Half an hour waiting outside the offices of jpr, and already Dawn was beginning to feel uneasy.

"Next!"

A tall, leggy woman with long dark hair exited the office, looking more dishevelled than she had when she entered the office. She made for the door adjusting her bra strap, and she managed to flick a smug smirk in Dawn's direction as she departed.

This was a mistake. Dawn was way too foolhardy moving to Auckland and expecting to get a job straight out of uni when she had bugger-all work experience (that is, if you didn't count working the night-shift at Countdown, which she certainly didn't). The people here were far more experienced and sophisticated and just plain savvy compared to her; a small-town girl from the timber town of Putaruru. People like her never got jobs in publicity companies. They were destined to hand out leaflets at the local fair, or collect census forms from people's houses.

"I said, next!"

Dawn took a deep breath, and slowly gathered her things to begin her interview. Anders was now standing at the door to his office, waiting for her.

"Well, hello, sunshine!"
"It's Dawn, actually," she replied curtly, and immediately regretted her tone. The first words said to her potential new employer, and she had spoken to him like he was an idiot. Her cheeks reddened and she opened her mouth to apologise, but the man smiled broadly and gestured for her to come in. Her face still ablush, she followed Anders into the office.

The office itself was rather impressive. It was spacious, well-lit, and it was modern without being too impersonal. She spotted the desk that Anders' assistant would be working at as she entered, and she followed him into his part of the office which had a large blackboard covering most of the wall on the right. Below the blackboard were a couple of large, comfortable looking couches around a coffee table. There was an open bottle of vodka on the table, and two glasses; one of which was still almost full.

Dawn was expecting for her interview to take place in front of Anders' desk, but he stuck his hand out in the direction of the couch and said "Please, have a seat."

Still wishing that the floor would swallow her from the way she addressed Anders earlier, she settled down nervously on the edge of the couch. Anders ducked out into a side room and returned with a glass.
"Drink?"

Did he mean the vodka? Was it a test to see whether she'd drink on the job? Would it be rude to decline? Oh God, this was far more stressful than she had anticipated; clearly she wanted the job more than she had originally thought.
"Uh, water would be just fine, thank you," she managed to answer politely. Anders produced a bottle of spring water.

"So water? Or" he gave a little wink and a nod in the direction of the vodka "water?" His tone was playful, but she still wasn't sure whether he was judging her on what she chose to drink – had the interview even started yet?!

"Whatever you're having I'm alright with," Dawn tried bravely. Anders settled onto the adjacent couch and filled the glass high with the vodka. Shit. He handed it to her, and picked up his own.
"It'll relax you for the interview," Anders assured her. This was tempting. Dawn reluctantly took the glass from Anders, and he clinked his with hers.

"To that beautiful dress you're wearing," he toasted. Dawn looked down at her dress, surprised.
"This? You like it?" She had been worried that it was a little too revealing (although she was getting the feeling that that's why he liked it).
"I do! It's very unique and stylish," he replied earnestly, taking a sip from his glass.
"Thank you, I actually made it myself," she admitted. He nodded appreciatively.

"It would look better on my floor," Dawn heard him murmur, to which she nearly spat her drink out.
"WHAT?!"
"I said, I've not seen many like it before," Anders responded a little more loudly. Dawn's heart was beating fast, and it wasn't for any positive reason. She wanted a job in publicity, but to work for this man, who would drink at work during the day and make inappropriate comments about her (she knew that he knew that she heard what he actually said) was NOT something she wanted to do.

Anders must have noticed her discomfort, because he swiftly changed the subject.
"Alright, Dawn, I'm going to give you a common scenario that I receive here at the company, and I want you to give me your honest opinion on what you'd advise the client to do. Are you okay with this?" Dawn nodded, a little relieved.

"Good. Okay. A large national company which has a strong reputation for family-friendly values is in trouble. Their media spokesperson, being the only person with access to the company's Twitter account, is posting links to pornographic websites and generally making inappropriate comments which are damaging the public perception of the company. What would you advise the CEO to do?"

"Well, for starters, I'd fire the media spokesperson, obviously," Dawn said, braving a sip from the vodka glass. It was surprisingly not as a shock to her taste buds as she was expecting for drinking alcohol so early in the morning.

"Dawn, I'm going to tell you now that your answer has automatically catapulted you to the very short shortlist of potential candidates to be my assistant. Almost every single other girl who has walked through these doors had not a bloody clue what to do." Dawn's heart leaped in her chest. This was excellent!

"Oh w-wow, that's really flattering," she stammered.

Wait, was it flattering? Did she still even want the job?

Taking another sip from his glass, Anders picked up her CV.
"It looks like you were a very busy and involved university student," he noted, skimming through her qualifications.
"Well, I love being involved in clubs, especially in the whole behind the scenes organisational stuff. Plus, when you go to university in the Waikato, there's not a lot else to do!"

"So why do you want to work for me?" he asked curiously.
"To be honest, Mr Johnson, I'm not sure I do. Not enough to sleep with you in order to get the job, anyway. I know that people in this city are smarter, savvier and more game for a good time, but that's not me. I have morals, I have dignity, I don't drink during the day, and I think this was a big mistake. Thank you for your time." She stood up and went to leave, but he gently grabbed her hand before she could.

"Please. Call me Anders." There was something in his voice (maybe it was the soft, velvety tone that he used) that made her nod numbly and sit back down. Anders took her glass, and carried it into the side room, before returning with a different glass. He handed it to her, laughing at the worried look on her face.

"Don't worry, it's water." Carefully, she accepted the glass and set it on the table.
"Whoa, there, you're shaking. It's okay, I don't bite…hard," he added with a wink.
"I don't normally tell off potential future employers, that's all," Dawn explained. "And, ew!"

"I think you should do that more often. You've clearly got a spark in you, which I like. This job needs people who aren't afraid to stand up and take charge to make sure they get what is required. I think you will be able to do that very well."

"But what about those other girls you interviewed who you clearly-" Dawn didn't want to utter the words 'fucked on top of your desk'; but the cheeky grin she received from Anders affirmed that he got what she meant.

"Dawn, I have a lot of sex," Anders began, and Dawn couldn't help but interject.
"Is this meant to impress me?" Dawn! Shut up! Anders didn't seem fazed, however.
"Basically, what I'm trying to say is, I don't need to hire an assistant in order to get sex. Believe it or not, I actually have an interest in bettering my business. There are several large clients who I am hoping to wrangle in the coming months, and I need someone who is focused and driven towards the work that we do here. More importantly, I need someone who isn't afraid to stand up to me. I've had assistants who were too afraid to tell me that what I was doing was wrong, even when they knew better. Although it was nice being surrounded by yes-women, that's not what I'm looking for right now." Dawn was stricken. This speech of Anders had completely captivated her, and in a few short minutes she had performed a complete 180 and was back to praying that she was still within a chance.

"Of course, a quick fuck on the side should the moment call for it isn't completely off the table; I want to make that clear." Ah, she spoke too soon.

"You are the most disgusting man I have ever come across in my entire life." Anders raised his glass in a toast to her remark.
"And YOU are hired."