"I'm sorry, but your temporary assignment here has ended. Unfortunately, we don't have anything permanent for you. Here is a list of the current openings that we know of."
"Thank you".
"Jennifer, I'm really sad to see you go. I wish I had something to offer you, honest I do".
"So, do I".
Jennifer Edwards headed to her desk and packed up her things and then headed home.
She looked over the list, and called each of them.
For the next hour, all she heard was "the position has been filled".
She was on her last one, the one she wanted the least, when she finally heard "Yes, that position is still available. Fax your resume plus a writing sample by 5 p.m. today and someone will call you tomorrow".
She wasn't enthused, but she gathered the necessary materials and headed out to find a fax machine.
***Los Angeles, California***
Jonathan Hart was at his desk, trying to solve some problems.
"Ok, so let me get this straight. The board was upset because we don't have a company newsletter. So, I appointed someone to write a company newsletter. And they still don't like it?"
"No sir. It's not the content. It's more the grammatical errors, the layout mistakes, and the spelling mistakes".
"Stanley, you know I value your input, right?"
"Yes, sir".
"On a scale of 1-10, how upset is the board about this?"
"I would say a solid 7, sir. Fast approaching an 8".
"Ok fine. I'll just appoint someone else to do it".
"Sir, the board feels that it might be worth the expense to hire someone outside of the company for this".
"Fine. I'll write up a wanted ad and send it around to all the area newspapers."
"Great idea sir".
"Thank you, Stanley".
***The next day***
Jennifer Edwards was in her New York apartment.
The phone rang and she ran to get it.
"Hello?"
"Hi, this is Heather from the LA Chronicle. I'm calling for Jennifer Edwards".
"This is she".
"Hi. As I said, I'm with the LA Chronicle. And I must say, your writing sample is very impressive. How would you like to work for us?"
"Thank you. And yes, I would love to".
"Ok, so can you be here in two weeks? The job is salary, you get an hour lunch break every day, and you are expected to work no less than 6 hours per day, and no more than 10. 4 weeks vacation time per year, and you are only mandated to use 1 week per year. You are not allowed to use more than 3 weeks consecutively, unless it's for medical reasons. We provide the desk and the equipment."
"Sure, I think I can do that".
"Perfect. Consider yourself hired, and we will see you in two weeks".
They hung up and Jennifer called her dad and filled him in.
As she hung up, she started looking around the room at all she had to pack.
"California, here I come".
***Two weeks later***
Jennifer arrived in California on Saturday, driving a Uhaul. She was tired, and frazzled, but excited and hopeful.
She signed the lease on her new apartment, and then worked quickly to unload the truck.
A few hours later, she was in her apartment, surrounded by boxes and an air mattress. Void of any and all furniture.
She was living in a high-rise apartment, that had a lovely view of the beach.
She opened the French doors that led to her balcony and started opening the blinds.
The furniture she had ordered was supposed to be delivered Monday afternoon between 4 and 6. Everything was starting to come together.
She looked around and then inflated her air mattress.
"Home sweet home".
***Monday***
Jennifer woke up and got ready. Her apartment was starting to come together, as she had unpacked everything she could that didn't require furniture to hold it.
She made her way downstairs and took a cab to the Chronicle.
She walked inside and headed to the receptionist's desk.
"Hi, I'm Jennifer Edwards. I was hired to work here. I'm looking for Heather".
"Through those doors, all the way to the back on the left".
"Thank you".
Jennifer made her way through the newsroom, and was surprised that it wasn't nearly as busy as the one in New York had been.
She found herself outside Heather's office, and after taking a deep breath, she knocked.
"Come in".
She opened the door and went inside.
"Hi, I'm Jennifer Edwards, we spoke on the phone about two weeks ago".
"Hi, I've been waiting for you. Let's go to HR first, and then I'll give you a tour".
"Ok".
They walked to HR, and Heather explained the situation.
"This is Paige, she will explain the forms to you and the benefits and all that. Paige, this is Jennifer. She has been hired for the columnist position".
"Did Katherine not come and talk to you?"
"About what?"
"She hired someone for the columnist position earlier this morning".
"Oh. No, she didn't. Well, technically I hired Jennifer two weeks ago".
"Yes, but the person Katherine hired already signed the paperwork and their contract is now binding".
"Well, are there any other open positions?"
"Maintenance".
"No thank you".
Jennifer and Heather walked back to Heather's office.
"I apologize. I promise you, if another position comes available, you will be the first one called".
"Thank you. Do you know of any other papers or positions being filled in this area?"
"I don't. But if you go to reception, and then go down the hall, over on the right is a community board where people post open positions. You are more than welcome to peruse it".
"Thank you".
"I apologize again".
"I appreciate it".
Jennifer headed to the board, and literally took one of each flyer that was posted.
She headed back to her new apartment, feeling slightly defeated, but still somewhat hopeful.
***Jennifer's apartment***
Jennifer came inside and took the elevator up to her floor.
There were notices on her door that the phone company had been there to connect service and that the utilities were now in her name.
She was excited to at least have a working phone.
She unpacked the box that her phone was in and plugged it up and plopped down on the floor.
She began calling all the numbers from the flyers she had gotten.
It was another round of "I'm sorry, the position has been filled", until the last one.
"Hello, Hart Industries, how can I help you?"
