny suite.  There was a front desk to the left, but no one behind it.  Only a bell like a doorbell to alert the employee’s that anyone was there.  The room that she walked into was small; a wall with ceiling to floor windows was only about 10 feet from the door.  The only adornment was the desk.  There were two doors, one leading to the right, the other to the left, behind the desk.  Amy looked around, walking towards the windows.  She looked out at the small city below.  The suite wasn’t very high, just the fifth floor, but that was high enough to give her a good view of the town.
         
She turned as she heard one of the doors open.  Gwyn stood in the doorway.  Amy’s stomach unclenched slightly.  It always helped to see a friendly face.
         
“Hello, Amy,” Gwyn said, walking towards her.  “Right on time.  The boss is just finishing up his lunch.  Would you like anything?  Something to drink?”
         
Amy nodded.  “Water would be great.”
         
Gwyn motioned towards the door to the right.  “This way.”
         
The door led into a break room.  A nicely stocked break room.  It had a fridge, a microwave, a stove and oven, even a dishwasher.  A table was placed in the middle with 3 chairs around it.  Two other chairs were against the wall.  What suspiciously looked like a dog bed was on one of the chairs.
         
Gwyn motioned to the water jug.  “Help yourself.  Are you sure you only want water?  We have coffee and soda if you’d like that.”
         
Amy shook her head as she filled up a cup.  “No, thank you.  Water is fine.  I was just on a bus with no air conditioning, so all I want right now is something cold and wet.”
         
Gwyn chuckled.  “Ah, the bus.  I don’t miss that particular transportation method at all.”
         
Amy nodded absently.  She finished the glass of water and looked up at Gwyn.  She seemed to understand what she was asking.  “If you’re ready, we can head over,” Gwyn said.
         
Amy threw out the cup.  They walked over to the other door and Gwyn punched in a code to open it.  Techy, Amy thought.  They walked through and entered a hallway.  There were five doors along the hall, two on the left, two on the right, and one at the very end.  It was this door that they headed to.  Amy’s stomach began to clench even more.  She was nervous, very nervous.  She kept telling herself it was not a big deal, that Gwyn said the job was assured, but the logic wasn’t reaching her innards.  They reached the door and Gwyn grabbed the knob.  “A deep breath, and here we go.”
         
She opened the door.  Amy looked around the nice office.  It wasn’t very big, as boss offices go, but it was just as nice.  Beautiful mahogany desk with large computer, a bookshelf on one wall, a TV on the other.  The window wasn’t actually a window.  It was a full door, with a balcony behind it.
         
Amy took all this in quickly, but what caught her attention was the man sitting behind the desk.  He stood as Amy entered the room, walking around the desk to shake her hand.  At the sight of the man, Amy didn’t even notice that Gwyn hadn’t followed her in.
         
The man was tall, dark, and handsome.  He had lean features, with beautiful grey eyes, a grey that was more like silver.  He had long, dark brown hair, held back in a pony tail.  The hair was pulled back over his ears, not behind them.  Amy thought that would be rather annoying.  She could never stand hair over her ears.  His fashion sense was a couple decades behind.  He wore a dove grey cloth around his forehead like a headband, though under his hair; but other than that he was impeccably dressed in a smart suit.
         
The man had an easy smile on his face, with a humor in his eyes close to Gwyn’s.  He wasn’t what Amy was expecting.  She was expecting an older gent with a stern face and a look that said, “Don’t mess with me.”  Admittedly, she was expecting Bogie, but this man was anything but.  He only looked a few years older than herself.
         
He took Amy’s hand in an easy handshake, just enough pressure without crunching.  “It’s nice to meet you, Ms. Horton.  My name is Ain.”
         
Amy smiled back at him as he let her hand go.  “It’s a pleasure to meet you.  And please, call me Amy.”  She didn’t add that she didn’t particularly enjoy the name Horton, especially since it wasn’t hers.
         
“Very well.  Amy.”  He turned towards the desk, waving towards the chair in front of it.  “Please, sit down.”
         
Amy sat down, adjusting her skirt.  She had decided on the skirt to look professional.  This was a job interview, after all.  However, she had never been a big fan of the tight pencil skirts that were considered most professional.  She had noticed Gwyn wearing a skirt suit similar to the one she’d worn at the faire.  Whereas she looked at ease in it, Amy felt awkward.
         
Ain sat down behind his desk, leaning forward with his hands laced in front of him.  “Now, I can see that you’re nervous, so I want to make this as easy and painless as possible.  I am ready to offer you a job right now, but the point of this interview is to make sure you want to accept it.”
         
Amy looked at him, astonished.  All she had to do was say yes?  That’s it?  Before she could respond, Ain spoke again.
         
“The purpose of this interview is different than most job interviews.  I will be asking you questions, not on your compatibility for this company, but to ascertain that you agree to commit to this company.  It’s more than just a detective agency.”
         
