Chapter 2: His First Interviews

IT HAD BEEN 8:00am that same day, when Frank joined Katherine for breakfast in the dining room of his hotel. He had first met her about a month ago when he engaged her employment company to find him a travelling companion.

Over breakfast, Katherine explained "we received 17 real applications, not counting a few obvious hoaxes and a couple of hate letters..."

"Hate letters?" Frank interrupted.

"Just a couple of cranks complaining that we were facilitating the commission of sin by helping an old man find a young girl for what had to be immoral purposes was the gist of both letters" Katherine explained before adding "the hoaxes were obvious pranks, although funny. You'll be pleased to know that one was from Elle Macpherson, or at least purporting to be. The application even had a photo of her attached, a standard publicity shot I guess. I think it was safe to assume that she would not have been applying for the position."

"That's probably a fairly safe assumption" Frank agreed laughing at the thought of the world famous model accompanying him on his planned trip.

"I used the criteria you gave us that you would like someone who had a reasonable eduction, interested in travel and entertainment, enjoyed fine dining, preferably somewhere between 18 and 35 years old, slim, fit, easy to look at, definitely non-smoker and available all next year to travel the world. I selected eight for interview, two this morning, two this afternoon and the same again tomorrow" she explained.

Katherine then outlined the eight candidates, before going through the details of the two that they were going to interview that morning. The first interview was scheduled for 9:30 and the second at 11:00. She showed Frank the two applications which included photos.

"I insisted on photos with each application, although it is interesting that the photos vary from just head and shoulders to full figure in a brief bikini that left little to the imagination. I'll show you the next two applications when we have lunch, if that's OK?

"Now I assume that you will ask most of the questions, while I take notes of what's said, but if I think of any relevant questions that you may have omitted, are you happy for me to ask them?" Katherine enquired.

"Of course. I'll be grateful for you asking as many questions as possible, as clearly it is very important that I select the right companion. After all, I will be spending the next twelve months living and travelling with who ever it is I choose" Frank replied.

Although he had a suite at this rather posh hotel, Frank had elected to hire a small interview room, rather than have people in his private suite. He didn't want to totally give the wrong impression. Outside the interview room there was a small sitting area where the candidate could sit while waiting to be interviewed if they were early or if the previous interview was running overtime. But with an hour scheduled for each interview and a half hour break between the two in the morning and the same in the afternoon, Katherine was certain that things should run on time.

"I'll meet the candidate and bring them in and introduce them to you, if that's alright" Katherine suggested.

"That's probably a good idea. If they see me first they might run" Frank laughed.

There were three comfortable arm chairs in the interview room, placed around a large coffee table with a tray on top holding a water bottle and three glasses. There was a sideboard against the wall that had another tray with a second water bottle and more glasses.

Frank sat in one of the chairs, poured himself a glass of water and opened the notes Katherine had given him, re-reading the application for the first interview.

The first girl was Sharon, a 27 year old nurse. The photo with the application showed an average height, attractive looking girl with a pleasant face. As he was studying the photo and the application, the door opened and Katherine ushered the girl in.

"This is Sharon. Sharon, meet Frank" Katherine said.

Frank stood up, took the girl's hand and shook it.

"Please sit down. Your photo doesn't do you justice" he said flirtatiously by way of relaxing her.

"Thanks. I don't think I ever take a good photo" she replied, adding "I'm glad I got the interview despite my picture" which broke the ice even further.

"Why don't I start the proceedings by explaining the position that you have applied for in a bit more detail, explaining what I am looking for and outlining how I think the selection of my travelling companion will progress? Is that alright?" Frank asked.

"Of course, as I am very interested to know more about this intriguing and seemingly most unusual position that you advertised" Sharon replied.

"Well let me start by telling you two important factors that led me to do what I'm doing. First, I was divorced by my wife after 22 years of marriage and as she was my first real girlfriend, I am certainly very inexperienced and a bit uncomfortable about trying to find someone else in the conventional way. By the way, she left me, and although there was another woman involved, I hasten to add, it was not with me; rather with my wife.

"As incredible luck would have it and I hope a bit of poetic justice, a few months after the divorce came through I won a massive power-ball jackpot, more than enough to live as a multimillionaire for the rest of my life.

