“Ok, out with it Lauren. I know something is bothering you.”
“I have a feeling we are going to be discussing the note from the wretched she-bitch that was just delivered to you,” she said, plopping into the chair across from her boss.
“How did you know about the note,” Jerrica asked, examining Lauren’s expression. “Never mind,” she said, rethinking the question.
Trying to stretch time so she could think, Jerrica picked up her pencil and doodled on her note pad.
“You’re going to say no, right?”
Jerrica tilted her head up. “Yes,” she tried to sound confident. “That is why I called you in here. I need you to call her office to decline the invitation.”
“How’s this sound for a message? Please tell Ms. Daniel to take her request and stuff it—” Lauren stopped mid-sentence, as if startled to see the obvious hurt in Jerrica’s eyes.
Lauren’s heart suddenly ached for her friend. Neither of them spoke as Lauren made her way to the door. Before she reached the door she turned. “Can I ask one question?” she asked, then not waiting for a reply. “How long did it take you to make that decision?”
She couldn’t lie to Lauren. “I would like to tell you it was an instant decision, but I did ponder saying yes. Nevertheless, you have my answer. Please make the call.”
Lauren didn’t respond as she left the room.
Jerrica heard the door click but didn’t really see Lauren leave. She was now staring at the tapping pencil in her hand. I need to get back to work, thought Jerrica. She would look at messages first, then e-mails and then spend the rest of the day working on reports.
Jerrica’s morning became a blur of people coming in and out of her office and phone calls she effortlessly fielded to her staff. Just another day crunching numbers for clients, preparing accounts for auditing, or setting up new clients with accounts. It was the same routine every day. Jerrica focused on her numbers. Most time balance sheets and account records matched and the outcome was predictable, fitting into her no surprises lifestyle. On occasion, when Jerrica interacted with clients, she had a calming way that made them trust her from the start. She always adjusted who she was to whatever the client needed. The drawback was that no one got close enough to see the real Jerrica.
As she was clicking on the computer keyboard, there was another soft knock on the door. Jerrica wasn’t sure she had heard it until it sounded again. Without looking up from her computer screen, Jerrica said, “Come in, Jaime.”
The door cracked open and Jaime poked her head in. “How did you know it was me?”
“Well, let’s see…Lauren usually pages before she comes in or she just comes in, and everyone else here knows to see Lauren to be announced. You are the only one I can think of who knocks.”
Jaime’ smiled as Jerrica noticed the large stack of papers she was holding.
“Please tell me all those papers aren’t for me?”
Jaime stopped in front of her desk “Just the top file is for you, and the rest of them I’m taking down to the archive department.”
“Phew…I thought for a minute you were trying to load up my desk,” she said letting out a breath.
Sometimes her workload would be a comfortable steady stream of paperwork going across her desk, but on more occasions then she liked to remember, the work was like a tidal wave. Ever since the business world started to downsize, her job had become busier. Clients wanted to know their financial bottom line and ways to cut their expenses. She tried not to think of all the people who might have lost their jobs because of the numbers she presented. She had to remind herself often that she was just an accountant analyst. Reaching up, she removed the folder from the stack.
Without a word, Jaime turned and, resembling a small child, skipped out of her office.
Jerrica sat back and thought about the first day she’d met Jaime.
†
It had been one of coldest days in Boston and Jerrica had made a non-scheduled visit to the human resources department. She knew it was time to split up Lauren’s duties and get a secretary for the more day-to-day aspect of the business. As she walked into the waiting room of the HR department, she noticed what looked like a bundle of coats sitting in the corner with legs and holding a clipboard. She couldn’t figure out if it was a male, female, or a yeti. She’d thought it was odd that, though it was cold outside, the person under all those layers hadn’t removed any of them since they were now inside. She continued her journey into the human resources office shaking her head from side to side in amusement. Mrs. Maxwell, the HR manager, looked up from her computer and smiled.
“Ms. Kerrison, how may I help you today,” she said.
