Jen's morning had gone peacefully as she went about showering and preparing for her second interview, which was a big honor considering who the job would be with. A lot of it would be worth celebrating if it weren't for the fact that the town seemed to be at odds with itself over the reveal. Reports on the radio and Moon Lake's local newspaper touched on the tension in various ways, and Jen knew that reflected all of the things that weres had tried to do for centuries to hide from those that would hunt them. She and Jeff had encouraged Tad when he was young to follow many of the same things in order to prevent her son from getting in some form of trouble for many of the same reasons. Thus this reveal would change everything for weres, but after seeing a good part of the country, Jen also had the sense that the threat to weres from the reveal might not be as big as it was being made out to be.
"Hopefully things will clear up enough that the town won't tear itself apart," Jen thought to herself as she straightened the suit blazer she was putting on. While a secretarial position wasn't the most glamorous, to have even gotten one interview with Akane no Tachibana for the position was rare and Tachibana Enterprises did well enough in business circles that Jen was sure that more formal attire would be needed, particularly when the Skulk was by nature more formal about many things in Moon Lake.
As the interview time came close, she made her way into the garage, being careful not to catch her clothing on anything and hitting the button that then lifted the garage door. As the whirring and crackling from the garage door powered down once it was lifted, Jen could hear that the area was relatively calm for the moment. Most people had probably gone to work by this point in the day, but there would be some that worked the night shift who would be off work at the moment, though they might be asleep, there would be those that were stay at home moms or dads and they could be active, and there would be some like Jen who were looking for work and were essentially at home waiting for the calls for interviews. Thankfully for Jen, she did have an interview and that was what she was on her way to, and the quietness was a hopeful sign that things would start to calm down, at least a bit. Thus she got into her car and backed out of the garage, hitting the door remote once out of the garage.
She then made her way toward center of town and would only turn once she came to the intersection with the parks at the center of Moon Lake. From there she could drive along until she got to the north side of the park and could use one of the guest parking spaces available at the Tachibana Enterprises building. The building was still impressive and a bit more modern than some of the buildings in Moon Lake, but in a way that actually added to its charm and gave Moon Lake something that in theory would stand out in tourist circles, where the City Hall was built in the 1800s and the most profitable business had its corporate headquarters and offices being built in the late 1900s and both stood as landmarks. She parked in one of the visitor spots and then calmly straightened her clothes again before making her way in. She came in through the main doors and approached the front desk's receptionist, who was largely there to direct guests and handle various clerical tasks that related to it. The receptionist looked up as Jen approached.
"This is Jen Decker... I am scheduled for a job interview today with Mrs. Tachibana," Jen said to the receptionist and then got the directions on where to go from there.
Jen thanked the receptionist and then simply made her way to get into the building. The elevator ride was quiet with only some soft music playing on speakers in the background. She arrived on the floor to find the hallway largely empty, though she could pick up some conversations going on in the background in some of the other rooms on the floor, many of which likely covered the various departments that Tachibana Enterprises ran. Jen knew that the firm engaged in a fairly wide variety of scientific research missions on various things, largely in connection to the production of the were birth control pill, but there were supposed offices that did some private security work as well as in projects that might be more related to various other fields. Thus it was more than possible that these were just some of the other affairs of the company going on.
She approached the central hallway and noted that there was someone at the secretarial desk that was just outside Akane no Tachibana's office. Jen guessed that this was either a temp or someone who was leaving the firm and might only be there to train whoever was hired to serve as Mrs. Tachibana's personal secretary. The secretary looked to Jen and gave a small smile.
"Mrs. Tachibana is busy with a few things at the moment, she should be with you shortly, Mrs. Decker," the present secretary spoke and then gestured to a row of chairs in the hall that were along the south side of the hallway.
Jen nodded and quietly sat down in one while waiting. She mentally ran over the things to say and the nature of the business that she would likely have to keep track of. Given Akane's position as the "Royal Leader of the Moon Lake Skulk" and her position on Moon Lake's City Council, there could well be the potential that Skulk and city matters might also come up during the course of a day. Jen felt she had to be ready for that and went over the answers she'd rehearsed in her head for those questions. There were other things to keep track on, such as scheduling, phone numbers, filing, typing up letters, and other assorted tasks that Jen had done periodically from time to time with the previous jobs she'd had. Her thoughts over this continued until the door to Akane no Tachibana's office opened and the roughly middle aged Japanese werefox vixen stepped into the doorway, in her human form.
"Good to see that you are here, Mrs. Decker," Akane spoke in a polite but still formal tone, "I hope you haven't been waiting too long?"
"No, ma'am," Jen answered she stood up and, "though I'm sure things have been busy for you..."
"In many sectors," Akane nodded and looked over to the secretary that was present, "hold any calls that come in while I am conducting the interview."
The secretary nodded while Akane held the door open and let Jen walk through. The office was reasonably well lit and kept fairly functional. There were some pictures on the wall, which Jen assumed were members of the Tachibana family that had come to Moon Lake from Japan after World War II. She glanced to them briefly as she was lead to a chair opposite Akane's desk while Akane moved to her normal office chair.
