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I made it to the bottom of the post, finally, where contact information was listed. Unlike the other ads I’d seen, this one hadn’t hidden the contact number. An email would’ve sufficed, but the fear of the ad garnering many inquiries led me to go a step further.
“I’ll call.”
“Call?”
“Yes. My heart says so. I’ll submit a résumé, but, Jae, I’m calling.”
My resume was outdated with a two-year gap that wouldn’t be easy to explain. However, I hoped the creator of the ad understood my story once I shared it. HomeEdu required a résumé to sign up for the platform as a service provider. To apply for jobs, it was as simple as tapping the submit button to send them your resume.
After my submission, I located the contact information again. Jae grabbed the plate from my hand as I squinted to see the tiny numbers on the screen while copying them on my keypad. Hastily, I pressed the green button below the numbers to activate the call. My nerve endings split thirteen times as the first ring blared in my ear.
I brushed my hand against the bottom of the cami I wore, removing the excess moisture that had surfaced. The second ring sounded, giving me time to swallow the saliva pooling in the bottom of my mouth. And by the third ring, my fingers tap danced on my leg as my erratic breathing began to settle, knowing I wouldn’t wait for a fourth one before hanging up.
“Yeah?” The peculiar, yet hauntingly familiar baritone interrupted my train of thought.
“I, uh… I.”
Words and thoughts failed me. Stuttering, I tried conjuring an explanation for my call. It didn’t matter how hard I tried, nothing came of my blabbering. I squeezed my lids together, praying for instant mental progression before the man who was possibly responsible for giving me a job ended the call.
Silence penetrated the line, giving me time to recover and compose myself.Thank you, I whispered to myself, feeling as if it had saved me again.
Heavy, labored breathing assaulted the other end. Because I understood that ending the call wasn’t the intention of the person on the other line, I was able to recoup. The time constraint didn’t suck the words and thoughts right out of me.
“I’m listening,” he grunted.
“I’m Aeir Rothshire and I was on HomeEdu in search of a job. I stumbled across your listing and my interest was immediately piqued. I’m sure there are applicants submitting resumes at an alarming rate, which prompted me to give you a call and ask that you please consider reviewing my resume for this opportunity. I’m an educator and have been for the last eight years of my life. I’m in the process of relocating from Channing, which means this would be ideal for me and your daughter. She’ll have my undivided attention.”
There was more silence. This time, uncomfortable silence wasn’t able to seek refuge within. I began popping my knuckles with my thumb to relieve a bit of the tension I could feel thickening on the line.
“I never mentioned having a daughter on the ad,” he clarified, ending the call immediately.
I pulled the phone from my ear and stared at the blackened screen, baffled. Trying to figure out what had just happened left me with a throbbing headache almost instantly.
“What? What did she say?”
“He,” I corrected. “He, um… He said that he never mentioned having a daughter in the ad.”
“Well, did he?”
I unlocked Jae’s computer again and scrolled up and down the ad in search of details about the child that needed care and homeschooling.
“No,” I replied lowly.
I could hear my beating heart as I scraped my brain for an explanation.
“But, still, that’s not a big deal. If you got the gender wrong, then oh well. It doesn’t mean you’re incapable of doing the job,” Jae fussed.
“That’s the thing,” I explained. “I don’t think I got it wrong, Jae.”
Just as she began again, my cell rang. Both our heads snapped in its direction, eyes falling to examine the screen. The number I’d just dialed was calling back.
“It’s him.”
“Answer it. Maybe his phone died.”
“He hung up. I’m certain.”
“So, answer it and ask why.”
