As a rule, I generally, hate long international flights. I was on my way to Munich to attend a seminar about international business relations and to give a lecture at this same seminar. My company specializes in assisting client corporations with international cultural understanding as it relates to business and diplomatic issues. We have over 500 employees from every corner of the earth who assist with making cultural barriers less of a hardship and more of an asset to our clients. I started my company 15 years ago making it what it is today, a multi-million dollar enterprise.
As the flight droned on towards Munich a flight attendant asked me if I would care for another cocktail. I replied that water would be fine until breakfast is served. She smiled, turned and walked towards the galley to bring me a glass of water. I can never sleep on planes so I listened to music and worked on my lecture notes, fine tuning them towards my expected audience.
Upon arrival in Munich I went through immigrations, claimed my luggage and proceeded down to the train that would whisk me to the hauptbahnhof in downtown Munich. I then caught a taxi to the hotel where the seminar was going to be held and where the attendees were staying. Once in my room I took a quick shower, to help wake me up a bit, and then explored Munich for a while, killing time until I could go to sleep.
After breakfast I headed down towards the conference center at the hotel, checked in and got a schedule of the planned events. I discovered that I was due to give my lecture the following day right after the lunch break. I then proceeded into the main hall and found a seat for myself. After a while the conference hall began filling up with a very diverse group of people of many different ethnic and cultural backgrounds.
Just before the first speaker was to be introduced a young woman took the seat next to mine at the table. She dropped some papers as she tried to arrange her things so I bent over to pick them up. As I turned to hand them to her I looked into two of the darkest, most beautiful eyes I had ever seen. She then smiled, a dazzling smile, and thanked me.
"You are quite welcome. My name is Gordon." I said and then stuck out my hand to shake.
"Mine is Evelyn," as she took my hand. Her hand was very warm and soft. Just then the host began introducing the first lecturer of the day and so we both turned our attention towards the speaker.
After the first speaker there was a scheduled break and I stood to get some coffee. "Evelyn, would you like a cup of coffee?" She replied that she would and that she would join me so she could stretch her legs.
As I looked at Evelyn I was taken by her beauty. In addition to her nearly black eyes she had a lovely face framed by long light brown hair. She was wearing a business suit with a skirt that ended just above her knees. Despite the conservative nature of her suit I could tell she had a very nice figure. As we walked towards the coffee table I admired her derriere, which swayed back and forth nicely.
We made small talk for a while and then I asked her for whom she worked. "I'm currently not working as I just finished my PhD in international relations," she replied. "I've come to this seminar in an attempt to do a little networking in hopes of securing a job. There seem to be a number of companies and countries that might consider me."
"So, you don't want to remain in academia? I thought that was where all PhD's ended up after their studies." I asked.
Evelyn replied, "I thought about it but decided that I would prefer to work in the field instead of teach...at least for a while." Evelyn then inquired, "What do you do Gordon?"
I replied, "Well, I'm the owner of Creative Culture and I'm here to speak tomorrow on a number of subjects."
This knowledge brought a smile to her face as she said, "Oh! I was hoping to meet you during this seminar! You wouldn't happen to have any positions available, would you?"
I replied, "As a matter of fact, one of the reasons I come to these seminars is to do some talent scouting in addition to speaking. Why don't you email me your CV and any other pertinent information and I'll take a look at it. In the meantime, we can conduct an informal interview during lunch this afternoon, if that fits into your plans."
Evelyn beamed her beautiful smile at me and said, "That would be very nice. I would like that."
We returned to the conference with our coffee to listen to another speaker and I reviewed the CV and other materials that Evelyn had emailed me. When the speaker was finished Evelyn and I gathered up our materials and headed to the hotel restaurant.
As we walked I mentioned to Evelyn that I was very impressed with the information she had sent me. I had worked with and respected highly several of the people who wrote references for her. During lunch I asked her more questions about the fieldwork she had done and other details that I thought would be pertinent regarding the position I thought she would be suitable for.
When lunch was finished I had made my mind up that she would be an ideal fit for our company. "Evelyn, based on everything I have read and heard I think you would be an excellent fit in our company!" I then told her what the pay and benefits packages were and asked her what she thought.
She smiled and said, "Thank you, I think that would be great." And then we shook hands.