I was a little nervous the next day when I came into the building through the lobby like one of the normal employees. The sun was still in the sky and the lobby was crowded with people coming and going as they sought to obey instructions from the top. That's where I was going as I piled into the crowded elevator where elbow room would have seemed spacious.
Clutched in my sweaty hand was my resume, a single-page report of my few life and professional accomplishments. That slip of paper would decide whether I would even get an interview, or if I would be tossed back onto the trash bin of my janitorial job. I feared and expected that outcome. The expectation arose from my flimsy little resume, and the fear was my large rear would forever be trapped in that trash bin, never to know another occupation. I'd wind up as old as Tom before I retired.
As my fears climbed so did the elevator. The other occupants came and went, but the crowd slowly thinned until only I remained. The lit numbers on the button panel climbed higher and higher until the illuminated button shined on the number '40.' The elevator stopped and the doors swooshed open. Before me was a small lobby and beyond that was the Long Walk, a hallway that stretched past offices until it reached a pair of doors at the very end of the building.
Those were the doors to the office of the company CEO, Alec Strong. I'd never met the man in-person, but I knew what he looked like. A tall, dark, handsome man a few years old than me. His eyes bespoke of lust whenever I saw his picture in the downstairs lobby, and his sly smile hinted at pleasures he promised me. That as, in my dreams. He was the tall stranger who wooed me in the form of my broom. Unfortunately, he didn't even know I existed. I was a lonely janitor, he the CEO. It was like Cinderella but with no Fairy Godmother to intervene on my behalf. Tom didn't exactly fit the part.
I had to get myself together. I wasn't here to woo the boss. I needed to focus on turning in my resume and not let the elevator doors close on me. I yelped and slipped between the closing doors. My belly and back caught a little on either end, but I stumbled into the lobby still in one piece. My little yelp attracted the attention of a few open doors, and the occupants peeked their heads out and raised their eyebrows at me.
I smiled, straightened my work blouse and coveralls, and walked down the hall as though nothing had happened. The cubicle occupants returned to their typing and talking, and I reached the end of the hall without making a further idiot of myself. The prize that awaited me in front of door number one was an unsmiling woman of thirty with wavy brown hair and a figure that resembled a bone after a hungry dog gnawed on it. Curves in all the wrong places, and most were chewed to a sharp point. On the opposite wall was an empty desk, the tell-tale sign of the vacancy.
I stopped in front of her desk and stood there for a few moments. On the desk was a nameplate with the name Sarah Vitra stamped on the front, and in a basket beside the secretary was a large stack of resumes. The top resume referenced the job I wanted.
Miss Vitra's complete attention was on reading a piece of paper in front of her with the tip of her pencil trailing along the lines. I cleared my throat, and she looked up from her paperwork. Her eyes scoured me with a look of disdain. "The trash baskets are supposed to be picked up later," she told me.
Oh, she wanted to play that game. I smiled sweetly at her. "I was wondering why the trash wasn't in the basket yet, but that's not why I'm here." I snapped the paper towards hers. "I'm here to turn in my resume for the secretary position."
She raised an eyebrow and took the slip between two fingers like she was afraid I had cooties. Her eyes browsed the few contents and flickered up to me. "Is this it?"
I shrugged. "It's all I could come up with."
She glanced over the paper again. "It looks like your only qualification is your degree."
"I'm still willing to try, so if you could just put my name in the pile I'll go," I promised, hoping that little temptation would get her moving.
Vitra smiled at me, but I didn't like that look in her eyes. It spelled trouble with a capital 'S' for shit. "Very well. I'll file it where it needs to go." She swung my paper over the stack of resumes and opened her fingers. At the last minute her hand moved a little farther, over the edge of the desk, and my resume fluttered into the waste basket.
"What the hell?" I growled. I snatched the paper from the basket and inadvertently crinkled it.
Vitra leaned across the desk and her grin widened. "I'm sorry, but the resume deadline passed five minutes ago. Maybe next time."
I checked my watch. It was a quarter till five. "The application said it closed at five. I still have fifteen minutes," I argued.
"I'm afraid there was a change in the deadline. Maybe you didn't see the memo taped to your mop handle," she retorted.
I was just about to reach across the desk and strangle her scrawny neck when the doors behind her opened. In the doorway stood the CEO himself, Alec Strong. He was even more handsome in the flesh, a thought which got my heart thumping and my cheeks blushing. He walked over to us with a cheerful smile on his face.
"Who do we have here, Miss Vitra? Another applicant?" he asked his secretary.
"I-I don't think so, Mr. Strong. She doesn't have very good qualifications," Vitra replied.
"Is that so?" He turned his attention to me and held out his hand. "I assume that's your resume. Mind if I take a look?"
