call, bad
call?”
“Too
bad,” said Mia with a shrug that knocked the strap of her fairy dress off her
shoulder. She righted it with a dramatic sigh.
“Faux
Mohawk, earplug, tattoos. What’s not to like?” said Les.
Mia
stood on the scooter. “I like to lick too, especially chocolate.”
Les
pushed her sunglasses up her nose. “He’s being transparent about his life and
what you can expect. Have any of the other candidates been so forthcoming?”
She
had a point. The other candidates could be members of secret satanic cults or
scrapbooking nuts in their spare time for all she knew. But did it matter? There
was a line between being an employer and a friend and it was best not to cross
it, especially when the employee was in your own home and so hubba hubba. But
how did knowing Reece had an ultra-hot girlfriend make any difference to his
job application? It shouldn’t. It wasn’t relevant.
“If
you know he’s going home to that every night you won’t have to worry about any
rogue attractions,” said Les.
“Rogue
attractions? You mean like the one between you and Faux Mo.” Yes, blast it, she
was attracted to Reece. You’d have to be in a coma not to be.
Les
sighed. “Faux Mo is merely a dream, not a commercial reality. We both know
birds would fall out of the sky dead if a stone cold fox like him even looked
at me. He’d have to trip over me to notice me.”
Audrey
went to protest, to deny Les her defence mechanism, but Mia rode into her shin.
“Who’s fo mo?”
“Ow.
That’s my leg. No one.”
“Sorry
leg. I want to ride now.”
Audrey
put a hand to Mia’s head. “We’re going to see Reece.” She looked at Les. Smart,
funny, loyal, a wonderful colleague, and a great friend, but so beaten by the
dating game, so tired of being compared to girls with fashionable figures and
symmetrical faces, she’d given up and was resigned to being alone as a better
option than the constant humiliation of not being chosen. She was right, Faux
Mo wouldn’t notice her. But as far as Audrey was concerned, it was Les who was
out of his league.
Les
took hold of the handles of Mia’s scooter. “Who do you want as new Cameron?”
Audrey
watched Reece listening to his girlfriend. There was lots of wild gesticulation
on her part while he played sponge, soaking it all up. “Mia’s a little young to
make that decision, don’t you think?”
Mia
looked from Les to Audrey. “I’n a big girl.”
“All
right big girl, who do you want?” said Les.
“Reece.”
“That
was definite, Aud, and it gets around your hiring bias.”
“My
hiring bias? You mean I naturally want to hire someone most like me.” Or in
this case anyone who wasn’t Reece. And if that was true they should go now, she
could text him an excuse. It’s not like he’d be left hanging around on his own.
“Yep.
We can’t help it. It’s one of those things. We want to hire people we’re most
comfortable with, so it’s no surprise those people are the most like us. Which
is why you’re the only female project leader and all the others are men not
dissimilar to Chris. He hired in his own image.”
And
there was that. Not to consider Reece as a serious candidate was playing to the
subtle system that stopped more women becoming scientists, engineers, and
computer programmers, CEOs and board members. But to hire him wasn’t without
complications.
“All
the more reason I should hire a woman. Too many jobs for the boys.”
“I
thought you were above that. What happened to the best candidate wins?”
That
was a fiction and every woman who’d ever chased a dream job, or compared her
salary to a male colleague’s knew it. “Mia, what about Jessie? She made you a
cupcake with sprinkles.”
Headshake.
“No.”
Maybe
Reece, with his eleven interviews, knew it too. “I’m so conflicted. Mia, what
about Lee or Bethany? Bethany was nice.”
“No,”
Mia said agreeably.
“Lee
could be new Cameron.”
“No.”
Audrey
sighed.
call?”
“Too
bad,” said Mia with a shrug that knocked the strap of her fairy dress off her
shoulder. She righted it with a dramatic sigh.
“Faux
Mohawk, earplug, tattoos. What’s not to like?” said Les.
Mia
stood on the scooter. “I like to lick too, especially chocolate.”
Les
pushed her sunglasses up her nose. “He’s being transparent about his life and
what you can expect. Have any of the other candidates been so forthcoming?”
She
had a point. The other candidates could be members of secret satanic cults or
scrapbooking nuts in their spare time for all she knew. But did it matter? There
was a line between being an employer and a friend and it was best not to cross
it, especially when the employee was in your own home and so hubba hubba. But
how did knowing Reece had an ultra-hot girlfriend make any difference to his
job application? It shouldn’t. It wasn’t relevant.
“If
you know he’s going home to that every night you won’t have to worry about any
rogue attractions,” said Les.
“Rogue
attractions? You mean like the one between you and Faux Mo.” Yes, blast it, she
was attracted to Reece. You’d have to be in a coma not to be.
Les
sighed. “Faux Mo is merely a dream, not a commercial reality. We both know
birds would fall out of the sky dead if a stone cold fox like him even looked
at me. He’d have to trip over me to notice me.”
Audrey
went to protest, to deny Les her defence mechanism, but Mia rode into her shin.
“Who’s fo mo?”
“Ow.
That’s my leg. No one.”
“Sorry
leg. I want to ride now.”
Audrey
put a hand to Mia’s head. “We’re going to see Reece.” She looked at Les. Smart,
funny, loyal, a wonderful colleague, and a great friend, but so beaten by the
dating game, so tired of being compared to girls with fashionable figures and
symmetrical faces, she’d given up and was resigned to being alone as a better
option than the constant humiliation of not being chosen. She was right, Faux
Mo wouldn’t notice her. But as far as Audrey was concerned, it was Les who was
out of his league.
Les
took hold of the handles of Mia’s scooter. “Who do you want as new Cameron?”
Audrey
watched Reece listening to his girlfriend. There was lots of wild gesticulation
on her part while he played sponge, soaking it all up. “Mia’s a little young to
make that decision, don’t you think?”
Mia
looked from Les to Audrey. “I’n a big girl.”
“All
right big girl, who do you want?” said Les.
“Reece.”
“That
was definite, Aud, and it gets around your hiring bias.”
“My
hiring bias? You mean I naturally want to hire someone most like me.” Or in
this case anyone who wasn’t Reece. And if that was true they should go now, she
could text him an excuse. It’s not like he’d be left hanging around on his own.
“Yep.
We can’t help it. It’s one of those things. We want to hire people we’re most
comfortable with, so it’s no surprise those people are the most like us. Which
is why you’re the only female project leader and all the others are men not
dissimilar to Chris. He hired in his own image.”
And
there was that. Not to consider Reece as a serious candidate was playing to the
subtle system that stopped more women becoming scientists, engineers, and
computer programmers, CEOs and board members. But to hire him wasn’t without
complications.
“All
the more reason I should hire a woman. Too many jobs for the boys.”
“I
thought you were above that. What happened to the best candidate wins?”
That
was a fiction and every woman who’d ever chased a dream job, or compared her
salary to a male colleague’s knew it. “Mia, what about Jessie? She made you a
cupcake with sprinkles.”
Headshake.
“No.”
Maybe
Reece, with his eleven interviews, knew it too. “I’m so conflicted. Mia, what
about Lee or Bethany? Bethany was nice.”
“No,”
Mia said agreeably.
“Lee
could be new Cameron.”
“No.”
Audrey
sighed.
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