by Manoa, David
***
Next day, I came into the office to see a young woman sitting on the chair in the reception area. It was 8:45 a.m. and she was wearing a white blouse, black skirt and black heels.
She was a petite girl, and sprung up like a character in a popup book when I approached her. She had a lovely smile, though I’ll admit I wasn't actually attracted to her looks, but the way she projected herself was upbeat and positive. She had an oval face with these glasses that were big and droopy, something like my mother used to wear when I was young.
Her dark blonde hair was in a tidy ponytail, but her distinguishing feature was her cheekbones.
I sensed when she started to look down to the floor that my intimidating look made her uncomfortable.
“Felicity—Neil. It’s great to meet you,” I said with a smile.
“Thank you for the opportunity, Mr Taniela.”
I put my hand on her shoulder. “Please call me Chad. Come on through.”
I took my jacket off when Felicity came in a minute later with two cups of coffee. It was such a godsend, but I was fussy with my coffee; it had to be mochaccino with a triple expresso shot. I took a sip and realised it was.
I commented, “My favorite.”
Felicity smiled and made a fist. “Yes!”
“How did you know?”
“After I got a call from you I googled you and your company and I rang up your secretary to ask what coffee you liked. I went to your favorite coffee place. It's very expensive coffee, you know. I’m also a personal internet researcher!” She smiled.
Or a stalker…
I paused, amused by Felicity. She was very talkative; her mind sped at a velocity faster than mine. I blinked twice then I interrupted. “Okay, Okay…”
“Sorry, Chad. I talk too much sometimes…”
Felicity was fidgety but I tried to put her at ease. “I appreciate you wanted to make an impression. I can pick a positive spin already.”
Felicity looked puzzled, then said, “So have I got the job?”
I smiled because she was so cute in a way that she said it.
“I don’t know yet but I have a number of questions. I want to ask.”
Felicity sat up, her hands together, her neck slightly raised.
I said, “I'm intrigued as to why you want to pursue a career as an intern when you previously trained as a nurse.”
Her eyelids fluttered when she answered. “I realised that it wasn’t for me and I wanted to do something entirely different. Get out of my comfort zone so to speak.”
I stared directly at her. She looked up for a moment, then went red.
“That’s good,” I told her. “You have to keep testing yourself. I do note you don’t have any qualifications or previous experience in administration.”
“I do actually, as part of my training as a Nurse. I did do shifts taking over reception. Which involved all that.”
“Why didn’t you put it in your CV?”
“I didn’t think I would get this far, to be honest.”
I paused. “Please explain why you hand wrote your CV. I hope you are proficient in using a computer?”
She chuckled. “Oh, I am. I wanted to stand out from the other applicants. That's why I did it.”
“It worked…” I chuckled too. “You’re here.”
I asked a couple more questions. I'm quite instinctive when it comes to these things and I had no doubt she would be the one. But there was this dull pain in my gut, something that was niggling at me on one of her answers. I felt a bit bad because I was intimidating her the whole time.
“Felicity, I'm happy with your responses so far. I want to be in a position to offer you the role…”
Her eyes lit up but I quickly interrupted. “But…I’m looking for someone I can rely on. I have gone through two interns in the past year and half the reason why was they couldn’t stand the pressure we put on them and the other half was they weren’t honest with me about how they were going in the job.”
I paused to let it sink in.
Felicity bit her lower lip and looked to the ground.
I said, “Why do you want this job?”
“I need the money, Mr Taniela… Sorry, I mean Chad. I bought a house on a whim, not realizing the extra costs, you know. My salary covered the mortgage payments, but I didn’t foresee things like rates, the rising costs of utilities, and my student loan. I was on the brink of a mortgagee sale so that I quit my job as a nurse to recoup the superannuation and holiday pay to make my payments. I didn’t anticipate being out of work so long, but the industry is saturated. I gave up hope till I applied for the job and when you called…”
Felicity didn’t finish her sentence. I got a sense of the financial hardship she was under.
“There’s nothing wrong with that, Felicity. It means you’re motivated. Come with me.” I stood up and walked to the door.
We walked down the grey corridor to the open plan office, Felicity a step behind. She moved up quickly, clutching her folder like a school kid. The click clack of her heels made my eyes flinch.
We stood behind the large glass door, frosted three quarters of the way down. Felicity raised her head and tiptoed to have a look at the staff on the office floor.
“I employ a hundred staff in this building. When I took the reins I inherited the team and I noticed one thing…”
“What’s that…Chad?”
“Half of them don’t know the reason why they turn up to work. You can always tell by the amount of effort they put in. The hardest workers are the ones with goals or reasons behind them. Those things I notice. They are the ones who are motivated.”
I turned to Felicity and she adjusted her glasses and her hands came together like she was praying. She was focused on my every word. Behind the glasses she had pale blue eyes. The emotion inside her made them become glassy. There was a spark of something else.
“Felicity Neil, I would be happy to offer you the role at Taniela Consolidated…”
She covered her face, so excited that she dropped her folder and hugged me.
“Thank you so much-Chad, thank you for giving me a chance. Oh my god! I thought you were showing me the door when I gave that answer. And then…” She slowed down and stopped.
