Natalie sighed.
She hated this part of her job, even though this technically was the job. Some days were harder than others and today was shaping up to be a particularly uncomfortable one.
Natalie had been working as military recruitment officer for over three years now, and her job came with its highs and lows. She spoke to potential military applicants and gently guided them towards signing on the dotted line.
In theory, her job was to answer questions, paint a rosy picture of life in the military, and convince young minds that this was the right choice for them. However, in practice her job was also to identify red flags and screen out unfit applicants. Practically anyone could do the first part of the job. The second part required more expertise and tact.
Even as a junior officer, Natalie was one of the more senior personnel at her small recruitment center. At twenty-eight years old, she had significantly less military experience than many of her subordinates. It felt strange giving orders to people that were sometimes old enough to be her father, but she had grown accustomed to it.
Secretly, it sometimes amused her if she stopped to think about it.
Natalie definitely stood out compared to the rest of her peers—even the other women. With delicate, feminine facial features and long blonde hair, she looked more like a model than a military officer. At 5'6" and 139 lbs., she was probably not going to win a boxing match. However, her fit athletic body was a showcase for her years of physical training.
Her back and shoulders were ever-so-slightly broadened from her visits to the weight room. Her small 34b breasts adorned an hourglass figure that naturally directed the viewer towards her toned abs. However, her most prized triumph was her round and muscular ass and thighs. Her genetics, combined with her intense lower body workout routine, had left Natalie with the ass of a goddess. Consequently, she could feel eyes following her whenever she walked away from a crowd.
She often resented how her unflattering and poorly fitted uniform made her sexy figure and years of hard work disappear altogether, robbing her of her accomplishments. Her coworkers seemed genuinely surprised the first time they saw her in the gym. However, the uniform could be a blessing in addition to a curse, especially when she could already feel the gaze of her male coworkers measuring her like a piece of meat.
Despite her proud physique, her job was more cognitive than physical. She did not need to pick up a rifle or dig a trench—she just needed to convince an eighteen-year old high school graduate to do it instead. Rather than brute strength, she needed to be smart, she needed to be persuasive, and she needed charisma.
Natalie had learned that her beauty could be another useful weapon in her arsenal. At public recruitment events, she always drew a larger group than her peers. She had caught more than a few applicants, both male and female, subtly flirting with her over the past three years.
They're way more likely to put their life in your hands if they think you're pretty
, Natalie had decided in her first few months on the job. And although she appreciated the attention—particularly from the females—she was careful never to reciprocate.
In addition to her beauty, Natalie was confident that she was genuinely good at the job. In no small part, this was due to her good sense for people that she had developed over the years.
She could read their subtle facial expressions, she was certain that she could tell when an applicant was lying, and she had read lots of internet tutorials on how to assess someone based on their handshake. She liked to brag that her psychology degree gave her a unique perspective into a person's mind and she could judge a person's integrity after just a twenty-minute conversation.
However, she did not need twenty minutes with her current applicant to know that he was unfit for military service.
Even before their appointment, Isaac's background check had revealed a long list of red flags. He had multiple speeding tickets, his references had described him as dishonest and manipulative, and he had barely passed the aptitude test. But most serious of all, he had been accused multiple times of sexual harassment, posting pictures of his ex-girlfriends online, and he had even been fired from his previous retail job for inappropriately touching a female subordinate.
As she read the file, Natalie could only wonder how this twenty-year-old boy had managed to stay out of prison. Refusing him for enrollment was an easy choice, even if the meeting itself was going to be awkward. These conversations were always her most hated part of the job.
These conversations are the whole point of my job
, she reminded herself.
Anyone can process an application form. I'm here to make sure we're only taking in the right people.
Natalie loathed the idea of being alone in the same room as Isaac, and she had considered handing the file to another recruiter. But she remembered the last time one of her colleagues had done that to her and how much she had resented them for it. She also worried that passing on this particular file would make her seem soft or weak, and so she kept the appointment for herself.
I can always gloat about it with everyone at lunch
, she thought as she closed Isaac's file and invited him into her office. The other recruiters had an ongoing bet about who got the worst clients each month, and Natalie was confident that she was looking at her winning ticket.
"Can I talk to someone else?" he asked, barely fazed when she delivered the negative news. "Can I talk to one of the other officers? You know... the real ones that aren't just here for PR stuff or to put on a poster?"
Natalie could feel her face turning red and she worried that the encroaching frown might give away that he was genuinely getting under her skin. "That's not how this works," she responded as politely as she could muster. "It doesn't matter who you talk to, they're going to tell you the same thing. If you—"
"This is bullshit," he interrupted, angry but not quite raising his voice. "It's woke bullshit."
This guy is a fucking idiot
, she thought as she fought her gut reaction to tell him directly.
"I don't think that means whatever you think it does," she corrected, permitting just a little condescension to slip through in her voice. She hated the young man in front of her, but she knew that escalating the situation would not help anyone. "Anyway, in terms of backup plans, you could always wait and—"
"I don't need a backup plan. I just need to talk to someone that knows what they're doing."
Natalie was fuming. "Okay, I can see that you're not really interested in hearing what I have to say and I don't appreciate the attitude, so I'm going to ask for you to leave. Good luck, Isaac." As she spoke, she discreetly moved her hand to her lap. Under her desk and inches to her left was a panic button. If she pressed that button, security would be in her office within seconds.
Fortunately, she did not need to press it.
"Okay, whatever," he muttered as he got up from his chair and left without incident.
What an asshole
