"Lastly," my boss said, concluding our team huddle, "I have some good news. The new girl, Amy, starts Monday. Mark, as we discussed, I'll need you to introduce her around, show her the ropes."
"Great," I thought. Glenn, one of the other sales managers, had unexpectedly quit nearly four months ago, and the search for his replacement took way longer than expected. As a result, everyone on the team was absolutely buried. Especially me, since I had taken the majority of his accounts and it was peak season for many of my existing customers. This meant a ton of new orders, but with the attendant service calls, installations, and follow ups, there simply weren't enough hours in the day.
Once she was trained, Amy would be a welcome addition, since she would take all of Glenn's accounts off my plate. At this point, however, a babysitting assignment was the last thing I wanted.
"At least she's cute," I thought, in an effort to console myself. Cute was an understatement. She was gorgeous. With her clear green eyes, flawless tan skin, million dollar smile, and bouncy blond curls cascading down past her shoulders, she'd have been a beauty even if she didn't have the perfect athletic body. Since she did, however, she was basically the whole package.
Luckily, in addition to being good-looking, Amy was a quick study. After just a few weeks of squiring her around, introducing her to our key business partners, and getting her up to speed on our systems, she was ready to fully assume her duties. Thankfully, because my own staggering workload was in dire need of attention.
Several weeks after I'd left Amy to her own devices, I heard her lilting voice approaching my cube. "Hey Stranger! What's the deal? I'm old news now? Don't have time for me anymore?"
"I guess it has been a while." I replied. "But after doing your job for so long, I'm pretty swamped over here." I smiled to let her know I was teasing.
"Haha. Fair enough," she said with a big grin. "but at least tell me you have time for lunch. I'd love to catch up, plus I never got to properly thank you for doing such a good job training me."
"Sorry, wish I could. I'm still way behind, and my busy season won't be over for a couple of weeks. Maybe we can do something then."
She pursed her full lips into a perfect pout. "You suck!" she scolded. I think kiddingly. "Well, how about this? Word on the street is you're a Tech fan. You going to the State game this weekend?"
I'm a Tech alum, and utterly consumed with the fortunes of its teams. Also, the Tech and State campuses are only 15 miles apart, so it's a huge rivalry, and whenever they compete it's a happening.
"Everyone in the state is going to be there this weekend." I replied, trying to sound more funny than condescending. "And I have tickets, so yes, I'll be among them."
"Great!" she said. "I'm not privileged enough to have tickets," she continued, mocking my tone, "but Dave and I will be down there tailgating. You should stop by. A couple of beers is the least I could do for taking me under your wing those first few weeks."
"Sounds like a plan." I said. "My wife is going out of town this weekend, so you won't get to meet her, but my buddy Steve and I will be making the rounds. Just text me when you get down there and let me know where you are and I'll drop by."
Come Saturday, we started even earlier than usual, and several drinks in I'd all but forgotten Amy's offer. Around noon, however, my phone buzzed. I retrieved it from my pocket to find her text.
"Hey Stud!" it teased. "You gonna come see me?"
"Sure." I typed back, "Where are you guys?"
"In the big field south of the stadium."
"Oh, okay. That narrows it down to about 2,000 tailgate spots."
"We have an orange tent."
"Great, that gets it down to 1,000 to sort through. Much better."
"Stop it. Just text me when you're in the area and we'll figure it out."
Twenty minutes later, I heard that voice. "MAAAAAAARRRRRRKKKKK!!!!!!! Over here!!!!!!!!!"
I was blown away. I already knew she was hot, but I don't know that anyone's looked more resplendent in a more basic outfit. She wore a ladies cut jersey that was cropped enough to reveal hints of her flat belly and her cutoff jean shorts showed as much of those toned legs as they could without risking arrest.