Chapter 1

The following is the first of a ten part story I collaborated with a good friend on from another story site. We hope you enjoy this story as much as we did in working on it!

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Charlotte sat in the reception area of Mr. Atwood’s office waiting nervously for her interview. She hated these interviews, they made her nervous and self-conscious of herself. Charlotte had always been shy and introverted growing up. She had been a military brat and as such had moved around a lot growing up, never able to stay in one place long enough to make friends and have a “normal” childhood. It seemed like she spent her entire youth trying to fit into the crowd at the time. And just when she started to feel comfortable, her father would get orders and they would have to move again.

She survived her childhood, but it had its effect on her. She was distant and withdrawn, almost standoffish in her personal life. At work, she did her job and didn’t participate in any social settings. She didn’t get involved in the watercooler gossip; didn’t go to any company parties or get-togethers. She was there to work and go home and that’s the extent of it.

Charlotte was driven – her father’s military experience had shown her that to advance meant to succeed. She wanted more than anything to make her father proud of her. The only child, Charlotte had to be Daddy’s little girl and the son he’d always wanted. So his approval of her was of paramount importance. Charlotte was always looking to advance and to better her position. To succeed in everything she did. Work was all she had and the only real reason for her to leave her house every day.

It was this drive to succeed, this relentless need to climb ever higher, that had brought her to the interview today. She had come across a notice on the company bulletin board of an opening as Mr. Atwood’s secretary and personal assistant. Charlotte figured if she couldn’t be the boss of the company, then being right next to the boss was a pretty good position. She would have the perks and benefits of the top office, but without the responsibility, he had to shoulder for the company!

As she sat in the waiting area fidgeting with her fingers and watching the receptionist go about her work, Charlotte went over the interview in her mind, trying to formulate good answers for whatever questions Mr. Atwood might ask.

Charlotte had been to a few of these interviews and she had learned that each one was different. There was really no way for her to accurately predict what he would ask her or how to answer. So she would have to be prepared for anything.

As she sat there nervously waiting to see the boss of the company, the door suddenly opened. “Thank you, Sir, for this opportunity and if I am selected, I will do my very best to be a good secretary and assistant to you!” the woman said. Then she appeared around the door – it was Beverly Wilson, another of the candidates for the position, apparently. Charlotte’s heart sank a bit. Beverly was a very highly qualified secretary and Charlotte knew she would be stiff competition for this job. Beverly had the training and experience for this position and Charlotte would have to do very well at this interview if she was to have any chance at all of getting it.

Mr. Atwood had wanted these interviews to be “blind interviews”, meaning that none of the candidates were supposed to know who else was applying so no one could get an unfair advantage over another candidate. But Beverly’s comment upon leaving the office had tipped the scales in Charlotte’s favor. Beverly (or any of the other candidates) had no idea that Charlotte was applying, but Charlotte at least knew of one of her competitors, and it so happened to be her biggest rival!

Charlotte’s seat in the reception area was such that Beverly left without seeing her there waiting for her interview. Once Beverly had left Mr. Atwood’s office he turned to Charlotte. “Please come in,” he said. Charlotte got up and took a deep breath. Here goes nothing, she thought to herself and strode into his office behind him to her interview.

“Please have a seat, Miss...” he said.

“Sintallie, Sir ... Charlotte Sintallie,” she said.

“Very good. Please,” he said, indicating the chair in front of the desk. “My name is Peter.”

“Peter Atwood?” she said with a smile.

“Yes, I’m afraid so. I got quite a lot of teasing growing up with that handle. I’ve thought about changing it more times than I can count but I decided instead to reach a point in my life that people didn’t make fun of my name. And now that I run one of the most successful investment firms on Wall Street, people don’t make fun of my name anymore,” he said.

“No Sir, I don’t imagine they do. I know everyone here at Silver Hill Securities respects your name. Of course, I don’t know anyone who calls you Peter here. Usually, it’s Mr. Peckingwood or Boss or something,” she said.

“Well this is a business and we do have to maintain a professional air about us. Using first names is usually reserved for people of similar ranking in the company and even then only in the break room or bathrooms out of the client’s eyes,” he said.

“Yes, of course Sir,” she said.

“Now then Miss Sintallie, I have looked through your file and I see you have been with us for two years now. Working in the secretarial pool is that correct?” he asked.

“Yes, Sir I will have my three years in, come September ... about four months from now,” she said.

“And you never tried to become a broker here? Never went for your broker’s license?” he asked.

“No Sir. I’m not really comfortable ... in front of people. You know sales and promoting products. I’m more of a behind the scenes kinda girl. I’m not much into the spotlight or getting attention Sir,” she said, looking down.

“I see. Well, this position would require a certain amount of spotlighting ... you would be working alongside me in pitching our products to potential clients and going with me to business meetings and so forth. Yes, you would be doing office type work, but you would still be in the client’s presence. Would that be a problem for you?” he asked.

Charlotte felt the interview slipping from her hands as he talked about putting her in front of the clientele. She did not want to blow this chance. “Sir, I would very much like the opportunity to work alongside you here at Silver Hill Securities and if that means that I occasionally have to be up front and in the spotlight, then I will get used to that. I know I can do it, Sir and I know that I can be a good secretary and assistant to you. I have some experience in being a personal assistant working with my father – in an unofficial capacity of course.

My father was a military man, a Brigadier General, and I would come in and help organize his files and keep his appointments and meetings straight. I also learned how to take care of his personal needs – things like making sure his uniforms were perfect and that he had coffee and cigars at the ready when he needed them. My father’s office had a hard time keeping a decent secretary in it ... it seemed like he’d just get one trained and they would take her off to do some other job someplace. So I was called on to help him out fairly often. He taught me how to be punctual, precise, and persistent – those were his keywords,” she said.

“Your father was a wise man. Those are very good keywords and actually, they translate to the business world very well. I do value punctuality, and in this business especially, precision is very important. One decimal point out of place could be catastrophic! Persistence pays off in just about every endeavor, and when you are trying to win over a new customer or client, being persistent means the difference between growing the company or letting it stagnate and maybe even fail,” he said.

“Thank you, Sir. Yes, my father kept those three words carved in a wooden plaque on his desk,” Charlotte said.

“Well, I will tell you that so far I have interviewed six girls for this position. You are the last one on the list I needed to see. I can tell you that right now that I’m probably going to narrow it down to you and one other girl. the girls were okay, I suppose, but nothing spectacular. And for this position I need spectacular.

“I will be honest with you, however, the other girl is very highly qualified. She has the training and the experience that I could really use for this position. But you have something ... I can see a lot of potential in you. I am going to think this over and look into it more. You can expect another interview in a few days so I can learn more about the both of you. This is a very important position and I don’t want to rush things and maybe make a mistake in hiring the wrong person,” he said.