Chapter Text
Chapter One – The Job Advert
Needed: a VERY tolerant Personal Assistant to three pedantic over-grown boys. Must be adaptable; flexible; able to think on your feet; be prepared to travel and rough it with little notice. Salary will reflect the nature of the work. If still interested download and mark the application FAO ANW.
Jessica read the advert with interest, her current job bored her to death, every day the same. She was actively looking for a change but had had little success so far. She loved variety and had never looked for a career, not wanting to be tied down; she even rented her apartment rather than buying one. Thus far she worked in retail, hospitality, offices and even as a holiday rep one particularly wild summer. She considered herself to be a people person and loved that aspect of a job. Sitting at a desk all day, interacting with a computer or copier, occasionally getting drinks for people wasn’t floating her boat and the money wasn’t great either. Downloading the application, she easily found examples to the scenarios listed and excitedly returned it, spotting the BBC email address.
Getting up for work, she had a quick shower, brushed her teeth then sat at her dressing table to do her make-up. She was lucky to have features that didn’t require much. Carefully adding the flick of eye liner, she used plenty of mascara to make her long fair lashes visible. Gathering up her long blonde waves, she secured them in a no-nonsense pony-tail that swished and bounced as she walked. Dressing, she buttoned her blouse up over her ample breasts to a sensible level, tucking it into her black trousers and pulling on her black heeled boots. She was short at only five foot two so tried to wear heels as often as possible. Sometimes she simply wanted to be able to reach things that male colleagues would deliberately place too high, hoping she’d ask for their help or to watch her climb the little ladder steps they’d bought her as a joke. Looking at herself, she grabbed her glasses, hiding her wide blue eyes behind the unnecessarily big black frames. She was mildly short-sighted and didn’t really need to wear glasses all of the time, mostly driving and watching television. She tended to try and hide her pretty petite features behind; hoping men saw the glasses and not her, to reduce the unwanted attention that followed her. Picking up her padded coat and handbag, she headed out the door, breakfast could wait until she got to work, while her computer booted up.
Andy sat at his overcrowded desk, reading the print-outs of the applications for the PA role, marking Yes, No, Maybe on the top of each. The sense of déjà vu hit him hard as it had only been a couple of months since he’d last gone through the same process. His horrors of a presenting team went through at least three PAs a year since he’d got this trio agreed by the BBCs and they’d proved a success. He wasn’t sure how much longer he was going to be able to continue before some serious questions were asked Upstairs or even worse by HR or Legal. Most of the previous PAs had been women, he’d tried to find someone who could keep them in line but they’d struggled to cope with the testosterone levels, pranks and heaven knows what else. The men had been even worse, trying to be yet another “one of the boys” and not do the actual job, he had more than enough men who roll in late, hungover and unfit to work already thank you. Reaching Jessica’s application, her range of jobs piqued his interest, she certainly sounded like she had the flexibility he so desperately needed, as well as handling a wide variety of characters and having to think on her feet. He marked it as Yes for an interview.
Jessica almost choked on a spoon-full of cereal when the email popped up offering her an interview. She quickly checked the date and put in a request for a day’s leave, it was simpler than having to answer questions about why she would be off. Being a Friday also looked like she was taking a long weekend. It was authorised the same day, being a quiet period for the company, so she was able to accept the interview. The job could well be at the BBC, which must make it more interesting than what she currently did. The name of her interviewer meant little to her and she didn’t research him as more often than not, they were part of the HR department and not who she’d be working with. Going into an interview a little blind didn’t worry her, she’d been in far more challenging situations. Checking her work email, she found instructions that would have her tied to the photocopier for the rest of the morning. “Oh save me from this drudgery,” she thought as she sent the jobs to print.