A Haunted Marriage & The Cookie Baking Poltergeist

Chapter 3: The Job Interview

    Julie flipped down the visor in her car and opened its mirror. She pushed back the curls from her forehead before applying a final layer of blue mascara over each eye. Julia removed a tube of lipstick from her purse on the seat next to her and applied another layer to her lips. After puckering her lips, Julia opened her mouth to see if there were any remnants of the Cheerios she had for breakfast left in her teeth. Julia took a small bottle of perfume out of her purse and sprayed her neck. Julia's red dress appeared more pinkish in the morning sunlight. She adjusted the silver heart necklace that Michael had given her on their second date seven years before. Has it really been seven years? I look a lot older now. Even though Julia gave herself one last smile before closing the mirror her smile, this didn't reflect her current mood.

    I am never going to get this anyway. Why am I even bothering? I have had no luck at all with these damn interviews. I would be better off going home to watch the Maury Povich Show give paternity tests to those deadbeat moms. At least there's always come out positive. But not for me. No baby after five years of marriage. The doctor says Mike and I are fine. God just doesn't like us I guess.

    Julia glanced at the clock on the dashboard. 11:15. Only fifteen more minutes until the interview. s**t I should really get in there. Julia buttoned her purse before reaching into the back seat to grab a manila folder with her resume inside. Tucking the purse under her arms, Julia carefully extended her legs to get out of the car so as not to tear her stockings. Julia kicked her care door shut with enough force that two bystanders in the parking stared her down.

    Mind your own f*****g business.

    Julia's heels clicked with each step she took on the blacktop as she approached the square brick structure that was a doctor's office, namely the office of Pediatrician Dr. Henry Sorrentez. A sliding glass door stood in the middle of the brick facade. Julia entered this door with her resumes and purse tucked under each arm.

    Julia walked into a waiting room with twenty plastic chairs, the majority of them occupied with a mom or dad holding their respective children. Julia stared at a mother kissing her month old son on the forehead before she approached the waiting room window. What a cute baby. I hope he will be all right.

    Julia pushed a blond curl away from her eye before knocking on the waiting room glass. It took two knocks before a heavy set woman in a white nurse's uniform looked up from a document she was reading.

    "Can I help you? What's the patient's name?"

    "Oh I am not a patient. I am actually here for an interview for the receptionist position. My name is Julia Blake. I am here to see the office manager named-"

    "Evelyn Romine."

    "Yes that's her."

    "I will tell her you're here. Just take a seat in any empty chair you can find. As you can see we're a little busy today so she might be a little while. That's why we need a new receptionist. Always sick kids to take care of."

    "Thank you very much," Julia said.

    After finding am empty chair in the corner, Julia sat down and crossed her legs. Before she had a chance to check any email on her cell phone, she noticed a pale purple circular spot about one inch on the dress above her right knee. Oh s**t, that's probably a drop from wine. That will never come out. I should have worn another dress. I am never going to get this. I want to crawl back into bed.

    Julia saw two other women in the waiting room, also with manila folders placed on their laps. One woman stared into a compact while putting on another layer of red lipstick. The other woman took a copy of her resume out of its folder and read it over several times.

    Julia reached into her purse and took out her cell phone. She clicked on the Indeed.com app to see if anyone had read her resume or if there were any other jobs open. I have had my resume on this f*****g site for weeks and this is the only place that has called me for an interview. In the city, I would have had twenty text messages a day about different jobs. The job prospects in upstate New York suck. We should have never moved here, but Mike wanted some peace and quiet. No wonder why no one lives here. There are no jobs here. Mike only got that job because no one else wants to live up here. I heard they get lots of snow in the winters here. And it gets below zero. I knew we should not have moved up here. But we did get a good deal on that house. We would not have found a cheap house like that on Long Island. The taxes would have killed us. But maybe Mike is right. I should try to be more positive.

    Julia crossed her left leg over her right in an attempt to cover up the wine stain. Upon taking her compact out of her pocket, a tall woman dressed in a nurse's uniform came out of a door in the corner. The woman looked like Nurse Ratched from the movie One Flew Over the Cuckoos Nest.

    I hope that's not my interviewer.

    The Nurse Ratched lookalike approached Julia and said, "Are you Julia Blake?"

    "Yes."

    "I am Evelyn Romine. I am ready to interview you for the part time receptionist position."

    Julia rose and shook Evelyn's outstretched hand. "Hi how are you?"

    "Fine. Can't wait to hire a receptionist so we can get things straightened out in this office. If you would please follow me this way."

    Julia followed Evelyn, who stood nearly a foot taller than her, through the office door. In the hallway, Julia looked into an open door and saw a doctor in a white coat putting a stethoscope onto what appeared to be a one year old girl's chest. The girl was seated in her mother's lap.

    Evelyn led Julia to the end of the hall to an open office door.

    "Please sit down Julia," Evelyn said before sitting down at her desk.

    Julia sat down in a brown leather chair. She crossed her legs again to hide the wine stain. Evelyn's office contained a nearly empty oak desk, with the exception of an open laptop computer and a photograph of a five years old brunette girl sitting on Santa Clause's lap. No sunlight entered the office because the drapes were closed on the window behind the desk. On one office wall Julia noticed a nursing diploma with Evelyn's name. She graduated from Albany Nursing Academy in 2010.

    Julia pumped her left foot up and down on the carpeted floor. She reached behind her head to make sure her curly hair was help back properly.

    Remember Julia, try to maintain eye contact. This is an interview.

    Julia opened her folder on the desk before making eye contact with her interviewer.

