by Alison Mello
“Why, because there’s a strict no interoffice dating rule?” She gives me a cocky smirk and puts the cream away. “Guess that only applies to the lower staff.”
“Wait, so this is a ball busting session?” I’m now questioning her motives. I thought we were friends, but I guess I was wrong. Clearly it’s not just with men that I’m a poor judge of character.
“No. I mean whatever, I’m leaving and don’t really care. I’m just saying.” She rolls her eyes. “Don’t go getting all defensive on me.”
I’m suddenly glad Marissa is leaving. I’m starting to wonder if she’s the one causing the drama between offices. “I’m not. I have nothing to defend. What happens between Vincent and I is our business and our business only.”
“That’s right. And if anyone has a problem with it, they can bring it to me, and I will happily replace them.” Vincent walks in, angry at us being the topic of conversation.
“Nobody has said anything.” She puts her hands up in a defensive manner and practically runs from the kitchen nearly spilling her coffee.
“Good morning, beautiful.”
“Good morning, handsome.” He comes up to me and wraps me in a hug. “I will not tolerate anyone giving you a hard time over our relationship, so if this becomes an issue, I want to know immediately.”
“Yes, sir.” I stand up tall and playfully salute him.
“Not funny.” He steps back to make his coffee. “We have second round interviews today. Are you ready?”
“Of course, I’m ready.” I lean against the counter. “Are you?”
“Yes, I have to send a few emails before we start. I have the team assignment for basketball, and I want to get an email out immediately. We can start practice this week for anyone who can make it on short notice.”
“Nice! What night is practice?” I sip my much needed coffee.
“Tomorrow and Thursday. Our first game is just after the first of the year, so we don’t have a lot of time.”
“Maybe I’ll swing by and watch.”
He turns to me with a huge grin. “I was hoping you would.” The two of us walk back to my desk. “Interviews will be in the conference room. Paul wants to sit in on these, so be sure he has copies of the resumes please.”
“Will do.” I take a seat and begin printing resumes for the two women who are coming in today. I place sticky notes on them, noting the time of their interview, and place them in Paul’s in basket.
Marissa is chatting away on the phone. She’s already left the job. You can see it in her demeanor. She’ll do as little work as possible this week. It angers me. I didn’t realize she was like that. I feel you have a job to do, and even if you’re planning to leave, you work until the end. I find it unprofessional to act the way she is.
When I get back to my desk, I have an email from Vincent about basketball. I love that he included me. It states that despite the short notice, practice starts tomorrow, and anyone who can make should attend.
“Excuse me,” a woman says, approaching my desk.
“Yes.”
“I was wondering if I could drop my resume off for the assistant position?”
I take the paper from her. It’s neatly typed up on fancy paper. “You can, but can I ask why you didn’t email it or apply online like everyone else?” She’s an older woman, pale blonde hair, blue eyes.
She smiles warmly. “I really need a job, and I thought if I applied in person it may make me stand out in the crowd.”
I point to the seating area across from my desk. “Please have a seat.” I glance over her resume. It’s actually quite perfect.
I walk into Vincent’s office. “What’s up?” he asks, not looking up from his laptop.
“I think you need to see this.” I hand him the piece of paper. “Where did you get this?”
“She walked in with it. Says she really needs the job and wanted to stand out.” His eyes scan the paper. “Where is she?”
“Sitting out there.” I point toward the waiting area.
He glances at his watch. “We need to make it quick.”
“I agree.” I hurry off to the waiting area. “Eleanor, do you have a few minutes to meet with us?” I ask the woman who is sitting nervously fidgeting.
“I do.”
“Great, come on in.”
I escort her into Vincent’s office. He has already taken a seat at the table with her resume in hand. He continues glancing it over, complimenting her on her courage to bring the resume in. He hands the document over to me and starts talking with her. The conversation between the two of them flows wonderfully. I take notes while they continue on. It’s going really well, but they need to cut it short because our next interview will be here soon.
Vincent stands from his seat and holds out his hand. “Well, Eleanor.”
“Please, call me Ellie.” She holds her hand out.
“Thank you so much for coming in. It was really nice meeting you.”
“Thank you, for your time. I appreciate you squeezing me in.” She nods with a warm smile.
“We’ll be in touch,” I inform her, escorting her from the office. I really like her, and I think Vincent does too.
When I get back into the office, Vincent is checking his email. “Our next interview is here.”
“That’s fine. I’ll be there in a few minutes. Put her in the conference room and offer her some water, please.”
“Will, do.”
I hurry from his office. “Right this way, Ms. Rybeck. Mr. Wilder will be with you in a minute.”
I escort the woman to the small conference room where I offer her some water. She happily accepts, and then I hurry off to grab Vincent. He doesn’t like being late, so I find it odd that he’s not rushing in.
“We’re ready for you,” I inform him.
He sighs and grabs his notepad. “I think these will be a waste of time, but let’s do it.”
“How so?”
“I think I’m going to hire Ellie.”
“Really?”
“Yes, she made the best first impression, and it’s what my gut is telling me to do.” For as long as I’ve known Vincent, he has always had this thing about going with his gut. He tells all his employees, ‘Go with your gut,’ or he’ll say, ‘What’s your gut telling you?’ I chuckle. “What’s so funny?”
