“This looks great!” Maya said, her eyes scanning down my résumé as I dropped my phone back in my bag. She looked up at me and her smile faltered, and she glanced back down at the paper for a second. “Walker . . . ,” she said, like she was trying to place my last name. “Didn’t I . . . ?”
“My dad’s a congressman,” I said easily, automatically. “Maybe that’s where you . . .” But a moment later it hit me that maybe her recognizing my name was not in the normal way people sometimes did. That this probably had more to do with my dad’s scandal having taken over the news a few days ago. “Um,” I said, realizing I wasn’t sure how to handle this. “I . . .”
“Well,” Maya said, giving me a smile that let me know she probably had seen my dad on TV but wasn’t going to press the issue. “You’ve got a lot of awesome experience here. I’m surprised you’re still looking for a job, actually.”
“Yes,” I started, then hesitated. “My, uh, summer plans changed at the last minute. So I’m at a bit of a loose end.” As soon as I spoke these words, I felt myself cringe. I didn’t even know what this job was, let alone if I wanted it, but I knew that you never made yourself seem too available.
“Oh, man, I know all about that,” Maya said, not seeming to realize that I’d violated a core interview technique. “Like, I only put up the flyers when one of my best employees quit because she decided to move to Seattle.” She took a long drink, then shook her head. “I think she’ll be back, though. Do you know how much it rains there?”
“So about the job,” I said, trying to steer us back to the reason we were both sitting there, which I was pretty certain was not to discuss weather in the Pacific Northwest.
“Right!” Maya said, sitting up straighter. “Of course. So I run a dog-walking and pet-sitting operation I started two years ago. It’s primarily me and my fiancé and one other employee, along with some people who fill in on an occasional basis.”
“Oh,” I said, nodding, feeling myself start to deflate. Not only did I not have any experience with animals, but I couldn’t imagine a single college being impressed that I’d walked dogs all summer.
“It’s hard work,” Maya said, her tone serious. “And it’s a lot of responsibility. People are entrusting their pets—members of their family—to our care. Do you have experience with animals?”
“Yes. In fact, a few days ago, I was . . . with a dog.” A second too late, I realized what I was doing. I didn’t even want this job, so why was I trying to impress her? “But—”
“As long as you like animals and are good with them, everything else can be learned,” she said, giving me another big smile. “Just like anything in life.” She looked down at her watch, then back up at me. “I’m actually going to pick up some dogs for a walk now. Want to come along? You can see if the job’s for you.”
I hesitated. This was not the job for me. It was even a step below what I’d been thinking I might have to sink to, which was seeing if Flask was hiring baristas. This would be outside, with no air-conditioning, and I had a feeling it would involve dealing with a lot of crap, both literal and figurative. And what was worse, I would have nothing to show for it when the summer was over. Also, I was wearing one of my best dresses and four-inch heels. I was supposed to walk a dog in this?
“Unless you have somewhere to be?” Maya asked, raising an eyebrow.
And maybe that’s what did it. The fact that I had nowhere to be, no plans, no structure to my summer whatsoever. Maybe it was that even though I knew, rationally, I didn’t want this job, there was still a part of me that wanted to get it. For whatever reason, I found myself sitting up straight and looking her right in the eye. “I’m totally free,” I said. “Let’s do it.”
? ? ?
“All right!” Maya said cheerfully as she put her SUV in park and smiled at me. “You ready?”
“Um,” I said, with difficulty. There was a very large and fluffy dog on my lap. He had clambered into the front seat as soon as we’d picked him up, and he’d sat there the whole ride, shaking slightly, while I’d tried my best to see around him. He had to weigh at least seventy-five pounds, and at first Maya had tried to get him to move to the back, saying apologetically, “I think he’s just going to keep coming up, though. Jasper gets scared in cars, don’t you, buddy?” Jasper had whimpered then, like he could understand her, and I’d tentatively patted his fluffy black fur, feeling him trembling under my hands.