[5 Personal Assistant]

Ever since that first meeting with Mrs. Wilson, she kept visiting my apartment either for a short conversation or sharing her homemade cakes and pastries. She didn’t want her masterpiece to go wasted since Joel didn’t allow her to sell them. According to his opinion, once people tasted a single bite of her work, they would want more. As a result, she would be kept busy in the kitchen and very likely get too exhausted due to her age. I’d say I agreed with Joel no matter how strong Mrs. Wilson claimed herself to be.

One morning after returning from a convenience store nearby, I saw these two people arguing about something in front of their apartment. All those wrinkles on her face got even more wrinkled while listening to what he was saying. As I didn’t want to be involved in their business, I tried to reach my apartment unnoticed by sneaking. I was about to grab the door handle but the bottle of juice I bought slipped out of my hand, making them turn to me.

“Ah, right on time. Let’s ask Bianca,” said Mrs. Wilson who then walked towards me.

“Nana, we don’t need to--”

“Bianca, I’m sorry for taking your time. It’s just a minute,” she said.

Really, I couldn’t say no. I stood there, waiting for what she was about to say.

Mrs. Wilson grabbed my arm. “Please, Bianca. Tell him that having no job while you actually have the skills and qualities could be very frustrating,” asked her.

“Uh,” I was completely lost in what I had to say.

“Tell him that you were a straight-A student and have great experiences as a secretary for years but now you only stay at home.” Goodness. She heard this story of mine just yesterday morning from Jeanette and now she exposed it to Joel.

I ran my fingers through my hair. “Whoa, let me clarify it since it sounds like I decided to stay at home. I am actually waiting for answers from the companies I applied to,” I explained so as to avoid misunderstanding. My reputation was at stake here.

“Hold a sec. Did you apply for a secretary position in those companies?” Joel changed the subject to my issue instead of whatever their argument was about.

I nodded briefly.

“The company where I work has just announced a position as a personal assistant to the CEO,” this wonderful news he revealed to me got my hopes up. “Well, it’s not exactly a secretary position but I believe they have similar job descriptions.”

“No problem. How could I apply?” I asked him eagerly.

Joel took his phone out of his jeans pocket. “Please type your number here and I’ll send you the email address and all the required documents,” he handed me his phone.

I typed my number and saved it in his contact then gave his phone back to him.

“Bianca Johnson,” he read my name. “Alright. I’ll forward the complete information to you as soon as possible.”

Mrs. Wilson cleared her throat as if reminding me and Joel that she was still there. “We’re not finished yet,” she said.

“Nan, we might need to finish this problem without involving Bianca,” Joel took her by the hand but she refused to leave.

I couldn’t help but ask what was the matter. Then I found out that Mrs. Wilson seemed to still insist on selling her cakes and pastries. “I actually saw a poster back at the convenience store. It’s an ad about an elderly foster care needing a hand in their kitchen,” I told them. “It is said that they would reward with some amount of money. I just can’t remember how much. And as far as I can remember, it’s a five-day part-time job. Anyone can choose their shifts.”

“That’s quite a lot of information you gave. Did you intentionally pay attention to it?” Joel chuckled in response.

I shrugged and hesitantly replied, “I just remembered Mrs. Wilson right after I saw that ad, so I spent some time reading it.”

“Wow. That sounds good. Thank you, Bianca,” Mrs. Wilson commented. She then looked up at Joel. “Please don’t hold me back from doing good to others. Besides, it won’t exhaust me. And if I ever feel tired, I can stay there with some fellow elderly, right?”

Joel didn’t respond right away. I could see that he was in-between options; not letting Mrs. Wilson work for the foster care and thus upset her or letting her do it but afraid of the risks that might happen.

“Please?” she was begging like a little girl. Maybe it was true that people tended to be like a kid again when they reached old ages.

“Alright, alright,” said Joel to which she responded ‘yes’ in excitement. “But you have to promise me, Nan, that you won’t force yourself.”

“I promise,” she replied without hesitation.

“Can I really keep your word?”

“Yes, my dear grandson,” she put the widest smile I’d ever seen before. She looked completely happy.

