Position Filled

You get home at around seven in the evening after another hard day at work. Your wife Emma has prepared your diner but is sat on an armchair sobbing; she has her face in her hands, unaware you have arrived home. You quietly walk over to her and with a hand on her shoulder you ask her why she?s crying. She tries to speak but she makes no real sense. You try and lift her head as you ask, ?Emma, what?s wrong, what?s up, why the tears?? She lifts her head and the tears streak down her rosy pink cheeks from her blue eyes. Her blond curly hair in a mess; she tries to talk but again makes no coherent sense. You sit beside her and place an arm around her to comfort her. You allow her to come round and tell you in her own time. You have been married for just over a year; it was a wedding not attended by her parents, because they could not afford the flights from Jamaica. Emma?s parents were not very happy saying you were both too young. Although you were twenty five and she was twenty two when you got married, you both felt it was the right future for you both. But it has not been easy financially to break away and set up home on your own. You both liked the street you lived in and as a mixed race couple you were both accepted happily into the neighbourhood. You stand up and fetch some tissues for Emma?s watery eyes. You kiss her forehead with a couple of tender kisses. She looks straight into your eyes and says, ?The place burnt down and I?ve lost my job.? Emma worked in a small family run business, where she helped out with the orders. She is a friend of the owner. But because of the disaster, the owners cannot afford to rebuild and restart the business; more so that the elderly owner was thinking of retiring soon anyway. He told Emma that the insurance money he would get will be his retirement fund, and unfortunately not for a rebuild. You are not that well off and you both need each other to be bringing in money. You already work long hard hours as a labourer at a building site, a new job for you there. The next couple of months are very difficult to get through, only having money to pay for essentials, no luxuries, not that you and Emma indulged in anything extravagant. At work you hear a position for a secretary has become available. But you think it?s already been allocated to a friend of the boss. This was a new boss there too, he only started last week. But you wonder if you could put Emma?s name forward, not that you were on any special relations with the boss. But you want to help Emma as she feels so low. You go into work as usual and as you pass the site office your boss is pulling up in his car. You put up your hand and say, ?Morning.? almanbahis şikayet But he just looks at you and grunts while he gets out of the car and walks to his Porto cabin office. You walk on and wonder if it?s a good idea to bother him with your problem. The morning goes by and every time you pass the office, all you hear from within is him shouting at someone; either someone in the office with him, or on the phone. You can make this out through the dirty office window. Lunch time and he has come out of the office and is stood in the open doorway. As you are passing he shouts out, ?Hey you come here.? You walk up to him and say, ?Yes sir can I help you?? He gives you some money and says, ?Here get me a bacon sandwich and a cup of coffee. Be quick I haven?t much time.? You take the money and go to fetch him what he requested. On your return, you knock on the door with your hands laden with his items. He shouts out, ?Come in.? You open the door and walk in; he looks up with a very stern look on his face and says, ?Put it on the table over there.? Your boss is white, he is older than you at forty one; he?s not slim but not that fat, well-built fairy tall and always with a very serious look. His face looks weathered, his eyes very steely, his tone very strict, and his attitude was always harsh. You place his lunch on the table and take a deep breath, you swallow. He has his head down and going through some papers. You just stand there and he looks up and says, ?That?s it you can go.? You still stand there not knowing what to say, how to ask. He looks up again and with a sterner tone says, ?Well what is it, I said you can go.? You want to ask about the position for Emma, but you choke and hold out your hand and say, ?Your change sir.? He grunts and says, ?Just leave it there as well, on the table.? You turn sideways and put the money on the table and slowly turn again to face him. You take a step closer to his desk. Your heart races, you feel hot, your palms perspire. He looks up and almost shouts at you, ?What is it now.? You know in your mind you need Emma to have a job, some money coming in, just to pay the monthly bills so that you both can survive. You again swallow and say, ?Sir?I was wondering?? You cannot finish the sentence; he stands up and again very loudly says, ?What the hell?s the matter with you, can?t you speak.? You think to yourself, ?If I don?t ask now I?ll never have the opportunity, come on, come on, ask.? You make eye contact and he scares you to the bone, but you manage to utter out in almost a whisper, ?Sir the position for secretary, my wife would be interested.? He stares at you, you feel utterly weak. almanbahis canlı casino He thinks and then says, ?It?s filled.? You know in your mind