I call my other assistant, Sandy. I say she’s my other assistant, but I rarely work directly with her. If anything, she's Sierra's assistant as Sierra is the one who organizes her workload and gives her all of her tasks based on what Sierra instinctively knows I need doing.
“Good Morning, you’ve reached…” Sandy says as she takes the call.
“Sandy, it’s Chance,” I interrupt her.
“Oh, Mr. Hunter. Umm, is everything o-okay?” she stutters. She’s clearly shocked that I am calling on her.
“Everything’s fine. I have a meeting in ten minutes, but I need to know who it’s with and have the relevant paperwork brought to me,” I say.
“Okay,” she replies. “Sierra is dealing with that, and—”
“And now you’re dealing with it,” I cut her off again. “Please bring me the information.”
I end the call and massage my temples. I feel kind of bad for Sandy, but it’s not like I’m asking her to do anything outside of her job description. I know Sierra will have everything ready, Sandy will just need to collect the things I’ve asked for.
A couple of minutes later, there’s a tap on my door.
“Come in,” I call.
The door opens and Sandy comes in looking a little flustered. She’s holding a stack of papers which she places on my desk in front of me. “Those are the files you asked for. The meeting is with Eric Rutherford and it’s about a potential new trade deal. He runs Rutherford’s Interiors and you were interested in purchasing wall coverings from him as he’s a little cheaper than your current supplier for the same quality products.”
I remember now. I remembered when she said his name. Sierra would have known this and not felt the need to waste my time on Eric’s back story. I chastise myself, telling myself to give Sandy some slack. It’s not her fault she doesn’t know how I work. I’m the one who has kept her at arm’s length all of the time she’s been here, dealing only with Sierra. “Thank you,” I say.
She smiles, her cheeks flushing slightly. “Mr. Rutherford is in reception now. Would you like me to show him in?”
“Yes, please.”
She nods and practically runs from my office. She returns quickly, Mr. Rutherford in tow, and when she introduces him, her nerves seem to have gone. She’s obviously more at home with people than files. She asks if we would like any refreshments.
Eric says no, and so I do as well. Sandy leaves the office and Eric and I begin to talk about what a deal between us would look like.
The meeting goes well and by the end of it, when Eric and I shake hands, we have a deal in place. One that will save the company thousands of dollars, and one that will clearly make Eric a good chunk of money too. These are the deals I relish. The ones where both parties win completely and there will be no hassle anywhere down the line.
“Thanks again Eric. I look forward to us working together. I’ll have my assistant put together the paperwork and fax you over a copy.”
“It’s my pleasure.” He smiles. “I’m looking forward to it too.” I see him out of the office, purposely avoiding letting my eyes scan the area where Sierra and the other assistants work. I go back into my office quickly and call Sandy. She recognizes the number this time and answers with a, “Yes, Mr. Hunter” instead of the company greeting.
I ask her to get the paperwork ready for Eric and to fax it over. She agrees and I settle back into my chair to start making some calls. As I make my calls, I call on Sandy for several pieces of information, none of which she knows without having to check with Sierra, and then I ask her to schedule a meeting for me for next week.
When I’ve finished making my calls, I start on my paper inbox, looking over several memos and studying a design idea from one of my designers. I make a few notes on the design and put it in my outbox. I call Sandy to come and collect it and return it.
She appears in my office.
I hand her the design. “This is one of Patrick’s. Tell him to take note of the comments I’ve made and to come to me if he has any questions.”
“Okay,” she says.
She’s heading for the door when I remember I wanted to ask her about Eric’s paperwork too. “Sandy?” I say.
She stops and turns back to me, waiting to see what I want.
“Did you send Eric his fax yet? I haven’t heard from him and he said he’d confirm with me when he received it.”
“Not yet,” she says.
I frown. “Why not?” I demand.
“Umm…” She doesn’t say anything else, but I can see by her face that she wants to.
“Why not?” I repeat. “Be honest.”
She sighs and her face gets a look of resignation on it, a look that says she’s going to be honest but that she thinks she’ll regret it. “I have a lot of work to get through today Mr. Hunter. I’m not complaining about that. I like to be kept busy. Mr. Rutherford’s papers have become a top priority. But…”She stops, looking down at her feet.
“But what?” I demand.
She looks back up at me and she’s angry. “But you keep stopping me by asking for clarifications and bookings. The things you’re asking me for are all things Sierra deals with and what would be a two second job for her to pull up the information is a twenty minute job for me where I have to redo things Sierra has already done.”
I feel a surge of anger inside of myself. It’s not about Sandy. Not really. I’m angry at myself because I know she’s right. I am wasting everyone’s time because of this
