But she changed jobs because, as she said, she worked for small companies and needed to gain experience more than not knowing what she wanted to do.
If she told herself that enough, she might believe it.
Part of the whole, “find yourself and honing those skills to be a bigger, better, more confident you.”
“I’m not sure this is a good idea,” Nora said when she was in the woman’s office. She’d seen the door they’d passed, which had Ethan’s name on it. Also caught this woman’s name was Blair.
No, not a good idea, but she couldn’t very well say why.
“I’m so sorry. I’m Blair Cummings.” They shook hands. “Do you have another job?”
“I had an interview before I came here. That’s why I’m dressed like this. I’ve had a few others too.”
“And have heard nothing from them back?” Blair asked. “Not to embarrass you at all, but it’s a tough market right now. For every open position there are hundreds of resumes. It’s more about who you know, not really what you know.”
She was learning that. “I thought it’d be different in a big town.”
“It’s almost worse. Everyone wants to work here, so we are selective with our searches and criteria. Confidentiality and professionalism are top of the list.”
“I’m aware,” she said. Her father rarely talked details of his job, but he had boasted those things in the past.
“Which is a plus,” Blair said. “So many don’t understand how the corporate world works. Not at the level of this position. I wasoriginally looking for someone with more years’ experience than you might have for that reason, but that runs into other areas they could be lacking. Areas you’ve touched on.”
“You only know what I just said in the hall,” she said. “My time in those positions could be limited.”
“They could be and because you just volunteered that says a lot more than what could be on a piece of paper. Could you pull your resume up on your phone?”
“Yes,” she said.
“One plus right there. I’m sorry if I’m strong-arming you, but would you send it to me?” Blair pulled a business card off her desk and walked it over to where they’d been sitting at a table.
She should have argued, but found herself submitting it just the same.
Maybe she’d earn some respect from her father to even get this far in a job search. It could turn into something else other than working for Ethan.
She’d never be working for her father or with him; no one would do that and neither of them would allow it.
Blair picked up her laptop and brought it over, then sat down and glanced at the information in front of her.
The way Blair was grinning filled her with some pride.
“Everything okay?”
“This is perfect. Wonderful. The best I’ve seen to meet just a fraction of what I was hoping for. It’s ticking off a lot of boxes,” Blair said. “First, are you interested in this position?”
Now someone was asking her.
“Yes, she is,” Ethan said. She turned her head to see him standing in the doorway. “Because if Blair is this excited, then there is no way I can take no for an answer.”
Her father was standing next to Ethan, his chest puffed out some, and the little girl who always wanted that acceptance found herself saying, “It doesn’t hurt to interview.”
4
GO WITH HIS GUT
This was better than Christmas morning.
Not only was there the possibility of filling the massive shoes of Blair, but the woman he’d been dreaming about for weeks just landed in his lap.
