Joanne sighed when her secretary of two weeks came in early that morning and informed her she was quitting. It seemed impossible for her to keep a secretary at the firm. Elizabeth was the fifth one to quit this month. Now she needed to find someone else and she hoped this time they would stick around longer than a week or two. It was getting a bit ridiculous. She needed a secretary to keep all of her files straight. Ever since the secretaries first started quitting her filing system had become practically ruined. It wasn't exactly convenient for her and if something wasn't convenient for Joanne she made sure things weren't convenient for anyone else either.
"Abigail," she called to the woman just outside her office. "I need you to look through the secretary applications on file and call one of them. Tell them they're hired immediately. Elizabeth just quit. Big surprise, huh? Maybe the next one will stay at least three weeks," she said with some bitterness in her voice.
The young woman rushed into the office as soon as she heard Joanne's voice. She only nodded at Joanne's request and then went to the filing cabinets to begin her new task. Abigail Conway was Joanne's personal assistant. It was her job to do everything Joanne was too busy to do and that was quite a lot of things she was in charge of. She hoped to become one of the lawyers at the firm and make something successful out of herself but in order to do that she had to put in her time as an assistant. Joanne said it was a good way to observe and learn about the life of a lawyer.
Soon enough she pulled a resume out of the folder filled with applications. The name on this one was Maureen Johnson. Abigail specifically remembered interviewing this woman two weeks earlier when they were hiring. She had been very friendly and charming. Her resume wasn't too impressive but she always chose the ones with impressive resumes and they were always the ones who ended up quitting. This time she was going to pick someone who wasn't exactly what they were looking for. Maybe she would prove that an impressive resume wasn't everything .
She called the number given on the resume and thankfully the woman picked up the phone.
"Hello. Is this Ms. Johnson?" She asked politely.
"Yes, it is. May I ask who's calling?" Maureen asked.
She was being unusually formal but that was probably because she had been expecting a call from one of the various jobs she had applied for.
"This is Abigail Conway, Ms. Joanne Jefferson's assistant. The secretary we hired two weeks ago just decided to quit the job this morning and Ms. Jefferson is in desperate need of a new one. Would you be interested in taking the job?"
"Definitely!" Maureen exclaimed, her voice full of happiness. Now she might actually be able to pay her share of the rent.
"That's fantastic, Ms. Johnson. Can you come in right now? Ms. Jefferson is rather desperate for a secretary so the sooner you can get here the better."
"Uhm, I guess I could come in right now. I think I remember where it is. I suppose I will be seeing you soon," she said, trying to sound professional still but the disappointment in her voice was clear. She obviously had other plans that her job now interfered with.
"See you soon," Abigail said before hanging up.
She was relieved she had found someone so quickly or else she would have had to encounter the wrath of an angry Joanne Jefferson. She had experienced that one too many times and did not wish for it to happen again.
"Fuck," Maureen muttered after she hung up the phone.
She had been waiting for someone to hire her but she didn't expect it to happen so suddenly. She had plans to hang out with her boyfriend, Mark, and his friends today. Thanks to her fabulous job those plans were now ruined. She didn't always like hanging out with her boyfriend because he never paid enough attention to her. It was always his camera. But she sure as hell preferred Mark over working.
She rummaged through her closet, looking for something professional to wear. Something that a secretary would wear. She searched for about thirty seconds before realizing she didn't have any clothes like that. She wasn't a professional person and she didn't dress like it. The closest thing she had to dress pants were black leather so she grabbed those and her favorite green blouse. It was a very revealing shirt but she loved it and it was the closest thing she had to dressy clothing.
She threw on the outfit and then looked in the mirror, making sure the clothes fit her body perfectly. The blouse hugged each of her flattering curves and the pants accentuated her ass and thighs.
"Perfect," she said with a smirk.
She knew it wasn't 'professional attire' but after the short notice she had been given for the job she didn't exactly have the best attitude. At the moment she didn't care what the people at her job said or thought about her. She knew she was the fabulous Maureen and that's all that mattered in her mind. After admiring herself in the mirror for a little while she left a note for Mark explaining why she couldn't hang out with him and then headed out the door.
When she finally found the right building she went inside and found the correct floor for the law firm. She knew it was right because it said Jefferson's Law Firm when she arrived. Jefferson was the person she was being a secretary for. She knew that much at least. As soon as she took a step forward out of the elevator nearly everyone's eyes were on her. The guys were clearly excited that there was a woman there that wasn't wearing some dumpy business suit. Finally there would be some eye candy for them. The women weren't so excited. They actually seemed disgusted that any woman in the professional world would come to work dressed like that. The thing was Maureen didn't see herself as part of the professional world. She was part of Maureen's world and nothing else mattered to her.
Abigail rushed forward when she saw the woman enter the firm. She was panicking already. She went ahead and picked the applicant who didn't have as many qualifications and now she got someone like this? Her luck she seemed to get worse as they went through secretaries.
"Hi, I'm Abigail Conway. Would you happen to be Maureen Johnson?" She asked curiously, part of her hoping it wasn't. This wasn't the woman she had in mind.
"Yes, I am," she told the woman. Her attitude was badly hidden in her voice.
Abigail only sighed. Maureen was proving to be a bad choice the more she found out about her.
"Well, Joanne would like to see you in her office. She wants to meet you and familiarize you with what your duties will be," she told her.
Maureen nodded and followed Abigail to Joanne's office. She was intrigued by the woman at first. She was very beautiful but she also had that stern look on her face. She was obviously a very serious person and Maureen didn't like that. She liked people who could be fun and have a sense of humor.
When Joanne saw Maureen she thought it was a joke at first. She had never seen anyone walk into her office looking like that. Not even her clients. She was insulted that anyone thought that would be acceptable attire when working in her office. This was a law firm not a night club.
"This is Maureen Johnson, Joanne. She's your new legal secretary," Abigail said quietly and scurried out of the office. She could tell she wasn't going to be happy with this woman and she wanted to be nowhere near the office just in case Joanne lost her temper.
Joanne was practically glaring at Maureen the entire time Abigail was introducing her.
"Miss Johnson," Joanne began once Abigail had left. "I know you have just been hired here but you should be aware that in the professional world you don't wear outfits like that. I strongly suggest you invest in a business suit if you'd like to keep this job. Do you understand?" She asked, her voice significantly louder than when she began to speak.
"Yeah, whatever. You expect me to be all prepared when you give me an hour's notice. That makes a whole lot of sense," she shot back with an eye roll.
If Joanne was glaring at her before she was now giving her the death stare. No one had ever spoken to her like this before and she didn't enjoy hearing it. If she wasn't so desperate for a secretary she would have fired the woman on the spot but considering the circumstances she would have to deal with her.
"Get out to your desk," she barked. "Abigail will show you what your job is. I don't think I can bear talking to you long enough to explain your duties. And let me inform you, Miss Johnson, if you don't straighten up your act you will no longer have a job. I don't wish to ever be spoken to with that attitude again. I thought it was common sense to speak to your boss with respect," she nearly yelled. "You're dismissed."
Joanne went back to her desk, her blood boiling with anger. She had never met someone who could make her that angry before. She didn't even think it was possible.
Maureen was angry as well. She had never met such an unbearable, condescending bitch before. The only reason she wasn't quitting on the spot was because she wanted to prove Joanne wrong. She wanted to show her that she wasn't some unprofessional tramp. She could do this job just as well as anyone else if not better. All she had to do was actually apply herself for once.