Chapter Eleven
Eleven
Today was the day. I was going to start my training with Natalie on the executive floor. I didn’t need to stop off at my old desk since I never stored anything personal there. My laptop was in my bag, so I rode the elevator up to floor seventeen with a smile on my face.
Natalie was already there, clearing the desk directly in front of Mr. Stevenson’s office. The glass walls were opaque, so I couldn’t tell if he was in or not.
“Happy Monday!” She beamed at me. “I hope you’re ready to get started. Mr. Stevenson is already here.” That answered that.
“Is he usually this early?”
“Sometimes. It depends on his schedule for the day. Today he had a haircut, so he was here early in the morning. He gets his hair trimmed once a month and has to have the first appointment of the day with Tiffany at Poise—actually, why don’t you set your stuff down and grab a notepad.”
I’d brought my company backpack today, and I hung it on the back of the desk chair.
“The best way to learn is to just get immersed in the job. I’m going to show you things as we go, but it will be you who is going to do everything, cool?”
“Yeah, totally.”
“Great, first things first, we have a brief morning meeting with coffee. Mr. Stevenson brings his own thermos full of his specialty blend and has a professional setup at home, so you never have to worry about that. He has his own fridge, and you will have to stock it. Go ahead and set up your laptop.”
I took my laptop out of my backpack and plopped it onto the docking station.
“Go to our server. I had IT give you access to my folder.” She pointed to the little yellow folder icon with the label “GE.”
“It stands for general executive. I’m the only executive assistant for our C-suite, so it’s just you and me who go in that folder. In there is a subfolder labeled ‘Admin’ with instruction lists about anything you could possibly need: vendor information, Mr. Stevenson’s company credit card and personal cards, et cetera. This folder will be your bible.”
“You really thought of everything,” I said in awe. I loved organization, but this was another level.
“I didn’t come up with this system. I’ve added to it and made my own adjustments and improvements, but this is from decades of assistants who have worked with Mr. Stevenson over the years. He is a very particular man.”
“Should that worry me?”
“No. I don’t mind it, at least—it’s a job, right? We get paid to be here and be of service. I’ve worked for a couple CEOs in the past, and Mr. Stevenson is by far the most straightforward. You don’t have to guess what he means or feels, because he is very direct. He’s getting older, so he might say some things that are questionable, but in my experience, he doesn’t have any malice. He’s just from that generation.”
I remembered Danuwoa’s racist experience over the weekend, and I didn’t care what generation a person was from—if Mr. Stevenson said fucked-up shit, I didn’t know that I would be able to stay. Couldn’t people just be normal and kind?
“It looks like I scared you. I promise this job is fine and has perks for some of the not-so-glamorous stuff,” Natalie assured me.
“I just want to do a good job.”
“I know you will because you care. You remind me of myself a bit.”
“I’m not pregnant,” I teased.
“Gosh, no, and be glad you aren’t. I’ve developed a hemorrhoid, and it sucks.”
“Is another unpleasant side effect of pregnancy TMI?”
“You lose all sense of modesty.”
We giggled and then heard a curt “Natalie” come from Mr. Stevenson’s office.
Natalie stopped laughing, straightened her posture, and motioned for me to follow her into his office. I had a sense of déjà vu as we all three sat in the same positions as last Friday. All that was missing was Danuwoa.
“Welcome, Ember, I look forward to getting to know you. Has Natalie brought you up to speed on our company off-site meeting?”
“It’s barely eight thirty-five in the morning, I was getting to it.” Natalie rolled her eyes. She must have a really familiar relationship with this man, because I would never blatantly roll my eyes in front of my boss.
“I hope you enjoy California, Ember.” He leaned back in his swivel chair and laced his hands over his middle.
“California?” I asked.
“We host quarterly meetings off-site for directors and above from all our locations. We discuss our revenue targets and improvements to the product,” Natalie explained. I couldn’t help but wonder what our product even was. She continued, “We have dinners, guest speakers, team-building exercises, and some free time to enjoy where we are before flying back. It’s usually a three-night stay at a five-star hotel or resort.”
