Abigail followed Emilia through a heavy security door and into the long hallway that opened to the offices. During the entire length of the corridor, she kept stealing glances at Emilia's outfit. After a few quick turns, Emilia stood before a wooden door, knocked twice and opened it when a man's voice told them to enter.
The morning sun illuminated the spacious office directly, the warm glow shining off the sleek furniture. Twin bookcases filled with volumes on management and psychology lined the right side of the office, while a beautiful soft couch rested on the opposite wall. The sunlight shone directly behind the man as he stood up to greet both women, making him appear almost angelic.
The absurd kitsch of it all forced Abigail to suppress a chuckle.
The man walked around his desk, keeping his back to the sun. "You must be Abigail," he said as he shook her hand.
"Very nice to finally meet you in person, Roy." As she shook his hand, his scent tickled her senses... The citrus notes of his cologne were deeply refreshing, and he smelled of crisp summer mornings in the country. Abigail's present sexual arousal, it seemed, would not have the chance to subside just yet...
"Please have a seat," he gestured to the chair in front of his desk. Roy walked to the window and unfolded the blinds, dimming the room slightly and allowing Abigail to finally see his features.
Roy had a medium build, a slightly round belly, with strong shoulders and manicured hands. His brown hair was combed back neatly, but seemed ready to rebel into an unruly mess at a moment's notice. He had a five o'clock shadow, which Abigail was sure was intended to make him look rugged, but only made him look a bit unkempt. His simple but elegant grey tie rested over an ice-coloured striped shirt, which was a tasteful choice in business attire that did not go unappreciated by Abigail.
She sighed as she looked him over.
He looks like a pudgy Wolverine in a business suit
, she mused.
You can't have it both ways, Roy... you're either rugged and messy - in which case you belong naked on my plush living room rug - or you're a proper gentleman in an expensive suit and carefully trimmed fingernails - in which case I belong naked on your desk!
"Emilia, please make sure everything is ready for the small office in the back hall," he said apparently unaware of Emilia's unique attire, as he kept his gaze on Abigail.
Emilia nodded, then mouthed "good luck" to Abigail, before she closed the door on her way out.
"So Abigail, how you found the office alright?"
"Yes, thanks. I got here quite early, so..."
"Traffic wasn't so bad?"
"I managed," she replied, running through the conventional small talk like the chore that it was.
"Can I offer you some coffee?"
"No thanks," she smiled. "I feel very alert right now, I don't think coffee can do me any more good."
Roy sat down at his chair and opened a file. Abigail recognized her resume in his stack of papers. He took a moment to look everything over. "You were top of your class," he said in what sounded like less of a question than a declarative statement. It was a negotiation technique Abigail had read about: use ambiguous tones to make the person across from you unable to read your intentions. Abigail was somewhat disappointed by the transparency of it.
"Yes," she replied, matching his non-committal tone.
Roy studied her for a moment, before he continued. "The position you applied for is to be a sales associate. But when I looked over your CV, I noticed that you have experience organizing events. Have you ever considered a position in marketing?"
Abigail pondered the question. "Of course I've considered marketing, but I don't remember seeing such an opening at Veni.
"Actually we have two positions we are looking to fill, but we are taking our time to select a candidate." He closed the file and placed his fingers in the "power tepee" position, as if to showcase his authority.
Abigail, of course, found this display of macho corporatist body language to be hilarious. She kept her lips from widening into a full smile.
Roy continued. "You see we are very careful with whom we select for our company. We have extremely low turnover, and try to make sure that everyone who stays here is right for the job."
"I wouldn't expect anything less..." shrugged Abigail, feigning sympathy. "Who wants to be constantly hiring and training new personnel all the time?"
Roy nodded, as though in complete and sincere agreement. "So if it turns out that you're better suited to the marketing officer position rather than the sales associate position, would you be willing to consider it?"
Abigail crossed her legs and rested her hands on her knee. "I am open to it, but for today I only prepared for the sales associate position... I mean, I understand the need to be adaptable in an evolving work environment, but part of good adaptability is preparedness."
The man leaned back on his chair, and looked at Abigail carefully. Seconds stretched into what felt like minutes and Abigail began to feel slightly uncomfortable. He's doing this on purpose, she reminded herself. It's just a mind game.
"Um... Did you want to ask me any more questions?"
"Of course, let's get started. Now, this session will be divided into two parts. The first part will be an oral interview..."
Abigail's face must have looked slightly contorted as she suppressed her laugh.
Keep your focus Abi
, she thought.
He probably just means to ask some verbal questions
.
"In the second part," he continued, his lips suddenly betraying him as they seemed to want to stretch into a smile, "I'll take you to another office, where you'll answer a few written questions, to test your technical skills. This is clear?" Again, this was more of a declarative statement than a question.
"Crystal clear... Roy, sir."
Roy gave a hard stare to the woman before him, recognizing that he was being mocked... And then let out a single inelegant snort of laughter, before shutting his mouth and composing himself.
That's more like it
.
With that, Abigail took a deep breath and began the back and forth of the interview. They touched on monthly salary and bonuses, on sales goals that would need to be met, on criteria for evaluation. Veni Corporation designed and manufactured a variety of electronic hardware and accompanying software, both of which Abigail would need to familiarize herself with. The company also had some strict policies about confidentiality of their patents.
None if this was outside of Abigail's expectations. As the interview continued on, she and Roy began to feel much more at ease with one another, and they exchanged the occasional joke.
"Well Abby - can I call you Abby?"
"Abigail, actually," she replied, feeling more in control of the conversation than before, and wanting to keep it that way. "The only people who call me Abby are the ones who've seen me naked."
Roy laughed, then relaxed back on his chair. "I'll keep that in mind. Alright, then... Abigail. You know, I feel pretty good about things so far. How about if we go to the other office so that you can begin the test?"
"Sounds wonderful." She stood and followed Roy out the door, through the corridor toward a quieter section of the labyrinth of offices. Both of them wore hard-soled shoes, and they sounded like a trotting horse walking over the hardwood floor.
Every now and again, Abigail could hear cheering coming from elsewhere in the company.
"The sales team can be quite rowdy," he explained. Our Sales Manager, Priya... she keeps everyone quite energized in her own, unique way."
"I met Priya. She seems very nice," revealed Abigail. She let the rest of her very warm impressions of the Sales Manager remain unsaid.
Roy reached an office door and let her in. The room was tiny and the window faced the west side of the building, so the sunlight would only reach this room in the afternoon. A lonely desk sat in the centre of the room, with only a glowing computer monitor keeping it company. As she sat down, she looked to the wall and noticed that it had a window to the adjoining office space.
Roy leaned against the doorway. "You have about sixty minutes to complete the written interview. It should already be open on the computer's desktop. I'll come back later and we'll discuss your results."
"Thanks, Roy." Abigail played with the mouse, opened the file, and began reading the questions. Roy closed the door, his footsteps echoed down the hall.
Alone at last, Abigail removed her constricting blazer and breathed more easily, then stood up to stretch her legs. After the arousal she had experienced with Emilia and Priya, she needed to find a way to calm her nerves before she could focus. She paced around the room, rotating her arms and trying to clear her head.