that it?s not; he?s got this other person already lined up. You know you are desperate. You almost plead with him, ?Please sir, please give her a chance.? He still stares with a stern expression and says, ?I said it?s filled.? You almost have tears in your eyes but know that would be a very weak signal to him, your mouth is dry, but you swallow. You know that Emma?s not happy being at home, not working, and you both need the money. She has had several interviews and not got anywhere. And lately even the interviews have not come along. Again you say, ?Please sir just a short interview, you don?t have to spend too much of your time.? Your boss looks down to his desk and you say, ?Please see her, you?ll be happy with her, she works really hard.? He looks up very slowly, he sees you with your hands clasped in front of you, not crying but do look very sorry for yourself. He says, ?Look here? okay, I?ll see her for a chat? tomorrow lunchtime ask her to come in, ten minutes, that?s all.? Your face lights up and with a broad smile you cannot thank him enough, ?Oh thank you sir thank you. She?ll be so happy; you?ll see she?s just right for the job? thank you.? He says, ?It?s just a chat, no guarantees you understand.? You take small steps backwards as you almost bow out and say, ?Thank you, thank you.? You go back to your work and have the biggest smile for the longest period. You can?t wait to get home and tell Emma. You rush home and Emma is in the kitchen preparing your meal. You rush up to her and give her a big hug and say with joy, ?He?ll see you tomorrow, for that job I told you about.? Emma smiles, in her heart she knows she won?t get it because you already told her about the other person for that job, but nonetheless she smiles with you for your joy and says, ?That?s nice of him.? You say, ?Tomorrow lunchtime, his office.? The next day as you leave early you say to her, ?Don?t forget, lunchtime.? She laughs and says, ?Yes, yes, as if I?d forget.? When you get to work, there is a very large lorry on site. It has the new equipment on it, the pile-driver for the deep footings needed for the pillars of the building. It gets put up and starts its job late in the morning, it?s very noisy. You go about your work and have to wear ear defenders. You keep looking at your watch, it?s close to lunchtime. Your mind is on when she?s coming, you keep looking at the main gate where she will come through. It?s nearly time; you look towards the office, you see your boss waving his arm at you, wanting almanbahis casino you to come to him. You run across the muddy yard to him and he steps back into the office, you follow him in and take off your ear defenders. The noise is still very loud even with the door closed. But you know what he wants, as he holds out some money and says, ?Get me a bacon sandwich and a coffee.? You hardly hear him, but you know what he wants; you take the money and say to him, ?Emma, should be here soon.? You wonder if he heard you, you shout out again, ?Emma, she should be here soon.? He waves his hand for you to go. You run out and go to fetch his lunch. You?ve been gone for fifteen minutes and on your return, you knock on the door and go in. You see Emma sat on a chair; you look at each other and smile. You look at your boss and he says nothing, he points to the table for you to leave his lunch. The noise from the yard is still loud, but now there are small breaks where you can just hear each other talk for short periods. You see your boss has a smile on his face and he says, ?I didn?t realise your wife was?? But he stops in mid-sentence; you finish the sentence off in your head, ?White.? He looks across to her and says, ?Very pretty.? You are black and he expected your wife to be black also. The noise outside starts again; he waves at you and says, ?Okay, you can go about your work now.? You look at Emma and give her a comforting smile as you leave. As you work outside you keep looking at the office to see when Emma comes out. Then one of the supervisors asks you to do something over the other side of the site. It?ll take you some time to get it done and you can?t see the office from over there. You work as quickly as possible so you can get back as quick as possible to see when she leaves. You know that you will probably have missed her, as your boss said he will only spend ten minutes with her. When you finish over the other side fifteen minutes later, you rush back and notice your boss?s car is not there. You run up to the window and wipe away the dusty layer on it and look in, no one in there. You go to try the door but it?s locked. You say to yourself, they must have finished and she?s gone home and your boss must have gone off somewhere. You drop back and notice it?s still a little while for you to finish work. Time moves slowly as you keep checking you watch, over and over again. Then its time, you clock out and rush home. You can?t wait to ask Emma how she got on! Did she get the job? Your head tells you the other person had already got the job even before your boss saw Emma today. But your heart wants to believe Emma got it. Your heart is singing all the way home as you hope she has got it and would be so happy. Your face shines for her happiness, you walk quickly with a skip in your step. But then the smile you had on your face all afternoon disappears, giving way to a quirked look.