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while the other one eyed me, which was kind of weird, then finally I got a badge with VISITOR on it, which I clipped to the lapel of my suit jacket. Not a favorite fashion accessory of mine, but what could I do?
    I took the elevator up to the fifth floor. The doors opened and a woman in a navy blue business suit approached as I stepped out. She was in her fifties, I guessed, neat, clean, and composed.
    â€œMiss Randolph? I’m Adela Crosby, human resources,” she said, smiling. “Please follow me.”
    Oh, wow, this was so cool. I had a personal escort. They must have had a really important position in mind for me.
    My annual salary grew larger in my head.
    Adela made small talk as we wound through a maze of offices. Dempsey Rowland looked prosperous and sort of old-school. Thick beige carpet, dark wood furniture, oil paintings of fox hunts and sailing ships on the walls. Everybody I saw seated in their offices or walking the corridor was well dressed. I couldn’t wait to go shopping for new business clothes. Marcie would probably go with me tonight. I’d get the new Temptress bag. Oh, yeah, what an awesome way to start a new job.
    â€œPlease be seated,” Adela said as she led the way into her office. Atop her desk was a file folder with my name on it.
    We both sat down. I was mega nervous. I really wanted to work here—not that I knew what they did, or anything—so I forced myself to sit still and pay attention.
    See how I’m already dedicated to this company?
    â€œI’m looking at your job history,” Adela said, flipping pages in my folder.
    A knot the size of a Prada satchel jerked in my stomach. Yeah, okay, I’d changed jobs a few times—lifeguard, receptionist, file clerk, and two weeks at a pet store—but that was before I found my niche at Pike Warner last fall.
    A bigger knot jerked in my stomach. Things hadn’t worked out as well as I would have liked at Pike Warner—there was that whole administrative-leave-investigation-pending thing—but it had all turned out okay in the end. Sort of.
    â€œYou’re currently employed at Holt’s Department Store? A retail job isn’t easy,” Adela said. “I can see you’re a very hard worker. We like that here at Dempsey Rowland.”
    I relaxed a little.
    â€œAnd you’ve just graduated from the University of Michigan?” she asked.
    I tensed up again.
    â€œQuite an accomplishment,” Adela said, still studying my file. “And I can see you come very highly recommended.”
    I guess the recommendation came from someone at the company, by way of Sarah Covington. Wow, she had really hooked me up with a great job.
    I still hate her, of course.
    A couple more minutes dragged by, then Adela closed my file and folded her hands.
    â€œMr. Thrasher heads up our human resources department,” she said. “He’s out of the office for a while, so I’m going to offer you a position in our contracting department.”
    What the heck was a contracting department?
    â€œHow does that sound?” she asked.
    I had no idea what sort of position that would be and what it would entail. I’d never heard of a contracting department—let alone had a clue of what it did. So what could I say but, “Great.”
    â€œIt will be a full-time position,” Adela said.
    My heart fluttered a little. A full-time position meant full-time pay.
    â€œWith benefits, of course,” she said. “Medical, dental, retirement, everything.”
    Oh my God.
    â€œWe’d like to start you out at seventy thousand per year,” Adela said.
    Oh my God .
    Adela gazed across the desk at me. I could see that she was talking but I wasn’t listening. How could I? Thoughts were pinging around in my head like waistband buttons at a chili cook-off.
    Then I realized Adela had finally stopped talking and was looking at me kind of funny. Jeez, had she just asked me a