    "Is that your daughter?"

    "Yes, her first time to see Santa at five years old."

    I haven't had any kids to take see Santa for their first time. I wonder what that must feel like?

    "She's my little ray of sunshine. Do you have any kids?"

    "No. Not yet," Julia whispered tucking her chin into her chest.

    Evelyn stared at her laptop. "So it says here that you're from downstate and have some experience working as a medical receptionist. About a year. What led you to apply here?"

   "I saw your posting on Indeed.com. My husband and I have only lived up here for a little over a week. I-"

    "Why do you think you would be a good fit to work in this office?"

    What an officious b***h. She just interrupted me. If I take this job I am going to have to work for this b***h.

    Julia raised her head from her chest and stared into Evelyn's eyes. "Because besides being a receptionist in another doctor's office I also have experience with medical billing too. That could be very helpful in any doctor's office. I can type sixty words per minutes. My computer skills are exemplary. I am proficient in Word, Excel and MS Powerpoint. I also have experience fielding phone calls from patients. I am a good multitasker as well."

    "To tell you the truth Julia, we usually hire people with a little more experience than you, but based on your resume and skill set I do think you would be a good fit for this position. Do you have any questions?"

    "What is the schedule and salary?"

    "Three days per week, Monday, Wednesday and Saturday from 9am till 3pm. The salary is twenty thousand per year. And unfortunately we don't offer benefits to an employee working under thirty hours per week."

    "That sounds fine. I get benefits through my husband anyway. He's a teacher so his benefits are pretty good. Regarding the salary it's just what I am looking for. And the schedule is satisfactory too. Just another question, what do you look for in a successful receptionist working in this office?"

    "Someone who can, as you mention, multitask. You might have to deal with some angry parents over the phone."

    "I have experience with that too," Julia said with a laugh.

    "Someone who can enter medical, demographic and insurance information into a database for hundreds of Doctor Sorrentez's patients. It's a very busy job."

    "I am confident that I can handle it. When are you looking to hire somebody by?"

    "ASAP, but by the time we check references, probably within the month."

    "Speaking of references," Julia said as she slid a document from her folder over to Evelyn.

    "Ok great. I will file these with your resume."

    "I am used to working in New York City in an office that is much busier that most of the ones upstate. I am confident that I would be a great asset to this office and to Doctor Sorrentez. Hopefully if you hire me I can make his job a lot easier."

    Evelyn stood up in front of her desk extending her hand. "It's been nice interviewing you. Thank you for your interest. We do have other candidates to interview before the day is out. We will let you know Julia within the week if you have gotten the position. Again, thank you for your interest."

    Julia shook Evelyn's cold hand. Does this woman even have a pulse?

    "Thanks for seeing me. I look very forward to hearing from you in the future. From what we discussed today I am sure that my skills would be a great help to you here in this office."

    Evelyn walked around her desk and led Julia back into the hallway. Evelyn walked Julia all the way back to the waiting room.

    "Again, thanks for stopping by. We will let you know what happens in the week. I have two more people to interview today before we make our decision."

    I'll never f*****g get this. She rushed me right through this interview. But like Mike says, I really should try to stay positive.

    "Thanks for the opportunity," Julia said.

                                                                                    #

    Julia pulled her Subaru into her driveway to the closest spot to the house. After engaging the parking brake, Julia pulled the scrunchie out of her hair, allowing her curls to extend halfway down the length of her back. Julia hung her purse over her shoulder before getting out of her car. With each step to her home, the fallen leaves crunched under each step. Julia grabbed the porch railing and flecks of white paint came off in her hand.

    When the hell is Mike going to paint this? Soon our porch railing will have no paint at all?

    Julia took her keys out of her purse before looking over her shoulder to her neighbor's home. The wicker chair on the neighbor's front porch remained empty.

    I should really go over there and try to meet our neighbor. It's been nearly a week. I have been so lazy.

    Julia opened the front door and dropped her purse at her feet. She kicked off her high heeled shoes. Her feet were killing her. Two hours was long enough to be in high heels. Julia headed to the kitchen to grab a wine glass from cabinet above the microwave oven.

    Why is that cabinet open? I am pretty sure I didn't leave it open before I left this morning.

    Julia opened the refrigerator and reached into the back to pull out a bottle of 2015 Pinot Noir. Julia poured herself a glass before taking her glass into the living room with her. After placing the glass on the table, Julia picked up the TV remote. Julia flipped through several channels, finding nothing to watch. All these cable channels and all of them are like the official Donald Trump channel.

    Julia took her cell phone out of her pocket to check her email. She noticed an email from Evelyn Romine at the doctor's office. s**t I am afraid to open this. Maybe I got the job already. Maybe the interview went better than I thought.

The email Julia opened read:

Hello Julia,

Thank you for coming in to interview with us today. Unfortunately, we have decided to go with another candidate for this position. We will keep your resume on file in the event another position opens up. Again, thank you for applying with Dr. Sorrentez.

Sincerely,

Evelyn Romine, RN

    I knew that Evelyn was a b***h. She probably knew who she was going to hire already. They just interviewed me as a formality.

    Julia gulped down the remainder of her wine before hurling the glass against the wall. The impact knocked the wedding photo of her and Michael off of the wall. Pieces of glass and drops of wine surrounded the fallen photo.

    I have to clean this up before Mike gets home which should be soon.

    Julia walked back into the kitchen to grab a broom and dustpan. Julia stopped upon reaching the threshold of the kitchen because she now noticed that every cabinet door was propped open. She also noticed that sweet smell again from the other night, like the smell of freshly baked cookies.