Taste of Reality (16 page)

“I guess I’m verbally applying for it, but only if you know for sure that you’re not going to fill the corporate position anytime soon.”

“Well, not only am I not going to fill it soon, but I can’t even say when.”

I didn’t believe him, but it wasn’t as if I could force him to be honest with me.

“Then I guess I’d like to apply for it.”

“Sounds good. This should all move along pretty quickly, because it’s not as though I have to interview you again. I know you’re qualified for the job and that you’d be perfect for it, but I do want you to interview with Mike, the plant manager. The person who gets this job will be working pretty closely with him, so Lyle and I think it’s a good idea to have his input regarding each candidate.”

“That’s fine. So how soon do you think we can set something up with him?”

“I’m thinking this afternoon, because I’d really like to get this process rolling.”

Boy, wasn’t he the sweetest, most helpful man in America? I couldn’t believe his change in attitude toward me or how caring and cooperative he’d suddenly become. It was amazing what people were willing to do in order to make others do what they wanted.

“I have a meeting with Elizabeth this afternoon right at one, but I’m free anytime after two,” I said.

“I’ll have my secretary call him to see when he wants to get together with you.”

“Just let me know,” I said, and stood.

“And Anise?” he said as I turned to leave his office.

“Yes?”

“I’m really glad you’re interested in this newest management opening, and I hope you don’t have any animosity toward me because we had to put the other job on hold.”

I smiled and said, “Things happen.”

“Unfortunately they do. But I can almost guarantee that this is going to make everyone happy. Including Lyle. So I think you’ll be pleased with our selection,” he said, smiling.

A naïve person would have believed he was actually fond of me.

“I’ll wait to hear from your secretary about my interview with Mike,” I said, and walked out, hoping I’d made the right decision.

I figured I’d better stop by Lorna’s office again. I’d dropped in on her just before going to meet with Jim, and she hadn’t been too
thrilled about my decision to forget about the corporate position so I could concentrate on the one in manufacturing. I’d explained to her that I wasn’t giving up like she kept insisting, and that the bottom line was that I had to do what was best for me.

I stuck my head inside her office, preparing to speak, but she beat me to it.

“So you finally sold your soul to that bastard Jim.”

“Lorna, don’t start this all over again. I did what I felt I had to do, and I don’t want to keep explaining it to you or anybody else.”

“Okay, okay. I’m sorry. I promise not to bring it up again.”

“Good,” I said, and we both smiled. A truce was a good thing.

I understood where Lorna was coming from, and right or wrong, I needed her to support me on this. I needed her to sit in my corner the way she always did when I dealt with anything work-related.

“You’re not feeling any whiplash symptoms, are you?” Lorna asked, because I’d told her about my unfortunate fender bender last evening.

“No. I feel just fine.”

“Well, if it were me, I would have gone straight to the hospital and gotten checked out, because these car injuries don’t always show up until later.”

“I’m telling you I’m fine. And I don’t have time to go sit in some emergency room for hours, go through physical therapy or deal with the other driver’s insurance company, trying to get my medical bills paid.”

“Maybe. But I would make time. If you want to know the truth, I’d probably have on a neck brace right now.”

I laughed. “No you wouldn’t. And why is it that people always talk that way when someone else is in an accident?”

“Because they want to get paid.”

“Yeah, right. Well, I’m not about to pretend like I’m injured just so I can sue some insurance company for no reason. I have better morals than that.”

“Maybe you do, but some people would get paid and laugh all the way to the bank.”

“No good will come to them either. Because bad things always happen to people who scheme.”

“Well, first of all, not every human being is a Goody Two-shoes like you, Anise.”

“I don’t believe you said that. Just because I don’t condone trying to get over on people doesn’t mean I’m some saint.”

“Whatever you say,” she said, still joking around.

“Good-bye, Lorna. See you in another life.”

“Bye, Anise.”

I smiled as I walked away because Lorna really was a good friend. She was upset about my newest job venture, but I knew she was only looking out for my best interests.

