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“Ow. That’s my leg. No one.”
“Sorry leg. I want to ride now.”
Audrey put a hand to Mia’s head. “We’re going to see Reece.” She looked at Les. Smart, funny, loyal, a wonderful colleague, and a great friend, but so beaten by the dating game, so tired of being compared to girls with fashionable figures and symmetrical faces, she’d given up and was resigned to being alone as a better option than the constant humiliation of not being chosen. She was right, Faux Mo wouldn’t notice her. But as far as Audrey was concerned, it was Les who was out of his league.
Les took hold of the handles of Mia’s scooter. “Who do you want as new Cameron?”
Audrey watched Reece listening to his girlfriend. There was lots of wild gesticulation on her part while he played sponge, soaking it all up. “Mia’s a little young to make that decision, don’t you think?”
Mia looked from Les to Audrey. “I’n a big girl.”
“All right big girl, who do you want?” said Les.
“Reece.”
“That was definite, Aud, and it gets around your hiring bias.”
“My hiring bias? You mean I naturally want to h
ire someone most like me.” Or in this case anyone who wasn’t Reece. And if that was true they should go now, she could text him an excuse. It’s not like he’d be left hanging around on his own.
“Yep. We can’t help it. It’s one of those things. We want to hire people we’re most comfortable with, so it’s no surprise those people are the most like us. Which is why you’re the only female project leader and all the others are men not dissimilar to Chris. He hired in his own image.”
And there was that. Not to consider Reece as a serious candidate was playing to the subtle system that stopped more women becoming scientists, engineers, and computer programmers, CEOs and board members. But to hire him wasn’t without complications.
“All the more reason I should hire a woman. Too many jobs for the boys.”
“I thought you were above that. What happened to the best candidate wins?”
That was a fiction and every woman who’d ever chased a dream job, or compared her salary to a male colleague’s knew it. “Mia, what about Jessie? She made you a cupcake with sprinkles.”
Headshake. “No.”
Maybe Reece, with his eleven interviews, knew it too. “I’m so conflicted. Mia, what about Lee or Bethany? Bethany was nice.”
“No,” Mia said agreeably.
“Lee could be new Cameron.”
“No.”
Audrey sighed. “Reece is the most qualified candidate. Big girl here thought he was all The Wiggles rolled in one and I like him, but I never envisaged hiring a male nanny. Having Cameron see me in a dressing gown is one thing but—”
“This does call for a new dressing gown.” Less shimmered her shoulders. “Something with slink.”
“And that’s one of the reasons I’m conflicted. That I’m thinking about new sleepwear. But then, hot girlfriend, so what does it matter if he sees me in tea-stained terry towelling?”
“I want to ride now.”
Les took her hands off Mia’s scooter. “Really terry towelling?”
“Fleece, but most of my sleepwear has unfortunate stains. It’s not like anyone but Mia sees them.”
“And that’s too much information even for me. Aud, if it bothers you to hire Reece, don’t. No point torturing yourself over it.”
True. If only Mia hadn’t taken so easily to Reece and the idea of a male presence in her life more constant than Joe didn’t appeal. If the idea of giving talent and qualifications over gender their due wasn’t important to her.
“Let’s go, then. Get this over with.” Maybe Mia would react differently this time and decide things for them. Audrey had never hoped for an unreasonable toddler tantrum before but now was the time for Mia to go crazy.