His eyes dazzled me, but I shook myself from his power. "What? Oh, sure." I handed him my resume and he browsed the contents.
He frowned when he noticed the crumpled state of the paper. "This resume's seen some pretty rough days."
"Miss Blank here was trying to file it under T for Trash," I told him.
He looked to blank with narrow eyes. "Is this true?"
Suddenly the top of her desk was very interesting and she shrugged. "It's almost time to stop accepting them," she defended herself.
"But not quite, so we will accept Miss-" He paused and looked down at my resume. "Miss Vicki Loom."
I held out my hand. "You can call me Vicki," I replied.
He smiled and gave my hand a good shake. "A pleasure to meet you, Vicki. It says here you're one of our janitors."
"Yes, one of the night janitors."
He stepped to one side and swept his arm towards the open doors to his office. "Won't you step into my office so we can discuss your resume?"
Vitra choked on her spit. "But Mr. Strong, she doesn't have any qualifications that match-"
"You can vet the other candidates for me, Miss Vitra, but I believe Vicki needs some special attention," he countered.
I swear everything he said was a sexual innuendo, or I hoped it was. I brushed past the stunned Vitra's desk and into the office. Strong followed me and closed the doors behind us. This was my first visit in his office. Tom handled the top floor himself. I could see why as my eyes fell on fragile vases, ceramic cats, and candy dishes. There were also posters of old and new movies, baseball cards in shallow glass cases, a few road signs, and a couple of antique metal farm toys. To the right of the entrance and against the wall was a long cloth couch with plush cushions.
"This is a-um, an interesting office you have," I told him.
He directed me to a large wood desk at the rear of the room. Two chairs sat on opposites sides of the desk, and I took the one in front of the of the furniture. He took the comfy swivel chair on the other side where he sat down and clasped his hands together. A smile adorned his Adonis-like face. "I admit it is a little strange. Less like an office and more like-"
"-an attic?" I guessed.
He chuckled. "More eclectic, but I suppose there are some strange things in here. But let's focus on the task at hand, your resume." He lifted my resume at an angle and read over the contents. "It seems you don't have any personal experience with secretarial work."
"No, but I did master in English," I pointed out.
He lifted his eyes from the paper and looked at me with a raised eyebrow. "
While that is useful, I fail to see your full point."
"I got a B.A. in BS doing that major. I can type out bullshit with the best of them. If you need a letter sweet enough to give somebody a cavity or mean enough to make them cry then I'm your girl," I quipped.
He set the paper on the desk and allowed his eyes to sweep over my upper body. I blushed under his intense gaze and looked at my suddenly interesting lap. "You hardly seem the type to be anyone's girl. I would rather think you are very much a woman."
"I-I don't know about that," I stuttered. My body was lit aflame by his sweet, tempting words. I tried to quench the fire by pressing my thighs together, but that couldn't stop that accursed blush from rising to my cheeks.
"I'm sure your boyfriend tells you that often," he mused.
I shook my head and still refused to meet his eyes. "I don't have a boyfriend."
"Really?" His voice sounded almost eager to my ears, or maybe my ears were eager to hear that tone in his voice. "No husband or boyfriend?"
"No, sir," I replied.
I heard his chair squeak, and I dared a glance up. He stood by his desk, and I watched him walk around and seat himself on the corner close beside me. His playful eyes looked into mine and his sly smile increased my lustful agony ten-fold. He lowered his voice so it was a soft, seductive whisper. "That sounds very enticing. You see, the position needs to be filled with someone who is willing to work nights and the occasional weekend. We wouldn't want outside distractions keeping her from duties to the company, and to myself."
Oh god. My body was on fire. All I could see, all I knew, was his wonderful eyes staring at me with lust in their depths. I wanted to fall into that heated gaze, fall forever and ever until it consumed my body and soul. His lips tempted me. I leaned towards him. Just a little kiss, a little taste of the lust in his voice. My body pleaded, nay, demanded I submit to him.
"Did you have any questions?"
His normal, louder voice snapped me out of my passion. I jerked back and fluttered my eyelids at him. "Huh?"
"I said did you have any questions about the responsibilities the job entails?" he repeated.
"Oh, um, no, I guess not. It's all-um, listed in the application. I think." I actually wasn't doing much of that at the moment.
A smile broke out on his face and he chuckled. He stood and gestured to the doors behind me. "I see. Well, if we choose you for the final round of interviews I'll have my secretary call you."
I stood and my jello legs wobbled after him to the entrance. "S-sure. I look forward to seeing you-hearing from you," I caught myself.
Strong opened one of the doors and led me into the small secretary area. "Have a nice night."
CHAPTER 3