"I've been looking over your resume and application again... and I must say that your work history should have you reasonably well prepared for what you will be doing here as my secretary," Akane said slowly, "if you are offered the position. And the calls that I've made to confirm your work history have included some praise from your former employers, even those that you didn't cite as references... so it would appear that you left a lasting and positive impression wherever you went."
Jen nodded from her seat while Akane continued.
"However, the biggest thing was that many of these positions only lasted from between a few months to a year or so," Akane spoke, "so I must ask... under what circumstances did you leave these posts?"
"I never left under bad terms, if that is what you mean, Mrs. Tachibana," Jen said slowly, "most of this related to my husband's career, and when he was transferred between Marine bases and postings... assuming he wasn't going into combat... I went with him. The bases he was assigned to had the housing... or towns and villages nearby had the housing for me... and eventually for my son, Tad, and we would be with him. The only times when we didn't follow him was when he was sent into combat zones... like Iraq or Afghanistan. It was only when he had combat deployments that I would have stayed behind to work, raise Tad, and keep food on the table."
"I see... and that would confirm some of the answers I've gotten from your previous employers and references," Akane nodded.
"It was something that let me see the world in a way and meet many people... and to an extent, I wouldn't trade it for anything," Jen spoke, "though... with Jeff gone and Tad getting ready for college... I'll need to settle down."
Akane slowly nodded, "Now... as my personal secretary here... you will understand that some calls may come in that may not relate to business affairs. City Council meetings, Skulk meetings, and so on... You may have to deal with some of these issues to relay them as messages from time to time. Can you handle that?"
"Yes... some things might be different from similar positions I'd had in the past... but most of them were also quite different from Moon Lake," Jen answered, "I can put everything that I've learned and harness them to serve those things. I may have some questions on how you would want those messages filed... but that would be about it."
"And how would you handle potential questions that might recognize that you are not a werefox and thus not "in" our club's meetings?" Akane asked.
"I can transfer all notes that you'd wish sent to Skulk members and explain that in those matters I would be at their service and that nothing they say... provided there is no violation of the law... would be left to gossip," Jen answered, "I would send the message to you... or leave an appropriate written message. And the same would go with any City Council messages as well."
Akane nodded, "and how well would you cover international calls?"
"International calls?" Jen asked back.
"Tachibana Enterprises does business outside of Moon Lake, both in the US and abroad," Akane explained, "much of it is in relation to the work we already do in Moon Lake... but it will mean some contacts with those outside the US... and those that would come directly to me would be either the heads of companies or other agencies that would know about the were birth control pill and thus consult with our scientists as needed."
"I can promise to treat them with respect, Mrs. Tachibana," Jen answered, "if I may ask a question..." She then paused for Akane to nod. "Given time zone differences suppose one of them calls at a time when you've already gone home or have some other function to attend... would you want that sent to your email as a message? Sent to your cellphone if you have one? Or..."
"A lot of that would depend on the nature of the call," Akane answered, "if the person is just calling to catch up... just take a written message and leave it on my desk. If it's business... make sure you find out how critical it is and how much time we here would have to make a decision. If it's immediate... THEN you can forward the call to my home phone or my cellphone. If it is something that can wait until the next business day for us... take a written note and leave it on my desk... That would be all that would be needed. That would be all that would be needed in that situation... all of which would relate to things that you should be at least basically familiar with."
"And I would be..." Jen spoke, "but I would be eager for the posting... I would wish to be fully aware of what I am to do..."
Akane nodded, "very good... How would you respond to complaints that come in regarding the present reveal crisis? That could well come up."
"That would depend on the complaint... but in general, I would try to be as calm and tactful as possible," Jen answered, "given that the situation is tense and some might be a bit more energized on an issue than others. And that would include something would assure them that the company won't close up shop over the issue... though, that would all again depend on the complaint."
"Very appropriate," Akane nodded, "Now... do you have any questions for me?"
"A couple," Jen spoke, "some of this might just be because I've been away from Moon Lake for so long... but what are you using for code for things that would relate to Moon Lake directly... Even if the were secret goes away, I'm not sure Moon Lake's secret as a were sanctuary will go away. Jeff and I had our secrets... but they were something of our own system... and your company policy says nothing of that online... for obvious reasons."
"A lot of that would be determined during training," Akane spoke, "whoever is hired will train with the person manning the desk right now for about a week to get a grip on the routine and go over some of the finer details that we can't reveal to the public at present. All the code that we would use with out of state or even with foreign customers would be explained then. I can say that it is a standardized system that would fit in with our records, so ours hasn't changed... though whether or not it was the same as you and your husband's code would be an unknown to us."
Jen slowly nodded.
"Would there be anything else, Mrs. Decker?" Akane asked calmly.
"Right now... just to say that I would forward to working for you if offered the position," Jen spoke, "though I would ask if you would know when I could expect to have a decision on the position sent to me?"
"Right now we're hoping to have a decision ready by the end of the week, though given some of the stuff that's gone on... of late, that could be delayed," Akane spoke, "but that will depend on how the last couple of interviews go. If they go well... I will have a final decision ready by the end of the week."