He opened up a desk drawer, pulling out some papers.  He leaned back in his chair.  “First off, do you have any questions?”
         
Amy tried to think of the first one to ask.  She had many questions.  More than a detective agency?  Why would she not want the job?  Not to mention the slew of questions she had about her experience at the job faire.  One question at a time, she told herself.
         
“Why is it that you are ready to offer me a job right now, without knowing my capabilities or anything?”  Amy asked.
         
Ain nodded.  “I’m not surprised that’s you’re first question.  I know that you must be wondering why the table at the job faire was being ignored by everyone else in the room.  Am I right?”
         
“Yes.”  Amy squinted in thought.  “It’s not exactly as if it were being ignored.  It was like no one knew it was even there.”
         
Ain smiled.  “Very good.  But you noticed it.  You saw it.  That alone makes you a desirable candidate for this position.”
         
Amy frowned, and he must have noticed the confusion on her face.  “I’ll explain why it was only you who noticed the table in time.  I need to make sure you’re willing to commit to this company first.”
         
Her frown stayed.  To discover that would be enough incentive to accept the job, she thought.  Before she could ask another question, Ain continued.
         
“Another reason why you are an excellent choice for this agency is because of what you want to do.”  His eyes softened.  “You want to be a detective.  This is a detective agency.  Just from that, it seems you’re a perfect match.”
         
That’s true, Amy thought.  It’s never a good idea for an employer to take on an employee who doesn’t want to be there.  She looked up from his hands, which she realized she had been looking at for a few seconds longer than she should have.  She contained the blush (he had nice hands) before asking another question.  “Why would I not accept this job offer?”
         
Ain leaned forward again.  “Yes, I understand that so far you must think that this job is too good to be true.  In a way it is.  And at the same time isn’t.  This job is fitting for us both; you want to be a detective, and you have the abilities for this agency that we need.  The fact that you came to the table is enough proof for that.  However, what we deal with is not everyday detective work.”  He sighed.  “I can’t go into too many details, unless you accept the job.  What I can tell you is that this job is challenging, more challenging than you may think.  You will be using more than just technology and clues to piece together mysteries.  We know that you can use these techniques, again because of the table, but we need to be sure you are willing to use these techniques.”
         
Amy was thoroughly confused.  “What kind of techniques would those be?”
         
Ain pointed at the door.  “This agency is called Intuition Detective Agency.  The name isn’t just used for publicity.  We all use intuition, or what can loosely be interpreted as intuition.”
         
Amy sat up straighter, a feeling of excitement coming over her.  “Loosely interpreted as intuition?  Somehow I don’t think you just mean going off of hunches.  You mean using abilities that everyday people don’t have, don’t you?  Intuition can be seen as an innate ability to realize something, without using reason, just belief that you know the answer.  A looser interpretation could be that you use innate abilities to figure out the answer, other than the mundane.”
         
Ain’s face held a look of astonishment.  It softened down to one of pleasant surprise.  “Exactly.”
         
Amy’s thoughts were whizzing through her head.  She could barely contain herself.  The job was perfect.  It fulfilled all her criteria for the perfect job.  She wanted to be a detective, which to her was perfect in itself.  But what Ain had just told her was that she would be using powers no one else had.  Somehow, he knew that she had strange abilities, and this job would allow her to use them.  No, this job expected her to use them.  For any other detective work, her use of them would have been seen as a lucky hunch or guess.  In other words, perfect intuition.
         
Amy had a huge smile on her face as she left her reverie.  “If you have in fact just offered me the job, I accept.”
         
Ain’s look of surprise returned.  “Just like that?  I’ve barely given you any information on the company.”
         
Amy’s smile didn’t waver.  “And it’s enough.  I wanted to be a detective.  I would have used whatever abilities I had, smarts or otherwise, and no one would know what it was that they didn’t see or understand that I did.  You have just told me that I am expected to use these abilities, that I have to.  That is all I’ve ever wanted.”  She leaned forward slightly, though she didn’t notice.  “That’s what I’ve always wanted.  To use what I have without ridicule.  For that I’d accept almost any job.  The fact that it’s my dream job is beyond my wildest fantasies.”
         
Ain’s surprise receded, replaced by a smile almost as big as Amy’s.  He grabbed the papers that he had taken from his desk and put them in front of her with a pen.  “If you’re sure, sign here.”
         
Amy reached for the pen, but Ain pulled back for a moment.  “Remember this, Amy.  There is no turning back once you’ve signed.  I hate to sound ominous or like a Morpheus figure, but I need to be sure you are committed to stay with us, no matter what.”
         
Amy couldn’t understand what could cause her to turn away an opportunity like this, and leaned forward to grab the pen.  “I agree.  Where do I sign?”