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“Don’t feel bad. You’re helping prove my theories on what circumstances make meeting people so ineffective.”
Ah, so I’d been a lab rat. I guess for them it made for a more efficient use of their time—mixing interviews with research.
“Who did you meet out there?” Brenda asked. “Be specific. Do you remember any names or things about them?”
I told them about Prinna and Blake and what I sensed about the two of them, and then moved on to the other people I’d met, noticing Mariana was typing up every word I said. Interesting. This wasn’t just about testing my memory for names and faces. They were going to use the inside information when they interviewed the others. It was an effective, if a little bit creepy, way to weed through applicants and gauge my honesty and tact at the same time. Would our answers match up? Whose name would come up again and again? It was all morbidly fascinating.
And then there was the Sadie problem. Being my arch-nemesis, I figured it was better not to mention her at all. But that turned her into a road-block I had to detour around in my thoughts and answers. I couldn’t allow myself to speculate on how she’d do in here or if she’d mention me, not if I wanted to focus.
After giving me what pretty much equated to a verbal personality test, they moved me on to another room where I met with H.R. and the normal part of the job interview began. They went over my resume and skill sets with me and talked about the particular job openings they had and what was required for each position. Billing was sort of the obvious choice for me, but I wanted to work with people and be creative.
I had some big ideas for ways GoWithFriends could grow, but I wasn’t about to share those without more than a foot in the door. No, I’d need to be all the way in. The way I saw it, having a supportive group with you wasn’t just for online dating. It could be for all the awkward moments in your life where you felt the most out of place and alone. Like going to the gym for the first time. Starting a new career field. Heading off to college. Vacations where going alone would be lonely or dangerous. I was ready to blow the roof off this place. Well, if they hired me.
Chapter 5 – Sadie
Inviting Makayla to movie night was the right move, at least where my taste buds were concerned. She came bearing three types of seasoned popcorn, a pretzel mix with chocolate candies, and most impressive of all—homemade pizza rollups.
She’d also researched what treats parrots could eat and brought Nitro bell pepper slices. I made sure to hide all the good stuff before we got him out and played with him because he was a terrible beggar for anything he shouldn’t be eating. Then we all washed our hands, and Jenny and I helped Makayla set out her spread on the coffee table in front of the couch.
“What are we watching?” Makayla asked. She’d dressed up for this lounging occasion with a white crop top and matching white bedazzled jogger pants.
Jenny and I glanced at one another. We were still debating between an old school classic likeEver After,which was Jenny’s pick, orThor: Ragnorok, my pick. It was only fair to let Makayla be the tie-breaker, although I knew what she was going to say before she opened her mouth and gushed aboutEver Afterthe second Jenny mentioned it.
“There’s alsoThor: Ragnorok,” Jenny added, diplomatically.
Makayla shook her head. “Nah, I’ve seen it too many times. It’s Denver’s favorite movie.”
I ignored Jenny’s smug look. She loved it when she found anything Denver and I might have in common. Oh, look! The two of you both have black shirts on today.Andyou both drive cars. Eat breakfast. Say crayon the same way. (Everyone should say it with one syllable). But that did NOT make us kindred spirits.
The nice thing about a Cinderella retelling was there were zero surprises in store. I didn’t get sucked into it like the other two, leaving me free to work on filling out my eighteen-billion-page profile for GoWithFriendson my iPadwhile we watched. Carmen had warned me the application was extensive, and she had not exaggerated.
While the GoWithFriends management team made it clear using their services wouldn’t be an option if I was hired, seeing everything through the eyes of a customer would definitely help me understand the positions I was gunning for. I was not interested in being a secret BFF or working with people at all, no matter what Jenny said about me being her perfect sounding board. No, I’d much rather be coordinating things behind the scenes.
Call me a data nerd, but I liked numbers and order and outcome analysis. It didn’t get any better than turning compatibility into a science. Take, for example, our scenario tonight which matched up with question 110 a, b, and c.
Decisiveness? Is it a virtue for you?
Do you like to pick which show to watch at home with friends?
Which restaurant?
Which movie to go see?
The answer choices ranged from –My pick or I don’t go,all the way down to,I don’t care, and I’d rather let someone else decide if they have a strong opinion.
Some questions had to be weighted more than others, right? And how did they match people up? Non-pickers with a must-pick-every-time? Wouldn’t that lead to an unequal relationship? What did they do with people who were not compatible with anyone?
They were very tight-lipped about the workings of their matching algorithm, for obvious reasons.
I looked up to see Drew Barrymore in her glowy white makeup, grabbed a handful of the parmesan-ranch popcorn Makayla had made, and went back to answering questions and taking notes.
“Sadie, is that the GoWithFriends application?” Jenny asked, leaning over to look at what I was working on.
“Wait, did you get hired?” Makayla leaned over to see my iPad screen too, movie suddenly forgotten. “Denver hasn’t heard back yet.”
I picked up the remote from off the couch and paused the TV. “No, I haven’t been hired. Yes, I’m looking at GoWithFriends stuff.”
Jenny eyed me carefully. She knew how I felt about the possibility of working at the same company as Denver, but I had decided not to cross that bridge until I had to. Chances were good we’d be in such different departments we’d never see each other anyway.