As I strolled through the department, I saw Frank turning to leave my office. I considered heading in another direction until he was gone, but he spied me before I could make a quick detour. I walked toward him nervously, and the closer I approached, the more he grinned from ear to ear. I wished wholeheartedly that he wouldn’t do that, because it would only be a matter of time before some nosy coworker discovered this attraction we were sharing—an attraction he obviously didn’t mind proclaiming to the world, but which I wanted to disguise.

“What are you doing here, Frank?” I said, slightly brushing past him and entering my office.

“I’m here because whenever I see you, it makes my day run smoother,” he said, following me.

“You know,” I said, leaning against the edge of my desk, “you don’t act much like the director of a department.”

“I know. I’m acting more like a schoolboy who’s having his first crush, don’t I?”

I smiled, but I could tell this was going too far. It was a good thing I had a corner office, but I knew there were people walking by
and others who had probably seen him come into my office. He’d been making a daily habit of it, and it was making me self-conscious.

He noticed my discomfort but didn’t help the situation. “Just admit it, you’re attracted to me, too.”

I raised up from my desk and walked around it. Then I sat down in my chair. “I don’t know about that, but what I do know is that I have a lot of work to do before my meeting with Elizabeth.”

“Changing the subject isn’t going to change the way you feel about me. You do know that, don’t you?”

“Frank, I really do have to get to work.”

“Okay, I’ll leave, but just remember, tomorrow’s a new day,” he said matter-of-factly, and winked at me.

I was glad he was gone, but my heart was turning somersaults. He wasn’t going to let up, and I knew it was just a matter of time before he persuaded me to see him outside of work. I was fighting this growing desire to be with him with powerful determination, but even the strongest person sometimes becomes too weak to win the battle. Truth was, I didn’t know if I wanted to win the battle, anyway.

I looked at Elizabeth and was embarrassed, because I realized she’d said something to me.

“I’m sorry, what was that?” I asked.

“Must have been one serious daydream,” she said.

We laughed.

“I was just asking if it was okay for us to meet at one-thirty instead of one,” she said.

“Oh. Yes, that should be fine. I just came back from meeting with Jim and he’s going to see if his secretary can schedule an interview for me with Mike this afternoon, but hopefully it won’t be until sometime after three.”

“Well, just let me know, because your interview is more important. I was so happy when you told me this morning that you were going to apply for it, and I want you to know that I’ll keep my fingers crossed for you.”

“Thanks. I really appreciate that.”

An hour later, Jim’s secretary called to tell me that I could meet with Mike at 3:00
P.M.
in the HR conference room on my end of the building. Mike was intelligent and professional but very laid-back, so I wasn’t worried about interviewing with him. Everyone in the plant loved him, and I’d known as soon as I met him that he was a respectable guy.

I met with Elizabeth and discussed what she wanted me to help her complete before she left next week, and what she would be doing at her new company. She’d told me bits and pieces over the last few days, but what I didn’t know was that she was taking a cut in pay. She would still have a manager’s title, but the company was smaller and didn’t pay nearly as much as Reed Meyers. I didn’t understand how that could be with the Milwaukee area being so much larger than Mitchell, but she explained to me that while her parents lived in Milwaukee, she would be working in a smaller city close by. It was unfortunate that she’d had to struggle all these years trying to make a good life for herself and then give it all up. She said she hadn’t thought twice about it, though, because her parents meant everything to her. She told me how they weren’t doing very well, and that the last thing she wanted was for one of them to suffer or pass away without her being there. She said she’d
never be able to live with herself, and I understood without reservation. I realized I was no different from Elizabeth, because here I was living in Mitchell when I could easily have moved to Chicago, Atlanta or New York and gotten paid so much more. But I knew I was never leaving, not as long as Mom lived here.

After the meeting with Elizabeth, I entered the conference room five minutes early and Mike walked in five minutes late.

