A Desk Job - Chapter 1, Part 1
Fenton adjusted his tie again, easily the fourth such fiddling in as many minutes. Only a half-windsor knot, the best he could muster. It hung loosely at an odd angle and he knew everyone was staring at it. It wasn’t his fault the YouTube video for full-windsor knots was so damn hard to follow.
Sweat beaded under his white dress shirt, making visible stains around his collar and under arms. He didn’t interview well. The youth knew everyone said that, but he also knew he had to be a special exception. The words never came to him: he’d answer wrong, he’d stare blankly at the interviewers, once he even got up and excused him self for being so humiliated by the process.
He was uncertain why he’d even applied and then arrived at this interview. Didn’t most secretarial positions go to pretty young women? With a narrow, effeminate face, large lips, and a lithe frame he was pretty, but the young woman part was a stretch. Fenton’s thick, black rimmed glasses only furthered the image of a spinster librarian - shy but still worth a look.
What did he have to lose? He needed a job - any job - and the listing had not listed any requirements he did not have. In fact, it didn’t really list any requirements at all:
Opening for front desk at busy interior design firm. Apply in person for permanent position.
So here he sat in the design offices of Appearances by X, waiting nervously for the door to swing open and the interview to begin. A part of him said just to leave, that he would not get this job either. Another vainly optimistic part said this was it, this would be the job.