Page 41 of Summer Shot
“Sure, I’ll wait over there.” I point to our table.
The conversation with Libby went better than I thought it would, but it left me asking myself if I’ve really put enough thought into what having a fake girlfriend would be like. Would it really help me redeem myself? I guess there’s one way to find out.
Chapter twenty
Laur
Jittery with nerves, I sit down in between Libby and the other senior on the team, Kat, in the conference room to orient them before the final round of interviews start.
“Remember we have five spots open,” I remind them. “We want to ensure there are more underclassmen to grow into the roles but would be open to some junior candidates.”
“We have me and two others,” Libby mutters under her breath. “We don’t need any more juniors."
Narrowing my eyes at her, I continue, “Ideally, we want a mix of those who have a background in sports or an affiliation with hockey, as well as candidates with an extensive background in planning events.” I pause, nervously biting my nail. “If the events are more charity focused, that makes the candidate even more favorable.”
I hand them each a packet of paper. “I know we’ve watched the recordings of the interviews, and that you’ve seen these details over email, but here are the nine final candidates we are interviewing over the next two days. Each get a maximum of one hour.”
I force myself to keep in the long sigh itching to escape me, I ask the girls if they have any questions.
“Did you pick the order of the candidates for a specific reason?” Libby asks curiously.
“Yes, the first three are the strongest in my opinion,” I explain. “The others I am on the fence about.”
“Knew it,” Libby whispers with a slight smirk.
“I thought Raven was a strong candidate?” Kat inquires, her brows furrowed.
“She has a strong background, but I’m not sold on her wanting to work in sports or hockey.” I fold my hands together. “The two times I’ve asked her, she hasn’t concretely answered why she is interested in pivoting toward hockey.”
Kat taps her finger to her lips. “Interesting.”
“If by interesting you mean weird,” Libby mumbles, browsing through the packet I just gave her.
“I’d like to re-watch the recordings of the second interviews,” Kat says. “Can we do that tonight?”
“Absolutely,” I grin, loving her dedication.
Libby lets out a small groan. The next two days are about to be extremely long.
Less than five hours later, we’ve interviewed five of the nine candidates. The first two were less than thirty minutes, and we all agreed: automatic “yeses.”
“We have three spots left if Lena and Emery accept,” I remind them, the nerves in my stomach finally settling after the video calls. “I will send out emails to them tonight. Hopefully we will have an answer from them before we start the interviews tomorrow to know how many final spots we need to fill.”
“Let’s talk about the other candidates today. Is there anyone else we want to give an offer to today?” Kat asks.
Shaking my head, I take out my phone to order pizza. We are going to need fuel while we debrief and re-watch any old interviews.
Kat turns to Libby. “What did you think of Marci? I really think she would be a perfect fit.”
“I’m surprised how much I like Marci,” Libby remarks in a higher pitch than typical.
“What’s not to like? She understands hockey and has a background in organizing volunteers,” Kat gushes. “We would be stupid not to accept her.”
Libby groans softly. “But do we really need another junior?”
Kat snorts. “Who cares what year she is? We would probably be better stacked if we had more than just Laur and me as seniors.”
“Twenty minutes for the food,” I chime in, ending my call. “Kat’s right—class doesn’t matter, experience does.” I understand Libby’s hesitation. She doesn’t want competition to lead the program next year. Trying to reassure her, I add, “Besides, she said she would stay an extra year most likely anyways.”
