“You don’t have a college degree.”

Tessa shook her head in response to Andrew’s statement. “No. I, um, hope to go back to school one day and take care of that, but right now I’ve only completed a two-year certification program at community college.”

Andrew placed her resume – a double-spaced, single page – on top of his desk, as though he’d already memorized anything of importance she’d included. “Under normal circumstances I wouldn’t even be considering you for this position without a four-year degree, Tessa,” he told her in his brisk, no-nonsense manner. “Granted, it isn’t a PA position – in which case you wouldn’t have even been referred to me – but the Management Support Team plays an extremely important role here on the executive floor. Mr. Gregson and all of the other managers rely heavily on the team to assist with a wide variety of tasks, and each team member has to meet some very high standards. However, I do see that you’ve had quite a bit of training in advanced Excel functions. Is that correct?”

Tessa resisted the urge to wipe her damp palms on the fabric of her brand-new - albeit secondhand - designer skirt. “Yes, that’s correct, Mr. Doherty. I took a full two years of Excel classes at school as part of the certification program, and I’ve also completed several additional workshops and seminars to learn advanced skills.”

Andrew gave a brief nod. “Any particular reason? I can’t imagine you had much use for some of those skills in the position you held.”

She lifted her shoulders in a tiny shrug. “No particular reason, no. Just that I enjoy working with that program, enjoy learning all the little intricacies that most people don’t even know exist with it. I – I wasn’t terribly good at math during high school but for some reason learning Excel came much easier to me.”

“Mr. Gregson in particular uses Excel a great deal to keep track of various statistics at the hotels, and also for forecasting and such. Unfortunately, it’s been difficult to find someone who has the type of skills that you do, Tessa. If you are, in fact, as proficient as your resume states, then you’d make a very valuable addition to the support team. Now, I realize that Mrs. Horner has already administered all of the usual clerical tests, but I’ll need to see first hand if you can actually perform the various Excel functions that Mr. Gregson has specific need of. Please, have a seat here if you would.”

Andrew stood and indicated that Tessa should sit in his place in front of his computer. On slightly shaky legs she did as he asked, sitting down gratefully, and willing her nerves back under control.

“There’s a spreadsheet already opened on the screen as you see,” continued Andrew. “This is a list of some of the functions I’d like you to demonstrate for me.”

Tessa glanced fleetingly at the typewritten list of some of the more advanced functions of the spreadsheet program – parameterization, nesting calculations, cell comments, SUMIF and COUNTIF, R1C1 reference style. She breathed a little sigh of relief, as she was more than proficient in all of these skills and more.

Over the next hour, her fingers flew over the keyboard as she demonstrated her proficiency at one function after another. Through it all Andrew said little, merely nodding here and there, and jotting something down on a notepad occasionally.

When she had arrived here at the Gregson Group offices earlier today for her interview with Sheila Horner in the Human Resources department, Tessa had never in her wildest dreams imagined that she would have been referred up to the executive floor. Sheila, a very businesslike but personable woman in her late forties, had studied Tessa’s resume along with the glowing letter of recommendation Mrs. Carrington had written – the first time the cantankerous office manager had ever done such a thing, according to her – and then proceeded to administer all of the clerical tests that Tessa had already completed during her original interview in Tucson.

“I know you’ve done all these before,” Sheila had murmured apologetically, “but unfortunately I’m going to need you to repeat them. I just need to see for myself that you’ve kept all your skills up, and also what level they’re currently at.”

Tessa had assured her there was no problem in going through the tests again, not that she would have dared offered up a protest. It was vitally important that she make a good impression now, in order to secure the best possible position available to her. She’d aced every test, doing even better than she had three years ago, and silently thanked Mrs. C. for pushing her to improve her skills and not get complacent.

Sheila had scanned over all of the results, and then glanced at Tessa’s resume again. “I have two or three different openings that I could place you in right away,” she confided. “And every one of the department managers would be over the moon to have someone as competent as you to join their staff. But I’m going to stick my neck out here a bit and get you in to interview with Andrew Doherty. He’s Mr. Gregson’s PA, and they happen to have a somewhat urgent need to fill a spot on their Management Support Team. I think you might just fit the bill, Tessa.”

Sheila had briefly explained the function of this support team, how the six members handled overflow tasks and projects that the executive PA’s either didn’t have time to handle, or that they considered a bit too mundane or beneath their status. Evidently one of the team members had just transferred out of these offices a few days ago and was now working at the local Gregson hotel, and it was her position that needed to be filled. Sheila did not offer up an explanation as to why the woman had left so abruptly, and Tessa resisted the urge to ask.

A quick phone call to Andrew was made, instructions were received to send Tessa straight up, and Sheila gave her a bit of last minute advice.

“Don’t let Andrew scare you off,” she cautioned. “He’s got a reputation for being something of a tyrant around here, and no one can remember seeing him smile even one time. He’s all business all the time, and has zero tolerance for anyone who doesn’t take their job as seriously as he does. Just keep a stiff upper lip as all these Brits like to say, keep your nerves in check, and remember that his bite is worse than his bark. But I think he’ll like you, Tessa, and that you’d be an asset to the team. Good luck.”

Tessa waited now with bated breath as Andrew studied her work with a discerning eye, no doubt checking and re-checking for any tiny error. Fortunately, one of the many work ethics Mrs. Carrington had instilled in her from the very beginning was to check and re-check everything she did multiple times, so that she was quite confident her spreadsheet was without flaw.