Rob laughed. "Elise, you can't cry before you go in to drop off your resume. This is good. It looks like a great job. If you don't get it, you're welcome back here. If you do get it but you don't like it, you can come back here, too. Even if you don't want to work here anymore, I'd love to see you stop by now and then. I know how much you like the library. You'll always be a really important part of it, no matter what happens."
I smiled and nodded and almost cried. I told myself not to cry, though; it worked, but barely.
"I'll write down my contact info, alright? It's not printed, but it's better than nothing. I'll use my library stamp. It'll look different and set you apart from the other candidates."
I didn't even know if there were any other candidates. Unable to speak for fear of bursting into tears, I stood there and watched as Rob inked his stamp with a stamp pad, then pressed it against the reference section of my resume, imprinting his information in glistening black ink.
"You should probably let it dry for a moment," he said. "Here, tell me about what happened this weekend. Was everything fine? It was really clean when I came in this morning, so I'm guessing everything worked out."
I told him, but I couldn't tell him much without choking up. I mentioned Lucent sparingly, and told Rob we were mostly fine. We watched movies, used the vending machine, played cards, read books. Nothing out of the ordinary.
My entire weekend was extremely extraordinary, but by the way I explained it to Rob, it must have sounded like the most regular couple of days to ever exist.
...
I walked through the revolving doors of Landseer Tower, resume in hand. Rob let me leave my college backpack at the library so I could maintain a higher degree of professionalism, but I still had my purse. With my resume and my purse, and what I hoped was an appropriately suitable outfit for a place with this amount of prestige, I approached the lobby desk.
I'd never entered Landseer Tower before. It was near the library, barely a few blocks away, but I rarely went this way to go anywhere. I knew it was nice, but I never realized exactly how nice it was. On my way to the front secretary's desk, I caught myself ogling the fountain. They had a fountain! In the lobby? Really?
Were there fish in it? I saw a glisten of copper, so I assumed people tossed pennies in it for good luck. I wondered if I had a penny, because I thought I definitely needed some luck right about now.
The lobby secretary stared at me while I ignored her and stared at the fountain.
"Can I help you?" she asked, her stringent tone bringing me back to the situation at hand.
I shifted on my feet and collected my bearings. "Yes," I said, sounding more confident than I felt. "I'm here to apply for a position within the company."
The woman nodded at me. "Do you have an appointment?"
"Um." What had the website mentioned again? I should've practiced for this, but in my rush to talk to Lucent, I hadn't fully prepared. I wanted to think I had, but seeing as I didn't know what to say right now, I must not have.
"Yes?" she asked.
"I think the notice on the website mentioned to request an appointment here," I said. "I don't remember exactly, but I can tell you what position it is, and what..."
"Personal assistant for Lucent Storme," she said, interrupting me.
"Er, yes, actually. That's it. How did you know?"
"That's the only position where it says to request an appointment in person," she said. "It's also the only position that we aren't accepting appointments for."
I blinked at her. "What?"
"Is that your resume? I can give it to the HR manager and see if he can find another spot for you, but the Storme position isn't currently accepting."
"What do you mean?" I asked. "I saw it on the website."
I definitely saw it! I saw it more than once, actually. I checked this morning, and then during one of my breaks in between classes, and I'd called Vanessa on my way to the library to ask her to check it again. It was there, and I knew it, and why was this woman telling me it wasn't?
She nodded as if this happened a lot. "It's sort of a business thing," she said. "I don't know the specifics. I'm just like you, kind of, you know? But there's been a lot of applicants for that position and it never works out. Usually everyone interviews with a hiring manager beforehand, but for the personal assistant job with Mr. Storme, he's in direct control of the hiring process, and he's given strict orders to turn everyone away."
"Why's the position even on the website then?" I snapped. Was this some ploy of hers? Was she competition? Did she want Lucent for herself? I stared at her, scrutinizing her, but she didn't look at all like what I imagined a jealous, spiteful woman would look like. Granted, I hadn't ever met a jealous, spiteful woman, but I thought I'd know one when I saw her.
She balked and fidgeted with a pen on her desk. "It's something about corporate policies. Every higher up is supposed to have an assistant to help with their tasks, except they're in charge of hiring their own, right? So the position is open and stays like that because Mr. Storme doesn't have an assistant, but he refuses to hire one, too. Kind of weird, huh? To be honest, you wouldn't want to work for him, anyways. He's a bit off, if you know what I mean."
"I'm applying for this position," I said, gritting my teeth. My cheeks burned red with anger and I was on the verge of tears, but I didn't care anymore. Some random woman sitting behind a desk at a fancy tower wasn't going to stop me from doing what I needed to do. She just wasn't.
"I can see if someone can fit you in for another appointment but..."
"No," I said, very firmly. "I'm here to apply for the personal assistant position with Lucent Storme and I am requesting you set up an appointment so I may speak with him about my prospects. That is what I want you to do."
