Chapter 1

It was there I first saw Allison in her hurried state of confusion. I was sitting at a bistro style tall table eating my chicken nuggets when I saw her studying the floor and service index and getting on the elevator and then come down and jump on the other elevator in a red faced rush. In a few moments she was back on the second floor again seeming very flustered and fumbling with a cell phone.

It was then I walked over to her and asked, "Do you have ATT phone service?"

"No, and I don't need to be sold. I'm happy with this phone." She said in a hushed shy voice.

"Sweetheart, most other services do not get into this part of the building. Don't ask why, but they don't. If you need to make a call you can use my phone. You seem lost; I only want to help you."

"I have a 1:00 o'clock job interview with Maribel Designs and I'm going to be late. I think I'm in the wrong building." She said again in that small voice.

"They share the 4th floor on B tower with me. I'm Jess Sparkhill, from Sparkhill Shoe Designs. (handing her my card) Come, I'll escort you. Maribel was just Designs Ink until a few months ago and they haven't changed their sign or the registry board." I said as she shyly balked at following me.

"I'm not sure, I don't know you." She said in a wearied whisper.

"Mmmmm, yeah, I had these cards printed in hopes of getting a girl alone on the elevator to the 4th floor. You want the B elevator and get off at the 4th Floor, go to your right. Good luck on your interview." I said exasperated that I couldn't help her as I stepped on the elevator and let the door close.

Suddenly the door reopened and the red faced shy girl got on the car looking down. Afraid to face me.

"I'm sorry, I don't want to be late." She said quietly.

When the door opened at 4 we both got off and she walked away quietly. I called out to her, "Hey, you'll never even get past filling out the application if you don't meet the interviewer with a smile, eye to eye, speak up like you KNOW what you're talking about, and finally press the interviewer for an answer, or promise of a call, or a number you can call back to discuss your disposition with the job. The only person who can sell you is you. Your pretty looks will get a lot of doors opened, your attitude will get them slammed in your face."

She stopped in her tracks and turned to me. "Do I look OK?"

"Yes, you're very pretty and dressed quite nicely. But you look defeated before you start. That big worry line across your forehead doesn't exude confidence. Act like you want the job. Act like the job is yours and he or she is trying to take it away from you. Stand up straight, smile, and project. Show them you're determined. Now good luck and don't fuck up." I told her, using the profanity to insure myself that she heard me. The way her eyes made an exclamation point at the word, she heard me and knew I was serious.

She turned away from me and I saw her talking to herself and suddenly she stood straight and opened the door and strode in as if on a mission. I didn't give her much chance at getting the job.

I had a net meeting with an overseas shipper I used for getting goods in and out of my manufacturing facility, going over possible plans in the event of tensions in the Middle East escalating and shipping lanes being diverted. We had already had a pirate threat the year before but we had a Navy vessel intervene and calm that situation. I had just finished some final face to face Skype talks with my shipper when I saw my Administrative Assistants light flashing on the corner of my screen. That usually meant a call was waiting, or a guest without an appointment was in the outer office and she was waiting for direction. I closed my net meeting and clicked her tab and Rachel's pretty face was on my screen.

"Mr. Sparkhill, a young woman, an Allison McGruder, would like to see you. She presented your card." She said as she switched the picture to the office security cam and I saw the pretty young girl whom I had directed to Maribel Designs earlier.

"Put her in the interview room and I'll be right in." I told her as I got up to grab a drink of water after my long gab on the net meeting.

The interview room was a small room with one table and two chairs that we used for job interviews and like situations. It had no door and was open for anyone to look in. Our litigious society made it necessary to no longer conduct interviews behind closed doors, especially with mixed company. An HR rep I had hired when I was looking for sales people was accused by a woman of propositioning her to get her the job a few years earlier and we just thought it best to have open interviews. The claim was found to be false. I wanted to meet there with her so Rachel didn't think this was a girlfriend or someone I met in a bar. I wanted to remain above board at all times.

I came out into the waiting area and nodded to Rachel and went in the interview room. Allison stood right up and looked to me and said, "Thank You. I'm new here in town. I'm not going to find a place until I know I have a job. I'm living out of a hotel and everything sort of has me overwhelmed. I didn't mean to be so rude before, but I am thankful for your kind words of encouragement. You centered me and reminded me of why I was here. I really was defeated until I heard your words. You reminded me of my Dad."

"How old do you think I am Miss Allison McGruder?"

"Uh, I didn't mean for it to sound that way. I'm 23 almost 24 and you must be 30?" She said with a cute first time smile.

"Glad you smiled, so I know you were kidding, I'm 26." I answered. "So how did you do in the interview? I assume you traveled to get here so you must have come some distance."

"I think I did OK, hard to tell. Look, I've taken up too much of your time. I just wanted to thank you." She said and started to gather her brief to leave.

