Tuesday July 16, 2013
The Nest- Dining Room
Indianapolis, Indiana
2:02 PM Local Time
“Thank you for meeting with us, Cassie.” Wendy Briese said amiably as she sat down at the table, smiling across at the blonde haired woman on the other side.
“Thanks for having me meet with you,” Cassie replied shyly. “I’m surprised you guys called me in honestly. I turned my resume a month ago, and I figured you guys didn’t think I’d be right for the job.”
“Well, we were pretty busy, and honestly, somehow we didn’t even see your resume until last week. Why didn’t you tell us you had applied?”
Cassie looked down at the table, shrugging. “I didn’t want to be a nag about it, and I didn’t really want you giving me preferential treatment.”
“Oh, you don’t have to worry about that.” Terrence Thompson growled from beside his wife, patting the FFW Racing pin he had above his breast pocket. “How are you even qualified for this position?”
“Well, I have a bachelors degree in business managemen-”
“LIES!” Terrence thundered standing up, grabbing his chair and throwing it. “Your resume had NO higher education when you applied to be Theresa’s babysitter-”
“Four years ago?” Cassie finished mildly. “I’ve been taking online courses since then. You’ve SEEN me doing it...”
“I’ve only seen you staring at a computer screen night after night after night. Probably talking with CHRISTIAN KINCAID” Terrence growled, grabbing Cassie’s coffee cup and dumping it on the floor (Wendy’s mouth opening in horror at the willful destruction of her carpet, much less the absolute horrific treatment of her guest.) Terrence leaned in as close as he could to Cassie, and snarled in her ear. “If you’ve got a degree, prove it.”
“It’s at home,” Cassie replied, looking at Terrence and not even blinking. “Wendy’s seen it, though.”
“I have. Terry what the heck are you doing? Cassie’s a friend of ours and-”
“Pollaski suggested to him that you guys play good cop/bad cop for this.” Cassie replied with a great sigh. “Evidently he’s elected to be the bad cop.”
“Apparently,” Wendy said, glancing sideways at her husband in a most disapproving fashion.
“And how do you know that?” Terrence protested as he glared at Cassie hard enough to burn a hole through her.
“Because I heard you and him talking about it in the garage when I got here,” Cassie said quietly.
“YOU WERE EAVESDROPPING?!” Terrence roared, rearing up to full height.
“The garage door was wide open, and you two were talking at full volume. Honestly, it was almost impossible to NOT hear you. Seriously, if you’re going to do this maybe I should-”
“No, Cassie please stay.” Wendy said quickly standing up and walking over to her husband. She had a sneaking suspicion about that FFW Racing pin he was wearing, and kept adjusting. “Terry, drop the good cop/bad cop act. Cassie may be running your race track, and even if we decide she’s not the one for the job, she’s still a family friend, and we don’t want to ruin that by doing something**STUPID!**”
She screamed the last word as loud and shrill as she possibly could, and was rewarded with both her husband wincing and a loud *THUMP* from upstairs as something large and heavy fell, possibly off the bed in the guest bedroom. She could hear Pollaski’s muffled sobs of agony, and smiled inwardly, realizing she had been right. The ‘pin’ had been disguising a hidden microphone upon which her manager had been listening upstairs with headphones.
Hopefully with the volume turned up as high as possible.
As Cassie watched on in amusement, Wendy held out her hand, and Terrence sheepishly took out his own earpiece and placed it in her hand. “So, now shall we PROPERLY interview the woman who might be running YOUR racetrack?”
“Right,” Terrence said meekly, then sighed. “Here’s the thing, Cas. We know you have a bachelors degree, and you’re a smart woman, and apparently quite good under pressure.” He smiled chagrined. “But the problem is, we don’t have any idea what we’re doing. Neither do you, for that matter. You have less experience with racing than I do.”
Cassie grimaced, seeing the writing on the wall. “I could learn. I’m a fast learner. But I understand if you don’t have the time to...”
Wendy cut her off with a wave of her hand. “Cass, hang on a second. See, the other thing is, we’re looking for someone we can TRUST. We’ve read stories about track manager’s screwing over their owners with awful decisions, or flat out dishonesty and theft. We were able to trust you with our daughter for four years, and never ONCE did we ever regret that decision. If we could trust you where Theresa was concerned, we most certainly could trust you with a race track.”
Cassie looked confused. “But you just said...”
“The question for you, Cassie, is how do you feel about St. Louis?” Terrence asked.
“St... Louis? You mean the city?” Cassie scratched her chin. “It’s a nice place... I guess.”
“I know the owner of the I-55 Speedway out there,” Terrence said. “We’re pretty good friends from when we ran in the ASA a few years ago. And he’s got a great track manager who’s been at the place longer than he’s owned it, and she’d be more than willing to take you on for a couple weeks as an apprentice to teach you some day to day aspects. If we payed for your hotel and food, would you be willing to do that?”
“Y...yes.” Cassie said, flustered. “Does this mean you’re offering me the job?”
“It does,” Wendy smiled. “Provided you honestly feel you can handle it after I-55.”
“Oh, I know I can!” Cassie said, leaping up and giving WEndy a big hug. “Thank you so much. When would I leave for St. Louis?”
“The last weekend of July,” Terrence said. “Then you’ll be there for World of OUtlaws week. If you can’t learn anything from Susan during THAT, then we’ll have a problem.” He grinned to let Cassie know he was kidding- kind of.
“Thank you for this opportunity.” Cassie was on the verge of tears. “I promise you’ll be happy with this decision.”
“We trust that we will too,” Wendy said, returning her nanny- and friend- and now new track manager’s embrace.
The celebration was briefly interrupted by her now seven-year old daughter, who came running into the room. “Mom. Pollaski’s bleeding from his ears!”
“Better not be on my carpet!” Wendy snapped, looking over at her child. Her voice softened with sigh. “Tell him to wait in the bathroom. I’ll be up with some cotton balls.”
“I’ll do it,” Cassie volunteered as Theresa bounded off. “I can handle it.”
“If you want...” Wendy said, not liking the suddenly sinister gleam in the girl’s eye. “Do you know where the cotton balls are?”
“Of course!” Cassie said, then grinned. “I also know where the rubbing alcohol is. After all, we don’t want a bleeding ear to get INFECTED, do we?”
Cassie bounded off, humming happily to herself, leaving Wendy and Terrence behind.
“Oh, I LIKE her!” Terrence said jovially, more than satisfied with his decision. He reached over and picked up his earbud, putting it back in. “You want one?”
“No thanks,” Wendy sighed, shaking her head. “I’m sure I’ll be able to hear it just fine from down here.”
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