She arrived suddenly about three months before the project was scheduled to complete. The boss said she was an auditor. Auditors are not unusual on construction projects as large as many of those handled by our firm.
My name is Todd McGuire. I am the project manager for a major renovation of the office building next door to our company headquarters. I normally work on projects miles from the inner sanctum, which I prefer. But if I had not been assigned to this one, I might never have been aware of her existence.
She was the subject of much speculation in the lunchroom. The folded cardboard sign on her desk identified her as 'Ms. Jenkins' in hand-lettered print. When one of the guys in the office asked her for a first name, she promptly answered his question.
"Ms."
"What?" he asked, startled by her answer.
"You heard me."
She never smiled and rarely spoke. Her days were occupied with a laptop computer and piles of receipts from project transactions. The firm had several projects going at once. No one knew which one was the object of her attention. Perhaps all of them.
She brought her lunch in a paper sack and ate at her desk. When she took a break, it was only to use the restroom down the hall and she locked her office before she went. The women in the office said she refused to engage in the routine chatter that takes place in most workplace ladies rooms. When she left at the end of the workday, her laptop went with her and she locked her office for the night.
The project team got together for happy hour every couple of weeks. All attempts to include her were rebuffed. Eventually we stopped trying.
If her office quirks did not supply enough fodder for lunchroom discussion, her appearance did. The word 'homely' was often used. 'Plain' was employed by those who were more generous. Her clothing was a disaster. Several sizes too large and drab in color, it completely hid her shapeless body from view. She wore sturdy lace-up shoes with low thick heels. Her hair was drab and stringy. Her eyeglasses went out of style thirty years ago. She looked like a character in a Saturday Night Live skit.
A couple of weeks before the project was scheduled to end, several of us were taking a break in the lunchroom after a progress meeting.
"Mizz is particularly attractive today," announced Marlene, our expediter. The very traits that make Marlene so good at her job also make her a formidable opponent if someone gets in her crosshairs. That day she was on a roll.
"She actually came in with a scarf tied under her chin and that shawl must have come from a dumpster somewhere. And that hair! I'll bet she cuts it herself with pinking shears. She looks like an unmade bed."
As project manager, part of my job is to maintain some level of harmony within the team.
"Give her a break, Marlene," I cautioned her.
"Yeah, yeah, yeah, Todd, I know. But she drives me nuts. She makes absolutely no effort to be presentable."
"You're a hard case, Marlene," I said. "Did it ever occur to you that she must feel comfortable the way she is or she would do something different?"
"Yeah, but those clothes..."
"Give it a rest. She obviously doesn't want to draw attention to herself. For all we know she was in an accident of some sort and has scars she doesn't care to share with us. There could be any number of reasons, and the last thing she needs is you on her case all the time."
"All right already. I need to get back to work. I gotta go track down those circuit breakers you ordered," she answered, refusing to give an inch where 'Mizz' was concerned.
****
Two weeks later, on the Thursday before Memorial Day weekend, the project was essentially finished. A few final sign-offs with the building's owners and we'd be done. I would clean all that up the next day and be free for an entire three-day weekend. I couldn't remember the last time I had a whole weekend to myself.
Feeling elated at the prospect of some time off and a new project, preferably miles away from headquarters, I stopped at the water cooler. Distracted by my thoughts, I turned away with a full cup and ran into Ms. Jenkins. Literally.
"I am so sorry!" I exclaimed as the water sloshed onto her clothing. "I should have been paying more attention."
Uncharacteristically, she responded.
"Don't mention it. It's only water," she said, stringing together the longest sentence I'd ever heard her speak.
Something must have snapped in my brain. "Look, we're wrapping up our project and I feel like celebrating a little. Would you consider joining me for a drink this afternoon?"
"Yes..."
"G...Good!" I stammered, surprised by her answer.
"No."
"No, what?" I asked, now baffled.
"You didn't let me finish. You asked if I would consider joining you for a drink. Had you let me complete my sentence, I would have told you that I will consider your offer and get back to you before the end of the day," she replied, probably using more words than she had spoken the entire time she had been here.
"Oh. Sorry. I guess I asked the wrong question."
"I guess you did. I'll let you know later." And with that she spun on her spinster-like heel and marched back to her office.
"Jesus H. Christ!" I muttered to myself.
I had a final project meeting at three o'clock and returned to my office just before four. I almost missed it. A note had been tucked into the corner of my desk blotter.
"Jake's at five," was all it said. No signature. I knew of Jake's bar but had never been there. It was in the opposite direction from my usual route home but only a fifteen minute walk. Assuming the note was from Ms. Jenkins, I cleared my desk and departed a few minutes earlier than I needed to, sensing that a late arrival would not be tolerated.
When I got to Jake's, there was no sign of her so I took a booth where I could watch the door. At precisely five o'clock she arrived. I waved my hand to let her know where I was.
In an instant I sensed something different about her, perhaps a bit of a spring in her step. And then she did something completely unexpected; she smiled.
I had never seen such a facial transformation before. What had been, at best, a plain face was suddenly animated and attractive. I couldn't believe what my eyes were telling me.
