Janie turned up for her first day of work wearing a knee-length skirt, a plain white blouse, a thick black cardigan and her long, tasselled hair tamed into a tight bun. Considering she was only 21, Janie looked like a 50 year old woman.
Janie set to work, organizing her in and out trays and getting to grips with her new computer. She went to the canteen at her lunch hour and bought a pre-packed sandwich. She took it back to her desk and continued working.
At 5pm, Janie got her keys and went to the car park. A gleaming, silver Mercedes was parked next to her old, red Nissan. A young, professional-looking man was putting his briefcase in the trunk. He glanced over at Janie and smiled. He closed the trunk and walked over to her.
"You know you don't have to dress like that here. Smart-casual will do. And we're not a grocer's; you can let your hair down." He explained.
"Oh... Ok, thanks. I just thought I'd play it safe. It's my first day." Janie told him.
"That's ok. But I expect to see a lot more flesh by tomorrow. I'm Martin, by the way." He said.
"Janie. Thanks for the advice. I guess I'll see you tomorrow then." Janie gestured.
"See you then." Martin said. He then went and got in his car and drove out of the car park. Janie watched him go, and then got into her car. She looked in the rear-view mirror and saw how old and boring she looked. She smirked at herself, and then drove off.
The next day, Janie wore high-heels, a short but smart black skirt, a white blouse with the top two buttons undone and she had left her hair down, her brown tassels trying to find their way to her cleavage.
Janie got to her desk and began sorting through her morning files, placing the most urgent on top, and proceeding to type, print and fax them. Suddenly, her intercom buzzed and Janie heard her boss's voice.
"Miss Taylor, could you step into my office for a moment? I have a question about these references you gave me." He said. Janie gulped and stood up. She brushed her skirt down and went over to her boss's office door. She knocked and waited to be asked to come in. She opened the door at stood in front of her boss's desk. He was facing away from her in his swivel chair. Janie coughed, and he spun around. Janie gasped when she saw him.
"Ah, Janie. Hope you've settled in ok. Now then, this reference says you've been trained in business consultation skills, correct?" Martin, her boss, asked.
"Errmm... Yes... I did a course in it." Janie replied, wondering whether Martin even recognized her after their meeting last night.
"Well I'd like you to stay a little later tonight if you don't mind. We've got a conference coming up and you're the only one here qualified to give a talk on sales. I'll brief you on the basics tonight. Can you work till, say... 6pm?" Martin asked.
"Well, yes, but I've only been here two days... I don't really think I should be going to any conferences until I've been here a bit longer, Sir." Janie replied.
"And that is why you're going to do some overtime. You've got two weeks to get to grips with the company, and prepare yourself for the meeting. An hour every day after work and you should be well prepared." Martin stated.
