A/N: I know it does seem to take me forever to update a story that I already mentioned is finished on my hard drive, but my life tends to be quite hectic right now. Hopefully that will change the moment February rolls around.
A long while had passed, and I threw my head back into my neck and stared at the ceiling for a second. "This… is somehow not how I had imagined my New Year to start," I said and saw him nod at me. "Don't get me wrong, I am not one of these people that start a New Year with long lists of things they need to or want to change, things that need to be different, how they want to self-improve and lose 10 pounds, get into running and start eating healthier. But… being stuck in the middle of nowhere with no real idea when we actually could get out isn't really something I'd call a plan, either."
"Maybe it's a sign?" Carlos said, and I looked at him, surprised. He didn't seem the superstitious or particularly life-lesson-guru type of guy. Nope, he was more along the lines of tough-ass, stop-whining-and-move-your-ass drill instructor kind of guy.
"A sign for what? That my life and its path is a dead-end and leading me to exactly nowhere? Or rather, the middle of nowhere for that?" I ask, a little defeated.
"That change can always be made at any moment of time. That nothing is ever guaranteed and save and that sometimes a distraction and detour might lead to unexpected results."
"Yeah, the unexpected result of getting fired," I mumbled and saw him shake his head.
"Technically, if they fire you, you at least won't have to worry about changing jobs, and you'll be extra motivated to find a new job fast. One that hopefully also pays you fair."
I looked at him for an extended amount of time, thinking about his suggestion, and had to admit that maybe he was right. I was always complaining and blaming lack of time for getting stuff done – especially looking for other options – and here I was, with four days on my hand that needed to be filled. So, I grabbed my phone and entered a well-known search site for jobs.
"Just scanning through the offers quickly. Nothing stands out that I could picture myself doing. Or I would have the proper degree for," I said to no one in particular after a few minutes had passed.
"Well, what is it that you want to do?" he wondered, surprising me with the question. "Maybe you should start with that question and then take it from there?"
"I have a business degree and I think I also have the head for it. I enjoy hustling and bustling and numbers, as well as putting my degree to use. I don't think I'm particularly set on the direction or the kind of business but would like something that offers a certain variety. I don't think I could do a job anymore in which I do the exact same thing all day, every day."
"Somehow that does not narrow things down by a lot," I heard Carlos's murmur, shrugging a moment later. "I think these days, a certain flexibility is expected and doing several jobs preferred. Technically, you could get an accounting job and end up moonlighting as an adviser in the process."
"It's just… hard. I have held one single job since I graduated college. And while I could state I want adventure and excitement, get paid to see the world and wake up in a different country or at least city every other week, it just isn't realistic. I think I just need to actually work several different jobs to know what I technically am looking for."
"And you phrase it that weirdly why exactly?" he asked, amused.
"Because just knowing what I look for doesn't automatically mean I will get it. And I figure every job I would find enjoyable has probably a list a mile long with applicants that are better suited for whatever position it is than I am: better references, better experience, better at selling themselves."
I heard my phone chime and looked at its screen just to find a message from my boss, who I had informed that I am currently stuck in North Dakota and with my current flight details. His message didn't read easily and while I still seemed to have a job to return to, I had no doubt I'd be paying off his generosity for a while. Overtime, more work and probably a few favors thrown into the mix which would result in more overtime and work.
"How's the security business these days?" I asked absent-mindedly while I composed a reply to my boss. "Maybe that's a field I should look into?"
I heard Carlos' deep laughter for a moment. "It definitely has a lot of potential and offers great opportunities. But it is often a lot of hours and work, staying on top of things and ahead of trends."
"So far, you haven't said anything that I am not already experiencing in my current position. Maybe I should apply for the company you work for. Seems like you know what flexibility is."
I saw him shrug at my semi-serious thought.
"I could put a good word in for you, if you do," he said, surprising me with how this seemed to be just a normal idea to him. Not like some random person he has found himself stuck with for a few days in the middle of North Dakota all of a sudden might display stalker-tendencies. In my defense, I needed to say that sometimes my mouth was quicker in forming a sentence than my brain was able to process possible consequences. "Though, just a bit of fair warning, the CEO is a bit of a hard-head and an ass, loving to run people into the ground and making them work twice as hard as they ever possibly did. But, if you pull your weight and don't appear to be a pushover, you should be doing alright."
"Thanks for the advice on a job I might not even apply for," I said, amused. And why was he looking equally amused when he had finished his statement? "But…what would I even do for a security company? I mean, I do not have any sort of experience in that field whatsoever and don't see myself running after bad guys. Mainly because I don't really do running well."
