Monday, May 21
Ha ha, very funny." The receptionist frowned and continued to listen to the phone. "That can't be right!" She looked up briefly at Kay, flattened her mouth, and rolled her eyes. "Are you trying to get this girl in trouble on her first day of work?"
Kay leaned closer. Great. There was a problem with her job and she hadn't even started work yet. Did she make a mistake on her paperwork? Was this the wrong building, wrong time, wrong day? Get a grip. She stood straight and closed her eyes-no need to worry. Whatever the trouble was, everything would get sorted out.
Kay looked around and let her earlier excitement return. I'm actually here now. The lobby of the Yorick Corporation took her breath away. Old-fashioned but beautifully built, the space harkened back to a time when people still cared about marble floors, finely detailed woodwork, ornate columns, and high ceilings with tall windows. It exuded a wonderful sensation of busyness: people rushing about, the smell of morning coffee, the sounds of muffled conversations, clattering high heels, attaché case latches, and elevator dings. It called to her with great promise.
The receptionist was still trying to make things right. "That's impossible and you know it." Yeah, you tell them. Her ardor was reassuring. At least Kay had an advocate here at Yorick-someone who seemed to care. She would take all the help she could get.
Today was a very important day and Kay had looked forward to it for a long time. After all these years of school, today was the day when she would finally start work. Kay didn't hate school-in fact, she loved classes and always excelled at them. Rather, she was excited because all of her hard work had finally paid off. She had a great job with good pay at a solid company. And the best part was that the work was in her favorite area of business: deal making. Kay was going to be a junior executive in the negotiations group. At least, she hoped so.
The receptionist listened to the phone with her mouth scrunched tight. "You're going to get me in trouble, too." She looked up at Kay with a guilty smile, then turned back to the phone and lashed out. "Cut the crap, Melissa!" This was not going well. Maybe she wouldn't start work today.
A man standing nearby turned to look. He focused on the receptionist, probably using her outburst as an excuse to glance their way, then quickly turned his eyes to Kay and left them there. Uh huh. Kay was used to this-it happened all the time. She was both blessed and cursed with good looks, rendering men helpless when they saw her. Kay forgave him for being just another smitten man, caught in the web of her long blonde hair, green eyes, and bowtie lips. Her father always told her she had a face that could launch a thousand ships-one of them was sailing right now. She ignored him and let him stare.