Chapter Two
Suzy stepped off the elevator at the fourteenth floor of Danvers International. This floor was primarily the hub of the advertising department for Danvers. Handling all the special events required her to work closely with them so having her office on the same floor was beneficial and saved her considerable time running between floors. It would be nice to be closer to her friend Claire, but she was just an elevator ride away.
Suzy cringed as she saw the new receptionist up ahead waving frantically at her. Ella was someone she tried to avoid as much as possible. She couldn’t possibly be more than thirty years old but had hair like a seventy-year-old church lady. Ok, not that there was anything wrong with that, but come on, this girl was never going to catch a man with that big old teased-up mullet hair style. If she could stand one second of extra time in her company, Suzy would insist on giving her a makeover.
“Ms. Denton, Ms. Denton, I didn’t think you’d ever come back.” Looking down at her watch in disapproval, Ella shook her head and stared at her as if waiting for an apology for being longer than an hour.
Just managing to keep from snapping at her, Suzy asked, “Was there something you needed Ella?”
“Yes, I have a letter for you from Brittany.” Dropping her voice to almost a whisper, Ella handed her an envelope and said, “I don’t think you’re going to like this at all.”
Never one for patience Suzy ripped the envelope open with Ella practically hanging over her shoulder and read the short paragraph inside. Feeling smoke literally steam from her ears, Suzy yelled “Fu….” Seeing Ella’s eyes widen in alarm Suzy quickly made a substitution, “truck!” Truck, really? Where was the satisfaction in that particular word? Even Ella looked confused fully expecting the mother of all curse words.
“Ms. Denton, what is it? I saw Brittany take all her stuff with her, even her stapler.” Ella’s face reflected horror as if she’d just admitted that Brittany had stopped in the lobby and smoked a joint on her way out. “I knew she was up to something.”
“Ella, it’s nothing to concern yourself with. I’ll handle it.” Seeing Ella forming a protest, Suzy gathered herself and walked towards her corner office at the end of the hallway. Slamming the door behind her, Suzy let the curse words flow. Brittany left her letter of resignation. She was going to elope with her boyfriend and would not be coming back. No notice, no nothing. She should have known better than to hire someone that popped bubble gum constantly and said, ‘like you know’ at least fifty times a day.
Under normal circumstances, replacing Brittany wouldn’t be a hardship; she’d been fed up with her for some time. Since getting involved with her boyfriend who played in a band, she’d gotten more and more unreliable. She was late almost every morning and had been calling in sick at least once a month.
The problem here was that the timing sucked. They were in the middle of putting together a big gala for their customers. Danvers threw the formal event annually, and Suzy spent at least two months on the preparations and planning. Now with only a month left before the gala, her assistant decides to quit without notice. Finding someone that she could work with, who understood her vague instructions and wasn’t offended by her artistic temperament would be a challenge. Add in the fact that she needed them immediately and things got close to impossible.
Taking a deep breath, Suzy called the personnel department to see if they had anyone they could send up right away. Yeah that’s about as likely to happen as Ella getting laid, but hell stranger things have happened. “Personnel, this is Ruth.”
“Hey Ruth, it’s Suzy in Events. My assistant has decided to fly the coop today, and I needed someone like yesterday to replace her. What can you do for me?”
“Hi Suzy, I’m sorry to hear about that. Let me see if we have anyone available.” Thumbing her fingers against her desk impatiently, Suzy waited to see what Ruth would find. “Oh, you’re in luck. We have someone who has already applied for the position, and it looks like she’s qualified.”
“Wait, how could someone have already applied for the job? I just found out myself ten minutes ago.”
“This young lady does work in your section so maybe Brittany let her know she was leaving. You’re familiar with Ella Webber aren’t you?”
“Oh hell, I um mean heck no! No way. That wouldn’t work, and I can’t believe she’d even apply. We would never get anything done, she’d spend her entire day crossing herself and reading me scripture.”
Suzy heard Ruth’s chuckle before she managed to cover it. “I’m sorry Suzy, but I have no one else right now. With the expansion the merger created, we are still short staffed. If you don’t feel that Ella would make a good permanent replacement, then I suggest you use her temporarily until we can have the employment agency send over some others to interview.”
“See what you can put together and I’ll get back to you,” Suzy said. Slamming the phone down in disgust, she laid her head on her desk. Just as she was considering throwing herself from her fourteenth floor window, her cell phone rang. Suzy answered the call with a warm “Yeah, what now?”
“Wow, please stop, all of this sentiment is making me uncomfortable,” Beth replied dryly. Beth was her younger sister by two years and was, up until recently, an elementary school teacher. Thanks to the constant cuts in the education budget, Beth had been laid off a month ago. Other than Claire, Beth was the only other person who truly seemed to get her, and Suzy loved her dearly.
“Ha ha, very funny. It’s been a rough day. My ditzy assistant decided to walk out without any notice while I was at lunch, and now I’m screwed. The big gala is a month away, and I have no possibilities for replacing her other than the Holy Roller receptionist, and that will never happen.”
“Ah, I’m sorry sis, is there anything I can do to help?” Suddenly, it was as if a light bulb flashed in her head.
“Hey, there just may be. Has anything turned up on the job hunt yet?”
“Ugh, no, nothing.”
“How would you feel about being my assistant at least until after the gala is over? I know you’re a teacher and that’s what you love, but you’d be saving my life if you could help me just for a while.”
“Wow, I don’t know anything about what you’re doing, so I might hinder you more than I’d help you.”