1.4 - Coffee Courier

Kerry sent out dozens of job applications but so far without any success. Her job counselor had told her that her options are very limited without a high school diploma and that she'd do good to accept any offer she can get, whether that means being a cleaning lady, a dishwasher, or a bartender.

However, he said, if Kerry is determined and can make herself known as an exceptional worker, it's possible to work her way up. It's what Bridgeport is famous for, after all.

And Kerry is determined. She can't wait to prove the world that it wasn't laziness or lack of intelligence that caused her to drop out of school, but circumstances she had little control over.

In the end she finally gets a call from the place she expected it the least: Professional Procrastination Inc., better known as 2Pro Inc, a company big enough to allow her to learn and grow.

***
The same day Kerry organizes a babysitter for the time of the job interview. Ruby has grown a lot recently and once she had started to laugh, play, and react to her mom, Kerry was able to enjoy motherhood much more than in the first weeks. It's a bit like taking care of a very needy pet.

Kerry is amused at how much cats and infants have in common.They have very much the same needs: food, attention (divided into cuddling and playing time), a clean diaper or litter box respectively. And they both love dangling toys!

The toy sharing goes both ways: Richie loves to play with the toys above Ruby's playmat and Ruby will sometimes try to grab a plastic mouse or yarn ball from Richie. Then Kerry (who of course never lets them play unsupervised) will pick her daughter up, laugh, and ask her: "Are you a cat, Ruby? Are you a cat now?"
And Ruby will giggle at her mother's happy smile.

One day Ruby will meow in response and Kerry will know that Ruby understands their little game.

***
It's the day of the job interview. Kerry arrives at the 2Pro Inc. building on time and is promptly greeted by a middle-aged man in a suit as soon as she enters the hallway to the office she's supposed to come to.
"Ahh, you must be Ms. Harris. And you look just like your application photo. How nice!"

He stretches one arm out to meet her hand and firmly grabs her shoulder with the other one.
"Yes, that's me.", Kerry confirms. "And you are...?"
"My name is Mr. Henry, I would be your new boss if we can come to an agreement today. Please sit down for a moment and I will call you into my office in a moment."

And so Kerry sits down in the noisy hallway.
He looks nice, Kerry tells herself. Probably has a beautiful wife ten years younger than him, a big car, and two or three spoiled children. And the place doesn't look bad either, everything seems to be clean and organized. Kerry could definitely imagine working here if she gets the chance to.

She has to wait about five more minutes before Mr. Henry opens the door to his office and calls her in.
Kerry steps in confidently.

To her relief Mr. Henry keeps the interview short and to the point.
"Let me explain what you'll be doing here. You're most important task will be to provide everyone in the office with coffee, which is why we like to call this position the coffee courier!", he jokes or maybe not, Kerry finds it hard to tell when he is serious and when he's joking.

"You will mostly assist our other employees and do what they ask of you: make copies, sort files and organize our mail, dust the shelves, empty the paper bins, and so on... Basically all the things our more qualified employees don't have the time for."
Ouch, that stings. He probably didn't even notice how condescending that sounded.
"The work contract is temporary and limited to one year. But work hard and I might hire you as my personal secretary", he adds with a wink, once again confusing Kerry on whether he is serious or not.
"Any questions?"

"When can I start?", Kerry asks.
"That's the question I wanted to hear! The contract starts at the beginning of the next month. Is that possible for you?"

It didn't say anywhere in the job ad that it was only a temporary position and Kerry would have preferred to know about that earlier, but she's satisfied anyway. If she manages to get a good recommendation letter from a company as big as 2Pro Inc. it would help her tremendously in the future. And who knows, maybe they would even offer her a permanent position here if she makes a good impression?

Mr. Henry's handshake is short and firm like you would expect it from a successful businessman. His warm and hairy hand, bigger and stronger than hers, awakes memories somewhere deep in Kerry's subconscious mind.

***
About a week later Kerry starts her first day at her new job. She arrives early so she can get to know some of her co-workers, hoping to make some new friends. There's a woman who doesn't look much older than her at the desk in the back of the room and another one sitting in front of a closed notebook and almost falling asleep. Kerry approaches them.
"Hi, I'm Kerry Harris and I'm new here! I start working here today and I'll be here for one year."

The woman in red stares at her for a second or two without saying a word.
"... uh?", the sleepy woman mumbles without opening her mouth. 
"Oh. That's the new temp.", the other woman finally says to her friend.
There's another short silence.
"... riiight.", Kerry says before turning away again. Friendly bunch. 
Being a social and outgoing person Kerry is not really used to awkward encounters like this one, but you can't be friends with everyone. Maybe the other co-workers are more responsive.

As her first day takes its course Kerry quickly realizes that Mr. Henry wasn't joking when he said they call this position the coffee courier: most of the time her co-workers send her to bring them coffee.

She wonders if Mr. Henry and the other important people of 2Pro Inc. also started their career like this. Probably not, most of the people "up there" were privileged kids with money and a university degree. But that doesn't mean it's impossible to work your way up from the bottom.

***

Richie doesn't need to hunt. He only does it for his own pleasure and to prove that he's still very capable of catching his prey even though he's not the youngest anymore. He eyes the toy mouse from its nose tip to the end of its tail.

Kerry doesn't even notice she's being watched. She was tasked with gathering the books, files, and folders scattered all throughout the office, put them in the shelf they belong to and sort them alphabetically. The more qualified employees were apparently too busy to pick these things up when they were done with their important work.

He's lurking right behind his unsuspecting prey now. Richie patiently waits for a good moment and then, with one determined jump, he attacks.

"Ah! Oh, I- I'm sorry Mr. Henry, I didn't see you coming!"

"There's no reason to be scared of me", he chuckles, "Enjoying your first day?"
"Yes, very much!", she lies on command.
"Then why don't you show it with a smile, hm? It makes you look friendly and prettier."
Kerry pulls a grimace that is supposed to resemble a smile: "Eeeheehee!" She needs some more practice in fake smiling if she wants to succeed here.

Richie caught his mouse. He's not going to eat it - it's just a toy of course! - but he loves playing with it.