Page 9 of Nothing to Do

“Doesn’t everyone?” she asked.

“It pours from you. In the way you act, the words you say, your tone, your expressions. You’re so… bare.”

She laughed, making a point of looking down at herself. “And this isn’t even my most revealing outfit.”

“I can’t wait to see the others.”

They shared a smile.

“Do you work here every day?”

“Most days, yeah. What are you working on?”

“I’m putting together a training package,” she said. “I work for an HR consultancy company. On their training team. Companies hire us to go in and train their people on whatever. Some are standard packs, like if there is new software or hardware people need to learn to use. Those tend to come from whoever produced it. We go through them and customize the set as we have to, then we go in and deliver them.”

“Others aren’t standard?”

She smiled. “I do a lot of studying. A lot of online courses. We build our own packages, for confidence and development. We do things like sexual harassment seminars and go to various conventions and things as well… If your people need to learn it, we can teach them.”

“Putting the packages together is your job?”

“I build them and go out to deliver them too.”

“A jack of all trades.”

“Something like that. What is it you do?”

“Nothing as exciting as that,” he said. “How long have you been with them?”

“A couple of years,” she said. “I did in-house training for a multinational before that.”

His arms slithered down to the chaise at his sides. “You didn’t enjoy it?”

“Less latitude,” she said. “A lot more layers and bureaucracy to deal with. Plus, it was the same thing over and over. I prefer variety.”

“So you have your dream job? Great! Not something many people get. And it gives you time off to go places with your sister.”

“Our offices are being refurbished. There was a flooding issue. Working away was sort of ideal timing.”

“Can’t say it didn’t work out for me too,” he said. “Is it just you and your sister?”

“In the family?” she asked and nodded. “Yeah.”

“She’s younger than you?”

“Yes,” she said, picking up her legs to cross them in front of her. “You interviewing me for something?”

He laughed. “Just getting to know you. What about your parents?”

“They’re teachers. Met in college. She was a freshman, he was a junior. I was a surprise in her junior year. They got married just before I was born and had Alessia three years later… My grandparents helped out a lot.”

“I bet. What do they teach?”

“High school. My mom is an English teacher. Dad’s a history buff.”

His head bobbed. “Your grandparents still around?”

“My mom’s parents, yes. They live just a street over from my parents. My dad’s parents died when I was little… car wreck.”

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