Give your permission

The whole purpose behind inviting Shaun over here had been to make a favorable impression on him, so declining his request for a tour was out of the question. “Yeah sure, go right ahead. I’ll just finish up in here and take things out to the dining room.” You said, finally nodding in agreement. “Great. Jill, lead the way.” He told her. She started to walk out of the kitchen with him following her. “So, um, this is our living room. Very cozy, this couch actually reclines all the way which is nice, and- Oh! We actually got this painting over here from-” she began to say before you heard Shaun interrupt her. “Actually I got a pretty good look at the first floor on the way in… why don’t you show me around upstairs?” He said, sounding a little impatient. “Oh… yes of course, right this way.” She said, leading him upstairs. That was where both the guest and master bedrooms were, and you had to pause for a moment to remember whether you’d cleaned up those rooms ahead of time. You hadn’t really expected him to be going around the entire house. You decided it should be fine as you turned your attention to the food.

It only took a few more minutes to get everything finished up in the kitchen, and soon you were carrying things out and setting them on the table. You heard a thud from upstairs, like something falling and hitting the ground. You wondered if someone had knocked something over, and hoped nothing was broken. You sat down at the dining room table and waited, thinking to yourself that it shouldn’t take very long for the two of them to finish up their quick little tour and return. Especially since he’d only shown an interest in the upstairs. You thought about going upstairs and collecting them, since everything was ready now, but decided it was better not to interrupt. That was probably the wrong choice, since the food was starting to get a little lukewarm when they finally walked into the dining room to join you after somewhere between five and ten minutes. Shaun had an air of smug confidence about him as he sat down and took a sip of his wine, letting out a satisfied “Ah…” as he enjoyed the taste. Jill seemed a little quieter than she had been before the tour, seeming to focus all of her attention towards the food on her plate. Her face seemed a little flushed, and at first she made only brief, momentary eye contact with you.

“Thank you for waiting, and for preparing the table Andy.” Shaun said with a smile, turning his eyes towards Jill. “You have a beautiful home. I’m very impressed.” He said, and you felt a surge of hope at this. “I’m glad you think so. We’re quite happy with the house, and the area.” You said, trying your best to sound modest as you turned to Jill to hear her response. She seemed very distracted, and you couldn’t help but feel that something was different about her, not just in her demeanor but something in her appearance as well. She looked up from her food and her eyes widened. “Hmm? Oh, yes- we really like this place. We toured so many properties, but this one was just perfect. The location, the price, the um… size.” She said, hesitating in saying that last point as Shaun listened to her and smirked. Her eyes widened and she glanced towards you. “You know, the square footage.” She said, clarifying. She looked back down at her food, and you realized what was different. When Shaun had first arrived she’d had on that bright red lipstick, but it had either faded now or she’d removed it. Her lips were now mostly back to their normal color. Maybe she’d thought it was too much?

Your thinking about this change was interrupted when Shaun cleared his throat. “Sorry to keep you waiting earlier Andy, but the truth is that Jill and I had a very productive conversation during our little tour.” He said, and Jill looked up at him, seeming a little on edge. “Oh really? What were you guys talking about?” You asked, and Jill shrugged. “Oh, a lot of different things.” She said vaguely, and Shaun’s expression suddenly became more serious. “I’m talking about the job offer.” He said sternly, and Jill looked at him and then you, nodding slowly. “Yeah! Shaun here, um… he told me that since your branch of the company is reorganizing, there were going to be some new positions opening up. He was- well, he was telling me about how he was in the market for a secretary now.” She said slowly. Shaun laughed. “Well… that opening is filled now.” He said, grinning at her. Her face flushed again, and you looked between them incredulously. “Wait a minute, you’re saying- are you saying you want to hire Jill?” You asked in complete surprise. Shaun nodded his head. “I had a chance to assess Jill’s qualifications, and I think it’s a perfect fit. I can definitely use someone like her around the office.” He said, and she smiled at you, though it looked a little ****. “Isn’t that great news honey?” She asked you, sounding uncertain.

This was all so sudden that you didn’t even really know what to say. There were a million questions in your mind: How was the pay? Could Shaun really just hire new staff so casually? What exactly would the work entail? But the purpose of the night had been to get into Shaun’s good graces, and that had very clearly been accomplished if he was so charmed that he wanted to hire Jill. Clearly this was a positive development and you needed to encourage the situation. “Wow… yeah! That’s awesome. But, uh- you know Jill does have a job currently, right?” You asked, and Shaun waved a dismissive hand. “This will pay substantially better, don’t worry.” Shaun said, taking another sip of his wine. And so it was settled. Jill worked for Shaun now.