She frowned at me, some sad, sympathetic look. She didn't know, nor did she understand. How could she? I didn't expect her to, and yet if she'd just... it was so simple. All she needed to do was page him, or whatever system they had for that, and then...
Someone came up next to me and put their hand on my shoulder and I nearly punched them, that's how frustrated I was right now. If they tried to escort me out of the building, I was going to cause a scene, I knew it.
"Sandy," a woman's voice said, commanding and sweet. "Elise has an appointment with Lucent already. He must have forgotten to set it up properly. I'll take her upstairs, alright?"
I had an appointment with Lucent already? How? What? I turned and looked and stared at the woman. Oh my God! It was Jessika Landseer. This was... I shouldn't have stared or gaped or acted like some starstruck idiot, but I did all of those things.
"Mrs. Landseer," I said. "Thank you. Um. I know Lucent, er... Mr. Storme, and I saw the position on the website, so I thought..."
She smiled at me, happy and nice. Reaching for the resume I kept clenched between my fingers(or, now, balled in my fist), she tilted her head to the side, silently asking for it. I handed it to her, unsure what else to do. This was Jessika Landseer, wife to Asher Landseer, and a billionaire in her own right.
She wrote books, too. I'd read one once, thinking that people only bought them because of who she was, but afterwards I knew that wasn't it. She wrote nicely, clean and crisp, with a specific poetic flair that lured you on, word after word. Also, the stories were interesting, too. Fun, character-driven, with enjoyable plots. Different, too.
I wanted to gush, even though I shouldn't gush, but I did gush. "I've read your books," I said. "One of them, at least. I really liked it. I'm in a Creative Writing program now at the state college and my hope is to be published one day, too."
She smirked at me, playful. "Are you here for the Lucent position or should I set up an interview between you and I?"
"Oh," I said. "Sorry. No, I can't. I'm here to talk with Lucent."
She escorted me to the elevators; they were a crystal clear glass affair, rising up throughout the building. They reminded me of a Roald Dahl book I'd read when I was younger: Charlie and the Great Glass Elevator. Did these elevators have buttons to every conceivable place? If I pushed the correct one, would it transport me directly to where I wanted to go? Directly to Lucent, a hasty arrival, or would I mistake the buttons and end up trapped in orbit in outer space like in the book?
Likely neither, but the fantasy of it intrigued me. I'd like that, I thought. A direct shuttle to Lucent, wherever he was.
The elevator dinged and the doors opened. I entered alongside Mrs. Landseer, walking in a daze. I just wanted to see Lucent, but it seemed so hard.
She pushed a button and the door to the elevator closed. The two of us were the only ones inside.
"Do you want to tell me what happened?" she asked.
I glanced over at her, confused. "What do you mean?"
"With you and Lucent? In the library?"
"Oh." She knew?
"I think he likes you, but he's difficult," she said with a nod.
"Oh."
"This is a good resume, by the way. I'm sure we could find a position for you here. Lucent would be an idiot to pass you up as his personal assistant, but he's extremely stubborn about these things. I don't understand him sometimes."
"I like that I don't understand him," I said. "I just wish he'd let me do it closer."
"Oh?" she asked, grinning. "Tell me more."
I blushed. "You're Jessika Landseer. You're famous. I..."
"Pft," she blew a puff of air up, sending it swishing into her bangs. "Stop that. I'm just me. You're just you. We're basically the same."
I scoffed. "I don't think so!"
"We both have to deal with difficult men," she informed me. "I think Lucent might have Asher beat in that department, though. Has he told you much?"
"He..." Should I tell her? I didn't want to get Lucent in trouble, especially with what amounted to the wife of his boss. Would they fire him if they knew? "He's been, um... potentially interested in me," I said.
"Yes, he's obsessed with you. It's kind of cute."
"I don't think he's obsessed," I said, cautious.
"I'm pretty sure he is. He has a picture of you on his desk, and that's from before you even met."
"Oh. Right." He did have that, didn't he? He mentioned it in his voicemail message.
"Are you scared?" she asked. She sounded vaguely concerned, but her expression was hopeful in an entirely opposite sort of way. Hoping I wasn't scared? I didn't know.
"Why would I be scared?"
"Good. I'm glad."
"What?"
She laughed. "Lucent's a wonderful person. I'm glad you like him enough to ignore his idiocy. He's intelligent in many ways, but he's a little daft in others. I think he needs someone like you."
"As an assistant," I added quickly.
"Of course," she said, rolling her eyes. "Sure. Let's go with that."
I blushed again and clutched at my purse. Soon enough, the elevator dinged our arrival and the doors opened once more.
"Lucent's office is this way," she said, guiding me down the hall. And another hallway. More halls, hallways, past doors. A minotaur's labyrinth of passages, all confined in one contemporary corporate tower.