Sitting in her car, in front of the innocent-looking office building, Aurora looked at the business card Director Perry had given her and confirmed she was at the correct address. She pushed the door open, grabbed her bag, and stepped out of the car. Before going in, she studied her appearance one last time in the car's reflection: flattering, yet not too high pink stilettos and a black pantsuit with a pink blouse that was just tight enough to hint at her nice, curvy figure. It was her favorite "job interview outfit" and she hoped it would bring her more luck with this new job prospect that it had previously.
She walked through the doors and got through security smoothly before making her way to the receptionist's desk. A perky blonde was sitting at the desk typing in the computer in front of her before turning to face Aurora.
"Hello I'm Jana, welcome to ASC! How may I help you today?" the bubbly receptionist asked.
"Hi Jana, my name's Aurora Giordano and I believe I have an appointment with Mr. Moore" I responded.
"Ah yes, a job interview in about 15 minutes" she replied after looking back at her screen, "He'll be down soon to collect you. Why don't you take a seat, it shouldn't be too long," she gestured to the lobby chairs, smiling warmly.
I sat down in one of the comfortable chairs thinking that the welcoming receptionist must be a good omen and continued to think positive. Just a few minutes later, Mr. Moore came out and introduced himself.
"Hey, you must be the pretty agent Perry was telling me about, Rory Giordano?" Mr. Moore asked. He looked me up and down a bit with a satisfied expression before giving me a winning smile. This should have creeped me out, this being a job interview after all, but I couldn't help but find his approval flattering. I think he was in his late 40s, but he looked good. He was tall, broad shouldered with a warm, open face and dressed in a suit that made his muscled body look good.
"Aurora, yes. That's me" I replied, blushing just a little at his compliment and the childish nickname I always tried to avoid. I stopped trying to get my family to call me "Aurora" a long time ago, but I had hoped the Director Perry wouldn't pick up my dad's bad habit of calling me "Rory" in front of other people. I guess that hadn't worked out as Perry must have referred to me as "Rory" while talking to Mr. Moore. Well, I couldn't be too upset with him because he did get me this interview, and I really need this job if I want to earn my family's respect...so that they won't see me as the family baby and do things like call me "Rory."
"Great! Well why don't you follow me into my office then," Mr. Moore gestured for me to follow him down the hallway and into his office. Before I passed the receptionist's desk, Jana gave me another smile and a little wink.
As we go into his office and I sit in the chair in front of his desk, I notice him locking the door. Now I know what you're thinking, RED FLAG, but he's been put in charge of the newest, upcoming department of defense so he must be trustworthy. I figure maybe he's just getting ready to share some sensitive information or maybe he's got PTSD like my grandfather and has a thing about locking doctors. Either way, I sit down and try to quickly mentally prepare for whatever questions he might be asking me.
"Well Aurora, to be honest, this interview is a formality. Director Perry from the CIA has already vouched for you and seeing as a big percentage of this position has to do with your level of attractiveness and sex-appeal, I have no doubt you'll be a great fit" he gave me another one of his smiles. I didn't know what my "sex-appeal" had to do with this job, but maybe mistakenly, I didn't question it.
"But just to be sure I am going to ask a few questions to ensure you're placed in the proper department here at ASC" he added.
"Of course Mr. Moore. I know Director Perry is the one that got me this interview, but I want to prove to you that I am a team player, a hard worker, and will do whatever it takes to earn this position and do a good job" I told him. He seemed very pleased with this answer and continued with the interview.
"Due to the nature of this undercover work, being a female will mean being reliant on your male partner/s to carry out the missions and largely allowing them to take the lead. This isn't to say your role is not as important, quite the opposite really, but the undercover situations will most often result in you taking orders from other men. Do you think this will be a problem for you?" he asked.
I know I probably shouldn't have been so okay with this and that my more feminist friends would give me crap for agreeing so easily, but I couldn't help it. I didn't do so well on other undercover missions and fieldwork, so the idea of letting someone else take the lead was sort of a relief!
"Like I said before, I'm a team player and am happy to contribute whatever I can to help accomplish the mission" I answer, very satisfied with my response.
"Awesome. Okay, onto the next question. The undercover work will also inevitably involve you being nude and having to perform sexual-related acts at certain points. I'm not saying you would be a prostitute or anything, but if you're uncomfortable being naked around others and intimidated by these more risquΓ© requirements, I'm afraid this job is not for you" he continued.
Jeez. What kind of job did Perry put me up for? I'm not super opposed to anything Mr. Moore just said, but I've always been in school or busy with work and not had much time to explore my sexuality. I only had one boyfriend in college and he was frustrated that I wasn't "aggressive" enough to always be the one to initiate sex, so he dumped me after a few months. The sex had never been that great so I wasn't too heartbroken over him. But he had been my first and my experiences with him hadn't particularly made me want to have sex again, so he had also been my last.
"I wouldn't say I'm uncomfortable with any of these requirements, but I have to be honest," looking down at my hands, blushing, "I don't have too much sexual experience and don't know how effective I would be at...umm well...I just--" I started before he cut me off,
"Oh don't worry, in many instances, your innocence may actually be helpful in acting the part of your character and for any missions that require anything "special," we will provide the necessary sexual training" he tried to assure me.
"Ummm okay, sounds great," I tried mustering up some enthusiasm to cover up my shyness and fear, "but can I just ask, what exactly is this job and what does ASC stand for?"
"I can't let you in on everything since the agency is still very new and we haven't signed all your employment paperwork to give you security clearance yet, but ASC stands for Agency for Sex-Related Crimes. Your job will include things like infiltrating human-trafficking rings and going undercover with a male, and maybe sometimes female, counterpart to gain the trust of other couples with valuable information. Director Perry suggested you for the Sub Department and based on my impression of you so far I agree" Mr. Moore told me.
Tentatively, I asked "What's the Sub Department?"