That sounded fancy as hell.
“It’s all planned, except we will have to update the room list and reservations to add you to everything. It won’t be a problem.”
“I give the keynote address, and then we have someone fun give an inspirational talk or a comedian to entertain us. Tell her the theme, Natalie,” Mr. Stevenson said, winking.
“Spiritual awakening.” Natalie gave a tight smile.
There was an awkward pause. They wanted me to say something. Mr. Stevenson leaned in.
“Oh, how interesting,” I said. It sounded like some new age shit.
“Anyway.” Natalie changed the subject. “Dan has your last PowerPoint, so I’ll show Ember how to get that ready and introduce her to your head pilot.”
“What’s on my schedule for today?” he asked.
Natalie folded over her skinny laptop, and it transformed into a tablet. With her finger, she scrolled and said, “You have a call at nine with Gary.” She shot me a look. I guess that was supposed to explain my new position. “The company newsletter goes live at nine thirty, you have lunch with your wife at the club, and this afternoon you have golf with your investment partners.”
“Busy day. Well, Ember, you’re in great hands. I’ll call you if I need anything.”
We were dismissed. Back at the desk we now shared, I turned to Natalie. “Is he out of the office most days?”
“In the summer, he’s usually out doing things. I finished all the prep work for the off-site, so we have some downtime, and I can really train you in detail. When he is out of the office, it’s easier to wrap up all the projects. I won’t lie to you—when it’s busy, you will have to work long nights. It’s not every night though, you just need to practice your time management.”
“That’s doable.”
“Let’s call our contact at the hotel, and I’ll e-introduce you to all the important contacts.”
“E-introduce me?”
“Yeah, through email.”
“Oh…so, where in California are we going?”
“Y’all are going to Santa Barbara. There’s a small airport Mr. Stevenson flies into and has a friend with a hangar park his plane for the stay. We usually go there once a year. When Mr. Stevenson and his family travel abroad, they fly commercial. Getting an international license for his jet is expensive. There is a ‘Travel’ subfolder with everything you should need, but he has no vacation on his master calendar coming up while I’m away.”
I was at ease. I mean, I had no idea what I was doing, but Natalie’s confidence rubbed off on me. She had instructions and tutorials for everything. This was such a happy accident and the best thing to ever happen to me. All I had ever wanted was to be an accountant, but that was before I knew a job like this even existed.
My phone started buzzing in my backpack. I took it out. Auntie popped up on my screen. I silenced the phone and let it go to voicemail.
“Let’s put your phone number in Mr. Stevenson’s cell before he heads out for his lunch. Now, I have already updated the spreadsheet with your name for the travel plans, and you don’t have to worry about a plane ticket or anything.”
No plane ticket? I spoke too soon—this job was flashy, but accountants got to stay at their desk and not have to drive a piece-of-shit car across state lines. Most of those states were all desert. It would break down before I even made it halfway through New Mexico. Was it too late to grovel to Gary for my old job back?
“Then how am I getting to California? I don’t know if I can drive all the way there.”
“You fly private with Mr. Stevenson, silly. You and Dan. Sometimes a couple of other executives unless they have plans and it’s easier for them to fly commercial. You look like you’re going to be sick. This is one of the perks I was talking about.” Natalie set her tablet down and rubbed her belly to give me her full undivided attention.
“I’ve never been on a private plane before. I think it will ruin me for future travel.” I just wanted to impress Natalie. She was so experienced and nice to me. It was such a stupid lie. I’d never been on any plane, period. But it just rolled off the tongue a little too easily, pretending I’d experienced more things than just what Oklahoma had to offer.
“Oh, it will—you don’t have to go through security, and to get to the hangar with Mr. Stevenson, you drive right on the tarmac. It’s bizarre being so close to planes, but you get used to it.”