"I just hope you were credentialed. Mary Belanger doesn't hire just anyone. It will be just her and her new artist with her staff of 3. I know she's interviewed for a month now and only called in a few of the hundreds of resume's she's gotten." I told her.

"You know Mary Belanger?" She said brightening.

"Yes, we see each other at tenants meetings and such." I said, fibbing a bit and not disclosing that she and I date on occasion.

While I was getting the new Sparkhill Shoe Designs back on its feet after closing the factory I was alone with one desk in this suite and Mary was in the other suite with one desk and a drafting table. Once we each got a little cash flow the businesses began to take shape and we went out to celebrate a few times. She had no time for a man in her life and I the same for a woman. But we did share a bed a few times and then got to a more brother and sister kind of relationship. That turned into a love affair and we stood on the precipice of getting REAL serious and she sort of dumped me. We've remained friends and still have had a few "stress relievers", but I can hardly look at her as anything else but my good friend, with a few benefits. She was last dating a city prosecutor from town here, but I don't know how serious she was or is.

"She interviewed me on my credential. I have a four year Bachelor of Arts Degree from Caerenger Miron in Pittsburgh and then went on for my Masters there as well. I had a huge portfolio to send to her." Allison said, beginning to sound proud and confident.

"Well, I hope you did well. You don't look like you could have went to 6 years of college, but if you have the stuff, Mary would be lucky to have someone with as much as you seem to have to offer." I said, knowing I had more calls to make that afternoon.

"Again, Thank You Mr. Sparkhill." She said extending her hand to shake.

"Please call me Jess. I hope I see you around here soon. If not, don't let this town throw you. If you don't find something here, Boston is real close before you go home." I said shaking her hand.

As she walked away I heard her say "As if I had a home."

I met with a few more vendors over the phone that afternoon and I thought about Allison again so I took a little walk over to my neighbor's office at Maribel Designs. Mary was out front speaking to Susan, the receptionist and part time artist when she heard me coming in she turned and smiled.

"Guess what Jess? I think I hired a designer this afternoon. She's young; she's fresh out of school and acts like a real go-getter. I'm going to give her a 30 day trial, working with her. I liked everything about her, and you know how picky I am. She's just a little desperate to find work. She's got two suit cases of clothes, her diploma and little else."

"That's great Mary, I'll bet her name is Allison." I said smartly with a big grin.

"How did you know?" she asked before I told her the tale of meeting her at the elevators.

"Do yourself a favor, find her a furnished place nearby, and not a flop house, give her a fighting chance if you like her so much. See if the Residence Inn is on a bus line. She's living in a hotel here downtown. That's no way to try and fit in." I said already knowing the girls situation.

"Jess? Are you cheating on me?" Mary laughed as if we had been dating.

"No, she was on the brink of tears trying to find your office and she told me more of her story than she should have. With her education she would be worth investing in, I'm just saying." I added.

"I'm just about done here for the night. Meet me downstairs at The Poly for a drink in 15 or 20?" She asked as I nodded to her.

The Poly was a downtown watering hole that was popular for lunch and the early evening with the downtown office crowd. Usually by 9 or 10 it was dead as workers filtered out of town. It was a good place to have a sandwich and a beer for lunch and a cocktail before heading home. If I was meeting Mary there she would probably ask me over or come home with me. We lived in town houses close to each other in the same complex. We weren't really boyfriend/girlfriend, more friends with benefits. We engaged in long sex sessions a few times early on when we thought we were going to be an item, but since we cooled and occasionally we would have a quick screw, sometimes just jerk off for each other. We just didn't have time for a relationship and we were both handy and randy. We were each other's date for a wedding or mutual party. So, we tried being lovers and it didn't work. Now maybe once a month we might join up for a drink and usually, but not always would go home with one another. There were no expectations. Apparently she had no aspirations on a current boyfriend.

At The Poly Mary told me a few things about Allison that she shouldn't have as those interviews were personal. But she did tell me she left the Pittsburgh area because she and her lover had broken up because she was going to have to leave to get work in her field. That was why she had so little with her, she had nothing. She was young and eager and Mary felt she could mold her a bit. Her portfolio had impressive logo and web design work as well as a lot of imaginative art. She also told me that since we talked earlier she booked her into The Residence Inn just off I-290 and only a 10 minute bus ride. She would tell her in the morning with a phone call. After her evaluation period she would help her find an apartment if she kept her.

"You seem pretty sure of her. After all the interviews you've had I didn't think you would ever find someone to pass muster." I sort of kidded her.

"You know Jess, I hired the first qualified body when I advertised last year and I got taken for a ride. This time if I didn't have a feeling about the person, ... no go." She said stabbing her finger in her palm to make her point.

"If you were hiring cute, she would have gotten the job as well. She's a cute little thing. She looks about 18, but I guess she's 24, huh?" I said trying to remember what she had told me.