Free My White Hero by J A Fielding Page A

interview, that would never happen. “But I should know whether I get to be the ass man or not in the next hour,” she said.
    “ Ass man?” Taylor asked. She could hear the confusion in his voice.
    “ Assistant manager is way too long for the tag so it’s usually shortened to ass man,” she explained as she put up finger quotes almost as if he could see her.
    “ Oh. I’ve got to keep up with the lingo,” he said just as one of the junior attendants walked up to her.
    “ They need you inside, Dee,” the short woman said with a smile before quickly walking back inside. Desiree’s smile quickly died down.
    “ I’ve got to go. They are calling for me,” she said as she clenched and unclenched her fist in a bid to reduce the tension.
    “ Okay, I’m almost done here anyway. Good luck to you, babe. Call me when you are done,” Taylor said.
    “ Will do,” she said before she hung up. As she walked back in, she could feel her heart beating almost as loudly as the music in the store. She walked past the customer care desk almost robotically. The girl behind the desk said something to her, but in her own realm of wild thoughts, Desiree did not hear her but smiled courteously as she walked past. When she got outside the manager’s office, she took a couple of deep breaths before she knocked gently on the door.
    “ Come in,” she heard Mark Simmons’ familiar voice beckoning her in. She slowly walked inside and smiled at the two men again. She had done everything right, from the navy blue pencil dress to the gold rimmed heels she wore. Mark pointed at the seat in front of the desk and smiled. “Please,” he said looking at her.
    “ Thank you,” she said in a small voice as she looked at the other important man in the room, Greg Paul.
    “ Well, Miss Young, I must say that meeting you today was somewhat…” Greg took a long pause, a rather unnerving long pause. She tried hard to look composed as Greg tried to find the right words to say. “Interesting,” he finally said. She looked at him and smiled.
    “ Thank you sir,” she said not sure whether he was being sarcastic or paying her a genuine compliment.
    “ When I tell you what I am about to tell you, Mr. Simmons here has agreed to let you have the day off because I think you are going to need it. You need to go home, take the phone off the hook and pour yourself a nice glass of wine,” he continued. Somehow, his words seemed to put her more on edge than they were supposed to. “We have interviewed seven candidates and you are the only one who seemed to know everything about this store. That is impressive,” he said with a smile. Desiree smiled and nodded.
    “ I believe it is my duty to do so,” Desiree said.
    “ Well, and that, dear lady, is what put you ahead of all the other finalists,” Greg said. Desiree’s eyes lit up as she looked at the two men.
    “ Do you mean….” She began asking before her words failed her. Mark and Greg nodded. “Oh my god,” she said in a whisper.
    “ Congratulations, Miss Young. You are the new assistant manager at Pay Less. Keep up the good work and soon we will be calling you to the head office,” Greg said. Desiree was confused. She was not sure what to say, how to react or even what to do at that particular moment. She seemed rooted to the ground and tongue tied at the same time.
    “ Thank you, thank you so much,” she said as tears threatened to roll down her cheeks.
    “ You of course understand that this position comes with an added responsibility and a twelve percent pay rise. We believe that you will not let us down,” Greg said as he and Mark stood up and walked towards her. She struggled to get on her feet and shook their hands. “Congratulations,” Greg said.
    “ Yes, Desiree. Congratulations,” Mark said as he shook her hand. Desiree smiled as she looked at them. “Now, get out of here and go do something for yourself,” he said with a smile.
    As she walked out of the office, everything