“Nah, that’s some rich people nonsense. I don’t think I would get used to flying on private jets.”
“Fair enough. I’m sending the updated list and cc’ing you now.”
The rest of the morning was a blur. My email inbox had never been so full, what with all the necessary introductions and then—bam. At nine thirty on the dot, the company newsletter dropped in my inbox. This was the first one I had seen since I started a lifetime ago—okay, a little over two weeks, but a lot had happened in that time.
Meet Natalie’s Maternity Leave Replacement!
They’d ripped the photo off my barely used social media. It was hardly professional. Joanna had snapped the photograph when we were at the park last summer. I was happy and smiling under the shade of a tree. This was not how I wanted Phoebe to find out I had gotten the job she wanted and was rejected for.
I needed friends, and this felt like I just threw her kindness in her face. I prayed Danuwoa would help me explain the crazy circumstances around how I was thrust into this position.
Beside my photograph was a short paragraph.
Ember Cardinal takes the reins of Interim Executive Assistant to the CEO while Natalie is on maternity leave. Ember is new to Technix but has already made a lasting impression. Her background is in accounting.
The newsletter moved on to the social activities for the summer and an Ask the CEO Anything link. I knew a handful of people at this company, and now every single employee had my name and photo in their inbox.
“Who writes the newsletter?” I asked Natalie as she was feeding documents into the scanner behind the desk.
“I do. Well, I guess you will now. But don’t worry, there’s—”
“A folder labeled ‘Newsletter’?” I finished her sentence.
“Ha ha. No, it’s called ‘Company Communications,’ but in that folder is a ‘Newsletter’ subfolder. I’m glad you’re catching on. There is a schedule for when we publish, and what we will publish for the year that’s already been approved. It should be easy. You only have to send one while I’m out, and I’ve already written it.”
Natalie was incredible. I wanted to be like her when I grew up. Polished. Poised. Put together. Prepared for anything. Not to mention she was the cutest pregnant lady.
“Why do people call you the Wicked Witch of Floor Seventeen?” I blurted out. She was so nice to me, and I had not witnessed her be rude or mean to anyone in my presence.
She winced and sat in the adjacent chair and rubbed her stomach.
“Braxton-Hicks again, give me a minute.”
I should not have asked that. What was I thinking? It didn’t matter what people called her behind her back. She sat with her eyes closed, breathing deep. I’m sure people called me far worse at the bowling alley, and I would not have appreciated some new chick asking me point-blank about it.
“Okay, that’s over. I know people call me that and worse. Prepare yourself. Now that you have the ear of the CEO, everyone will want something from you. Everyone in corporate America wants to get ahead and will use any means or person necessary to do that. Mr. Stevenson is better at sniffing out the users than most CEOs I’ve worked with, but there are snakes everywhere. People will ask for extensions for deliverables or be flat-out sexist and try to send you out of a meeting to get coffee. As the executive assistant to Mr. Stevenson, you are his right hand. You are a strategic partner. Don’t let anyone try to walk all over you or treat you as less than. It took me years to grow a backbone, and that is why people call me the Wicked Witch. I have learned to say no and say it often.”
Natalie Sanchez was a passionate woman. Chills ran down my arms from the fire in her as she gave that speech. I had googled How to be an executive assistant , and the top results told me to be a yes person and have coffee ready in advance, but how Natalie described the role, it sounded powerful. It sounded like the word executive in the title meant that you were an extension of the executive too. You were not an admin making copies and ordering coffee. Natalie didn’t do those things. She had lists and Gantt charts for every project. My eyes glazed over as she taught me her system. She didn’t care that I didn’t know how to do any of the stuff she was showing me. I wasn’t expected to. I had been plopped here from accounting, and she understood that there would be a learning curve for me.
Natalie was wasted as an executive assistant. She could run a company. I didn’t fear her. I wanted to be her. She was the most incredible person I had ever met.