Chapter 1

R

„Take a seat."

I closed the door and walked the short distance to her desk. I just peed fifteen minutes ago, but the nerves made me think I had to go again already. Suppressing this feeling, I sat down in the chair in front of her desk. Softly, I put my backpack on the floor next to my chair. My apartment could easily fit in her office. All the folders and labels in various colours made it very clear that she was organized. There were big windows on the side and the five o'clock sun was creating a soft, yellow light that fell in just the right angle to be pretty without blinding the eyes.

„Rachel Green, is it?", she asked, looking at a sheet in front of her. When she looked up again, I could see the fatigue on her face. She had been doing interviews the whole day already and I was pretty sure that I was the last one. Which meant that she was probably dying to go home now. Not a good start.

„Yes, that's correct", I answered her question.

„Monica Geller", she introduced herself, „Normally, I would do some small talk, but you're the twenty-third person I see today, so if you don't mind, I would like to go straight to the point."

„Of course", I said. I didn't mind this at all. I was too nervous to do small talk anyway. The sooner this was over, the better. Even though I really want this job, I hate interviews. For some reason, I always say or do something to mess it up. If she just goes to the point, there might be less chance for me to wing it.

„Why did you come to this interview?", she asked. A good question. One which I had prepared before coming to answer.

„I came, because I thought it was a really interesting job where I could learn a lot and where I could develop my skills more. I think that, with the training I did before, I would be very happy here and I think I would be in my place, working here", I perfectly cited the paragraph that I had studied last night and all day today.

„What would you bring to the team? Why should we take you and not someone else?", she asked after having looked up again from taking notes.

„I don't have a lot of experience yet, but I am a hard worker and a fast learner", I started. This was another question that I had prepared. So far, so good. I continued, „I don't give up easily and have a lot of determination."

„That's great", Ms. Geller interrupted me, „The problem is just that these exact two sentences, or variations of these, have been told at least fifteen times already today. If you don't mind, I would like to ask you to go a bit more personal. What do you have that all the other twenty-three don't have?"

Oh no. This was exactly where everything went wrong in all the other interviews I did. Unexpected questions. Anyway, here went nothing. „Well, I guess that being a woman is already a pretty big plus that I have in this men-dominant sector", I started and relief watched over me when I saw Ms Geller cracking a smile, „I also have a background in fashion, so I can always give free styling advice", I continued, but quickly changed subject when she sceptically lifted an eyebrow, „I also worked as a waitress for quite some time where I, aside from making coffee, also used my time to read people. To see how they interacted with other customers, how they would talk, how they would enter the cafe, whether they were alone or not, and so on. After some time I began to see patterns and I guess that my fascination for this job started here", I finished. While her head was bent over her notes, I nervously clasped and unclasped my hands.

„And the hours? Being away from home unexpectedly for an undetermined amount of time is no problem for you?"

„Not at all."

„No family members or pets that you would leave behind that would need caring after?", she asked to be sure.

„No, I am free to go whenever it's needed", I confirmed once more. Her hair fell down again when she started to write again on her notepad, but only briefly. When she looked up again, there was a slight smile on her face, barely noticeable, and if I had blinked at that exact moment, I would have missed it.

„Just one last question. Why do you want this job?"

I had carefully prepared this question at home, but I got the feeling that a formal, general response wouldn't be the right one for this interview. „Because my, now ex-, boyfriend said I couldn't. He said it was a job for men", I started. It was also a big reason, but not my main one of course. The way that her eyebrows rose and dropped in combination with the small shaking of her head made it clear that she thought just as low of him as I do now. „At the time, I told him that I thought I would be good at it. I can work under stress and pressure, I keep getting better at reading people's expressions, I can see details in a sea of things, I'm good at keeping my mouth shut and at telling little, white lies and, to top it all off, I beat him whenever we played poker", this got a little smirk out of her, „When I applied for this job - we were already separated by then - I just knew that I really wanted it. I mean, how many people can say that they are a professional special agent who works in a female duo?", I finished off.

Monica was nodding while staring at a point a bit right from me. I looked behind me, but there was just a wall. When I looked back at her, she had already bent her head again and her pen was cruising over the paper once more. With a final click, she closed the pen and put it down.

„Alright, that will be all. Thank you for your time, Ms. Green. You can expect an answer before the end of the week", she said, her hands folded in front of her.

„Okay, thank you so much", I said, getting up from the chair. I picked my backpack up from the floor and when I stood back up there was an extended hand pointing at me. I extended my right hand and when I shook her hand, I smiled at her. To my surprise, there was a smile on her face too. And not a brief, hidden one. A real one.

