“Well Marla, I’ll take you to your department, so you can meet your staff and get an overview of your area”
“Great.”
They got up from their seats in almost unison. Marla stood still and waited for Angie to come around her desk and lead. Before Angie could make it to the door, Marla quickly grabbed the knob and held the door open for her.
“Why, thank you.”
Marla smiled and began to walk beside Angie. The department was only about 20 feet from Angie’s office. As they walked down the hallway toward Marla’s new department, Marla was eyeing every office and area she passed. Angie turned her head toward Marla.
“As I mentioned in the first interview, you will be supervising a small staff. You have a full-time staff of three, but with interns constantly applying, you will possibly have two or three additional people working in your department.”
“Ok.”
“Sad to say, none of your full-time staff is here at the moment.”
Marla laughs.
“I guess we can say thank GOD for interns.”
“Yes, Lord.”
Angie and Marla approached Marla’s department, where Tony was on Tina’s phone, handling an incoming call.
“And, this right here is Tony.”
“Hi, Tony”
Wearing a pale blue dress shirt, Tony smiled and waved at Marla, with the phone glued in between his shoulder and ear. Tony was a twenty-year old male with short, dark, black hair and thick, dark, black eyebrows. He still had his “baby face”, with no signs of a mustache or beard. Tony definitely wasn’t a muscular guy, but he had just enough tone to easily grace the cover of a Macy’s catalog.
“Tony is an intern. He’s taking calls for your assistant, Tina. Tina had some personal business to take care of and left shortly before you got here.”
“Ok.”
“Your other staff member, Jake is currently on vacation.”
“Ok.”
Angie and Marla stood still for a while, as Marla scanned the area.
“And, number three?”
“Oh, yes. I almost forgot. Betty.”
“Vacation?”
“Well, Betty takes a lot of time off for various ailments. I’m not sure how long. All I know is she might work for a week or two straight and then, leave for a week.”
“Wow.”
“Yes. I know this is bad to say, but you have your hands full with the small group of people.”
Marla giggled to herself.
“I guess there’s a first time for everything.”
“Yes, if only this was the first time that I’ve ever been in this type of environment.”
“Oh, so this isn’t new to you?”
“No, not at all.”
They both begin to laugh. Tony finally found a way to end the phone call and quickly stood to his feet to greet Marla.
“My apologies.”
“No problem.”
With three buttons unhinged on his shirt, Tony reached for Marla’s hand, brought it to his face, and lightly kissed it.
“I’m Tony. Very nice to meet you, Mrs. Evans.”
“Wow. Nice to meet you too. You can call me Marla.”
“Ok, Marla. It seems as if this employer only hires beautiful women.”
“Thank you.”
“Tony, let’s not flirt with your new boss. I don’t think her husband would appreciate that.”
“I agree. Once again, nice to meet you.”
“You too.”
Tony stood still and examined Marla, from head to toe, as she and Gloria walked away.
“I apologize, Marla. I guess Tony doesn’t know how to handle himself, when he is around a lady.”
“No need to apologize. I’m a little flattered. If he gets too carried away, I’ll address it.”
“Marla, I think you’ll fit right in.”
“Yes. Like I said, this isn’t the first time I’ve ever worked with a variety of personalities and I know it won’t be my last.”
“You keep that mentality and you’ll go far in this company.”
Marla and Angie made it back to Angie’s office.
“Well, I guess the only thing left is to start working. Did you have any questions?”
“I don’t believe so. If anything comes up, I’ll be sure to ask.”
“Great. Well, it would be foolish to start you on a Thursday. So, I’ll see you first thing Monday.”
“That sounds good to me.”
“Alright. Hopefully, you’ll get to see your full-time staff on Monday.”
Marla laughs.
“I look forward to it. Have a good day.”
“You too. If anything changes, I’ll be sure to call you.”
“Ok.”
Marla and Angie shake hands one more time, before Marla leaves. Angie returns to her desk, while Marla takes the staircase to leave the building. Marla walks pass the front desk and smiles at Fay, as she heads towards the door.