Joel also smiled looking at her grandma this lively. He wrapped his left hand around her shoulder and gave a little squeeze.

“Well, I think I’m no longer needed here so I’d better go inside. So please excuse me,” I intervened in their happy moment and they thanked me. Before Mrs. Wilson changed her mind -- she could invite me to come over or maybe invite herself to my apartment -- I entered the door and waved goodbye to them.

I put the juice bottle that had some scratches on its side due to falling on the table. Then I opened the fridge to see what I could make for lunch. There were some choices but I felt like making something simple.

Ding! I went over the table to see my phone and who just texted me. It was an unknown number.

‘Hey, Bianca. It’s Joel. Attached is a PDF containing some information about the requirements. If you have any questions, feel free to ask.’

My mind was diverted right away from making lunch because of this. I opened the PDF right away and read whatever was written there. All the documents required were ready to be sent to their email address. I only needed to revise the subject and some parts of the application letter before sending it. Well, it was just because I had sent a lot of applications earlier this month.

My phone rang not long after I finished with the email. It was the same number which was Joel’s. I hadn’t saved his number in my contact list.

“Hey, Bianca,” he greeted right after I answered the call.

“Oh, hey.”

“What if you go with me to my office before lunch? I think the CEO is free and I can introduce you to him. Will you be available?” he didn’t beat around the bush and I liked it.

“Absolutely. If I weren’t, I wouldn’t be staying at the apartment at this time,” I replied.

Joel chuckled. “Right. So will you be ready at ten-thirty?” asked him.

“Yeah! I can even be ready in fifteen minutes,” I didn’t care if he caught my excitement because that’s what I was feeling.

“Oh! That’s cool. I’m also ready to go. I’ll see you at the parking lot in fifteen minutes then.”

“Sure. Thanks.”

“No problem,” he replied and the call ended.

Getting a job was the first priority for me at that moment. Therefore, it was okay to forget about lunch for this amazing opportunity. I went to my room and got changed with the simplest dress yet showing me as a professional secretary. I didn’t do much to my hair and then put on some simple makeup.

As I had said about the appointment time, I showed up at the parking lot on time. There I saw Joel was standing near his black Camry and calling someone.

He mimed, “Please wait a minute,” while continuing his phone call.

I nodded and just stood a meter away from him. I couldn’t help but overhear what he was talking about with somebody across the line. He seemed to be talking about me as a potential applicant for the secretary position.

“Alright. Let’s get in the car. The CEO will only stay until lunch,” he opened the passenger door for me as he was standing in front of it.

“Thanks,” I said as I got in the car. It smelled nice, just like fresh woods.

He got in the car too and started the engine. “You’ve sent the required documents, right? The human resource staff just told me,” he informed me. “Oh, I’m sorry. This buckle is a bit hard. Let me help you.” He noticed I was having a difficulty to buckle my seatbelt.

“Oh, okay.”

“Excuse me,” he grabbed the seatbelt and tried to buckle it. It seemed easy when he did it, or it might be because he already knew how to handle this. “It’s done.”

My focus was on the buckle so when Joel raised his head, I found my face was too close to his. Spontaneously, I pulled my head back to avoid him and yet resulted in hitting my head against the window. I rubbed my head where it stung a little.

“You’re okay?” he asked.

“Uh-huh,” I put my hand down when it didn’t feel hurt anymore. “Let’s just go.”

Joel let out a chuckle. “Okay. I think you’re fine,” he said then drove the car, leaving the parking lot.

The way Joel drove was really nice as if all his life had been on the road. Every turn and stop was smooth. That’s what I felt thankful for because otherwise, I would feel nauseous and ruin the day.

We arrived at some complex where a two-story building with a ‘Pittsburgh Record’ board stood. There were two other cars parked near Joel’s. We got off and he led me to enter the building.

“Hey, bro. A new artist?” a black guy taller than Joel greeted as he saw us coming.

“Oh, no she’s not,” answered Joel.

“Ah,” the guy’s eyes widened. “Finally! I’m so glad for you.” He grabbed Joel’s hand and gave him a one-armed hug.

