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‘I’d consider it,’ she tells him. ‘Though I suppose it depends on the job.’
‘Of course.’
‘Is there scope to work remotely?’ she asks as the thought occurs. ‘All or some of the time?’
‘A fair question.’ He reclines his head. ‘Not at this stage, but potentially further down the line, yes. But we’re looking to grow our Sydney office in the new year.’
‘You are?’
‘Yes. It’s not been publicly announced yet, but we’re hoping to set up a new team to create targeted courses for sustainable business practices.’ He takes a sip of his black tea, staring at her over the rim of his cup. ‘It would involve a lot of work, since we’ll be researching and designing the program from the ground up, and we find that process works best if people are in the office together. Better for brainstorming and team cohesion.’
‘Right. Makes sense.’
‘I predict the clients would be a broad scope of businesses, perhaps even not-for-profits and government agencies, as opposed to mostly publishing and media companies like it is now. Would you still be interested?’
She’s never looked beyond the publishing industry, but it doesn’t require much thinking to see how stepping outside of it will help counter the feeling of having stagnated professionally. ‘I’ve worked in mass media for … ever since I graduated uni, actually,’ she says. ‘A change sounds good.’
‘Wonderful.’ James smiles like he means it. ‘The hiring process starts next month. I’ll be on the interview panel, so you’ll know at least one face.’
‘And I should just keep checking the website?’
‘That’d be best. And you do have my email, so if you have any queries when the listing goes up, don’t hesitate to get in touch before submitting your application.’
‘Fantastic. Thank you. I will.’
‘No need to thank me. From what I saw yesterday, you’d be a wonderful asset to the company.’ James checks his watch. ‘I should head off, but if you want to catch up tomorrow to talk about the company, I’ll have a stand set up in the trade hall. Come find me and we can get a coffee.’
‘That would be brilliant. Thank you.’
James farewells her and heads off.
Jules grins, digging back into her breakfast with renewed appetite. She’s practically got a job interview lined up a day after drafting her resignation letter. That has to be a good sign. Hopefully it bodes well for her discussion with Cameron later today, as well.
She looks around the room to see if she can spot him, but he must still be preparing for his presentation. Her insides go all goopy. He’s so nerdy and dedicated.
Her phone starts ringing. She glances at the screen. It’s Samantha. Does she sense that Jules has been talking about leaving Infinity?
Stomach bubbling, she accepts the call. ‘Hi, Samantha.’
‘Jules! Hello! How did the presentation go yesterday?’
Jules relaxes slightly into the chair. No sixth sense, just a well-intended follow up. ‘It went well, I think. People seemed pretty engaged and I got some good questions at the end.’
‘That’s fantastic. I knew you’d do well up there. I didn’t pick you to cover my maternity leave without reason.’
‘Thanks. How are you going with everything?’ Jules asks, reaching for her orange juice.
‘I’m wearing a dress over jeans and the longest uninterrupted sleep I’ve had lately is three hours.’
‘Sounds … hectic.’
‘Oh yes, for sure. Hope you’re having a more relaxed time up there. Presentation over! That’s always the scary bit. Then it’s just soaking up knowledge and networking and seeing if any stalls are handing out freebies on trade-stall day.’
Jules laughs at the leading tone. ‘Are you angling for something in particular?’
‘Since you ask, a few years back there was an educational publisher from Perth, I think it was, that was handing out little bottle openers with book quotes engraved on them. I lost my old one.’
‘I’ll keep an eye out.’
