I met Christine on a Thursday. It was near the end of a long day of interviewing people for a job in “premium sales” at my firm. I had already interviewed five candidates from the country’s top universities. Christine was my last interview. HR told me she was very aggressive, which I surmised had got her this far against very stiff competition. Her resume was ok, but just didn’t match up against the others.
She was aggressive alright. I actually noticed her walking in to interview with Mary at around 3pm. She was a brunette with flowing hair and a purposeful, long stride. She gave Mary’s assistant a little smirk as she walked by. Mary was the junior person on the team. After Mary, she was going to interview with me and then my boss. I’d only been working there two years myself, but as his right-hand man, I had his confidence. I would decide who got the job.
A little before 4pm, my assistant rang to say Christine was waiting. I let her wait before going out to greet her. First thing, I noticed she had deep blue eyes. She was probably 5’11” in heels. She had an elegant and professional look, with a long skirt and jacket. I thanked my assistant; Christine ignored her. We entered the office and I closed the door behind us.
That’s where the aggressive Christine came out. First, she pulled her chair up to my desk and seemed to claim half for herself by spreading her notebook across it. I mean, she actually moved my phone to make room for her stuff! I started with a few softball questions. She turned every question into a pitch for why we should hire her, almost ignoring the question I had asked in the first place. Soon she was cutting me off before I could finish my questions. The more she steered the conversation, the more she leaned in, and the more she talked like she already had the job.
This quickly grew annoying so I asked a few tougher questions about her lack of experience, bad grades, etc. Suddenly she was on the defensive. Her eyes began searching the walls for answers. I admitted to myself that it felt good, just a little, to zing her like that. While she fumbled around one particularly tough question, my assistant rang in. While she told me the news, I watched Christine gather herself to make her case again.
“Well, Christine.” I told her. “It turns out my boss has to leave early today so if you can come back tomorrow he’ll see you then. And we’re at the end of our time as well…”
I’d had enough of her.
“Oh, uh…”
“Thanks for coming in...” I said, knowing there was no way she was getting this job. Could she tell? I wondered.
“Bob, would you have a moment to give me some feedback…” Feedback as in ‘do I get the job?’ Who was she kidding?
“Christine, first you should finish your interviews and then we’ll be in touch…”
“Yes, but…” she stammered a little
“You’ll be meeting my boss tomorrow. He’s the big decision-maker, really…” Ok, that wasn’t true but I was just trying to get rid of her.
“Bob, I need…”
“Christine! I have a lot to do before I leave…”
“Yes, but…” her look turned suggestive, “I can meet you after work…” Was she suggesting what I thought she was suggesting?
“What for, Christine?” I had to make sure.
She paused and then “We could talk in private.” Again with that tone!
No wonder she got this far in the interviews, I thought to myself. My rational side said to avoid this person at all costs. But I guess something else took over…
“Ok, Christine, meet me at D’Augustine restaurant, two blocks down, at 6pm.”
Christine was already at D’Augustine’s when I arrived a little past 6pm. She was still in her blue interview suit. As I walked up, I realized she was in heated discussion with the hostess. She stopped when she saw me approaching. Our frustrated-looking hostess walked us to our booth, dropped menus on our table and walked away without a word. It was a booth in the back. A nice isolated spot in a dark ambiance restaurant. I noticed those long legs again. And as she sat, I noticed a little hint of her ass push out from under her jacket.
Our waitress brought us water and we ordered drinks. Christine jumped right to the topic: her employment. She began by offering new answers to the questions she had flubbed back in the office.
“Christine, the interview is over. Why…”
“Bob, I just want to clarify…”
“Look Christine, you’re going to meet my boss tomorrow, so I can offer some advice but that’s it.”
She looked frustrated for a moment.
“Bob, Mary told me that you’re the real decision-maker! I need to know that you are going to recommend me.”
She caught me by surprise with that. I reminded myself I needed to teach Mary to be less forthcoming with such things.
“Christine, five other highly qualified candidates want the same assurance.”
“But I need to know that you’re going to recommend me. What can I do to…”
Her voice began to rise. I didn’t like that.
“Christine, I think I’m going to go. This is useless…” and I began to gather my things.
Christine panicked.
“Wait, Bob..” her voice moderated, “just let me explain…” After a moment of consideration, I stopped gathering my things and settled back in.
Right about then, our waitress stopped by with our drinks and to get our order. Christine snapped at her to go away until she called her! I gave our waitress a look as if to say “don’t react, just come back later and everything will be fine.” The waitress acknowledged my message and walked away shaking her head in disgust.
“Bob, why don’t we talk about this…” she said, suggestively.
I felt her foot brush up against my leg. I grabbed my things again.
“Christine, you just made a big mistake…” I was turning to get out of the booth. She really panicked this time.
“Wait, Bob, please…”
I paused.
“Bob, I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have done that. It’s just…” and then she went on to tell me how she wasn’t finding a job, and how she was desperate for this job, her dream job.
“Well, Christine, you have a lot of learning to do before you’re ready for a job like this…”
I meant it to end the conversation, but she really was desperate.
“Please, Bob, tell me what I can do to learn, I’ll do anything…” and then she emphasized again “anything!”
While she talked, I settled back into the booth, and I remembered the feeling of her foot brushing my leg, and that tight little ass that had teased me earlier. She looked athletic. I imagined she must work out several times per week. I visualized her jogging or in an aerobics class dripping with sweat… I imagined myself running my hands over her dripping body... I snapped back to attention...
“Christine, your problem is interpersonal skills. You antagonize everyone. Do you know that?”
“No, what do you mean?” As if she didn’t know…
“Christine, I don’t have time to play games…”
Again I reached for my things.
“Wait, Bob… ok, yes, I do.”
“Well, that disqualifies you for this job Christine…”
“But I can get better, really I can. Just give me a chance!”
My mind raced with ideas of what to say next. Her sweet voice was turning me on.
“You need to be willing to fix things when they go wrong, Christine.”
She paused. “What do you mean?”