to HR about her since she’s fair. I’ve been told she has the highest manager rating at the company.”
By now we’re at the ping pong table. There are four of us in a mini war for superiority, not including the two Chinese guys. We have an endless round robin going. Juliette gets to watch Colin and I play. Frustratingly, he wins two out of three. My only saving grace is that my win is by five points, while each of his wins are by one point. If Juliette wasn’t here, I probably could get him to play three out of five.
As I walk Juliette to the door she exclaims, “Colin’s cute…and sweet.”
“Of course, he also has a pretty blond girlfriend.”
“You two were moving so fast. I had no idea you played that well.”
Juliette’s athletic. I’m glad this display of my agility blew her mind as I smile at her compliment.
The group meeting where we discuss Juliette is interesting. The complaints are mostly ridiculous. Mark and Roger keep saying, “She’s still in school, there’s no way she’d know the answers to those questions. You can’t judge a grad school student the same way you judge a veteran.”
After we finish Roger says, “Think about it. On Thursday, we’ll vote. If we like her and she says yes we can pass on the other résumés.”
After the meeting I ask Mark, “We only interview one person and vote?”
He replies, “At our last company our boss made us interview lots of people for each job. Roger and I spent more time interviewing than working. By the time we interviewed everyone, the good people were already taken. Roger and I agree, never hire someone who you feel isn’t the best fit, but if you find someone who the team likes get the offer out fast. Good people aren’t on the market for very long, and why waste the team’s time interviewing more people when you find someone you like.”
Chapter 24 – Isabelle’s back in town
Savi calls, regaling me with the wonders of Arav and all the plans for her wedding. So far the auspicious wedding date is holding. It looks like I’ll be headed back to Chicago in September.
Whereas my life feels like the old saying, “Water, water everywhere but not a drop to drink,” though in my case I can say, “Men, men everywhere but no one to date.” Feeling frustrated with my lack of love life, I decide to log onto the new dating service “Coffee Meets Muffin.” After the rather simple form to fill out, I come back the next day to see if anyone is interested in dating me.
I don’t know if it’s a joke or not, the first guy has a full beard and is wearing a wedding dress. No joke, a full, flouncy white wedding dress where his dark hairy chest peeps out of the sweetheart neckline. Moving on to the next guy, it’s a mime in full white makeup, suspenders and little hat. I wonder if I have the guts to even look at guy three. When I pull up a guy in cowboy hat, chaps, and what I can only imagine is a speedo covering his private parts, I shut my computer down and figure it’s time to go for a walk. Obviously they still have a lot of work to do on their algorithms. Or maybe the Gods are giving me a sign. A nice Indian girl shouldn’t be trying to date online, or is it that I should be re-evaluating the men I already know? Whatever, I send Juliette a text and ask her if she can pull herself away from the books for a bit since I need to hang with a friend.
Meeting up with her on campus, it feels kind of strange to be a graduate as she tells me about classes and interviews. Stephan is now back in London. On a daily basis he Skypes, telling her how much he misses her and how much he’d love to have her with him. She tells me there are a number of paid summer internships at finance institutions in London for people with our background.
With a serious look, she says, “This gives Stephan and me the summer together. If everything works out, I can get the British equivalent of an H1-B.”
“You’re really serious about this guy?” I question.
With a surprised look she continues, “Yes, of course.”
“Are you planning on marrying him?”
She blinks a few times and gnaws on her lower lip before finally spitting out,