“Oh, I’ve got game all right,” I replied as we started playing. But as much as I wanted to focus on playing videogames with my best friend, the cute redhead from the interview today lingered in my mind.
8
Ginny
I woke up extra early on Monday and spent way too long trying to decide what to wear. I’d bought a bunch of new clothes yesterday: three more tops, two skirts, and two pairs of pants. Enough to create a bunch of combinations for the first couple of weeks. I still needed to buy more though. The price tag yesterday had been a shock. Professional clothing was expensive—even more so than lingerie.
Spending that much money was easy to swallow after the big shows I’d had last night and Saturday. I had more viewers than ever, and many of them were tipping big. I didn’t even care that the charge-back from last week’s bachelor party show hadn’t been reversed.
I smiled as I checked myself out in the mirror. I lookedgood. More importantly, I looked professional. Like I belonged. That helped reduce my imposter syndrome by a few notches.
First-day jitters aside, I felt like my life was finally on track. For the first time since I could remember, the future felt bright.
I walked into the big office building with a smile on my face. “Hi, I’m starting a new job on the 28th floor,” I told the security guard behind the desk. “My name is Virginia Hanover.”
“Welcome to the building!” she said warmly. “Let’s get you all set up in the system…”
She took my photo and printed out a security badge that would give me access to the building after hours. It would also let me park in the garage for free. I nodded thoughtfully and tried not to show how happy that made me.
Then I went up to the New Mexico Community Foundation, where I was now an employee. The administrative assistant at the front welcomed me to the team, and had me fill out a bunch of paperwork. When that was done, she gave me a quick tour of the office space. Bathrooms, breakroom, and the conference rooms. Only half the employees were already in the office, and she introduced me to everyone we saw. After meeting ten people, their faces and names blended together in my head. I would need to make an effort to remember everyone.
“And this is your office!” she said. “Unfortunately, you don’t have a window. But if you sit on the left edge of your desk, you can see part of Allison’s window across the hall. I hope that’s okay?”
“It’s perfect!” I said. “I don’t need a window.”
“Well, if you get sick of the lack of view, you can always take your laptop into one of the conference rooms. We all usually have lunch together in them.” She glanced at her watch. “Allison should be here soon. I’ll let you get settled. Let me know if you need anything. And welcome to the NMCF!”
When she was gone, I settled into the chair behind the desk. Ever since I was a little girl, I had dreamed about having an office job. It seemed like an impossible dream. Both of my parents had blue collar jobs growing up. Theirbosseshad offices. Yet here I was, sitting in my very own room, with a desk and a chair and a door I could close when I needed to focus. It didn’t feel real.
I gave myself ten seconds to close my eyes and celebrate it privately, then I shook it off. There was a welcome basket on my desk, with some goodies and a coffee mug. I grabbed the mug and headed to the break room to get some coffee. They had one of those fancy Keurig machines with the individual pods. I picked a hazelnut flavor and started brewing a cup.
I heard voices coming down the hall, but they were speaking softly. It sounded like an argument. When the two men passed the door to the break room, they stopped. I recognized one of them as the man who had jumped into the interview when Michael was bleeding all over the place. The other man was significantly older, with dark hair winged with gray. Both of them were dressed in expensive looking suits. The older man even had gold cufflinks and a matching tie clip.
“Virginia, right?” the younger one said. His suit was fitted perfectly to his slender body, and he had thick black hair. “I don’t think I had a chance to introduce myself on Friday because of, you know, all the blood. I’m August, the Chief Financial Officer.”
“Please, call me Ginny.”
The older man had the same dark eyes as August, eyes which looked me up and down and didn’t seem impressed. “I understand, now.”
“Understand what?” I asked.
“I understand why my son chose to hire you over more qualified candidates.”
August pinched the bridge of his nose and sighed. I stood there, dumbfounded by what I had heard. Then anger began bubbling up inside me.
“I’m sorry,” I said icily, “but I’m certain I don’t know what you mean. Can you elaborate for me?”
He opened his mouth, then decided better of whatever he was going to say. “We rarely hire someone without a degree. That is what I meant.”
I smiled curtly. “I’ll make up for it with hard work.”
“Time will tell,” he replied, and walked away.
“Always a charmer,” August called after him. He sighed, then turned back to me. “That lovely gentleman was my father, Cornelius Cunningham.”
I gave a start. “Wait. That was the CEO?”
“Unfortunately.”