I put my hand on her shoulder.
“Felicity, you start in tomorrow. We'll see you then…”
The skin on her shoulder felt soft and supple.
Then suddenly a raspy voice bellowed in the background. “New blood…”
We both turned to see Vivian with arms crossed, walk towards us. Her disapproving stare and the sound of heels getting louder made things awkward.
I introduced Felicity to Vivian and they exchanged fake smiles.
We both watched Felicity leave. I smiled as I watched her walk away.
Vivian raised an eyebrow at me. She grabbed my arm and pulled me into the meeting room.
***
When the door shut behind me Vivian shoved me against it. She leaned in and her aggressive kiss nearly choked me, her tongue forcefully entering my mouth.
She opened her eyes and leaned back as her smoky, smoldering eyes scanned me. “I have good news, Cerberus are happy to close the deal. I need you to sign it off now.”
I turned to lift the blind and look at Felicity, who was leaving the lobby, making her way out. My heart skipped a beat, remembering her hug. The sensation was warm, distinctive.
Alex was there in lobby, picking his teeth with his toothpick. Vivian said in my ear, “You belong to me…”
“Eh?” I said perplexedly.
“You heard me…”
She started to unbutton my suit jacket. She licked her lips and the ravenous energy aroused me. She shoved me into the window, so the blinds bent. She unzipped my pants and started stroking my cock. My eyes rolled back the sensation messed with me.
I took her hand and held it, firmly.
“Stop… Not now Vivian.” I said, with a hard-on poking out.
&nbs
p; “Excuse me?” she said.
I flung her hands away and wiped the lipstick from my mouth. I pulled up the zip, adjusting my cock to the side to avoid embarrassment. “I have a meeting with Alex in the next minute. He's in the lobby already.”
Vivian’s eyes narrowed, then she said, “What does that idiot want?”
I began to button up my suit. Vivian took over, straightening my tie. She pulled it a bit tight and I put my fingers in the collar to breathe.
“He’s introducing me to a new client who wants to buy our remaining stock options in Cerberus Petroleum.”
“What’s his name?”
“Sione Suarvea from Pasifika Exports.”
“Never heard of him or the company.” Vivian put her hands on her hips. “What the fuck? I’m working my ass off on that deal to sell all our stocks to Cerberus Petroleum at a good price and you want to sell to someone else?”
“I know what you’re thinking. I saw your data on how the petrol stocks are devaluing, the glut of petroleum stocks across the world. But I want to hear this guy out. I want to get the best price.”
“It sounds suspect, Chad, and we have the best price. These no name companies can never compete with the largest multinational in the world.”
“I’m not committing to anything. It can’t hurt to get another perspective. ”
“Perspective? For fuck’s sake don’t botch this up by being greedy. It's bloody obvious where the market’s going. And where this company is heading, the longer you fuck around.”
“Look I gotta go. We’ll talk tonight…”
“Wait! Chad! ”
***
I walked briskly down the corridor into the lobby where Alex was waiting, wearing his brown boots with his blue denim jeans and his brown leather jacket. He was feathering his pink and grey checkered pattern scarf, on the side of his face. As I approached him, he was shaking his head and pointing to his watch. “Bro, what took you so long?”
I exhaled. “Vivian…”
Alex took the toothpick out of his mouth and licked his lips. “She still giving you blowjobs before meetings? Her morning, dick-tations, ha-ha.”
I punched his arm. “C’mon, let's get out of here. There’s something you tried to tell me before?”
“Yeah, you gotta hear me out.”
We walked out to the carpark where Alex unzipped his jacket and removed it. He was wearing his typical tight black t-shirt but had his scarf firmly around his neck like a python. He said, “I see that the girl from the glee club got the job.”
“Huh?”
“The blonde nerd with the glasses. I guess she got the job?”
“Oh, Felicity. Yeah. She starts tomorrow.”
Alex shook his head and took out another toothpick. “I guess Vivian was the one that made the call eh?”
“No, I did.”
“Bullshit, you pussy whipped motherfucker.”
“No bullshit. I actually made the call.”
“Bro, I knew she was ugly when I saw her handwritten CV. It’s like most things. If they have a sexy voice, they’re ugly. If they have pretty handwriting, they’re ugly.”
“Jeez Alex, where do you come up with this shit?”
“I know women, that's all. It’s called womanese.”
I rolled my eyes.
***
We went to a café not too far from work. It was situated next to the Fire station and we watched the convoy of fire trucks leave. Alex flicked away his toothpick and leaned back in the chair and smoothed the surface of his face.
“Bro we have to talk about what I heard Vivian say to Damian at the party.”
I sat up. “Yeah… what was all that about.”
“When I arrived at the party to pick her up she was getting all cozy with Damian. I tried to get closer to eavesdrop when these two clowns dressed as Navy officers butted in. They were toasting to the success of the deal.”
“And?”
“She was talking about a percentage…”
I baulked. “Jeez you’re an idiot. She’s referring to the percentage of the stocks we sold already. Vivian wanted me to sign the rest of the stock options before I headed out with you.”
