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The following day university started again, and in the afternoon, she had her first day at her new job at the prestigious event agency. The receptionist opened the door for her, and she got introduced to the team. Two girls, both around their early thirties, one from South London, the other with an Eastern block country accent. The head of digital was not in, as on most days he would delight with his absence. Last but not least, Pippa was introduced to the digital director’s assistant, who, on the other hand, would shine even brighter with his presence. He would be the one Pippa would work closest with, to her delight, which she already knew the moment he shook her hand with such a soft, arrogant, dismissive handshake.
“Welcome Pippa, we are already expecting you. I got lots of projects already waiting for you. Show us how you will delight us here.” Toby, the assistant, pointed to his desk. “Well, you might want to have a seat.”
Pippa could only feel how her stomach acid rushed up and she swallowed it down. Yes, this was exactly what she was looking for; working with the asshole assistant.
“Thank you, Toby.“ She smiled. “Nice to meet you, I am so excited.”
Pippa took a seat, and Toby started explaining his role, since when he was in the company and what important work he was doing, which prestigious clients he worked with and that Pippa’s forerunner had been from the Netherlands and had returned to his study, and he wasn’t really sure if Pippa had what it takes to talk with his important clients.
“But we will see, I have several projects in mind you could work with and then we will see where you fit best,” Toby suggested. Pippa agreed in a friendly manner and repeated.
“Yes, well, let’s see what fits best.” She was impressed by what an asshole this guy was, how someone his age could talk with such arrogance, and she wondered what else he could do besides talk nonsense. It seemed like as more asshole the people to work with, the better the pay. Pippa had forgotten about the idea of simply looking for another job because it was difficult to find one that fit the hours and paid well. Otherwise, she would need to ask her father to support her with her living costs which she wanted to avoid under all circumstances. She was so glad not to need to ask him to support her, despite the fact that, of course, he would pay her lots of extras that made life damn comfortable and allowed her to live in such an area. She would rather have to find a way to get along with this assistant director. Toby kept talking himself into heaven. In between, he was looking at Pippa.
“You are in the third year of your design studies, aren’t you?”
“Yes, and in programming as well.” with her proud voice.
“Very good. I need your help with this then.” Toby nodded. “We are working with a designer and programmer who are specialized in this, and I need a list of all those activities and the payments.” Can you work with Excel?”
Wow, what an eloquent question! Pippa was stunned, sitting on her chair, trying to fake her politeness with a smile.
“Excel? What is this?” she asks jokingly.
“Well, we do a lot of calculations; what did you study?” Toby was asking with his missing sense of humor.
“I was just joking, it is like asking a drawing student if he knows a pencil, isn’t it?” Pippa replies.
“Like a pencil?” Toby repeated. He was lacking the link to Pippa’s comparison, and she thought, let it be.
“Well, yes, I am quite familiar with Excel, Toby. I work daily with the program, for calculations, forecasts, budget calculations, and things like that.” Pippa explained and couldn’t hide her lack of excitement about calculations.
“Good, we will see.” Toby replied. “But entering some data shouldn’t be too difficult, I guess.” He commented. “Well, I have a meeting now. You will come tomorrow afternoon. Here is what you can start with; you will sit at the side of Rebecca at the reception, and she will show you the computer.” Toby finished.
Pippa couldn’t believe her luck with this new job. This was going to be like working in hell. She said goodbye and left the office, texting Tess: “Ready for a drink? Meet me at Kay’s Bar!”
Natalie Hush 