Graduation and First Job (1)

January 23, 2009 Writer's Cramp entry.
Prompt: What did you do on January 23, 2002?

Graduation and First Job

“Today is our last day! We’re finished with the course, ready to tackle the working world,” Kathy Montalto told her roommate Marcia Stiles.

Marcia held on to her coffee cup. She hated early mornings. If it weren’t for Kathy she wouldn’t have made it through the class. High school had been hard enough to keep up with. This accelerated course over summer, fall and into winter, had forced her to wake up earlier than normal for months. Marcia’s only hope was that offices didn’t need secretaries at the crack of dawn. She preferred to get to work late and stay into the evening.

On this cold 23rd day of January in 2002, snowflakes tumbled lazily out of the sky, silently covering parked cars, trees and sidewalks. The two young women walked huddled in hats and long coats to the bus stop where some of the snow had been crushed into ice by waiting feet.

Kathy and Marcia both received letters of course completion with their report cards. A formal ceremony in which they would walk across a stage was planned for summer, when chairs could be put on the lawn for proud parents to see their offspring receive a festive send-off into the world. Ironically the class graduating today would have been working for months already by the time that event rolled around.

Kathy and Marcia took their certificates around town, to find jobs. Marcia got hired by an attorney who wanted her to answer the phones and process outgoing mail in the afternoon, a perfect position for her.

Poseidon Security Corporation, a company dedicated to providing superior personal safety to wealthy clients, gave Kathy a probationary position. She was to assist a Mr. Conrad Miller in all his paperwork. He wasn’t very high in the company hierarchy, but it was cheaper to have Kathy do his paperwork than pay him overtime to do it.

At night Kathy and Marcia compared their jobs.

“Herbert is fantastic. He took me out for tea. Then he went to visit a client in prison. That must be exciting. I wonder if he’ll ever take me to see that place. He and I hit it off right away. He wants us to be on first name terms, totally relaxed. ” Marcia babbled about her day.

Kathy smiled at her exuberant friend. She was just as elated to have found work in such a short time. “Mr. Miller is gone most of the day. He sends me audio clips to transcribe. It’s easy work. Technically we share his office, but like I said, I’ll rarely see him.”

“Is he hot? I bet cops are tough and sporty,” Marcia asked with shiny eyes.

Kathy blushed, her pale complexion turning into a rich shade of pink. “He’s married and has a little son, Brett. There are pictures of him all over his office.”

“Too bad,” Marcia said slowly. “Herbert isn’t married but he’s too old. You wanna go back job hunting soon?”

“Why? Poseidon pays a fair wage and I’ll get benefits starting February first.”

“Benefits? Are you nuts? A woman doesn’t become a secretary to make a career out of it! You find a guy at work, get married and then you make sure he hires an old fat gal to do his paperwork.”

Kathy laughed at Marcia’s outlook on life. Serious she said, “You do that. I want to live before I let a man tie me down.”

Words 570