Xene jumped in. “We should ask—are you interested in the assignment, Nicole?”
Was she kidding? Xene had a reputation for helping Juno grads find good jobs, but she’d been upfront with me from the start that my young age—twenty— and lack of real-world experience would be a problem. She’d told me I’d probably have to take some crap assignments for a few years to build my resume and my reputation. This job was like waking up Christmas morning to a giant, bow-topped car in the driveway.
I made eye contact with each person at the table and offered them what I hoped was my most confident and professional look. “Absolutely.”
“Good,” Xene said. “Unless there are other questions, we should allow the Venkatesans to get on with their evening.”
We all stood.
“I have a question first,” Ms. Venkatesan said. We sank back into our chairs. “You will give us what we want or find your family underground. That’s what those people said to my husband. The threat does not sound vague to me.” Her skin had turned sallow, and her eyes glittered with tears. I could smell the iron waves of fear coming off her. “If my daughter is truly in danger from these people, will you . . .?”
Her voice trailed off, but I understood. She had a simple question, and I had a simple answer.
I knew barely anything about Veena except that she was on the cover of People magazine at age sixteen, she was an Olympic hopeful, and she must not mind being cold. She probably had a huge head from being so successful, she might be a massive pain in the ass if she didn’t want security around . . . and guarding her was about to be my number one priority.
“I promise you, Ms. Venkatesan: I’ll do everything I can to protect Veena. Whatever it takes.”
And I meant every word.
Two
Xene walked the clients out to the parking lot. As they left, Ms. Venkatesan wiped tears from her eyes. I turned to Brown with a polite smile, but he only sighed.
“It would appear I’m stuck with you.” He wasn’t joking.
My smile faded away, and I swallowed any choice words I would have used if I’d been talking to anyone else. I’d been dreaming of this day for years. Pissing off my new boss in the first minute would be ignorant.
“I can tell I’m not exactly what you were hoping for, sir, but I’ll do everything possible to make sure you won’t regret the decision.”
He stared me down. “Too late.”
I tugged on the hem of my suit jacket and stood up straighter. “Well, I’ll do my best.”
He looked at his watch. “I have to fly back to Denver in an hour, but I’ll be in touch tonight with your offer, contract, and travel plans. I need you in Vail by Monday.”
Two days from now? It didn’t give me much time.
“You know how to study?” he asked.
“I graduated tonight,” I shot back.
He leaned his hip against the table, arms crossed. “I don’t mean the assignment. You better know how to prepare for that. I mean school. Your teachers and classmates at VMA will expect you to complete homework, take tests, and answer questions in class.”
I froze. Seriously?
“I hope you can swim, too,” Brown said.
Swim? At a ski school? “Why?”
He patted me on the shoulder like a kid. “Because, Rossi, you’re in way over your head.”
Xene came through the door, her eyes darting from Brown to me. “Everything all right?”
“I think we understand each other. Thank you for your help, Xene.” Brown shook her hand and strolled out.
The door closed, and I forced my angry breathing to slow. My temples throbbed like someone had jammed their fingers in them.
“Nicole.” Xene shook my hand with enthusiasm. “Sygharitiria. Congratulations.”
I collapsed into my seat, and a huge grin stretched across my face. “Did that just happen? Did I really get a CPO job?”
She lowered herself into the chair beside me. I always felt like one of those wobbly baby giraffes or horses next to her. She was graceful, even athletic, for her age.
“You should know . . . if Veena had not insisted on a young woman, and if Brown could have found anyone with experience who wasn’t already committed, he never would have hired you for this job.”
“Yeah, he made that pretty clear while you were gone.”
“I would not have hired you either.”
My confidence took another nosedive.
Xene continued. “You are newly certified, inexperienced, and although this shouldn’t matter, female.”
She’d talked with our class about this before, as we’d advanced through the course. As far as the mostly male old guard in the industry was concerned, I had three huge black marks against me: young, inexperienced, and female. Xene made sure all of her students at Juno understood what we’d face in this field as women. She’d put up with worse in her day.
I chewed on my lip. Should I have thought more about the assignment before taking it? Was it a bad idea?
She seemed to read my mind. “Understand me. I have full confidence in your training and acquired skills. You did well in the test for the clients today despite how it ended. But you haven’t had the time or experience to develop your decision-making.” In other words, I had skills but no judgment. “I would not have put you under this kind of pressure so soon.”
She paused as her words hit home, and then leaned toward me. “You’ll have Brown and the other members of your support team on site. Use them. Use their experience. They can help you. And I will offer something I don’t often extend to graduates of my program. You’ll have me, by phone, whenever you need me. Call me anytime, day or night, when you have questions or need advice.”
“Thank you, Xene. For everything.”
“Your performance, good or bad, reflects on this institution and on me. Make us proud.”
She shook my hand again,
