Mrs. Gable watched me drop the portrait into the bin, then asked whether Ryan knew I was leaving. By noon, her gossip had reached half the block. One useful fact came back with it: Gallagher Realty needed an assistant immediately.
The next afternoon, the glass door of the agency swung shut behind me. Inside, the office was a war zone. Phones rang incessantly from three different desks. A printer in the corner jammed, spitting out crumpled sheets of paper.
A man in a sharp gray suit stood in the center of the room, rubbing his temples.
"Can someone answer line four?" he shouted.
Nobody moved. The two agents at their desks kept their heads down, typing on their keyboards.
I walked past the reception area, picked up the receiver on the flashing console, and pressed the blinking red button.
"Gallagher Realty, please hold," I said, my voice smooth and practiced. I hit the hold button before the caller could speak.
The man in the gray suit dropped his hands from his face. He stared at me.
"Who are you?" he demanded.
"Emma," I said. "I am here for the two o'clock interview for the administrative assistant position."
He checked his gold wristwatch. "It is one fifty-five."
"I am early."
He pointed a finger toward a glass-walled office at the back. "In there. Sit down."
I walked into the office and took a seat in the rigid plastic chair opposite his desk. He followed seconds later, shutting the glass door behind him to muffle the ringing phones. He dropped a single sheet of paper onto his desk. My resume.
"Thirteen years is a massive gap on a resume, Emma," Marcus Gallagher said, tapping his gold pen against the glass desk.
"It is a gap in corporate payroll," I corrected. "Not a gap in management."
Marcus leaned back in his leather chair. "You listed Household Operations as your primary experience. We sell commercial real estate. I need someone who can handle aggressive contractors and negotiate vendor rates, not someone who organizes PTA bake sales."
"Last month, I negotiated a twenty percent reduction on a fifty-thousand-dollar landscaping contract because the vendor used the wrong grade of mulch," I told him, keeping my voice level. "I managed a household budget larger than the gross revenue of your three closest competitors combined. I do not bake."
Marcus stopped tapping the pen. He studied my face. "You type fast?"
"Ninety words a minute."
"Can you handle a boss who yells when a closing falls through?"
"I spent over a decade managing a man who threw glass tumblers at the wall when his golf handicap slipped," I replied. "Your yelling will not register on my radar."
Marcus barked a laugh. "You realize this is an entry-level position. You will be answering phones, filing deeds, and fetching coffee. Are you going to feel insulted when I ask you to restock the printer toner?"
"I have spent my entire adult life making sure someone else's life ran smoothly," I answered. "I restocked the toner. I booked the flights. I managed the schedules. The only difference is that you will actually pay me for it."
Marcus leaned forward, resting his elbows on the desk. "What happened?"
"Excuse me?"
"You managed a massive budget. You clearly had money. Now you are sitting in a strip-mall real estate office asking for twenty dollars an hour. What changed?"
"My husband decided to give my first-class seat to his assistant," I said, keeping my gaze locked on his. "So I got off the plane."
Marcus raised an eyebrow. "Just like that?"
"Just like that."
"And you think you can handle the stress here?"
"Mr. Gallagher, I am currently navigating a divorce from a man who controls every asset I have ever touched. Your office politics are a vacation to me."
He uncrossed his arms. He picked up his gold pen again. "We use a proprietary software for our listings. You will have to learn it."
"Give me the manual."
"It is a digital portal. No manual."
"Then give me the login. I will know it by tomorrow."
"I will review the rest of the candidates this afternoon," Marcus said, standing up to signal the end of the meeting.
"I will wait for your call," I said.
I bought a turkey on rye from a corner deli and sat on a bench in the park across the street.
I unwrapped the foil.
My phone buzzed against the wood.
The screen lit up. Mason.
I tapped the notification.
A video loaded.
Mason's face filled the screen. His cheeks were bright crimson. White peeling flakes gathered at the edges of his tank top.
The audio kicked in.
"I do not know which one to buy!" Lauren's voice whined from off-camera. "There is green gel, blue gel, and some spray thing. Why didn't you pack the one he uses?"
"Because I pay you to handle the packing!" Ryan's voice snapped back, loud and echoing through what sounded like a large pharmacy. "Just grab the green one and get to the register. We are missing our tee time."
"Do not yell at me in front of these people, Ryan! The cashier is staring."
"Then pick a damn bottle, Lauren! The kid is fine. It is just a sunburn."
"It hurts," Mason whimpered off-camera.
"Stop whining," Ryan barked. "Get in line."
The camera shook. Mason looked back into the lens. He mouthed two words silently.
Mom. Help.
I watched it a second time.
When Mason was seven, he got a mild burn at the community pool. I spent three hours applying cool compresses to his back. I stayed awake all night, checking his temperature, making sure he drank enough water.
Now, he was twelve. He had eagerly followed Lauren to the gate, complaining that I embarrassed him, leaving me standing with three bottles of water.
He made his choice.
My thumb hovered over the screen.
A small menu popped up.
A prompt appeared on the screen asking if I wanted to delete it for everyone.
I hit confirm.
The video vanished. A blank text thread remained.
I locked the phone and shoved it into my coat pocket. I picked up my turkey on rye and took a large bite.
I swallowed the last piece of bread just as my phone rang. An actual call, not a text.
I pulled it back out. The caller ID displayed the real estate agency's main line.
I swiped the green icon.
"Emma," Marcus said. His voice sounded rushed, cutting through the static of the line.
"Mr. Gallagher."
"Where are you right now?"
"Sitting on a bench, eating a sandwich."
"Are you finished eating?"
"I just finished."
"My current assistant just walked out. Left her keys on my keyboard, threw a stapler at the wall, and quit."
"Did you yell at her?" I asked.
"A commercial closing fell through," Marcus admitted, his tone unapologetic. "She couldn't handle the volume."
"I see."
"The job is yours if you want it," Marcus said. "But I need an answer right now. Can you be at this desk at eight tomorrow morning, or do you need a week to transition?"