“Your gut.” I shake my head and open the conference room door for him.
Paul is already here and chatting with Ms. Rybeck. The woman has a glow about her. She’s sporting a huge grin and gushing over every word that drops from Paul's lips. Paul is single but a player. He refuses to settle down. I’m honestly surprised it’s not him having an office relationship.
We both watch as the two of them go back and forth. They laugh at something silly that Paul said. “Can we get on with this interview?” Vincent asks, taking a seat.
“Good morning, Mr. Wilder.” The woman finally realizes that we’re in the room. I take a seat next to Vincent, and he begins questioning her.
He starts with asking her what makes her think she’s the best fit for this position. She rambles on for a good few minutes about how she has a pleasant voice, and she’s gentle on the eyes, making her a nice greeter to anyone who comes to visit. She may not realize it, but I already know Vincent is not impressed, and if I’m not mistaken, Paul is no longer impressed either.
They say their thanks and dismiss the woman who looks shocked that the meeting is already over. “Isn’t there anything more you want to know?” she asks them as they exit the room.
“No. You gave us enough.” Vincent turns back to her. “I’m sorry, but you’re not the right fit for our office. Have a good day.”
Vincent is a very fun guy, but when it comes to his work, he’s a professional, and he expects those around him to behave in the same manner. I actually feel bad for the girl, and I have a feeling Paul set her up. He brought out her true colors for Vincent to see.
The next two interviews don’t go quite as bad. We meet w
ith them for a bit. The conversation flows much nicer, but I can see Vincent still isn’t happy. He makes this slight pout when he’s troubled over something or he’s not pleased. It’s not recognizable to someone who doesn’t really know him, but I see it. It comes from with working with him for so long. I escort the final interviewee from the office and join the men with the lunch I ordered for us in between meetings. We all take our food out and discuss the candidates.
“Dude, the look on your face during that first interview was epic.”
“You did that on purpose,” Vincent says to him.
“I knew she wasn’t a good fit. I could see how her face lit up when I entered the room. She thought if she flirted she was in, so I gave her a little added push.”
“I’m glad you did. She was my top choice after the first interview.” He digs into his turkey club.
“Now?” Paul asks.
“I’m hiring a woman who walked in this morning.”
Paul shakes his head. “Who is she?”
“An older woman, lots of experience. She’s a go getter. Had her resume printed up nicely on actual resume stock. I took a few minutes to interview her on the spot. She’s a great fit and has the experience I need.”
“But will she be nice on the eyes. We need decoration in the front office.” Paul mimics the woman’s words.
“She’ll do just fine.” I nearly choke on my fry. She isn’t a drop-dead gorgeous hottie, but she fits the look.
“You okay?” Paul asks.
“I’m great.”
Trystan, Amber, and I are all sitting on folding chairs in the school waiting to see who shows up for practice tonight. It’s the first practice of the season, and due to short notice, we asked people to try to make it. I did get a few responses back with confirmation they could be here, but practice starts in ten minutes, and so far, it’s Ethan, DJ, and Mason. These are the only two of Ethan’s friends I could get on the team. Ethan and Mason are pretty good, so it limited my choices. I was only able to get DJ too because Trystan is coaching.
A few more boys come walking into the gym. I’m not sure if they’re on my team or not because we split the gym in half for practice. We get one hoop and another team gets the other. The parents look a bit lost, so I go over to introduce myself. “Hi, I’m Coach Vincent.”
“Oh, good. I wasn’t sure which team he was on.”
“What’s your name?” I ask the boy.
“I’m Dante”
I stick my hand out. “You’re on my team. You can grab a ball, and I’ll introduce you to the boys that are here.” He jogs off to see Trystan who has the bag of balls we’re given to practice with.
“I’m Kate. I’ll be in the car working. What time does practice end?” I shake her hand.
“Seven-thirty. I will need you to come back in to get him. We’re not allowed to let them walk out alone.”
“I’ll be back in around seven-fifteen.” She starts to walk away and then calls a thank you over her shoulder.
The boys have already managed to introduce themselves and are now having fun taking turns at making shots from the free throw line. Ethan explains a technique that Amber taught him this past weekend while we were playing around. His free throw shot has improved, and now he’s thrilled to pass the tip on to his friends.
A few minutes later a few more boys come rushing in. It’s now five past, so I decide to get practice started. I pull them all over to the side of the court where they’ll sit during games. I make everyone introduce themselves, and then I discuss some of the basic rules for this year.
Every season the rules may change slightly depending on the age group they’re in, so we’re required to go over them with the kids. Once I’ve answered all their questions, we get going on some layup drills to warm up. I explain the drill and then watch as the go through. A few of our kids need quite a bit of work.
“Okay, everyone, hold up a second.” They all stop. “Let’s practice some passing.” I have them do some chest passes. They throw it back and forth twice, take a step back and throw it two more times. When they reach a distance too far for a chest pass, we move onto a bounce pass. I need them to understand distance and choosing the correct pass.