“Goodbye, Marla”, said Fay.
“Goodbye, Gloria”
Each of them laugh to themselves. As Marla is walking out of the door, Tina is walking in. Tina has her hair pinned up to the top, in the back. It’s looks as if she’s been running for her life.
“Excuse me”, says Tina
“Sorry. Excuse me.”
Marla stops for a minute and looks back at Tina.
“Excuse me, ma’am.”
Tina turns around, a little confused and upset.
“Yes?”
“Is your name, Tonya?”
“No, Tina.”
“Yes! Tina! I’m sorry. My name is Marla.”
“Your name doesn’t ring a bell.”
“I’m the new supervisor over your department. Marla Evans.”
“Oh, ok.”
Tina smiles, with a little curiosity. “So, this is Mrs. Evans”, Tina thinks to herself as they shake each other’s hand.
“Angie told me a little about you.”
“Yes. Same here. It’s nice to meet you.”
“You too.”
“I look forward to our relationship together. Hopefully, some time we can sit and get to know one another.”
“I look forward to that.”
“Well, until Monday.”
“Have a good day.”
“Thanks. You too.”
Marla and Tina provide a fake smile for each other, before going their separate ways. Marla takes a seat in her car and takes a breather. She makes eye contact with herself, in her rearview mirror.
“You did it. Another chance to be successful. You cannot screw up, this time. Keep friendships to a minimum and always remain professional. Always.”
Tina approaches Angie’s office and cracks open the door, wide enough to stick her head through. Angie is busy going through personal emails, on her cell phone.
“Pssst”, says Tina.
“You seem to always have perfect timing. You’re gone just before she arrives and arrives right after she leaves.”
“No need to worry. I ran into her, on my way back.”
“Ran into her how?!”
“While walking into the building. Goodness, Angie. You always think negative of me.”
“Just taking precaution.”
“She seems ok. I have yet to see her attitude, a.k.a alter ego. But, we’ll have plenty of time for that.”
“Remember one thing, Tina. Nothing is guaranteed in this life, including your time with this company.”
“But, I do my work Angie!”
“When an intern is more dependable than a full-time employee, one has to wonder. Would you pay someone, if you could get the work done for free?
Tina stands in silence.
“I didn’t think so. Return to work and get rid of your habits.”
Tina slams the door and returns to her department. When Tina arrives to her department, she notices Tony relaxing in her chair, talking on the phone, while twirling the phone line on his finger.
“Of course. That’s what I do”, says Tony deep and softly into the phone.
“Excuse me”, yelled Tina.
Tony jumps out of Tina’s seat, startled and alarmed.
“I know she doesn’t think you work harder than me.”
“Forgive me, Tina.”
“Isn’t there something you should be doing?”
“Yes, ma’am. I was asked by Angie to take your calls, while you were gone.”
“Take calls or make calls?”
“Like I said, Angie asked me to do this. But, I have things to do. You are back to work, right?”
“Get out of my face and do your job, flunky”, growled Tina.
Tony does a U-turn and quickly walks in the other direction.
“Now, I have to sanitize all my stuff! Calling his women on my phone.”
###
Marla is on her way home, with thoughts of her new position and life itself. “I know it was only GOD. Especially after all that has happen at my past job, I’m shocked someone would give me an opportunity like this. I hope my past employer doesn’t come back to haunt me. It’s possible that there are still people that have a vendetta against me. All I know is that I’m going to do one-hundred and ten percent.” Suddenly, Marla’s cell phone begins to ring. It reads, Diane. Marla tries to answer, but is struggling to use the touch screen on her phone. Eventually, the phone stops ringing and the call goes to voicemail. “What’s the purpose of touch screen?! Was pushing a simple button so hard to do? I can’t stand this new stuff.” The phone starts to ring again. It reads, Diane. After a few more attempts, Marla manages to answer the phone.
“Hello!”
“Marla?”
“Yes?!”
“Why are you yelling?!”
“Because, this stupid screen wouldn’t answer!”
