(Untitled)

[eddienigma]

Who: Edward Nigma
What: Job Interview
When: shortly after noon
Where: New Office, Gotham City 
Interactions: Cir-El
Warnings: none

Comments

[cir_el]

With the absence of Batman, it seemed like the criminal element in Gotham City had shot up 1000 fold. So feeling that she needed to be where she could do the most good Mia had headed out west, with her first order of business being to get a job, and then to find a place to live. She'd been saving money for a while now. And her friends had made sure that she had a decent savings built up as well. That didn't stop her from deciding to keep herself a part of the work force though.

Resume clutched in one hand, and her purse strap in the other, she entered the building, which was still under construction. The smell of fresh paint assaulted her nose as she passed by, and she had to make a hasty dodge to avoid tripping over a paint can and messing up the polished hardwood floor. It was quite embarrassing really, even though she was supposed to be acting ordinary like that anyway. She presses a hand lightly to the door to steady herself before finally knocking.

[eddienigma]

At the knock, Edward pushed away from his desk, heading briskly for the door. He paused once to kick spitefully at the tarps again, mentally cursing the workers, the landlord, and the I EN HERO who wrecked his first, much larger office.

He stopped again just in front of the door, adjusting his expression into a calmer, more cordial smile. "Hello, Ms. Starr, I take it?" he said as he opened the door, offering the woman his hand. She was dressed smartly, standing straight and with her hair out of her face. To his approval, she was also clean and respectful. So far, she was infinitely better than any other woman he'd had in his employ (of course, those had all been hired for brawn or bust, not brain).

[cir_el]

Mia gave a small nod and a smile. As she entered the room, her foot snagged for a moment on the rebellious tarp. She hopped forward a couple of steps on one foot before it dislodged itself and she shot it a rueful look. Not the best first impression, but at least it made her feel more like a normal person than usual.

After that though it was a clear and smooth walk to the desk and the interview chair that awaited her there.

"I know I filled out an application earlier, but I brought along my resume as well." She told him, holding the document out and then drawing back a moment as she sheepishly waited for him to get back to his chair.

[eddienigma]

Damn. Eddie kicked the tarp again, trying futilely to get it out of the way. "I must apologize for the mess. This is a new office. The men I hired should have finished by now," he said, claiming the resume from her and sitting.

He briefly perused the document without really taking in any of the words. He was more focused on the woman in his periphery vision. Her posture was a little too stiff- nervous, perhaps? Was this ordinary jitters which acompanied a job interview, or something else? Well, he did have a criminal record. He may have to calm her down, because he couldn't hire a woman who was afraid to be in the same room with him. Hiring a secretary was proving to be drastically different from hiring a henchgirl.

"Resume. Derived from the past participle of the French word, resumer, meaning 'to summarize.' Also from the Latin, resumere, 'to take back,'" Edward rattled off the etymology. "But, I've never quite believed that a person's competency could be judged by a mere summary." He allowed her resume to drop onto the desk

[cir_el]

Was it possible? He actually seemed more nervous than she was. Maybe his erratic, rambling way of talking just made him seem that way though. "Honestly I wasn't looking for this specifically. The ad in the paper said you needed someone familiar with clerical work, which I am. And considering I only just moved here and need employment asap, I'm not inclined to be all that picky." She smiled a bit embarrassedly. "That was interesting though, that thing about the word." She added hastily before scratching her head a bit.

"Anyway, I can do all the office chores. Filing, sending and receiving phone calls, organizing. I can also run errands if you need that sort of thing done."

[eddienigma]

As he listened, Edward realized she was also nervous. That made sense, since it was her interview. He suddenly knew he had been approaching this situation with the wrong attitude- he'd been trying to compare it to hiring a henchgirl, all the while knowing a secretary was nothing like that. This had more in common with his old confidence games, when he had to screen the potential targets for what he wanted. The only real difference was he had to search for ability rather than gullibility.

He felt a bit of his confidence return. Her application and resume had already informed him of her technical skills. "How are you with crime scenes? A lot of the 'organizing' you'll be doing will be detailed records and photos of fairly grisly situations. You can't be hemophobic."

It's a bit short I'm sorry ToT

[cir_el]

"I've never been present at a crime scene" She admitted, crossing her legs and trying to relax a bit. "However I'm not all that squeamish. So I believe I will be able to handle those kinds of situations if and when they arrive." Mia wasn't sure if that was a great response, since it showed that there were still things she didn't have experience with. But she could be nothing less than honest with him. It wouldn't feel right otherwise.

That's fine :)

[eddienigma]

Even as she said the word "squeamish," Eddie was reaching into his files (incidentally and somewhat embarrassingly revealing their complete lack of order) and pulling out several photos for his Fake Batman case.

"These were taken from the most recent crime scene," he said, giving her a small preview of the job. "The case is ongoing; in fact, I will shortly leave to look at another murder." He paused, realizing that he was giving her the impression that murders were all he handled.

"I do have other cases I take, some which do not involve true felonies-" the boring ones "-but lately all of my investigations have been macabre."

Edward gave her a moment to look at the photographs before jumping to his next point. "You know shorthand, right? I'd like a secretary who can follow me around certain parts of the investigation, taking notes of my observations." Since I can't write fast enough to match my own thoughts, he concluded in his head, wondering if he should be proud of that fact.

[cir_el]

The photos were disturbing, Mia had to agree at that. Thankfully though she kept her lunch down as it were and managed to keep her composure...mostly.

"I can do shorthand or longhand in sufficient speeds" She told him "As well as being a typist. I'm also aquainted with computers and word processing programs." She wasn't kidding either. Super speed when applied to things like writing was truly an asset and she appreciated it acutely. Glancing at the drawer she added "I can also organize in a speedy and efficient manner." She tried to give him a winning smile, but she wasn't sure how well it worked.

Sorry about the late reply.

[eddienigma]

Her smile looked more like a grimace, but Edward did not comment on that. She kept her composure, more or less, and was apparently well-versed in computers. She was more qualified than most people he had met.

With a mental shrug, he decided that since a.) he needed a secretary, b.) Diedre and Nina could not even reliably operate the TV, and c.) here was a woman actually applying for the job, then d.) he may as well hire her. He'd checked her out, inspecting her background and such, and though a few of the given details of her time in Metropolis did not quite match up (he'd ask about that later), there were no indications that she was affiliated with anyone who wanted him dead. Besides, he was still the boss, he could always fire her if things went south.

"Good... good. Do you have any questions about the job, or about me?" he asked, with a flicker of the old 'Riddle Me This' smile which he could not entirely suppress.

sokay ^.^

[cir_el]

"No I think I understand the basics well enough" She said, almost relieved that it seemed the interview was almost over. She couldn't say she had any questions about him either. Even when she was younger she'd never had much knowledge of Gotham or it's celebrities, be they heroes or villains. So all she had to go on was that he used to be a wanted man, but now he was running a legitimate business. The way she saw it, if anything her upbrining far away from the city, or even the state the city was in, gave her a more unbiased point of view.

[eddienigma]

Edward stood up and shook her hand again. "If that's all then, I really have to go."

Though he had pretty much already decided to hire her, he told her that he'd call in a few days if she got the job. Privately he had determined to run one last background check, just to be safe.