The kids are having a blast, and they’re getting along really well so far. Only three kids couldn’t make it. Not a bad start to the year so far.
It’s seven-fifteen, and parents are making their way into the gymnasium to collect their children. I blow my whistle to get the boys attention. “Line up on the free throw line. Mason, take a spot under the net. The person on the line is going to make the shot. Mason will jump up for the rebound. He’ll dribble it back and pass it off to the next person in line. DJ, you’re first, so you’ll replace Mason under the net after you shoot.”
DJ takes his shot and misses, but Mason rebounds and dribbles it up. I notice they all let the ball drop to them. They’re not jumping up to recover the rebound. We need to work on that. I jot it down on my clipboard to talk to them about it on Thursday. We run the drill for the next ten minutes, and then I call the boys and the parents over to the side.
“Good evening, everyone. If we haven’t met yet, I’m Coach Vincent, this is Coach Trystan, and Coach Amber.” I didn’t really ask Amber to help coach, but she was on the edge of her seat all night itching to help. She’s grinning ear to ear when I announce her as a coach. “We will be working with your children over the next few weeks. First, I want to thank you for getting them here on such short notice. I know schedules can be tight. We will practice on Tuesdays and Thursdays from six to seven-thirty. If this is a problem, please let one of us know. I’ll have the game schedule and uniforms next Tuesday, so please try to be here.”
“When do games start?”
“Just after the new year. We didn’t want to start the game schedule and then break for Christmas, so we voted to start after. Christmas is only two weeks away, and we do not get any practice time during the Christmas break. That means when we return to school, we have one week and then games start.” I pause. “Are there any questions?”
Everyone stares at us quietly. “Okay, I’ll send an email reminder about practices. Please email me back if your child is going to miss. Have a great night.”
As soon as the parents have all left with their children, Trystan, Amber, and I walk out with the kids. Trystan shakes my hand and bids us goodnight. He and DJ take off, leaving Ethan and me with Amber. “Ethan, get in the car.”
“Yes, sir.” He climbs into the back of my SUV. “Spend the night with me.”
“Do you think that’s a good idea?”
“I think it’s a great idea. If I didn’t, I wouldn’t have come up with it. We all need to eat, and then we can relax for a bit and get ready for work tomorrow.” I chuckle. “Besides, your car is at my place anyway.”
“I have nothing to wear for work in the morning,” she reminds me.
“Spend the night. You can shower there and stop home in the morning to change before we go to the office.” I’m not above begging. I want her in my bed. “The more time you spend here arguing with me, the less time we have to relax together.” I shiver. “Besides, it’s freezing out here.”
She laughs. “Okay. I’ll spend the night.” I press my lips to hers and open the car door for her.
I used my remote start to warm the car, so the seats are already toasty. She shivers when the warmth presses against her backside.
“Thank you,” she says. I wink at her and hurry to my side so I too can warm up.
When we get back to the house, I instantly send Ethan to the shower, while we work on whipping something up to eat. He only had time for a snack tonight. “Going forward I think I should make something ahead of time for basketball nights.” Amber cuts up some fruit to go with our sandwiches.
“Sounds good to me.” I pull a piece of fruit from her bowl and plop it in my mouth. “Hey!” She slaps my hand. “Get out of my bowl.” She narrows her eyes at me.
“Sorry, I’m hung
ry.”
She pats my stomach. “I think you’ll live a few more minutes.” At one point in time I had a nicer six pack, but not so much anymore. I’m not an overweight guy, but the tone I had at one time developed has slipped a little now that I’m a single father.
“What are you trying to say?”
“That you don’t go hungry.” She presses her lips to mine.
“You’re going to give me a complex. I may have to start hitting the gym again.”
She rolls her eyes. “I like you just the way you are.”
Ethan comes running into the room. “Is dinner ready? I’m starving.”
“Like father, like son.” She puts a plate in front of him. “Here you go, Ethan.”
“Thanks, Amber.” He picks up his sandwich and shoves it into his mouth. Her eyes go wide, shocked he would shove so much in his mouth at one time.
“Ethan, slow down. You’re going to choke,” I reprimand him. He looks at me with a confused expression. Of course, he’s confused. I’ve never given him crap about the way he eats, but I should have been. It’s not appropriate.
I take a seat next to him. “Listen, buddy. Your mom didn’t care much to teach you certain manners as you were growing up, and I was traveling all the time, so I didn’t pay much attention either. By the time I realized how bad things were here, we were in the midst of our divorce. For that, I’m sorry. We should have been teaching you better right along. You need to slow down, please. It’s not polite to eat like that.” I can’t believe some of the things Laney let this kid get away with. It’s mind-boggling, but at the same time I’m just as much to blame. I was so busy traveling trying to grow the company and set up new offices, I didn’t see it either, and when I did, I blamed myself because I wasn’t here. I never took the steps to correct it.
“My bad,” he says through a mouthful of food.
“Now that, you know better. Don’t talk with your mouth full.” He swallows.
“Sorry, Dad.”
I nod. “Rise up.”
“Yes, sir.” He starts eating again, but this time much slower.
Amber and I join him. “You know your team has a lot of potential,” she says with a smile.