"Hi. My name is Jennifer Edwards. I'm calling about the position for a staff writer that was advertised".
"Yes ma'am. You will need to submit a writing sample and a resume to reception on the ground floor and then someone will call you tomorrow to schedule an interview".
"I can do that this afternoon. Can I ask you something?"
"Certainly".
"Is there any way you can tell me if a lot of people are being considered for this position? It's just…this position is my last hope for the moment".
"Confidentially speaking, you are the only one that's applied".
"Wonderful. I will drop it off today. Thank you".
"Yes ma'am".
She hung up, got some copies together and then headed out to drop it off.
***Hart Industries***
Jennifer came inside the building, and headed to reception.
She filled out the application, attached her resume and writing sample, and then handed it in.
"Someone will call you tomorrow".
"Thank you".
She headed to the bathroom down the hall behind the receptionist desk.
When she was finished, she was washing her hands when she noticed that her hair clip was falling out.
She had no choice but to let her hair down. She finger-brushed it, and then headed out.
She was walking out the door as two gentlemen were coming in. They didn't notice her, at first.
One of them caught a whiff of her perfume, and turned to say something but she was walking too fast to talk to him.
All he could see was her long red hair and the black skirt she was wearing.
He momentarily wondered who that was, and then continued up to his office.
He thought a moment, and then contacted his security team and asked them to come to his office.
A few minutes later, James, the head of security showed up.
"Mr. Hart, you wanted to see me?"
"Yes, there was a lady downstairs this afternoon around 12:30 p.m. Had long red hair and a black skirt on. She was leaving the building as I was coming in, on the first floor. I was wondering if you could get a clear picture of her on the cameras and maybe a name?"
"I'll give it my best shot".
"Thank you".
***Across town***
Jennifer walked into A New You. The receptionist looked up.
"Hi, can I help you?"
"Yes, a cut and color please".
"Right this way, ma'am".
Jennifer followed her and then sat in the beautician's chair.
"How much are we cutting off?"
"Short. Just above my shoulders".
"And what kind of color are we doing?"
"I want to lighten the red, back to my natural shade of red".
"You got it".
By 3 p.m., Jennifer Edwards had short hair-the shortest hair she'd had since she was a freshman in high school. She loved it and was grinning from ear to ear.
"Thank you, so much".
She paid her bill and headed home.
***Later that afternoon***
James came back up to Jonathan's office.
"I'm sorry sir, I can't get a clear picture of her face. She turned something in to reception, then went to the bathroom, then hurried out of the building. Total time in the building was less than 10 minutes".
"Ok, thanks anyways James".
He gathered his things together and headed home, as he tried to put her out of his mind.
***Tuesday***
Jennifer was in her apartment. The deliverymen had been at her place till almost 10 moving in a bed, mattress and box springs, couch, recliner, two dressers, coffee table, end tables, nightstand, and small kitchen table and chairs. Now it was up to her to figure out the layouts.
She quickly figured out that what determined it was really where the phone jacks and cable jacks were located.
She was in the middle of moving her couch when the phone rang.
"Hello?"
"Hi, this is Nicole from Hart Industries. Is there anyway you would be able to come in for an interview today?"
"Absolutely".
"Perfect. How about 1 p.m.?"
"I'll be there. Where should I go when I get to Hart Industries?"
"Check in with reception, and then take the elevator to the 10th floor, to HR".
"Great. Thank you so much".
They hung up and Jennifer immediately went to pick out an outfit.
She finally decided on a hunter green sweater dress with a cowl neck, and some tall brown boots.
She curled her hair and made sure her makeup was flawless.
She went to spritz on some perfume, but realized the bottle was empty. She dug through her cosmetics bag, and finally found a bottle of a different brand, and spritzed that on.
At precisely 12:30, she headed out.
***Hart Industries***
Jennifer came in and checked in with reception, and then headed to HR.
"Hi, can I help you?"
"Hi, I'm here to meet with Nicole. I'm Jennifer Edwards".
"Hi. Thanks for coming in. Have a seat".
She got some papers out of her desk and grabbed a pen.
"Ok, so here's the skinny. We are desperate. Your writing sample was outstanding. Your resume shows that you are beyond qualified. In fact, you are so qualified that I almost feel as if offering this job to you is an insult. So, I got the authorization to allow you to name your salary. Whatever you want, within reason, we will pay it".
Jennifer thought about it for a few moments, and then decided that it was only fair that she get at least what she would have made at the Chronicle. Thankfully, she still had that flyer in her purse.
She quickly glanced at it, wrote down the number and slid it across to Nicole.
"I tell you what-we will round this up to the next thousand. This position comes with benefits after 4 weeks, and 2 weeks of vacation for the first calendar year. Here's a schedule of the incentives and when we are closed. Your office is on the 12th floor, to the right, when you step off the elevator".
"Great, thank you. What about equipment?"
"We supply the standard office equipment-desk, chair, computer, printer. You will have access to the copy machine and the fax machine, in the copy room. Lunch is an hour, and Mr. Hart is pretty flexible about start times and end times, but everyone is generally here by 9 each day, and stays till about 5 or 6".
"I can handle that".
"Great. Sign here, initial here, and sign the last page."
Jennifer signed and initialed, and then handed it back to her.
"Welcome to Hart Industries, Miss Edwards. I can tell you are going to be a great asset to the company".