“Okay, thanks anyway,” Cally rolled her eyes as she turned her back on the dumb girl sat at the desk, tapping mindlessly away at the keys. It was approaching noon and she had been trawling around employment agencies all morning and her enthusiasm and patience were starting to wear thin. So far, there had been nothing for her, and no one had even been that enthusiastic to help her.
“We’re looking for college graduates,” seemed to be their line of choice.
Cally had gritted her teeth and counted to ten.
“But I have almost five years’ experience of being an executive assistant,” she had said as pleasantly as she could. “Surely that’s worth more than some degree?”
But it hadn’t been taken well, and she had found herself walking from office to office, hopeful that the next agency would see her potential and put her forward for a position, and fast.
She looked up at the building in front of her. She almost didn’t have the energy to go inside, but she knew that she had to, otherwise, she would be returning home disheartened and to the judging words and eyes from Erica.
“Come on,” she coached herself as she pulled her purse up high onto her shoulder. “You can do this.”
And she stepped forward and made her way inside.
The office was sleek and bright white inside, almost as if she had stepped out of the street and onto a spaceship. She squinted as she looked around and saw all of the petite girls sitting at their workstations, all wearing matching headsets and typing away quickly at their keyboards.
“Hello,” a dreamy voice floated up to meet her from the greeting desk. “How can I help you?”
“I’d like to register with you,” Cally said, almost in shock as she tried to prize her eyes away from the rows of typing girls and harsh lights as she squinted down at the woman in front of her.
“Certainly,” she beamed. And she reached down and slid a clipboard over the top of the counter to her and motioned for her to take a seat.
As Cally sated and began to fill in what must have been the seventh form she had completed that day, she almost got to her feet and left. But there was something about the place that was so different to the others that she couldn’t help but feel that maybe, just maybe, this one may come up with something.
“Cally?” the voice of a man came from behind her and she turned to see a short, handsome blonde man holding out his hand.
She slipped her palm into his and they shook before he led her through to his office.
“You have some great experience,” he said as he looked through her resume.
Cally smiled and nodded, unsure of whether to expand or to just wait until he asked her a specific question.
“It’s funny because we get so many people coming through our doors looking for exactly the type of roll you would be perfect for, and yet, we always have to give them to graduates.” He rolled his eyes and Cally felt her heart drop.
“But,” he said reassuringly, “it just so happens, I do have something that I think could work...” he trailed off and he began to root through a file on the corner of his desk. He flicked through the pages that were inside and when he stopped, he opened it up and read it before he began to nod and smile.
“Yeah, this is a private roll,” he said as he looked at her over the top of his glasses, which had fallen down to the end of his nose. “A very unusual one for us, actually, but still, it’s well paid and the client is well...shall we say...interesting...”
Cally sat forward and looked at him in a way that would urge him to continue.
“He’s a prominent business man,” he said. “But for the past few years, he has worked exclusively from home, from his estate... And so the role would be based there.” He looked at her with uncertainty, as if he was trying to gauge her reaction. “It’s on the outskirts of the city... It’s not secluded or anything like that, but it wouldn’t be your typical working environment, I don’t think...”
Cally smiled and shrugged.
“It all sounds find to me,” she said. And she meant it. She didn’t see what the problem would be working in a more private environment. It would likely mean her days dragged out a little longer, but surely it would still be a challenge, especially if he was a prominent business man. It was likely to be very interesting indeed!
“He is looking for a personal assistant to help with the basic running of his affairs,” he continued. “Diary management, travel arrangements, correspondence, certain duties around the home, errands as and when...” he trailed off. “I mean, for all I know, a lot of it could be beneath you...” he twisted the lid on his pen. “But as I say, the pay is good and he hasn’t specified any kind of education. Only previous experience, which I can see you have by the bucket load.”
“I’d really like to give it a try,” she said warmly. “I think I could make this work, I really do.”
The recruiter smiled and nodded knowingly. “I agree,” he said happily. “I’ll fire your CV over to him right now and get back to you as soon as I hear from him.”
He jumped to his feet and held out his hand. Cally stood up too, almost unable to believe that she was already being put forward for something after the morning of disappointments that she had had.
“Thank you!” she smiled as she grabbed her purse and headed toward the door.
She stepped out into the Fall sunshine and suddenly felt as if she had a spring in her step. She was so distracted by the color of the turning leaves and the music drifting over to her from the buskers on the sidewalk that she almost didn’t hear her cell phone ringing. She got to it just in time and as she held it to her ear and heard the familiar voice of the recruiter, she really couldn’t believe her luck.
“The job is yours,” he said. “You start tomorrow. I’ll email you across all of the details.”
She had thanked him and hung up almost in a stupor.
One day unemployed and she was already back in the saddle. It was almost too good to be true! She couldn’t wait to get home to tell Erica all about how her run of bad fortune could finally be about to change.