Prologue
Julia was a confident, professional sort of woman. Her hair was cropped short, she remained well-kept at all times and always seemed to be wearing a freshly pressed suit jacket. She was stern—always demanding the best from her employees. Her office door was kept open so she could keep an eye on her office and employees any time of the day.
She was contacted, one day, by a friend of hers who had just let a young man go, asking Julia to take him on. "He really is a hard worker… but his attitude started to cause rifts in the office. He just needs someone like you to give him a leg up," she had pleaded. All Julia needed to hear was hard worker. She offered him an interview via email for the next day.
Bright and early, a dishevelled young man sat opposite Julia. He perched on the chair meant for guests on the other side of the desk in her office as though he were waiting to bolt. His tie was wonky and loose. His hair, which covered most of his eyes, was greasy and he smelled like he hadn't showered in a few days. There was a large window—taking up eighty per cent of the wall—behind Julia’s desk but, despite the fact her office was flooded with light, the man before her looked to be encased in shadow.
"So, you must be Patrick,” Julia said and the young man—Patrick—nodded. “I hear you are a strong worker and you’re looking for a job. Am I right?” He nodded again, which lit a fire inside Julia. "If you're going to be walking into an interview dressed like that, the least you can do is move that hair out of your eyes and look at me while you speak," she raised her voice and scowled at him, which seemed to shake the man sitting in front of her.
He bolted upright and pushed his hair to one side his eyes in an instant.
Julia was pleasantly surprised and sighed softly. "Look, Patrick, I didn't have to give you this opportunity, but I was told about your work ethic and that is exactly the kind of person I like to have working here but, I do demand a level of professionalism." Julia paused and squinted over her desk.
Now that Patrick had moved the hair from his face and Julia could properly look at him, she could see his face was sullen. It didn't look as though he regularly ate or slept and, as Julia looked into his eyes as she spoke, he appeared shocked and sad.
Julia hadn’t expected to be met with such broken eyes. Without another word, she got up, walked over to her door, and shut it.
Heading back to her desk chair and sitting down, Julia's tone lightened. "Patrick, if I were to offer you somewhere to work, would you accept that what I ask from you isn't just what’s good for my business but also to help you?" Patrick cocked his head slightly in confusion; the way Julia talked to him tugged on a faint memory.
"Okay."
It was the first word he had spoken during the entire interview, and Julia was pleased to hear it. It was sincere and to the point. He looked Julia dead in the eyes, and neither broke eye contact for a notable amount of time.
"I will be harsher on you than anyone else in the office—I'll tell you that right now. But it would help if you remembered that I’d be doing this for your sake, not mine or anyone else's. Do you hear me?" Patrick nodded. "I said, did you hear me?"
Julia's annoyance at his lack of speech was notable, and Patrick scurried to answer. "Yes, I understand."
Julia pulled a piece of paper from her desk and started writing.
"You will be starting on Monday next week. I expect you to turn up with a haircut, showered and wearing clean attire, ready to work. Understand?" She wrote out a list of things for Patrick to do and obtain before his first day as she spoke and handed it to him. "This is a new start for you, Patrick. All I expect from you is what we have spoken about today. Work hard and remain professional. Any problems and you come to me—don't make me come to you; you hear me?"
Patrick turned the list over and read it, expressionless.
"Now,” Julia said. “Stand up, shake my hand and I will see you at 8 am Monday."
Wordlessly, Patrick rose and held out his hand. Julia grasped and shook it slightly, looking Patrick dead in the eye.
"Do not let me down.
