The Symposium
It was hard to tell whether the headache forming behind Daniel Meade's eyes was due to dehydration or complete and utter frustration. He was leant back in his desk chair, rubbing his eyes as an act of exasperation as to why he'd spent four hours interviewing girls who didn't have the mental capacity to write their own name never mind cope with the challenges of being his assistant.
"Charlotte, please tell me she was the last one?" he pressed the intercom button on the phone in front of him and rested his forehead in the palm of his hand as he prayed to God 'Brooke from Brooklyn' was the last candidate he needed to interview.
"Sorry to disappoint but there's one more girl here. Shall I send her through?" Charlotte, his very pregnant very efficient assistant was leaving in a week to go on maternity leave and Daniel still hadn't found her replacement. It was nine o'clock on a Thursday night and he was stuck in his office waiting until he could go home and fish out the scotch from the spirit rack in his living room. Somehow he couldn't see that happening within the next hour.
He impatiently ran his hand through his hair and exhaled sharply "You may as well. Go home to your husband now, Charlotte. Its getting late." he said as he pushed the résumé's of seven different girls in the bin underneath his desk.
"Thanks Daniel, she's on her way through now" the intercom shut off and Daniel sat up right in his chair, pushing his sleeves up as he mustered up as much energy as he could to make it through the final interview of the night.
Sure enough a short while later he saw the shadow of a woman through the frosted glass wall of his father's former office. It was as she turned the corner and into the dimly lit office that he exhaled a sigh of relief. She wasn't blonde, she wasn't stick thin and she looked like a woman who could deal with more than a broken nail. Her dark hair was pushed off one shoulder with a set of heavy, straight bangs nearly covering her dark eyes. Dressed in all black apart from the white and blue of her skyscraper boots and the issue of The New York Times and the UK's newspaper The Telegraph carried in her hand, she looked fierce. She looked like she could handle herself.
She smiled as Daniel greeted her from the front of his desk "Long day?" she asked laughing slightly at his clearly agitated stance.
"You could say that" he rolled his eyes and she laughed extending her hand out for him to shake.
"I'm Beatriz, it's nice to meet you" he shook her hand in response and noticed the darkly manicured nails which had wrapped round his own
"Daniel, you too" he responded as he made his way round to the other side of the desk and sat down in his chair. Beatriz taking one of the leather arm chairs opposite from him.
"Sorry to be keeping you so late. Human Resources rang me about an hour ago saying you're assistant was furious at the candidates she'd been sent and asked if I could come down here" she said as she sat the magazine and newspaper down on her lap and crossed one leg over the other.
"It's fine honestly, I'd rather get this sorted out now than have Charlotte in labour and still not have her replacement arranged" Beatriz raised her eyebrows in agreement and ran a hand through a long strand of her hair.
"Seems like a wise decision, she looks like she's about to have it any day now" she said looking back towards the glass wall she'd walked down past Charlotte's desk. Daniel laughed and widened his eyes
"Just as long as her waters don't break when she's at work, everything will be fine" he laughed and sifted a few contracts together in a pile.
"Okay so I'm guessing you just want the short version of this then?" she asked as she handed Daniel her résumé and sat tossed her hair back from her face.
"Please" he said nodding his head
"Okay so I graduated from Queens College in 2005 and was assistant to the Editor-in-Chief of Elle for two years. I left and went to London for three years and worked for Anna Wintour as one of two assisants. I worked freelance in Paris and London for another couple of years for The Telegraph, Vogue and had a weekly column via email in the New York Times. Then I moved back to New York a month ago and have been doing freelance for the New York Times and Time Magazine" she spoke so fast Daniel almost couldn't hear her and she didn't seem out of breath when she finished either. To be frank it made his head spin listening to her reel off that much information in one breath.
"Wow. That's um that's quite impressive considering you're only what? Twenty-seven?"
"Twenty eight" she laughed and Daniel smirked slightly.
"My only concern is the fact that you're applying to be an assistant. Surely an ambitious woman like you would want a role higher up in a company like Meade?"
"It doesn't appeal to me. I work freelance because I like to manage myself but sometimes you need someone to tell you what to do. I don't like not having a purpose but I also hate not being in control"
"When can you start?" he asked abruptly, taking her off guard
"You don't hold back do you?" she laughed in disbelief at how forthright he had just appeared. Daniel just raised his eyebrows momentarily and leant back in his chair.
"Monday too soon?" she asked expressionless.
"Nope Monday's fine. You'll have a company credit card for expenses so I want you to get a blackberry for work over the weekend and keep everything social or family orientated off it. You'll be with me at every meeting, every contract signing and the latest you'll leave the office will be around seven o'clock unless we have a day like today where you can expect to be here a lot longer. Any time you leave the office, the calls will be diverted to your cell phone or answer phone. You'll be given a key to my townhouse as well as a spare to be kept in your desk. Be here at nine o'clock sharp every morning and I'll have Charlotte show you the ropes on Monday. Oh and trips abroad are always accompanied by you unless you're pregnant or otherwise impaired" he said quickly with an edge of authority. His eyes had stayed focussed on hers throughout the entire interview and the way he was looking at her intimidated her slightly but not enough for her to show fear. She had noticed that Daniel had a cold side to him, that he could be somewhat rude and icy. She concluded that he was nice when he got his way but had an edge. An edge that was brought out by something she couldn't quite pin point yet.
"Is there anything else?" she asked, shaking her long, dark hair off her shoulders.
"Nope, that's all" he said as he toyed with a pen that sat within his fingers. He stopped playing with it and folded his arms across his chest observing how unaffected Beatriz was by his sudden change of character.
"Fine, I'll see you on Monday then Mr Meade" she said as she stood up from her position in the arm chair and met Daniel's stance behind his large glass desk. He simply nodded his head once and she outstretched her hand for him to shake once again.
"It was nice to meet you" she said and he shook her hand in return adding "Nine o'clock, sharp" his eyes forceful and full of authority.
"I expected nothing less Mr Meade" Beatriz finalised the interview and picked up her bag before turning on her heel and walking out of his office. Her long black coat flowing out behind her, along with her never-ending stream of hair.
Her presence alone in his office had threatened Daniel's authority never mind his ability to control his emotions and actions towards a woman. The edge to his personality that Beatriz had just played witness to, was due to Daniel Meade finally feeling threatened by a woman as strong willed, confident and fearless as he.
But just as Beatriz and Daniel found elements of strength and fearlessness in each other, what they didn't pick up on was the fact that they both harboured secrets which could damage the impression they have on each other. Their poker faces had already been played but now it was a race to see who could hold their bluff for the longest.