Gender Equality

“No! I am not a misogynist!” Blaine slapped his hand against the polished table in the conference room and glared at the board members, especially his manager, Joan, who had made that accusation. “I’m just tired of training people—okay, women—only to have them leave because they’re getting married, or they’re pregnant, or any other family issue they might come up with.”

Joan removed the reading glasses hanging around her neck and slid the applications toward him. “You know we promote gender equality in this company. You also know that we are family oriented. Why is hiring a woman, now, a problem?”

Blaine ran his fingers through his hair. He loved his job at Hospitality, Today, a company monitoring the service quality of prominent hotel chains. Part of his job was hiring concierges. He liked training them to the specifications of each different hotel. But he had hired and trained three women in as many years. He didn’t relish taking on the responsibility of training another one. If a new hire didn’t work out, for whatever reason, he looked bad. So, no more of that!

“Go through the applications. These individuals meet all the requirements of this company, but you have the final say. There must be someone in that pile who will meet your standards.” Joan curled her lip, then continued, “even if that person is a woman.”

A few murmurs of ‘good luck’ rang in his ears as the board members and his manager left the room. He slumped in his chair. Great. Just great. So, it was up to him, was it? In that case, he would look at the signatures of the applicants and eliminate those of the fairer sex. Joan said they were all equally qualified, so it wasn’t like he was doing something unethical. Not really.

He didn’t like the feeling cropping up in his gut. And truth be told, though he resented Joan’s accusation of being a misogynist, she wasn’t too far off base. He was thirty-five years old and still unmarried, though not by his choice. His fiancé practically jilted him at the alter five years ago. So, yeah, he was a little sour on the personal relationship business. But of course, that didn’t affect his business acumen. Not at all.

 He drew in a deep breath. His mother always told him God had a plan. He raised his eyes in reverence. “No, disrespect, God, but I haven’t seen the plan, yet.”

Blaine scanned through the applications, and there were six of them. A chill ran through him when he put five of them aside. He rubbed his forehead. One more. Then he’d have no choice but to read all of them and pick a woman. He shut his eyes, then ran his finger down the page until he felt he was at the signature line. He opened eyes and read the name, Morrie Macdonald.

Morrie. Yes! A man. A weight fell off his chest. Blaine went back to the top of the application and scrolled through it. This was awesome. Morrie was certified, spoke French and Spanish, and had job experience. He had just moved to the area to be closer to his mother. Perfect. He couldn’t find a better applicant even if he had looked through all of the applications. Joan needed to know right away. She’d be surprised that he made such a quick decision.

His manager took the application from him. “So, you chose the one I, too, thought would be the best person for the job. What made you decide on this one?”

Blaine gulped. There was no way he’d tell his manager that it was the only man in the pile of applicants. “Um, the fact that he spoke three languages was a plus. And he is certified and has job experience, which should make his orientation easy.”

Joan lowered her brows and pulled up her reading glasses. She perused the application again.” He speaks three languages? He is certified and has job experience?”

Blaine grinned. “Yes, ma’am, a real plus in this business.”

Joan’s smile stretched from ear to ear. “You are absolutely right. A real plus in this business. Let me call Morrie and confirm a time to meet with you so you can set up an orientation schedule.”

He raised an eyebrow. He usually called the applicant but, whatever. Blaine gave her a thumbs up. “We can meet anytime at Casper’s Café down the block.” He whistled under his breath as she dialed the number listed on the application. Joan should have put the call on speaker phone so he could hear what Morrie’s voice sounded like. But Joan did things her way for a reason. He’d learned to trust her a long time ago.

“Well, Morrie said no time like the present. She will meet you at Casper’s in an hour.”

“Great. I like our first meeting to be informal. Sort of breaks the ice. It will be a pleasure meeting Morrie.”

 The look Joan gave him was rather strange. “Oh, I am sure it will be. Much more than you know.”

He left right away. He liked being early for an interview. Sort of helped him assess the individual while they were unaware of any scrutiny.

Casper’s Café was not crowded at that time of the day. He chose a seat at the counter where he could watch people coming in the door. He ordered a latte and sipped slowly.

 A young couple came in and got a take-out order. An older gentleman with a cane was next. He ordered a coffee to go. Holding his cup in one hand and the cane in the other, he shuffled toward the door. The man looked like he could use help. Blaine rose from the stool, then sat down as the door opened from the outside. A woman held the door as the man, nodding his thanks, ambled through. When she entered, she looking hesitantly at the vacant tables then chose a seat at the counter and ordered a latte as well.

 She was stunning. Not beautiful, exactly, but there was something about her that drew his eye. He couldn’t help staring, but he could feel his face burn when she caught him at it. She didn’t seem at all fazed that a perfect stranger was staring at her because she gave him a slow smile. Then, she turned away when her latte was put in front of her.

He pulled out his phone, glanced at it and set it on the counter in front of him. Still a half hour before Morrie arrived. Why not spend it talking to this incredible young woman?

He cleared his throat. “So, do you come here often?”

Her stool swiveled toward him. “I’ve never been here before. And you?”

“At least once a day. Sometimes on the way home I grab a latte to go. Casper’s is the best.”

“I’ll remember that.” She sipped her hot drink. “So, you’re not doing a latte to go. Are you waiting for someone?"

“I have an appointment with a man in less than thirty minutes. I like to be early to do an appraisal. You know. Catching someone unaware, so to speak.”

“Really? That’s what I like to do. You can tell a lot about a person just by observing them surreptitiously.”

Blaine reached across the empty stools and held out his hand. “I’m Blaine, by the way.”

She took his hand. “And I’m Maureen.”

Her hand was soft but her grip was firm. Her gaze was direct and open. Blaine liked that in a woman. “So, are you waiting for someone.” He hoped her answer didn’t indicate a significant other in her life.

“I am.” She then pulled her phone out, glanced at it, and set it in front of her. “He should be here in a few minutes.”

Blaine bit his lip. Darn. She said ‘he’. That was the breaks. He hadn’t felt this magnetic pull toward a woman in five years. He couldn’t ask her anything about this man. Instead, he smiled and said, “just enough time to get acquainted.”

She smiled back. “Just.”

“Well, I know you like lattes.” He asked her what books she liked, and she asked him what his favorite movie was. He asked her what she liked about this city, and she asked him what he liked about it.

They both glanced at their phones at the same time, then spoke together.

“I don’t think….”

They laughed.

“You, first,” Blaine told her.

“I don’t think my appointment is going to show. It’s already a few minutes past the time for our interview.”

Blaine frowned. “My appointment didn’t show either. I was going to interview a man about a concierge position. For Hospitality, Today.

Maureen’s mouth formed a round circle. She swallowed, then asked, “Who were you interviewing?”

“A Morrie Macdonald.”

Maureen gasped, then started laughing. She laughed so hard he thought she was going to fall off the stool. “What’s so funny about that?” He had a sneaking suspicion what it was.

Maureen wiped her eyes and slipped off the stool. She curtsied. “Blaine of Hospitality, Today, meet Maureen, AKA Morrie Macdonald.”