Approx. 1,142 words.
THE PROMOTION
By Mae Ondracek
©
Carrie
stopped typing and listened. She had
heard that noise before, but where was it coming from and what was it?
Carrie was
the best typist in the Steno Pool and had worked hard waiting for a promotion
to come her way. Being 38 years old, she
didn’t want to spend the rest of her working days in the Steno Pool.
Carrie was
5’7” tall, carried herself well, dressed for success, and always did the odd
jobs none of the other girls wanted to do.
If one of the bosses needed a last minute typing job done, all fingers
pointed to Carrie.
Yesterday
they heard that Mr. Kramer’s secretary was getting married and moving
away. Whoever got that promotion would
be a very lucky girl. Mr. Kramer was
Vice President of the firm and easy to get along with. Not a stuffed shirt like some of the others.
Carrie jumped
as she heard that tapping noise again, bringing her out of revelry. She had been hearing that tapping noise for
over a week now and none of the other girls seemed to notice it, because Carrie
didn’t mention it and neither did they.
Carrie slowly
circled her desk, trying to pinpoint the exact spot where the noise was the
loudest. Just as she got back to her
chair, it stopped. How maddening it was
beginning to be. Carrie pulled open each
drawer of her desk, examining its contents.
There was nothing but papers in three of them, the fourth held her pens,
pencils, a ruler, and odds and ends of things.
None of that could have made the noise.
Carrie shrugged her shoulders and went back to typing. Mr. Ellis needed this report by
Carrie
wondered, ‘Am I loosing my mind?’ as she heard the faintest humming sound. No one else was in the room, so Carrie knew
it wasn’t one of the other girls playing tricks on her. She just could not tell where the noise was
coming from and as soon as she stepped away from her desk, she couldn’t hear anything. Carrie checked the window, her chair, and
every inch of the computer from the plug-ins to the printer, the screen and the
modem. When she reached for the mouse,
Carrie pulled her hand back quickly and sat down hard in her chair. She just stared at the mouse and the very
tiny nymph sitting on it, waving at her.
Carrie asked, “Who, who are you?”
The nymph
beckoned for Carrie to move closer. With
a voice as soft as a breeze, the nymph said, “My name is Crystalis and I came
to help you get that promotion.”
Carrie
laughed and asked, “Just how does one so little expect to help me obtain that?”
Crystalis
giggled as she replied, “I may be little, but I can do great things if you
believe in me.”
“Seeing you
sitting there, talking to me, and moving your arms, makes me a believer. Wouldn’t you say so?”
Crystalis
jumped down and disappeared as Carrie softly called out to her to come
back. Carrie stood up as Mr. Ellis said,
“I hope I’m not interrupting anything.
Whom were you talking to?” he asked, looking around the empty office.
Carrie
stammered as she replied, “Ju-Ju-just talking to myself, sir. Wondering why the computer wasn’t quite
right,”
“Do you have
my report finished?” He demanded.
“Al-almo,”
Carrie stopped talking and swallowed hard, then finished, “Almost, sir. It will be finished in 10 minutes.”
Mr. Ellis
stated, “It had better be. You were told
I needed it by
Carrie
quickly started typing again, trying hard to ignore Crstalis, who was now
sitting on the keyboard. Please, do not
bother me now; I must get this report done in 10 minutes.” Carrie begged.
Crystalis
sat, swinging her legs over the keys, smiled at Carrie and said, “You’ll finish
it perfectly in 8 minutes.”
“But I can’t
concentrate with you sitting there grinning at me,” Carrie moaned.
“You are
accomplishing the impossible. See how fast you are typing without
mistakes?” Crystalis replied.
Carrie
couldn’t believe it but her fingers were fairly flying over the keyboard and
the report would be finished in short order.
After the last sentence was typed, Carrie’s fingers stopped and she fell
back into her chair, stretching those magnificent fast-moving fingers. She then hit the “Print” key and watched the
report feed out of the printer. Carrie
reached up to the keyboard and with her little finger, shook hands with
Crystalis. “You were wonderful,
Crystalis, even if I don’t know how you did it.
I think I’ll keep you around,” Carrie laughed.
Her laugh was
cut short as a male voice said, “Mr. Ellis said you were talking to yourself
and I had to hear for myself. I would
never have believed it.” Mr. Kramer was
shaking his head in disbelief as Carrie spun around, a red blush creeping up
her neck and face.
“I’ll take
the report to Mr. Ellis, if you have it finished.”
Carrie was
speechless as she handed the report to Mr. Kramer. After he closed the door, Carrie sat down,
put her head in her hands and cried, “Now I’ll never get that promotion, all
because I’ve been caught talking to myself a couple of times. Why, oh why did you have to pick on me now
when I was very concerned about this promotion?”
Crystalis
fluttered near Carrie’s ear and laughed, “You better dry your tears. Mr. K. is returning.”
Carrie
quickly checked her face in the hand-mirror from her desk drawer. Everything was fine after she wiped away a
tear and redid her lipstick. She was
busily closing down her computer when Mr. Kramer entered saying. “What
gives? Mr. Ellis said you couldn’t have
finished the report that quickly.”
Carrie
questioned him, “I’m sorry, were there to many mistakes in the report?”
“My, gosh, no! It was perfect and crabby old Mr. Ellis is
still shaking his head, wondering how you did it.”
Carrie said,
“Well, I’ll never tell him how I did it.”
Mr. Kramer
smiled and held out his hand as he said, “You know that my secretary is leaving
this Friday and I’ll need a replacement for her on Monday. I was wondering if you would fill the
position? I like your sense of humor and
your work.”
Carrie
reached out, took his hand and replied, “It’s a done deal, providing I don’t
have to tell anyone how I finished that report so quickly.”
Mr. Kramer
said, “Only if you want to tell someone,” as he felt a tiny fluttering caress
his right cheek.