Atharva was on time. Mrs Briggs had already finished breakfast, enjoying some delicious drink. Good time to conduct interview.
"Hah, Atharva. You are just in time."
"Good morning, Mrs Briggs."
"Call me Susan." She ordered boldly. Her grey hairs didn't deter her poise and power. She was a dowager who had retired graciously but she still had lots of power.
"I think not Mrs Briggs. You may become my employer later on. It would be rude of me to talk to you so."
Mrs Briggs grinned happily. "Come sit. Green froth is good here. Or you may try Merry punch. I've heard that it's favourite among young people."
Atharva sat down. He did order the famous Merry punch. It would indeed look odd if he was sitting or standing, discussing things while she sat and sipped whatever that was.
"I want to confirm one thing. You are indeed A Murphy, right?"
"Yes. I am indeed A Murphy. Atharva Singhvi is also part of my name. I can send you my citizen ID card!" He added helpfully. It was serendipity that he used name Atharva Singhvi everywhere in Saint Augustine. Else everyone would have known about him, few minutes after the results were published.
"So...?" Susan Briggs started the meeting.
"Mrs Briggs. You had given me carte blanche to me regarding the job. Can you atleast tell me your expectations?"
"I'll be blunt. If you were a girl, I would have called you perfect wife material just based on courses you took. With the results, you are now indeed a perfect wife material, regardless of your gender."
"...." Colour him gobsmacked. Good thing that he was yet to drink. What sort of complement is this? "I thought perfect wife material has beauty, money, connection and manners." He replied finally.
Mrs Briggs smiled. "Manners, you can learn. You can pay someone to teach. Once you have money, you can forge connections and become a beauty. In the end, everything boils down to money. Right?"
Something was wrong in this scenario. "If you say so. Bas d on what you just said, as long as I have money, I'll be perfect wife material. Unfortunately, I don't have that money."
"So you become the next best thing possible. Become a personal assistant. I always felt like wife is a personal assistant with whom you sleep legally."
Deep waters. There is absolutely no need to think when such a great lady would have such an opinion.
"As I don't have any ideas to make money and be a boss, I too think I would make a good personal assistant."
" Yes, the courses you took means that you will be indeed a good personal assistant." Mrs Briggs had indeed said something similar before. "So, are you applying to be personal assistant?"
"You have someone in mind?" Atharva asked. He could make some absurd demands while the issue was hot. People are fickle. They would forget front page news in a day or two. An extraordinary student from Saint Augustine would be worth just few more words later on. When he was in demand, he can ask and test the limit.
" Sure. I have thought long and hard on this matter. One - you work under me, directly. Be a part of my team. You will have maximum exposure and first hand experience of how people like us deal with matters.
Problem is you may have to struggle to understand the things. Also, the chances of promotion is very miniscule."
Atharva nodded. Ofcourse she would have assistant team. Obviously, the chances of promotion very less. Unless someone got really good offer, the probability of which was, as mentioned before, very miniscule, there was very little chance of promotion.
Mrs Briggs continued, "Next option is for you to work for CEOs. Obviously, there will be lots of competition and your college honours won't be worth a piece of paper when placed against years of experience."
Atharva accepted that explanation too. Years of experience was indeed worth more than college degrees.
Mrs Briggs continued, " Next option is to grab hold of a golden thigh and reach the peak along with him."
In the end, it comes to the same starting point. Find a good boss.
"I have few youngsters in my family who have the capacity and capability to reach far. You can work under any of them."
Bingo! The exact reason why he wanted this meeting. A business maverick with years of experience says these kids can travel far, they will travel far. Only thing left is to find a boss who is not an *sshole to his personal assistant. Just because Mrs Briggs was good, it didn't mean her family members were also like that.
If it was one day before, this should have been a happy ending to Atharva. Now, it was a path with a huge road block.
"Mrs Briggs, I have a huge problem."
" I hope you are not talking about the education loan!" Mrs Briggs said while sipping her drink.
"I have enough belief in Saint Augustine in regards to that. The problem is that I can work only in working hours."
Mrs Briggs looked up puzzled.
"The very definition of personal assistant is that, this person shall assist even in personal matters. Currently I won't be able to do so. So, among all the youngsters you had chosen, does anyone need a perfect or striving to be perfect assistant who will work only during regular working hours?"
"That's .... that's quite a tall order."
"I know. I apologise for imposing on Mrs Briggs, but I am truly unable to work after regular working hours. Though the situation might change in future, I cannot guarantee it. You are graciously enough to show me the way, so please guide me further."
If this was ancient drama, he would have surely bowed deep enough after saying this. Thankfully, this was a modern society and Atharva's back was saved.
Mrs Briggs was pondering. Here was a good seed, worthy of nurturing. But why was he so weird? It was something similar to how he was when he met her to deposit credits towards education loan. Good, happy, uplifting one moment and suddenly a jarring contradiction.
Happy to accept the job. But it has to strict working hours. Which personal assistant works only in working hours? Especially when the boss is still taking baby steps. This is the time when a good personal assistant shows his worth, placing foundations, making groundwork and forging connections. These were the plus points for a good personal assistant and only in this area was Atharva good. Now, he wants to discard this good card? Without this, he would be a mediocre person at best.