Excerpt from, "The Meanderings of Ruby Stewart"
Moving along...
I probably would have scoped James out a lot faster had they not placed me in the secretarial pool on five, instead of the Executive Suits on the top floor. Down there, I was a mindless gnome, roaming from copier to coffee machine, loveless-ly labeled, The New Girl. But, being The New Girl had its perks. Not too much was expected of you for the first few weeks, but on the contrary you became the scapegoat for everyone's mistakes. Perhaps that's why I was nominated to make doughnut runs when five hundred copies of the wrong document went out to perspective clients.
I thought…“Are you out of your mind? Getting donuts is NOT in my job description! Send Mary, or the old guy who hides in his cubicle, eating ham sandwiches!”
Of course, in reality I took the list of various cream fillings, foolishly hoping this task wouldn’t develop into a nightmare! I continued to embrace this hope when the cab driver waited patiently for me to load and unload five, flimsy, glaze stained boxes! He only looked up twice; once, when I handed him the fare and again, when I gave the door a good, swift kick to close it! My chivalrous soldier then sped away so fast, I teetered on the curbside!
I thought, “Why lord? Why?
Next, I stood, trying to contain my anxiety before an assistant who didn't have the slightest idea about mass amounts of donuts or a sweaty, chaffing delivery clerk!
“For goodness sake, don’t you people remember when you order one hundred donuts?!”
I only encounter redemption when a man with a clue, peeped around an office doorway. He remained attentive in the midst of me trying to explain my presence, and began walking toward me.
“I’m sorry, Ms.?” He asked while relieving me of a few boxes.
“Stewart,” I responded and followed his lead.
"My name is James Claiborne. I'm senior partner of The Waterman Agency.”
“I'm sure that's a pretty important position on this floor.”
I noted a quick smile as he sat the boxes down and invited me to do the same.
“I’m afraid this doughnut debacle is my fault. I hope you will forgive me. …And, you know, Ms. Stewart, some people on the lower levels think being a senior partner is pretty important too.”
Still oblivious to the fact that I was supposed to be awe-struck, or intimidated, or whatever one does in the presence of a king… I just said, “Nice to meet you Mr. Claiborne.” and backed away toward the elevator.
“See ya round, Ms. Stewart.”
"See ya round, Mr. Claiborne…”
And see me, he did! Someone, probably Wanda on five had me transferred upstairs permanently as the assistant to James Claiborne’s, executive assistant. Translation: permanent coffee maker, doughnut-getter, cab caller and data input clerk!
I suppose it wasn't so bad… I did get to take home all the left over doughnuts.
The Meanderings of Ruby Stewart by M. Handy