“I’m sorry for the short delay, but we had a situation out in the plant with one of the foreman and one of the machine operators,” he said.

“That’s not a problem. I haven’t been in here for very long.”

“So it looks like we might be working together,” Mike said, closing the door.

Another attractive white man. I didn’t know why I hadn’t noticed his looks before, but maybe it was because I’d never had too many one-on-one conversations with him. His shoulders were cut like a football player’s, his skin was tanned Florida-style and his clothing fit him perfectly.

“Yes, I guess it does,” I answered.

I was flattered that he was so optimistic about me having the job.

“Jim thought it would be a good idea for us to get together, but it’s not like I have all that much to ask you, because I already know how sharp you are. I’ve also seen how great you are with the kids out in the plant, and I admire the way you treat them. From blacks to Mexicans to hillbillies like me, you treat everyone the same, and they love you for it,” he joked.

He always referred to his employees as kids because he’d discovered sometime ago that they called him Daddy behind his back. They didn’t do it because they disliked him, but said it in a teasing way, because when he gave an order, he didn’t play. He was easy to get along with and would stand up for his employees when necessary, but wasn’t one to deal with when production slowed down due to carelessness or absenteeism.

“Well, thank you,” I said.

“I’m serious, because you and I both know that some of these corporate assholes around here treat the factory employees like shit, and I’m tellin’ you, that crap burns my butt like jalapeño peppers.”

That was Mike for you. What came up came out without any tact. But I liked him, because Mike was just Mike at all times and didn’t have a hidden agenda.

“You’re right.”

“So like I said, I really don’t have any questions for you.”

“Well, if it’s okay then, I have a couple for you.”

“Shoot,” he said, and rested his back against the chair.

“When you have job openings that need to be filled, do you get involved with the interviewing process, or do you leave the decision up to your area foremen and supervisors?”

“It all depends on the position. If it’s strictly a line position like an assembler, drill operator or shipping and receiving personnel, I leave the entire hiring process up to the person who they’ll be reporting to. If it’s a lead person or skilled tradesman we’re looking for, then I like to sit in on the interviews myself. I don’t always, but I try to whenever I can.”

“Either way is fine, but I just want to know how many people I’d be dealing with when there’s a job opening that needs to be filled.”

“We’re all pretty flexible, and I can tell you right now that color and gender don’t exist out in our environment.”

“I’m glad to hear it.”

“I know all about what’s been going on with that other job you applied for, and don’t think for one minute that I agree with how they’ve been handling it.”

“Goodness. It sounds like my little ordeal is common knowledge around here.”

“As a matter of fact, it is. Word travels quickly out in the shop, and even though I report to Lyle, I don’t agree with a lot of his tactics. Just between you and me, I don’t care for Jim or Lyle and the only reason I put up with it is because they pay me a damn good salary to be here. But that’s where it ends with me. They’re some dirty sons of bitches, and everybody around here knows it.”

I was shocked. Not because Mike didn’t care for them, but because he was giving me his honest opinion. I appreciated that, and now I knew that Mike had every bit of the integrity I’d always thought he had.

“I’ll admit, my time here hasn’t been all that wonderful,” I said. “And I’ve been more frustrated in the last six months than I have in my entire life. At first I thought Lyle was different from Jim, but now I’m starting to think otherwise. They’ve made things as difficult
for me as they could every time I’ve tried to move higher, so I figured I’d rather take this promotion instead of not getting one at all. But I have to be honest with you: if I had my choice between getting the corporate recruiting manager position versus this manufacturing one, I would have chosen the corporate one in a heartbeat.”

“I figured as much, but that’s not a problem for me. I hope you don’t leave anytime soon, though, because we’d love to have you around for as long as we can. But if something better does come along, I won’t be upset with you in the least. Hell, I’d do the same thing, so there’s no way I would ever hold anything against you for trying to better your career.”

“I appreciate hearing you say that, and that answered my other question.”

“Well, now that we’ve got all the cow manure out of the way, are you going to take the job?”