Part 2 of “Do I Get The Job”
A month has passed since the day of my interview. Mr. Baker has instructed me to call him Tad when we are alone. We get along great and I actually enjoy working for him. Other than a light pat of the bottom here and a tweak of the nipples there, he has not asked me to do anything other than my secretarial duties. I still don’t know exactly what it is that we do here. I was instructed to never look in any of the files that I handle.
All day today I have had the eerie feeling of being watched yet I haven’t seen anyone. On my way back from lunch, I cross the street and the hair on the back of my neck stands up. Stopping in the middle of the sidewalk, I turn and look all around me. The sounds of people talking and laughing, car horns honking, radios blaring, and a traffic cop’s whistle blowing begins to overwhelm me. I feel a sense of panic overtaking me, my heart starts pounding and I gasp for breath. I bead of sweat runs down my temple, leaving a streak in my makeup. A man talking on a cell phone brushes my shoulder as he walks by, knocking me forward a little and out of the trance I seem to have fallen into. Quickly, I adjust my purse strap and hurry back to the office. Several times I glance over my shoulder, watching for someone to be following me.
“You are losing your mind Jess!”
I mumble to myself.
When I reach my office door I hear mumbling coming from Tad’s office. A bit of confusion sets in for I don’t remember him having any appointments today. I glance over at his door and stand with my hand on the handle of my own. A soft feminine laugh comes drifting from his office. I decide it was none of my business and continue on in to my office and set down at my desk. As I pull out the bottom drawer to put away my purse, I notice a yellow sticky note attached to my desk calendar.
Jess, I have an unscheduled appointment. When you return from your lunch break, please come in to my office. There is someone that would like to speak to you. Tad
Frowning, I put away my purse and get up to go to his office. My nerves are still a little raddled from my walk back and as I get closer to Tad’s door, I feel my nervousness increase again. I just can’t figure out who on earth would be HERE to see me. No one even knows I work here. I have no family alive and I haven’t talked to any of my friends in months. Taking a deep breath and slowly letting it back out, I try to not let my nerves over take me as before. Softly, I knock on the door in front of me and hear a loud,
“Come on in.”
I open the door and peek around the edge,
“You wanted to see me Mr. Baker?”
“Jess! Come in and join us.”
He gives me a broad smile and watches me as I make my way into the room. I dart a glance at the figure sitting in front of him. A woman, looks to be in her early to mid 50's, is watching me closely with a stern look on her face. She is well dressed in a burgundy skirt, matching blazer, and black high heels. Her hair, a rich brown with gray at the temples, is in a neat bun at the back of her neck. She has a light coat of makeup on that looks artfully done. Small wrinkles at the corner of her eyes and mouth combined with the stern expression, seem to make her face look hard as she frowns at me. She seems so familiar to me but I just can’t seem to place her.
“
Jess, this is Audrey Lumpkin. Perhaps you remember her as she says she has met you before
.” Tad turns his gaze from me and looks back over to the woman sitting across from him. “
Audrey, would you like me to leave the room so that you can speak to Jess alone?”
Never taking her eyes off of me, she replies,
“Of course not Tad hunny. You are more than welcome to stay. Besides, I may need your help with this before we are finished here today.”
My confusion is getting worse by the minute. I do in fact remember Audrey Lumpkin. She is my ex-boyfriend’s mother. Bobby Townsend has never really gotten along with his mother and from what I understood they argued often. I met her one time for about 15 minutes when Bobby stopped by her house for a quick word with his step dad. I remember it as an awkward 15 minutes with barely a dozen words spoken between us. My eyes glance at Tad and then back at Audrey several times but I can’t say anything because my voice seems to have left me.
A clearing of the throat brings my eyes back to Audrey.
“Well now, Jess dear, or would you prefer me to call you Miss Tanner?”
This was said with a light raise of her left brow.
“No, no Jess is fine.”
“Well, Jess then, why don’t you have a seat. I’m sure you would be more comfortable.” She pauses and waits for me to slowly make my way over to the chair next to her and lower myself into it before going on.
“I’m sure this may be a little awkward but I really do feel we must talk. You see, you have left my Bobby in a terrible state. I feel it my duty as his mother to ease his pain. So, Jess, I am here to talk to you and try to get you to call him. Now he doesn’t know I am here and I’m sure he would be quiet angry with me if he did know but that’s ok too. The boy stays angry at me. All that I ask is for you to call him and talk to him, work out your differences, and I am sure you both will be happier. So, what do you say dear, will you call him?”
I know my mouth has got to be in my lap at this point. The thoughts of this conversation actually happening has me dumbfounded. I feel my mouth working as I try to form words to say to this woman. My mind seems to have blanked out on me. Finally, I hear myself respond.
“Um, Mrs. Lumpkin, I can appreciate your concern and trying to help Bobby, but really, this is between us. I just don’t think you being here today is helping at all.”
I throw a look at Tad and back at Audrey again.
“I mean, really, thank you for coming but I don’t want to call Bobby. He made the decision to leave me so if he wants to work things out then he needs to call me himself, then I will think about it.”