"Well… they are always looking for new talent and I'm certain if someone was telling the CEO, CFO or COO that they were in desperate need of a business adviser or an executive assistant or something, they would go for it. Just depends on how you sell it," Carlos said, shrugging, seeming still awfully amused by this.
"If you have a CEO, as well as a CFO and a COO, you must work for quite a large cooperation."
"We do alight, I'd say. Though we have fairly good benefits. And the pay is more than fair. You get paid for what you accomplish and bring to the table."
"Are you trying to convince me about a job that might not even exist?"
He laughed at my question. "Let's pretend it does. What would you bring to the table? What are your selling arguments? How would you sell yourself?"
"For a job that doesn't even exist as far as you are concerned?"
"See it as … practice for your actual job interview when you decide to apply for jobs."
"I…I don't even know what would be required in this pretend job. I usually study the requirements and what I like to call wishful thinking when it comes to what an applicant can offer."
"It's an executive assistant slash business adviser slash office manager. Aren't they always the same of sorts?" he asked, confused, and I needed to laugh, knowing as much about this as he seemed to do.
"I… um… I work hard, pull my weight, and get things done in a timely manner. I also can learn new things quickly and try to think outside the box whenever applicable and needed. I try to create a good work environment and support workplace positivity."
"What?" he asked, and I wondered the same. What was I saying? And even more importantly, why? Also, why did this seem to make me nervous, considering that this was a mock-interview?
"You know? Create a place where people get along and like working with each other. No drama and bullying. No clustering of groups where one is pitting against the others and creating clique dynamics."
He just nodded, seeming so serious all of a sudden, almost like this could be a real interview. All he was missing was a suit, some glasses and a notepad, where he scribbled my answers and his thoughts down. "What else? What makes you stand out and should have me begging you to come work for us?"
The fact that when he mentioned begging, my mind might have drifted off into the gutter was a little unnerving and made me probably blush for all the wrong – or right? – reasons.
"Whatever you just thought about must have been quite an argument," I heard him laugh, confirming my thoughts about my blush. Great, how to respond? To… any of this? To his question in regards to what makes me stand out? Looking at him, despite my furious blush, I figured since this was play-pretend and he probably thought he was doing me a favor, I could go all out.
"Because I'm an asset to everyone. I work three times harder than any of your employees, get my hands dirty if necessary and believe in team work and team spirit. They say you are only as strong as a team as your weakest link, so I believe if everyone puts in the effort and supports each other, you can accomplish anything. I can be the first one in every single morning and the last one out of that's the only way to get stuff done and you will barely hear me complain. When everyone else goes the extra mile, I go ten. I don't expect handouts and don't complain about something being unfair if my time comes for a promotion, but someone whose put more work in gets it, nevertheless. It just means I'll work harder. I can multi-task like no one else and can get things done in a timely manner. And someone recently just said I do the job of six. And I do it well, if I may add."
The silence that followed was refreshing and rewarding and it looked like a moment I had managed to shock my companion. He probably hadn't expected any of it, and truth be told, neither had I. I don't know what came over me and frankly I'd never speak like that in an interview, and maybe that was the reason I was still stuck in the job I had worked for since college.
"And that is how you get hired," he eventually said, smiling at me almost proudly.
"I'll keep it in mind for when an actual job lures at the horizon," I simply replied, amused on my end.
"You go in strong and come out on top. Never let anyone give you a feeling of not being enough and when there is a job that makes you question yourself and your abilities, walk away, regardless of how well it pays. No money in the world is worth it to feel insignificant."
For a moment I wondered whether he ever had questions himself or his own abilities or if he had ever felt insignificant? He looked like a guy who knew exactly what he was capable of and like no one could tell him otherwise.
Eventually we finished our conversation, long after the wine had been drunk and the water had long gone as well, and the question about what to do now lingered in the air.
As it turned out, it would be a really boring and uneventful day that followed.
Carlos was spending it with working – presumably writing a whole of a lot of emails – and I switched between reading a somewhat odd book I had found lying abandoned at reception, skipping through various TV channels as well as skimming job sites. Though, later one was done more in order to feel productive compared to my companion.
Dinner was taken at the restaurant next to the hotel and had me fishing out a twenty dollar note, which I placed in front of him, telling him this was for whatever I would order, vowing to myself to not go over the amount. Looking at the menu a few moments later, after I had managed to successfully ignore his protests and repeated argument about this being another work-expense, I realized the cheapest item on the menu was priced at twenty-one dollars. Damn it.
I'd pay him back – one way or another. Though my tab kept growing. The taxi, the room, the food. If this carried on, I might as well consider moving back in with my parents in order to pay back him as well as my card.
Dinner was followed by going back to the room and me deciding that this time he sure as hell would not be spending the night on the floor. No matter how much he would argue and protest. I would simply argue and protest more.