Paper-Stacks on a Highrise 2

The Secretary walked over to where we sat, her posture correct--maybe over correct--and her lips pursed. I could clearly see her dismay at her having to be the Gopher for once. But it served her right. She was always so rude; but she did her job well: that's why the Boss kept her around. She carefully set the Boss's coffee down on the table in front of him, smiling ever so politely, almost flirtatiously. She then rudely set my tea down, almost slamming it on the table, swishing the contents around closely and almost over the brim. The smile faded from her face. I pondered at that reason she was so particularly rude to me on this day. She almost seemed jealous of my new--yet temporary--position in the Business. Although, she had better clean up her act; I had yet to interview her for the position of Agent X. She should fear that I might not even consider a plausible candidate for the position before even interviewing her. But she really has no reason to fear. I am a fair person. My thoughts were soon interrupted. "Is there anything you wanted, Boss?" the Secretary asked, the smile taking residence on her thin face again. "No. Not at this time. If I need anything, I will call. You may leave now," the Boss responded, clearly an upsetting answer for the Secretary. She attempted to stomp out of the room as best she could in her four-inch high-heels. "Well, now that that's over... Sometimes she's hard to get rid of. She just likes to stick around. It annoys me sometimes. But, she is good at what she does," the Boss said to break the silence as soon as the doors shut and click into place. I took a small sip of my tea, which was absolutely delightful. The Boss looked over and mimicked what I did. He took a few sips of his coffee then asked, "So...who are the top five in this Business, who are also clearly suitable for the position of Agent X?" I took out my notes, pages upon pages of notes, neatly stacked into two piles: the first being those who I find suitable; the second stack was of employees who could not fulfill the requirements(whatever the requirements were). "Well," I said, flipping through the small stack deemed "Suitable", "let me see here." The Boss sat up and leaned forward to get a closer look at the stacks of paper I had. "What's this?" he inquired. "Oh, I just stacked my notes into two piles; one for the "suitable"; one for the "unsuitable". Just so I don't waste your time going through all the people who could not possibly be Agent X," I said, almost embarrassed about my over-organization. "Wow! That's impressive. And the stacks are so neat; so clean and organize and meticulous. I like that. It's a very efficient way to do business: stacking papers. I'll have to remember that one. Hold on a moment," the Boss said, reaching for the intercom to call on the Secretary. "Secretary?" "Yes, Boss? What do you need?" she said, almost too excitedly. "Write down 'paper stacking' on a piece of paper and set it upon my desk. Thank you. Bye." He pushed the intercom aside before the Secretary could even respond. I could imagine her dismay at this. The Boss began again, "Anyway, yeah, that's a great idea. And to think I've kept you as the Gopher for this long! I should have promoted you a while ago. I guess there's no time like the present. You can take the position of whoever becomes Agent X." I was somewhat elated that he offered me a promotion; but it also again reinforced the fact that I could never be Agent X. "Okay. That sounds like a plan," I somewhat excitedly replied. "Well, it seems to be that 'The Locker' can be trusted, and he's funny. I think you might enjoy working with him on that closer level. Secondly, I think that 'The Bellhop' possesses great character traits indeed. Although, 'The Counter' is quite the man. He's trustworthy and has a great charisma. Let's see who else I have here...." I paused to look through the rest of the papers, somewhat thinking twice about some of the candidates I had placed into the "suitable" stack. "You have really done your homework," the Boss encouraged. "Well, it's my job. I didn't want to let you down, Boss," I replied, still searchingly fervently through the stack. I was frantic that I wasn't finding the candidate I was looking for. It seemed to be taking forever and I hated wasting the Boss's time; after all, he was such a busy man; he didn't have time for such trivial matters. I finally found the paper on the bottom of the stack, of course. "Aha! Here it is: the one I was looking for. I'm sorry it took so long to find; I don't mean to waste your time," I apologetically said. "It's no problem, really. I can't really do anything--or rather I do want to do anything--until I have my Agent by my side. Besides, you're so organized; it really didn't take that long. I can't even imagine how long it would have taken if you weren't organized! Continue on," he said, upbeat. "Okay, out of these employees, I believe the best by far has to be 'The People's Man'--our Customer Service Representative. He really has quite the skills and personality to become your next trustworthy agent." I was relieved I had the found the candidate I was searching for; although, then again, I wasn't. I didn't really want to find a good candidate, hoping that perhaps the Boss would consider me. I knew there was no chance that this would possibly happen; but I still possessed an iota of hope. Stupidly so, I might add. "Alright. Good. Thank you so much for telling me these things and for your good advice on which employee is best suited. I don't know what I would do without you. Do you mind if I take your 'Suitable Candidates' notes with me to study them in greater detail. I just might call them back to have a second interview with me. Thank you so much, Gopher. I really do appreciate the work you have put into this," the Boss said, reaching for my notes and rising to his feet. I stood with him. "It's just my job." He exited.