6. 6
6
“I’m stiff as a board every morning when I wake up,” the elderly receptionist croaked, readjusting her cat-eye glasses. “Without my yoga, I can’t limber up enough to leave the gosh-darned house. Thank God my granddaughter suggested it to me when I was doing physical therapy for my hip. It’s been a life changer. You remind me a lot of her, actually.”
Ava listened intently, perched on the black leather chair beside the open office door. “I’m glad you can find anything to give you relief, Marge. I remember when you left us over there at Burton. There was this huge void that couldn’t be filled.”
“Oh, Ava, the stress over there was too much for me to handle, and that guy, Gary, was driving me insane. So uptight and type-A. Stress and chronic pain are a recipe for misery. I had to do what was best for me.”
“Arthritis sounds horrible.”
“Oh, you learn to live with it. You’d be amazed what your body can learn to tolerate over time, unfortunately.” Marge pushed herself back from her walnut desk and pivoted her swivel chair towards Ava. “It’s all about the mindset. The brain is a resilient thing. Where the mind goes, the spirit follows.”
“I love that you have found a way to cope with the pain. Do you think the mind leads the spirit, though? Or do you think it follows your heart ? ”
“Following your heart is overrated, dear.”
Ava’s eyes glistened beneath the warm halogen light as she recoiled, shocked. “What?! Marge! I always pegged you for the hopeless romantic type.”
“Romance… is… fleeting ,” Marge began, enunciating words with wrinkled lips and teeth stained from a lifelong affair with dark-roast coffee. “The heart is a curious, wandering thing whose needs and desires are ever-changing. It’s hard to embrace the bad with the good and not try to change it, all the while keeping logic at the center of everything. Some days, it’s hard. Real hard.”
“How long have you been married, Marge?”
“Let’s see… Janet and I have been together for… thirty-six years but married for eight.”
“Wow. Incredible.” Ava smiled. Her eyes flitted to the ornate painting she’d given Marjorie for her birthday last year. It now sat in a distressed wood frame just above the woman’s otherwise bland desk. “Got any advice for me in that arena?”
Marge tapped a long, bubblegum-pink nail against her matching lipstick. A thought popped into her head. “Yeah, I do. In this life, you’re gonna make mistakes, but if you’re gonna look like an idiot for any cause… let it be love .”
“Well, I’ve already looked stupid for it before. You know, with Dan.”
“Oh, hush, child. I’ve known you how long? Stupid is the last thing I’d ever use to describe you.” Marge folded her arms across the chest of her cable-knit sweater. “Life’s never done making us look like fools, Ava. But love is the one thing worth going out on a limb for.”
Ava couldn’t hide the optimistic grin that spread across her face.
“Ava?” A woman’s voice wafted out from one of the open office doors.
Marge flashed her a toothy smile and pointed to one of the rooms. “Ms. Rivers will see you now.” She fluttered her fingers in a wave as Ava made her way into the office.
“Go ahead and close the door behind you, hun,” ordered a middle-aged woman with a skunk stripe of white amid her black head of hair. The woman motioned to the chair on the other side of the L-shaped office desk. “Take a seat. It’s a pleasure to meet you. ”
“Thank you for the opportunity,” Ava said brightly as she sat.
“No problem. I’m Jessica Rivers. I take it we’re interviewing you for one of our accounting positions here at the Jarvis Group, correct?”
“Yes, it’s a pleasure to meet you, Ms. Rivers,” Ava said, extending her hand to shake.
Not too hard, like a gorilla. Not limp like a noodle. But firm, with eye contact. All of her business courses flooded back to her in an instant.
“I love your suit, by the way,” Jessica added, motioning to Ava’s attire.
Ava glanced down at her burgundy blazer and skirt. A delicate, lace-trimmed camisole peeked out from beneath the edge. “Oh! Thank you.”
Jessica skimmed her eyes over the paper resume in front of her, making swishing noises with her mouth as she read. “It says here you worked as the Chief Revenue Officer for Burton Laboratories?”
“That’s correct.”
Jessica glanced up from the resume with raised brows. “You are aware this is an accounting position.”
“Yes, I am. And I look forward to returning to a position that is closer to what I got my degree in. ”
“I see here that you have a Masters in Business Management from Jacksonville University.”
“Yes, that’s correct.”
Jessica looked up with only her eyes, scrutinizing Ava’s face. “Why go all the way to Jacksonville for that degree?”
“I was young. I wanted to get out on my own and see what life was like elsewhere. In the end, it made me really appreciate Wyoming. Florida wasn’t for me. In fact, I really didn’t care for it at all, but I stayed until I completed the degree. I finish what I start.”
“You’re committed.”
Ava nodded. “I bloom where I’m planted.”
“Well…” the woman’s eyes shifted over the resume again, “Frankly, Ava, I hate to say it, but I think you’re a little overqualified for this position.”
Dammit! I knew this was coming, Ava thought.
“With all due respect, Ms. Rivers, I’ve been lucky enough to have experiences beyond my degree in the twelve years I worked at Burton Labs, but I’m eager to get back to my roots, and I am certain I could do that here at Jarvis. I studied your business before the interview, and I’d be an asset to your team. You’ve had quite a growth spurt in the last few years. Jarvis is very philanthropic with what seems to be a mandatory community service agreement. You’re a business that puts emphasis on its image, and I’m here to contribute to that with my previous experience as a financial advisor.”
Jessica gave a tight smile and nodded. “According to your previously assumed responsibilities, it seems like you were involved in both acquisitions and corporate finance. That’s quite a juggling act.”
“I’ve never shied away from a challenge. Digging into the heart of a company, seeing how it operates, seeing where its strengths and weaknesses are… I feel like I bring a lot of experience and valuable insight with me here.”
Ava watched Jessica’s eyebrows climb up her forehead, worried that it would eventually become a part of her hairline.
“That might be the case, but let’s say I hire you. You work here for a few months, and then a better position comes along, and you jump ship. See why I can’t risk hiring someone with your advanced career history for an almost entry-level accounting position?”
“Well, you can choose to look at it like that, or you can look at the possibilities of my potential upward mobility at what lies ahead here on the pathway to advancement. ”
Jessica laughed. “This is a family-owned company. The boss and his son work here. If you are looking for another gig as a CRO, like you were, or CFO, that is a very unlikely possibility.”
Ava’s heart sank. “Is there any upward mobility in the future?”
Leaning back in her squeaky office chair, Jessica interlaced her fingers. “We want someone that wants to work until retirement. Someone that we can count on to stay put . We can’t afford to have people jockeying for a better position, especially when they have access to so much critical information. If you’re in accounting here, you’d likely stay in accounting. There is a low ceiling that comes with that role.”
Ava contemplated what having a ceiling at all would feel like.
Suddenly, she felt suffocated.
“I still think this could be a great fit,” Ava lied. She smiled warmly. “I could be a valuable—”
A loud sigh escaped Jessica’s red, matte lips, cutting Ava off mid-sentence. “Thank you for your time.”
Ava felt her courage evaporate in a flash.
“Marjorie really seemed to like you. I was listening to the two of you out there. She has impeccable taste in character.” Jessica’s deceptively peppy tone contradicted the sinking feeling in Ava’s gut.
“She and I worked together for years. She’s amazing. You’ve got yourself a good one.” Ava forced a sad smile and rose from the seat. “Good luck with filling the position.”
“Thank you, Ms. Quinn.”
With her chin raised, she left the room quietly, nodded to Marge in the reception area, and shut the front door behind her.