How To Bake The Perfect Apple Pie. Gina Calanni

      I cock my head to the right. “Trent?” I raise an eyebrow in question.

      “Yes, ma—” Trent offers his hand.

      I hold my hand up to stop him. “Please call me Lauren…always.” I shake his hand. It’s rough and firm. I’m glad he doesn’t do the “squeeze your hand until it hurts grip”. I seriously do not understand the point of that type of handshake!

      “Yes…I’m sorry…nice to meet you, Lauren.” Trent nods. I open the door wider and motion with my hand for him to come in. I shut the door and sashay to my desk. My navy pinstriped pencil skirt with my crisp white blouse screams I’m professional. Or at least it did to me this morning when I put it on.

      “So, Trent, I’ve got to make a quick decision as I stated in my IM. Tell me why you should be on my team.” I nod to give him a cue to speak.

      “Right, well as you can see from my résumé I have several years of work experience with top consulting firms and I have been ranking right underneath you in sales, though I’ve only been here for a couple of months.” He grins with a bit of arrogance. I do appreciate his sales numbers, but I am concerned with his resolution tactics. Does he display this type of arrogance to our clients? Some might appreciate it, but others would surely be turned off. I tap on my keyboard to pull up his resolution percentage. Sixty-five percent.

      “Hmm…” I shake my head. “Trent, you do have great sales numbers; this is one of the main reasons you are sitting at my desk, but your resolution percentage is not so hot.” I pause.

      “Yes, I’m at sixty-five percent, but I’m making strides upward. When I began I was at thirty-three percent.”

      I hold up my hand. “Thirty-three percent is horrible.” I pull back my head. I can’t believe this guy is still employed by Calstone Corp. I shake my head and bite my lip.

      Trent nods and links his fingers together. “Correction, it was horrible. I have doubled my resolution percentage in the brief time I’ve been here. I’ve made adjustments and gotten better at reading customers to get them what they want while still achieving my high sales numbers.” Trent lifts one eyebrow up.

      “Trent, that’s great, but I can’t hide my surprise that you’re still employed with those numbers. However, let’s move on.” I glance down at his résumé. “Can you explain the time gap between Zurwaski and Shullman, until now?” I press my lips into two lines.

      “Yes, my mother passed away and I had to take some time off to deal with her estate.” Trent casts his eyes to the floor.

      “I’m sorry to hear that—my deepest condolences.” I readjust his résumé on my desk.

      “Thank you.” Trent stares at me with his dark brown eyes. They are tugging on my heartstrings, but I am a professional.

      “I’ll be in contact. Thanks for coming by so promptly.” I roll my chair back and stand up. Trent towers over me even with the large desk in between us. I offer my hand.

      “Thank you, Lauren.” Trent shakes my hand and leaves my office.

      As I’m closing the door there is a “knock, knock, hello” on the other side. I swing it back open to greet…Hallie Brooks.

      I jerk my head back for a second. “Hello, Hallie.” I wait for her to respond. Next up on my list was Ann Figueroa.

      “Hi Lauren, I hope you don’t mind but I switched times with Ann, because I have a doctor’s appointment during the spot you scheduled me for.”

      “Oh, okay, have a seat.” I motion for her to take a seat and close the door. A doctor’s appointment? I hope she’s alright. I glance down at her résumé. I delete any reservations and take in Hallie’s accomplishments.

      “Wow, you graduated Magna Cum Laude from Georgetown—very impressive. Tell me about one of your most difficult moments during college.” I lace my hands together and tap my lips with my forefingers.

      “A difficult time in college? Each day was a struggle. I came from a small town. A family with no money. Georgetown and the area around it was a culture shock. But I didn’t let it filter into my grades. It only fueled me to try harder.” Hallie juts out her jaw.

      “That’s good to hear, Hallie, and what has been the best part about working here?” I raise an eyebrow at her.

      “The Keurig coffee machine is pretty awesome.” Hallie laughs. “I mean, I like the work ethic of the CEO and the trickledown effect to the managers. I can see that even though we have individual stats we do work together as a team, and I really value that.”

      “I totally agree…the Keurig coffee is pretty awesome.” We both laugh. “Thanks for stopping by. I’ll be in touch.” I roll back my chair and stand up. We shake hands and she exits my office.

      The rest of the meetings go about the same. My heart is beating overtime. The adrenaline rush of being able to pick the right candidates from the stack is racing around in my mind. Perhaps if I chose any of the other candidates from the stack I might like them also, but of the five I’ve interviewed, I like them. I’m surprised I’ve decided on them before the clock ran out. I can see their future with our company and them being great employees for my team.

       But what if I’m wrong?

      I swallow and glance at the clock. Only ten minutes until I meet with Javier. There isn’t enough time to interview anyone else. I’ve got to go with these and not let my internal doubt stand in the way. I grab my cell phone from my purse and press Jack-my-fiancé’s number. It rings twice.

      “Lauren…how are things going?” Jack lets out a deep breath.

      The sound of his voice drizzles like melting chocolate beyond my ear and slides down to my toes. My cheeks are warm. I take in a deep breath and pucker my lips together. Focus. “Good…actually great. I’ve narrowed down my five candidates for my team and I’m about to meet with my boss to go over them.” I move the mouse on my desk and glance at my email. All five candidates have sent follow-up emails. My stomach clenches. This is even better.

      “Great, Lauren, that’s…great.”

      The following silence is dark. Like a deep hole, there is no sound. No understanding. We are so far apart. I know physically there are thousands of miles, but emotionally it seems further than that. Is this distance going to break us? Do we even have a foundation built to handle this issue?

      “Jack…is everything all right?” A lump forms in the back of my throat.

      “Yes…no…Lauren, I don’t want to be without you… Seriously, why don’t we meet in Vegas this weekend and make it official? I bet we can even have Elvis marry us.” Jack laughs.

      I laugh for a second. But I can’t joke about this. “Jack, I don’t want to be married by Elvis or in Vegas… I want…I want a real wedding… It doesn’t have—”

      “I know, Lauren, I want to give you a real wedding but it’s only been hours since I last saw you and the distance is too much.”

      I sigh. “I agree…it’s too much.”

Chapter Two

      Bing. My email system alerts me that I have another email. It’s almost as if it’s taunting me. Like it knows that it’s yet another email from my mother. A wedding theme possibility, no doubt. I swear the moment Jack and I became engaged my mom went into full-on planning mode. I think she has even put off her annual Valentine’s Day cupids and hearts ceremony. It’s still January, but usually by this time she’s sent me several pins for her Valentine’s Day Extravaganza board so I too can appreciate all the possibilities of her decorating themes and parties, costumes and cards. When it comes to holiday planning my mom goes all in. All in. As in dressed from head to toe in…interesting décor.

      I