“Good morning, Mrs. Maxwell. Please call me Jerrica. I need to add another employee to my staff, a secretary and was wondering if you had any eligible candidates.”
“And you can call me Stephanie. I’m actually interviewing someone today who might fit what you need. I think she’s in the waiting room now. Why don’t you sit in on the interview and then give me your opinion afterward?”
Jerrica nodded her agreement and positioned herself in a chair near the corner of the room to observe the interview. She really didn’t have time for this, but felt suddenly obligated to stay. Jerrica stared down at her hands in her lap while Stephanie went out to fetch the bundle of coats waiting in the other room.
This should be fun…not! she thought.
She heard the sounds of footsteps coming toward the room. Stephanie entered first stepping aside and gesturing to the woman to sit down and taking her coats from her. Jerrica was finally able to get a good look at the job applicant. To her surprise, under all those coats was a very petite, young woman in her early twenties, with long, dirty blonde hair. The young woman sat in the chair just vacated by Jerrica.
“Ms. Paisley, this is my colleague, Jerrica Kerrison. She will be joining us during this interview. She is only observing,” Stephanie said as she looked at the woman’s resume.
The young woman looked at Jerrica and gave her a brief, unsteady smile, then focused her attention back on Stephanie. They sat in silence until Stephanie cleared her throat and started the interview.
Jerrica cleaned her nails as she half-heartedly listened to Stephanie briefly discuss the resume verbally. She caught her name, Jaime. Jerrica still wasn’t really paying attention to the interview until Jaime finally started to answer questions about her future goals. Looking up, she leaned forward in fascination, listening intently to this timid young girl. Jaime’s rigid frame and unwavering eye contact showed hidden confidence. She could tell that under the meek and shy exterior there was an intelligent, willful, trustworthy young woman who might be a great asset to her department. If she did hire Jaime, it would give Lauren a new protégé. Jerrica smiled, thinking of how Lauren would handle training the newbie.
When the interview was finished, Stephanie pushed her chair away from the desk, and rose. She thanked Jaime for the interview and walked her toward the door.
Jerrica stood as well. “Stephanie, could you let me have a few minutes alone to talk with Ms. Paisley?”
Stephanie turned to Jaime. “Are you okay with this?”
Jaime nodded in answer.
Once Stephanie left, Jerrica motioned for Jaime to sit again. Jerrica walked to the front of the desk, seating herself on the top of it. Staring directly at Jaime, she spoke. “Can I be blunt?”
“Of course,” Jaime replied.
“Good.” Jerrica smiled. “I am a manager of a very busy department. Are you willing to work from forty to sixty hours a week and give me one hundred ten percent toward your job performance every day? Plus my assistant will probably dog you for all those hours,”
“Your job offer is so tempting,” Jaime responded, with a giggle.
“A quick thinker with a sense of humor, I like that. I can’t promise you an easy job, but what I can promise you is that I am a fair employer. I will give you credit for any contributions you give. I w
ill never hold you back if you seek a promotion in another department, and as a bonus I’ve been told that I am fun to work for. The most important thing that I can offer is the invaluable work experience you will receive being part of my team.”
“Why are you giving me this chance? You really don’t know me. You haven’t even read any part of my resume.”
Jerrica saw the doubt in the young eyes. “I know enough. At your age I would have loved to have a mentor to teach me this business. I didn’t have that luxury. I’m giving you the opportunity I didn’t have because I feel that if given the right environment to learn, you can be exceptional.”
“Are you officially offering me a job?”
“If you are interested, yes, I am. It’s for an entry-level position and the pay will reflect this arrangement. The job starts on Monday at nine am.”
Jerrica slid off the desk, offering her hand.
Jaime stood, grasping the open hand. “I will be in on Monday.”
“Great! I’ll have Stephanie give you the details of the job. I look forward to seeing you on Monday.”
Jerrica opened the door and motioned for Stephanie to come back in the room. Jerrica smiled. “Start the paperwork, Stephanie, I’ve hired her.”
