When I pulled open the door to the tavern, the sound that came pouring out was like a crowd at a sporting event. “And I bet I know the name of the game that’s being played,” I thought wryly.
As I walked in, the noise level dropped noticeably, but I ignored the attention I’d drawn and scanned the room until I spotted Marge waving at me from the table she’d commandeered. As I walked over to sit with her, the noise gradually resumed its previous level.
She stood up as I approached. Uncertain how to greet her, I awkwardly reached out to shake her hand, but she ignored it to give me a welcoming hug the way women do. That simple gesture gave me a warm feeling; the other secretaries in the executive suite had pretty much given me the cold shoulder. As secretary to the president of Magnetadyne, Marge was pretty much the queen bee among the other ladies, so to have her ask me out for a drink was a big deal.
“I’m glad you could come, Jessica,” she said as we both sat down. “I wanted to get to know you a little better.”
“I really appreciate the invitation, Marge,” I said, “and my friends call me Jess.”
Just then a perky waitress appeared to take our orders. Marge asked for a beer, then raised her eyebrows slightly when I asked for a wine spritzer, but she didn’t make a comment.
“I really appreciate your invitation, Marge,” I told her sincerely. “It hasn’t been easy getting settled at Magnetadyne, so it means a lot that you’d reach out to me. Some of the other ladies don’t seem to like me all that much.”
She reached over and patted my hand. “It’s not that they don’t like you, Jess, it’s just that you’re the newcomer and Mary, the woman you replaced, had been with us for years before she retired.”
“I guess I can understand that,” I said.
“And to be honest,” Marge went on, “there’s also your appearance. I guess some of the others are a little intimidated because you’re so beau…”
“Please don’t use that word, Marge!” I interrupted. “I’m not trying to be falsely modest,” I said hastily as she raised her eyebrows again, “but I’m not truly beautiful. I could never land a job as a top model.”
She looked at me skeptically. “I’m not so sure about that,” she said. “But no matter what, most of us would kill to have your looks, and that inevitably generates a little envy.”
I shook my head. “They wouldn’t be so envious if they knew how my looks have affected my life. In many ways, beauty is a curse, not an advantage.”
Now she clearly didn’t believe me. “Every one of those gals spends a small fortune on clothes, hair dressers and make-up trying to look the way you do naturally. We’re the ones who’re cursed!”
I shook my head again. “You might think so, but you’d be wrong. For example, I go through life with my eyes focused on the ground, like one of the untouchables in India. I don’t dare look up for fear of making eye contact with a man, because if I do the odds are he’s going to hit on me.”
“Is that such a bad thing?” Marge asked in amusement.
“Yes,” I said emphatically, “when it happens almost constantly and when the men who approach me are so creepy or obnoxious.”
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