“Tell me you didn’t sign?”
“Not till we meet with your guy.”
“Good, I was approached by Sione Suarvea, who offered to buy my stock options. I did the checks and he came out legit. He purchased my stock holdings for double what Cerberus are offering us.”
“Really?”
“It’s all done and dusted. As soon as the transaction was completed he asked for you, since we were the only party shareholders left.”
I paused to stroke my chin.
“Bro, he is keen to buy whatever share you got left. Let's meet this guy! It’s a no-brainer. Easy money… Lots of money. Money ho!” he said waving his hands in the air.
“Ok. Jesus, keep it down. Setup a meeting.”
“I'll book tomorrow at 2 p.m...”
“Done, I’ll bring Felicity in so she can get up to speed with what I do. Be good to expose her to the day to day stuff. An induction.”
“Well, she better know how to make a good coffee. ‘Cause she ain't easy on the eyes.”
“I’ll tell Vivian tonight that you have someone.”
“Bro, don’t tell her shit, till you meet this guy. She doesn’t know yet that I’ve reneged on her deal with me.”
“Alright then.”
***
Eight a.m. I was greeted by Felicity in the lobby. She was wearing the same outfit from the interview. But she didn’t wear heels. Her flat-soled shoes made her shorter.
“Good morning Felicity, how are you?”
“Great thank you. I was up at six am to catch the bus here. The traffic! Oh, my god. I’m so glad there's a bus lane-everything else was at a standstill. But Hey, I’m here and I made it on time.”
“Okay…” I paused with a raised eyebrow.
“I’m talking too much again aren’t I?” she blurted.
I shook my head. “No, I’m adjusting to you. Remind me not to give you coffee...”
Felicity giggled, as Vivian walked into the lobby. Her eyes narrowed at me and then she took her sunglasses off and said to Felicity, “First day at school…”
Felicity smiled and then nodded, watching Vivian walk past us. I noticed a change in expression when Vivian's back was to us.
“C’mon Felicity, follow me into my office. I'll go over your induction.”
We sat at my desk where Felicity took out her notepad. I opened my drawer and took out a tablet, peeled off the sticker with the name of the girl before. In the drawer also was the diamond earrings I was going to give to Vivian.
I paused. It was a Christmas gift. But to know I wouldn’t be spending Christmas with her put a sour taste in my mouth.
I opened the red velvet box and the gleam of the sun made the earrings sparkle. They were a teardrop design with two stones each, separated by a small white gold o-link that made the larger cut diamond spin around. I held it while it twinkled, refracting the light into colors of the rainbow. Felicity bobbed up from the other side of my desk.
“Wow!”
“Yeah… An opulent pair for the one dearest to you is what the salesperson said.”
“Christmas gift, for your mom?”
“She’s dead.”
“Oh, sorry. For your sister then?”
“No.”
“Wife?”
“No. I’m not married.”
“Girlfriend?”
I exhaled. “Hell, No.”
I closed the box and my eyes shifted to her. I sighed, knowing I would spend Christmas alone again this year. Perhaps for years to follow, remembering Vivian’s rationale of 364 days with me and one with her family.
“Felicity… I’m still thinking about the ‘dearest’ part.”
She gave me this cheeky smile and her thumbs pointed inwards to her chest. “I’m your girl!”
I rolled my eyes and handed
her the tablet. “I had IT set it up for your email and everything. Your login and password are on a sticky note on the back of it and I have synced it with my appointments as well so you know where I am.”
I watched as Felicity examined the tablet. Her nails were painted red.
I said, “You are computer literate, right?”
“Of course I am, Chad. 5.2 gigahertz processor 32megs of ram, and it even has an SSD hard drive. Wow, this is like some fancy piece of kit. Can I take it home?”
“Phew… I was worried ‘cause I thought of that handwritten CV…”
We both laughed and Felicity pressed her glasses up against her nose.
“Chad… I'm not too certain what my role is.”
“Felicity, I need you to share the load with a lot of the day to day running of the businesses I own under Taniela Consolidated. This company had humble beginnings. I bought shares in petroleum, gas and crude. I reinvested whatever profit I made on exploration, buying stock. But the market is tanking, oil prices are dropping with demand from China declining and the collapse of the countries in the European Union. I’m losing profitability so I have sold most of my shares and reinvested it into solar initiatives.”
“Clean, green energy,” Felicity said.
“Yeah.”
“So this is where you come in. I’m always evaluating opportunities to reinvest. I’m in meetings listening to pitches and so forth, and there are administrative requirements that I don’t have time for.”
“Okay, Chad I get it. So I’ll be leveraging your time, right?” she said.
“Exactly.”
There was a chime that made Felicity glance at the tablet.
“Felicity, we have a meeting today at two p.m. with Sione Suarvea from Pacifica Exports. He is offering to buy the rest of my shares, but I have a number of reservations. Oh, you remember Alex? He’ll be in that meeting as well.”
Felicity looked up then at me. “Nope? I didn’t meet him.”
“He was in the lobby when you came for your interview-dark slicked back hair, brown leather jacket.”