†
Jerrica’s smile broadened as the pleasant memories flashed in her head. She had never regretted hiring Jaime, who always gave the one hundred ten percent to every project. She was never late and had more energy than most of the people in the company. The only thing she wanted to change about her secretary was to break her shyness. She knew Jaime had talent, but her shyness stood in her way of moving up the corporate ladder.
I won’t give up on her, she vowed to herself. The beep of the intercom almost startled her out of her chair.
“Jerrica,” Lauren spoke. “Are you ordering lunch today?”
“I brought lunch.”
Jerrica heard a quick reply just before the line went dead. Jerrica wasn’t hungry and needed to get a lot of work finished before the end of the day. Usually Jerrica just worked through lunch anyway and that always bothered Lauren.
Jerrica cursed under her breath, remembering she had to go to the file department this afternoon to get the copies for Mr. Bisset’s project. The file department is where all the paper account records were stored. They had everything on computers these days, but it’ still seemed important to have the original paperwork just in case of audits or mistakes.
Stepping into the main department, Jerrica took a quick look around the room. She noticed it was mostly empty as people seemed to be at lunch. Lauren was gone but Jaime had stayed around to cover the phones. She would go to lunch once Lauren returned but usually on Friday’s, they both ordered in and chitchatted at their desks. Lauren always said she barely tolerated Jamie’s company, but deep down Jerrica knew she liked having her around.
Jerrica could see the top of Jaime’s head over the top of the cubical wall. The cubical walls where just high enough to give each desk a little privacy. “Jaime, I’m going for a walk, I need to stretch my legs. If Lauren gets back before I do, please tell her where I’ve gone. Thank you.”
“Yes, Ms. Kerrison I will,” she said, obviously startled by Jerrica’s sudden appearance.
Jerrica turned and walked toward the elevator. Once in the elevator she selected the floor the records department was located on. This mid-afternoon elevator ride was much more enjoyable then the morning’s. The small box was nearly empty and she had plenty of room to move around. She was hoping that it wouldn’t become too crowded before she reached her destination. Jerrica was only going a few flights down but it seemed like it was taking an eternity to get there. She heard the ding of the elevator, looking up just before the doors opened. The electronic numbers read that this was her stop so she adjusted her outfit and proceeded toward the records department.
The fourteenth floor, for some reason, always seemed much darker than any other department in the company. The layout was different as well. On the seventeenth floor, the floor plan was open. You can look around at all the offices and see just about everyone in their cubical. On the fourteenth floor it was like walking into an old fashioned town office. After you walked through the glass doors, which still had hand painted File Room on them, you stood in front of a long wooden counter. The old florescent lights made the room and all its contents turn a pale shade of green. She disliked visiting this windowless department. Jerrica found the bell to ring for assistance and tapped it twice. With some amusement, she almost expected to see Barney Fife from Mayberry walk out to greet her. Looking around the dreary room, she detected a head poking out from between the racks.
With a wide smile, Leo walked toward her. “Good afternoon, Ms. Kerrison. How may I help you today?”
Pulling the request form from her pocket, she slid the paper in his direction.
Leo read her request. “I can have those copies for you in about ten minutes. Shall I send them to your office?” Leo asked, not looking up from the form.
“No, thank you, I’ll wait. It’s no trouble.”
Once she had seated herself, she glanced up to find he had already disappeared. Hesitantly she removed her cell phone from her pocket. She should call her mom, but she wasn’t ready for the speeches about her not visiting or that she’s not dating…etc. Staring down at her phone directory, she had an overwhelming urge to call Devin instead. She knew she wouldn’t, but just having the thought was upsetting enough. Slipping the cell phone back in her pocket, she heard the familiar sound of the copy machine. It wouldn’t be long before Leo would be back with the papers she had requested. Brushing some lint off her lapel as she rose, Jerrica walked toward the counter. As she leaned on the counter, Leo appeared with a large manila envelope.
