When I got back from lunch, the lights were on in my office. Walking in to the reception area, I was startled to see a blond sitting in the receptionist's chair. Knowing that I damn well had no interview this afternoon, I said, "Excuse me..." but was cut off by the ringing phone. She motioned for me to hold on and answered the phone in a professional manner. "He's not here now, can I take a message?" she responded to the phone. She rolled her eyes at me while the other end was talking and stood up. She was wearing a tight blouse, a skirt that must have been made of pleather, and terribly cheap looking sandals. But like a poorly wrapped gift, she had wonderfully shaped legs encased in her shiny drugstore pantyhose.
"Yes, I've written it all
down. He'll get it
as soon as he comes in," she said, without a pen in sight, and then
hung up. She explained that it was a sales call, and that she would
explain that I was
not interested when he called back. I was just about to ask for an
introduction when the mail carrier came in. She took the stack of
correspondence off the desk and began to giver her instructions. "These
are
just regular mail, while this one must be certified service with a
return
receipt. This one goes priority, and this one," she paused, "goes
FedEx," and
took the envelope back from the carrier.
"I'm Amanda," she cooed as she shook my hand. "I understand that you're looking for somebody like me." Boy was I ever. The garish outfit notwithstanding, she seemed to have the best administrative skills that I had ever seen.
"I'm Robert, your new boss," I replied, given that assumptions were the theme of the day. She smiled and told me it was great to be working for me. She sat down at her desk and began to fill out the FedEx slip.
After a few weeks, Amanda had put my office in order, was screening all of my calls, and had even freed up what seemed like hours a week on my calendar. While Wall Street usually slowed down around the holidays, this time I was actually bored. Amanda fascinated me. She was incredible on the phone, and it seems like she could do anything. She was taking calls from CEOs and letting me know not only the message they left, but also her take on what they were really thinking. In the cutthroat world of mergers and acquisitions, she was comfortable and polished. People who usually screamed at secretaries to get past them were taking the time to talk to her, and sometimes not even getting me on the phone. Looking through the window into her reception area, I'd change that last point to polished on the phone, but trashy in person.
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