When she pulled back her hand, I realized that I had lost my conception of time when I saw her smile. I had probably shaken her hand for way longer than was socially acceptable. It's unbelievable, I always find ways to screw up my interviews. When I closed her office door, I slammed myself on the forehead. I had such a good feeling about this interview and just when I think I nailed an interview for once, I mess it up once again. Awesome.

While I walked home, after kicking the third can that I saw lying around on the street, my pocket started ringing. I went to the side of the pavement to make sure that I wouldn't be in anyone's way and took out my phone. I didn't recognize the number but decided to pick it up anyway. I did so many job interviews the past month that it was probably one of them calling.

„Rachel Green. Who am I speaking with?", I picked up.

„Ms. Green. It's Monica Geller."

„Oh, did I forget something?", I asked, confused why she called me not even half an hour after my interview.

„No, I called to congratulate you. You got the job", she said. Even though I could only hear her, I'm quite sure that she was smiling while she said it.

„Really? That's fantastic! Thank you so much", I expressed my gratitude. I don't think I have ever been this happy. I thought I had screwed it up, but I must have done something right.

„Can you start tomorrow?", she asked.

„Tomorrow? Yes, of course", I felt my smile growing by the second. With each word that she said, I realized more and more that this wasn't a dream. It was really happening. I was going to do my dream job.


M

When I disconnected the line, I found myself still smiling. I had made the decision very quickly. A lot would say too quick, but it was just the only right one. There were only five women out of all the 23 people that showed up. I wasn't specifically looking for a woman to work with me, but during the interviews, it became more and more clear to me that I wouldn't be able to handle working with a man. They had often very different ideas about the job than me. There were also a few who wanted it because it was a good 'chick magnet'. Let's just say that these men weren't in my office for a long time.

The interviews with the women went a bit better already. None of the first four ones fully convinced me, however. There was always something that made me hesitant to hire them. With some, I couldn't put my finger on why exactly, but something held me back.

After the 22nd person, the 18th guy, I was seriously considering working solo instead of with a partner. But then Rachel came in. Already how she walked inside, in awe with a mix of nervousness written on her face, made me perk up a bit. When she started talking to me, it was natural. Granted, I was still interviewing her and she was probably dying from the nerves inside, but the conversation didn't feel forced. The way she talked to me didn't make me feel like I stood above her - or below in the case of many men - but made me feel like we were equals. Which, for me, is a very important factor when I work with a partner.

She was young and had barely any experience, but she had a unique look at the world. During our partnership, she will be able to learn a lot and I'm sure that I will learn some things from her too.

I didn't think my boss would be very happy with my rushed decision, but I've worked here for quite some time now and I knew that she would trust me.


R

My first few weeks were filled with getting up to date with the company and all the current assignments. Monica - she didn't like it when I called her Ms. Geller - made it as easy as possible for me to roll into it. Her current case, which was her last solo case, was almost finished. The next one would be our case. I sometimes found myself getting chills from giddiness when I thought about it. Nevertheless, I was very grateful that I got the chance to be a bit on the sidelines of the current case to be able to learn all the ropes before having to do it myself.

I also received a cardio and strength plan. Unsurprisingly, my tests showed that my endurance and muscle strength were below average. I could choose when I trained, but I needed to make sure I worked out at least two or three times a week. The fact that the company had a private fitness room helped me a lot to be consistent.

„Monica?", I called her from my desk. Technically, I was in her office and I had my own space which I shared with some other colleagues, but I worked so often at the tiny desk on the other end of her office that it felt like it was my office too.

„Yes?", she said, lifting her head a bit to indicate that she was listening, but never letting her eyes leave the documents spread in front of her.

„I'm done with writing the report."

„Okay, good, you're free to go", Monica said.

I stood up and gathered my notebook and - now empty - lunchbox and put them in my backpack. Just as I was about to open her door to leave the office, she stopped me.

„Don't forget, tomorrow we'll get the briefing of our mission. I know you've never been late yet, but tomorrow would be a really bad day to start", she said, her eyes now on me to make sure that I got how important this was.

„I will put an extra alarm to be sure that I'll wake up", I said and gained a smile - the kind that she wanted to suppress but it was stronger than her.

„Good. See you tomorrow, Rachel", she said, already looking down again.

When I left the building, the church bells from a few blocks down were announcing that it was seven in the evening. While I was walking towards the underground, I wondered how long Monica stayed at work. She was always there before me and left after me. If I hadn't known better, I would have sworn that she had a bed in her office where she slept.


I'm trying something new. I keep the characters and their personalities, but I give them a totally different story. Would you be interested to see this continued?