He dropped it lightly on the counter in front of her. “That will be five dollars,.” he said, with a sheepish grin.
“Put it on my tab,” she replied, winking at the young man as she snatched it from the counter.
A quick look over her shoulder showed her a broad smile on his face as he watched her backside. Ah, young men and their hormones, Jerrica thought, laughing to herself.
Back on her floor, Jerrica felt more comfortable, more in her element. Strolling toward her office, Lauren suddenly appeared beside her. Jerrica watched Lauren glance at the envelope tucked under her arm. She made a scoffing noise under her breath, making Jerrica aware of her irritation. Jerrica and Lauren split ways returning to their respectful desks.
Jerrica enjoyed the safety that her office seemed to offer today. She placed the unopened envelope on the side of her desk as she reclined in her chair. She decided she would have to take the project work home. The remainder of her day would be spent on other assignments that were more pressing. With a big sigh, she reluctantly started her other tasks.
After hours of burying herself in paperwork, she finally glanced at the clock. It read four forty-five. “Time to get out of here,” she said aloud while piling all her paperwork together as she got to her feet.
Retrieving her briefcase, she slid the envelope inside. Inspecting the case a little closer, she noticed that her can of soup was still present. Lauren would kill me if she knew I skipped lunch again. Shrugging her shoulders in indifference, she proceeded to disconnect her computer. With ease she placed it into the case next to the can of soup. Rustling outside her door made her realize the stampede to leave the building had begun. Grabbing her jacket in one hand and her briefcase in the other, she headed out of her office. Instead of entering the crowd of people headed for the elevator, she took the stairs. Going down seventeen flights of stairs was much easier than climbing those same seventeen flights. Gravity would work in her favor as she stepped off the first step. Taking two steps at a time, she bounded down the stairs swiftly. When her shoe reached the last landing, she hit the exit door with her elbow, entering the lobby almost at a jog. She had sprinted from the building and down the street to the corner before most people exited the elevators. She hadn’t
seen her assistant before she left, but knew Lauren would check everything before she left for the day. Lauren lived closer to Boston so she always left a little later than everyone else. Entering the train station she glanced at the clock, five ten. Boarding the 181 train that would take her out of the city, she found a seat near the back and began to unwind for the trip home.
†
A state of peace washed across her as she entered her large town house. Kicking the door closed with her foot, something caught her eye toward the living room. She smiled as she saw two balls of fluff spring in her direction. Before she could blink, Baby Kitty, the new kitten in the family, with unlimited energy and unlimited love, was at her feet stretching up on the front of her dress slacks.
“Let me put this stuff down first,” she said, lowering her briefcase to the floor.
In one fluid motion, she set the bag down, and scooped up the kitten with the same hand. Baby Kitty was a small Ragdoll breed. Ragdoll kittens look like Siamese kittens but their temperaments are totally opposite. A friend back home had found the kitten abandoned on the side of the road. Jerrica, being a softhearted animal lover, adopted her. The older cat, Sassy, was not impressed with the new addition, but was at least tolerating her.
Placing the kitten on her shoulder, she headed for the kitchen, Sassy following close behind. She placed food-filled dishes down on the floor for her little monsters. While they were happily eating, she retrieved a bottle of Syrah from the rack and pulled a clean glass from the cabinet.
Jerrica suddenly felt her stomach growl, reminding her she hadn’t eaten lunch. Leaving the now uncorked wine bottle on the counter to breathe a little, she went to the refrigerator and found a quick and easy supper—a plate of homemade beef and broccoli sitting in the front. After re-heating the food and pouring the wine, she made herself comfortable at the dining room table.
From her position, she could look at the water through a wall of windows. The back of the house on the first level had floor to ceiling windows that faced the bay. On the second floor, the master bedroom also faced the bay. Instead of large windows in the bedroom, she had a balcony. Jerrica loved having her coffee out there during the summer.
Finding Her Way Page 2