“She’s actually--”

“What’s her name?” he cut off Joel’s words and looked at me with a big smile. “You’re beautiful. No wonder Joel fell for you.”

I sighed audibly. “I’m sorry, but you should’ve listened to what he’s going to say before commenting,” in a split second, I regretted a bit of how I responded. I forgot to control my mouth. “Sorry. I didn’t mean--”

The guy laughed. “Wow. That’s sharp. But I like it,” surprisingly, he wasn’t angry at my response. “So, who are you?”

I turned to Joel and let him do the talk.

“She’s Bianca, the potential candidate of the new personal assistant to Liam,” Joel finally got the chance to give the right answer.

“Hm,” I confirmed with a nod.

“Well then, Bianca, good luck,” the guy almost rested his hand on my shoulder but I dodged automatically. He was taken aback by how I reacted then looked at Joel as if asking for an explanation.

I couldn’t say a thing. It naturally happened and I didn’t have the control of my body. It always tried to avoid any touch by the opposite sex ever since that damned particular day. “Um, thanks,” I managed to say something just to break the ice.

“Uh, I’ll see you again, Max. I should not keep Liam waiting. You know how he is,” Joel supported me so as to not let the vibe get more awkward. “Let’s go, Bianca.”

I followed Joel to where he went with a guilty feeling. I did hope that he wouldn’t feel offended by my reaction. After all, he might be my coworker.

At the end of the building on the first floor, there was a room with a label ‘CEO’. Joel knocked on the door and entered it. He gestured to me that I followed before closing the door again.

“Liam,” said Joel and a tall, blonde-haired man turned to us.

“Oh well, you’re here,” Liam looked at me and came closer. “So you’re Bianca. Nice to meet you.” He extended his hand to me.

I looked at his hand for a while and hesitatingly extended my hand too. “Nice to meet you too,” I looked up at him and smiled a bit. I pulled my best effort to not give the wrong impression for the first time to my future boss.

“Your hand is cold,” he commented on something that was out of expectation. “Are you okay?”

I nodded. “Can I have my hand back?” I pointed at my hand that he hadn’t let go of with my eye movement.

Liam laughed gleefully and let go of my hand. “You’re an interesting girl,” he complimented.”I can already sense that you’re going to be a great personal assistant to me. Thanks for bringing her here, Joel. My days might be more fun with her here.”

To be honest, I didn’t like the way he said it. However, I didn’t want to lose any chance at the moment only because of my premature assumption about Liam.

“I’ve read your resume and I liked what I saw,” he continued. “Oh, anyway, have a seat. I’m sorry for making you stand.”

Joel pulled a chair for me to sit and was about to sit next to me, but Liam requested a private conversation with me. Without anything else to say, he left.

“So, you were from New York?” Liam asked rhetorically. He surely knew about it because he was looking at my printed resume on his desk.

I nodded. “Yes.”

“What was the reason you moved here? The last company you worked for was a good one. So I suppose it wasn’t because of the pay, was it?” This question was the one I couldn’t really answer and didn’t expect to be given this fast.

I was unprepared to answer. “Well, it’s uh, a matter of security,” I didn’t know how my mouth made this answer.

“What kind of security? It can’t be financial, can it? Is it about something personal?” he apparently demanded more information.

I gulped and sighed silently before saying, “Yes, it is something personal, so I can’t really tell you what it is. But I promise to always be professional and not get carried away by any personal problems.”

He smiled. “Alright. That’s all it takes to be my personal assistant. Congratulations, you got the job,” he declared and extended his hand to me.

As excitement dominated my mind, I didn’t wait long and shook his hand. “Thank you, uh, Mr. Campbell,” I mentioned his last name I had seen on the desk nameplates.

“Just Liam,” he said and then handed me a small white USB drive. “There you can find all your job descriptions and other documents you have to familiarize with. I hope you are ready by tomorrow because I need your assistance to meet a new artist,” his statement almost got me to jump in enthusiasm.

“Yes, I will study everything here and prepare myself,” I convinced him.

“Now let’s go out, I’ll introduce you to everyone in the office,” he got up from his chair and I did the same thing, then he led me out of the room.