"I've always wanted to travel the world but doing it first class was something I didn't even dream about but now it's what I'm going to do, at least for twelve months anyway. First class air, sea and rail travel, first class hotels, first class restaurants, but there will be a few backpacking hiking adventures with overnight camping thrown in. Some of the best overnight walks don't have first class hotels on the trails" he said with a smile.

"I want to see some top shows, with the best seats available, visit museums and galleries and see anything and everything the world has to offer a tourist.

"Now doing something like this I reckon would be horribly boring by myself, so I want a travelling companion that I can talk to, share the highs and lows and generally relax with. Obviously, not everything that I see and do will turn out as expected and I'm sure that some things will disappoint, but I reckon that the highlights will be more enjoyable and the lowlights not as bad, if I am sharing them with someone.

"I must say up front, however, that I will be economising in one area and that is accommodation. There will just be one bedroom for us to share. I hope that message came through in the advertisement?" Frank asked.

"Yes, I knew that no one would be offering what you are without expecting something in return" she replied.

"Perhaps you should outline the financial arrangements, Frank" Katherine suggested.

"Good idea, Katherine. First let me make it quite clear I will not be employing you or paying you wages, so that there are no taxation, superannuation or work cover implications. I will, however, be paying all expenses, accommodation, entertainment, travel, entrance fees, meals, drinks, laundry, etc. etc. I will also give you an upfront gift to buy appropriate clothes for the trip and will be very generous with additional purchases and ensure you have reasonable spending money during the trip.

"In addition, at the end of each week while you are with me, Katherine's company will put five hundred dollars into your nominated bank account. After each three months, she will put an additional five thousand dollars into your account and assuming you are still with me at the end of twelve months, an extra bonus of ten thousand dollars. That's a potential $56,000 if you stay with me for the year. All these amounts are gifts, so that you will not have to pay any tax.

"Would you like to ask me some questions at this stage?" Frank finished.

"The financial arrangements seem quite generous, but what happens if one of us has an accident, gets sick or even arrested while we are away?" Sharon asked.

"That's a good question. When we leave, you will have your return ticket back to Australia, so that you can basically come home when ever you choose. Being a first class ticket, it will be very flexible and you would rarely have to wait for a seat. I will of course have comprehensive travel insurance for us both, so that you will be covered for medical and other expenses.

"But say the worst happens, from my point of view anyway, and I get killed or arrested or hospitalised for a long period, then your tenure as my companion would obviously be over, but Katherine's binding instructions would pay the next bonus amount into your account. You could then come home or travel elsewhere using the air ticket, but you would have to pay any other expenses from then on. Does that sound fair?" Frank finished.

"Yes, very much so, and I look forward to hearing more about the proposed trip, which I gather you want to do next year. Is that right?" she replied.

"The actual start date is very flexible, for that matter so is the whole itinerary for the trip. It is now the 10^th of September and I expect the selection process to take about a month to six weeks to finalise. The whole itinerary for the trip will then be worked out mutually between my travelling companion and me and I would expect that finalising the itinerary and making the bookings will take at least a month or so, making it unlikely that we could leave much before early December or possibly as late as January.

"Now while there are a number of things that I want to do and places I want to go to, I also want input from my companion so that we can build the plan between us. For example you might want to go shopping while I enjoy a beer in some particular hotel, but I would expect to accompany you to a museum that you want to see even if it's not high on my priorities while I would hope that you would come to see a show I want to see even if it's it was not something that you would normally do. Do you understand what I mean?" Frank asked.

"That all sounds more than fair. But how will this selection process work?" she enquired.

Frank went on to explain that he and Katherine would be interviewing eight girls over today and tomorrow out of all the applicants that had been received. He then expected to select two or possibly three girls at the most that he would invite out for individual no obligation dinner dates so that they could talk at length, one on one, and get to know each other better.

In turn, this could lead to a second date with one or two of them and then, if both he and the girl were still interested, he would invite that girl to go away with him for an all expenses paid holiday at a destination of her choice, preferably within two or three hours flying time. Ideally, they would then spend at least four or five days together, getting to know each other and discussing in more detail what they would like to do on a twelve month holiday together.

If at the end of this short holiday the girl didn't want to continue that would simply be the end of that relationship. On the other hand, if it was Frank that decided that she wasn't who he wanted, he would offer her some compensation for her time, say a couple of thousand dollars. If either of these things happened, Frank would consider asking one of the other girls he had dated, assuming that they had got on alright and repeat the process.