I'm actually coming here on a music scholarship.”
“Well, that's lovely. Now, as to an opening ... as luck would have it, your timing is impeccable. I received a request from the College of Natural Sciences a few days ago for a part- time secretary. After reviewing the resumes already on file, I was left wanting. And, then, you walked through the door. You have the manner and personality of a good receptionist and the skills of a good secretary. Besides that, you are studying botany, which means you will fit right into the biological science department. All in all, Ms. Hamlyn, you not only seem the best qualified, but I just have a strong feeling you and this job were made for each other. Will you be available to start on Monday?”
Anna Dawn gulped to catch her breath. Life didn't usually hand you a job on a silver platter at the first try. This was a welcome stroke of luck.
She paused, reflecting within a split second how everything seemed to have fallen in place for her since deciding to come to Colorado State University. It was like one of those fate things … meant to be. Then again, Anna Dawn checked herself—she did not believe in fate—luck maybe—but not fate. No predetermined path for her feet! No battling against the gods. Free will and choice were two essential elements of her being. Nevertheless, she was not opposed to taking advantage of a lucky break and this job sounded perfect.
“Oh yes, m'am,” she said enthusiastically. “I can start tomorrow, if you want me.”
“No. Monday will be fine,” the advisor said. “That will give you four days to settle in, get unpacked and get acquainted with the city. I hope you will like Fort Collins.”
“It’s bigger than I expected,” Anna Dawn said. “But I like it. I feel at home here already.”
The advisor folded her hands on her desk and looked kindly at Anna Dawn. “Well then, we will expect you to begin work Monday morning, eight o'clock sharp. You will work in the Department of Biology. Here is a card with the name of the department chair’s secretary and her extension. Report to her in the Biology Building, first floor. I will call her and tell her to be ready to go over the job description with you and take you to your office where you may begin getting things organized. Since summer classes begin in three weeks, I imagine your professor will want you to get right to work.”
“That's great, but who, may I ask, will I be working for?”
The advisor hesitated. “I was just about to tell you that. Actually, your position is a bit unusual. You will be personal secretary to a professor who is very special. We don’t usually assign personal secretaries to our faculty. The best they can hope for is a graduate assistant. But in this case, at the dean’s insistence, we’re making an exception. Your man is new to our faculty this year and a bit of a celebrity, they tell me. His name is Dr. James Omega.”
Anna Dawn's purse fell off her lap. She leaned over, picking it up with shaking hands. “Not the Dr. James Omega, the James Omega on PBS?”
“The same.”
“My gosh. He's a professor here? You're kidding.”
“No, I'm not.”
Anna Dawn pushed up her glasses. “Wow. I mean, wow! I can't believe it. This is unreal!”
“No, Ms. Hamlyn,” the advisor said with a smile. She stood to bend over the table and offer a parting handshake, “This is one hundred percent real, believe me. And now I must mention, there are some very specific instructions I need to give you. Dr. Omega’s presence on the campus is, for the time being, to remain a secret from the world outside the campus. Dean Hyden said Dr. Omega’s been terribly harassed by people at his previous post—I suppose that’s the price you pay for fame—anyway, the Doctor insists on his privacy. Thus, part of your job will be to ward off outsiders; and that goes especially for anyone from the media. Screen all his calls carefully. If they are not directly related to his work here at CSU, do NOT connect any such callers with Omega directly. Do what you must, but DO NOT do or say anything that might reveal the nature of his research or even the fact that he is a member of the faculty here. If anyone outside the university calls for him, say, “One moment, please,” then transfer them to Dr. Annie Groff’s secretary without further explanation or comment. Do you understand?”
“Sure. No problem,” Anna Dawn responded, taking on a wide-eyed expression. “Sounds very intriguing.”
“As his personal secretary, you are to do what Dr. Omega asks you to do and protect his privacy as the situation arises. Do you think you can handle that?”
Yes.” Anna Dawn nodded confidently. “Certainly. I can handle that.”
“Very well. That is all,” the advisor concluded, placing Anna Dawn’s application to the side of her desk. Then, as an afterthought she looked up at Anna Dawn and added, “For your sake, I hope he's a nice boss and not, as some celebrities are, a conceited schmerk. Good luck, Ms. Hamlyn.”
Anna Dawn smiled slightly, rose from the chair, thanked the secretary, then turned and walked somewhat dazedly out the door and down the hall.
“Schmerk?” she questioned, as she tapped the elevator button. “I don’t think so. Dr. Omega seems so nice on TV. I can’t imagine he’s a schmerk.” She stepped inside when the elevator opened. As there was no one but herself in the car, she continued to talk to herself during the ride down to the lobby.
“Aunt Carol, can you believe this?” she beamed to an unseen party. “I’m really here, at CSU and I’m going to be James Omega's secretary! The real James Omega! And I’m supposed to protect him. What do you think that’s all about? The way I see it, this is either going to be one extremely interesting job, or the total pits. But at least I’ve got a job. One less thing to worry about. But there’s still a hundred things to do! Keep an eye on me, will you? I love you.”
That night, a breath of cool wind from the west came up, found the open window in Anna Dawn’s new kitchen and ruffled the freshly-ironed curtains hanging there. Anna Dawn turned from where she sat at the kitchen table and looked at them. It was as if something was out there, something new and tantalizing, calling to her. She got up, stepped to the window and looked out. Her apartment stood on a little rise and the third floor window allowed her a partial view of the far-spread lights of Fort Collins. In the pale moonlight she could see the outline of low mountains in one direction and a carpet of tree tops in the other.
From the window, Anna turned and looked across the kitchen into the living room, where Bowlinda the cello was propped in a nearby corner.
“How about pizza, tonight?” she asked her silent, stringed friend.
She pulled a Fort Collins phone book off the top of the fridge and began to thumb through the yellow pages. Her finger stopped on the first Pizza Hut she came to. Then her heart caught in her throat. Under her finger was a line of print revealing the Pizza Hut’s address.
“This is too much!” she cried, a little spooked. She turned to her cello. “Bowlinda, you are NOT going to believe this! 1509 Omega Place Plaza! Wow. It’s like a sign. Everything that’s meant to be makes a circle. If it’s right, all the loose ends fit together in the end. I feel good now. In place. I’m where I’m supposed to be.”
Shaking her head, still somewhat amazed, she made the call, ordering a medium, deep-pan mushroom-pepperoni and a two quart bottle of root beer for delivery.
She put down the receiver and again returned to stand at the window, her thoughts turning over again and again how she had come to