“It wouldn’t answer?”
“Yes! I hate this new technology crap!”
“Well, stop yelling.”
“Ok, but you better have something important to talk about. Especially after all I just went through.”
“I was just checking to see how everything went with the new job.”
“Not bad. My staff isn’t big and I didn’t get to meet them either.”
“Why is that? You’re not allowed?”
“Of course, I’m allowed. Silly. Just so happen, no one was at work. One person was on vacation, one was out on sick-leave, and the other was away, running errands.”
“So, everyone was away when you arrive? They must have heard some bad news about you.”
“Shut up. I take that back. I did see one lady. She was walking in, as I was leaving. She seems ok. I believe her name is Tiffany.”
“So, if everyone is gone, do they just shut the area down?”
“No. They had an intern filling in.”
“Nice?”
“If anything, a freak.”
“What? What happen?”
“The little, young freak was kissing all on me, just to say hello.”
“A guy?”
“Of course, a guy. His name is Tony.”
“Tony. Be careful.”
“Girl, this is my job. I’m not building any relationships. I don’t even want to make friends. As long as I do my job and they do their job, I’m good. Anyways, enough of that.”
“What’s going on for the weekend?”
“I feel like celebrating. I think we should do something.”
“What did you have in mind?”
“Let’s do something at my place. I can have Michael get on the grill, I’ll whip up some sides, and put you on desserts.”
“Put me on or ask me?”
“Show up with nothing and watch what happens. As a matter of fact, show up with nothing HOMEMADE and watch what happens.”
“Whatever. Once you get everything together, just let me know.”
“Alright, young’n. I’ll talk to you later.”
“Bye.”
Marla arrived home and parked next to Michael’s truck. Ever since Marla and Michael have moved into their new home, people have been coming by. There is something about getting a new home that makes people think they can constantly visit. They feel they should share in your joy, wear out your carpet, weaken the frame in your furniture, eat your meals, drink your coffee, and so forth. But, Marla and Michael didn’t mind. They enjoyed the company. They enjoyed entertaining guest at their previous home and now that Marla had her dream home, it has become a pleasure. Marla approached the front door with her portfolio in one hand and the house keys in the other. Before she could insert her key, she heard noises from the inside. “Arrrgh!” With a confused look on her face, Marla quickly opened the door and discovered Michael in a ‘dog stance’ on the floor, with Michael Jr. pulling on his neck. “Hey, honey”, Michael whispered as Michael Jr. minimized his ability to talk.
“Hey. Michael don’t be so rough with Junior.”
“He’s choking me.”
“You know what I mean and please don’t break the table, acting crazy.”
Marla walked over to the couch, furthest away from Michael and Junior, and had a seat. Michael managed to lift up and get an arm around Junior’s waist. Once Michael grasps Junior, Junior let go of Michael’s neck and dangled on the side.
“How did everything go at the job?”
“Not bad. She wanted to show me the area and have me meet some of my staff.”
“Friendly staff?”
“Well I actually didn’t meet them. The only person there was an intern.”
Michael laughs.
“So, she had you meet people that weren’t there.”
“Yes. The staff is small and everyone was out for something different. It just lets you know that they’re a group of characters. But! Nothing new. Honey, I wanted to throw a party this weekend.”
“For Junior?”
“Oh my goodness! I have too much going on. Junior’s birthday is Sunday!”
“Not good, Marla. What was your party for?”
“Well, I wanted to celebrate my new job. Is it possible to do something this Friday and take Junior out on Saturday?”
“I guess. It makes for a busy weekend.”
“True, but Saturday we’ll go somewhere and won’t have to worry about cleaning and the whole nine.”
Michael brought Junior face-to-face and said, “We have to pray for momma.”
“Don’t do that. That’s not funny. Michael, I need you to barbeque for me on Friday.”
Michael gave Marla a dead stare and walked out of the family room. “Michael”, screamed Marla. Michael didn’t respond and continued to play with Junior. “You can’t make any mistakes in this house”, yelled Marla. Still, Michael did not respond.