The Interview

I was doing paperwork between clients Monday when an unfamiliar local number called my cell phone.  When the caller identified herself as an HR representative from one of the agencies I'd recently applied to, I quickly swung my door shut.  They wanted me to interview, and we quickly scheduled something over my lunch break Tuesday.  I was a little nervous about scheduling it during the work day, but she assured me that they understood the time constraints and wouldn't keep me too long.  I was happy to have gotten an interview somewhere, at least.  We had hired and things were mostly back to normal again for now (I was even able to arrange my schedule so I only worked half days on Fridays!) but who knows how long it would last.

I was excited for the rest of the day, and called Cassie to come over for dinner and to help me pick out an outfit.  While we ate, she told me about her first day of work at Brody's company.  The person that had interviewed her loved her and they offered her the job on the spot.  When she gave her notice to her boss, he was so surprised and upset that he didn't want her to work her notice.  She was baffled by it.  She had always gotten along well with him.  But, she was able to start at Brody's company sooner, which worked out well for everyone.  She got a huge pay increase and better benefits, so she was pretty pleased with it.

After dinner, Cassie helped me pick out pants, a shell, and a cardigan for work the next day, and a suit jacket that I could easily swap for the cardigan when it was time for my interview.  Brilliant.  We hung out with a bottle of wine for awhile longer, and I went to bed shortly after she left.

I didn't sleep at all.  I never do before interviews and big things.  I was nervous all morning at work, and was worried that something would come up that prevented me from getting to the interview on time.  But the morning passed smoothly, and I pulled up in front of the agency I was interviewing at 10 minutes prior to my interview time.  I quickly pulled on my jacket, smoothed my hair, and checked my makeup in the rearview mirror before walking in. 

I was led to a small conference room and joined by two people, a man and a woman.  They introduced themselves with their first names, Jake and Kelly, and Jake made a joke within 30 seconds of walking into the room.  I was feeling more at ease already.

We ran through the standard interview questions quickly.  I felt a little unsure about some of my answers, but Jake and Kelly were both smiling.  I had to use my best poker face when they outlined the salary and benefit information, because they were both far better than what I was currently receiving.  My eyes about bugged out of my head when they mentioned the 21 days of PTO on top of the 2 week leave period that every employee was required to take annually.  Then they told me that I was their last candidate, and they hoped to have a decision made by the end of the week so the person they hired would be able to start after the first of the new year. 

After I left, I quickly emailed my references to let them know that they might be getting a phone call, then drove back to work.  I was anxious the rest of the day, second guessing all my answers.  By the time I met Brody for dinner, I had convinced myself that I wouldn't get the job.

Brody took one look at my face and said, "Oh no, did the interview not go well?"  He hugged me and then looked at me, waiting.

"I don't know," I admitted.  "I mean, I felt okay during it, but in the meantime, I've managed to second guess it all."  I told him about the interview and he shook his head and chuckled.

"Liv," he said gently, "they wouldn't have even bothered giving you the salary and benefit information if you had completely bombed it.  I'd be shocked if they weren't at least seriously considering you."  I shrugged, still not confident in that.

Halfway through our appetizer, my phone pinged loudly from my purse.  I cringed.  "Sorry, I'll turn it down," I said.  I grabbed it and glanced quickly at the text.  Then I grinned and showed it to Brody.  It was from one of my references, letting me know that the agency had called her today.

"See?" he said.  "They definitely wouldn't be doing that if they weren't seriously considering you."  I turned my phone to silent and tossed it back into my purse.  Not even 5 minutes later, Brody's phone rang.  He pulled it out, looked at it, and raised his eyes sheepishly to meet mine.

"Give me 5 minutes?" he asked.  I sighed and nodded.  After our argument the weekend of the wedding, he had done a lot better for awhile, but the phone was starting to creep back into our dates.  He was back in less than 5 minutes though, and he stopped to kiss my cheek before sitting back down.  "Sorry," he said softly.

His phone was silent the rest of dinner.  As we walked out of the restaurant hand in hand, I looked up at him.  "Are you staying with me tonight?" I asked.

"I was planning on it," he said, frowning, "but I was running late this morning and forgot to grab clothes for tomorrow."  Another downfall of his house.  He was too far out of town to just be able to run home in the morning before work.

"We could always spend the night at your house," I suggested.  He looked at me in surprise.

"That sounds great, but it won't be too much a pain for you, will it?" he replied.

"No, I was planning on getting up to go to work early tomorrow anyway.  I'm a little behind on paperwork.  We can swing by my place and I'll get clothes and stuff."  We decided I'd leave my car at home too and I could just ride in with Brody in the morning and take the bus home from work.

Later, he came into the bathroom while I was brushing my teeth.  He slid his arms around me from behind and said, "I'm glad you're here, but you're way overdressed."

I laughed and took my toothbrush out of my mouth long enough to say, "Because brushing my teeth is so damn sexy!"

"Everything you do is sexy," he murmured, brushing his lips softly against the back of my neck.

"I wouldn't go that far," I said, after I had spit and rinsed my mouth.

"I would," he insisted.  He spun me around and kissed me hard, as if to prove it. I ran my hands across the hard muscles of his bare chest.   "Done in here?" he asked gruffly.  I nodded, and he picked me up and carried me back into the bedroom.

I was not ready to get up the next morning, but once I got moving I was fine.  Brody dropped me off at the office at about 7:30, and I got all caught up on my paperwork.  The day went fast, and after work I met Lauren and Kinsley for dinner.

Kinsley was still dating Damien, and said that she had seen James over the weekend and he had asked about me.  "He seemed like he was doing well," she offered.

"Good, I hope he is," I replied.  "He's a good guy."  Kinsley nodded.

Lauren was now officially hooking up with her coworker that she had told us about weeks earlier.  Nothing had happened for a long time, but then they had randomly run into each other one night and apparently that was all it took.  They'd had sex 4 times now and Lauren saw no reason to not continue.  Kinsley and I continued to try to talk her out of it, but she claimed the guy was the best sex she'd ever had.

"And nothing could possibly go wrong," I said sarcastically.

"Everything could go wrong," she admitted.  "That's part of why it's so fun."

Kinsley and I exchanged looks.  "I'm right here!" she said with exasperation.  "I can see you guys looking at each other like that."

"Look, Laur, I won't try to talk you out of it anymore after this, but I'm just really worried that this is a bad move for your career," I said.  Kinsley agreed.

"Okay, mom," Lauren replied, rolling her eyes.  We dropped it after that, but it was clear that Lauren was irritated by our interference.  I didn't blame her, I would be too, but from the outside it just felt like a terrible choice.  Her company had a pretty strict no fraternization policy, and it was a small company, so people talked.

We stuck to safer topics for the rest of dinner and it passed uneventfully.  Lauren seemed to get over her annoyance quickly and was her normal self for the rest of the evening.  I got home at 8:30 and had just finished washing my dishes when the phone rang.  It was Brody, and he was still at work. 

"I don't think I'm going to make it to happy hour tomorrow," he said.  "I think tomorrow is going to be just like today."

"That sucks, I'm sorry it's so crazy," I replied.

"At least we have resumes rolling in already.  Cassie got the postings up really fast.  Things should get better soon."

We said goodnight, and I wondered if Brody was starting to regret buying out from his dad.