The Ink Well Prompt Link
Prompt Word: Fly
Bruce Miller
Bruce Miller took a sip of his coffee as he sat down at his desk to begin his morning task. He set the coffee to the side, then slid the calculator closer, as he opened the Bennett file to calculate an estimate. In terms of his time, he estimated he could have this half-finished before his interview this morning. After a hectic morning at home, he was relieved to be focused in his peaceful office. His husky fingers squashed the soft buttons on the cheap calculator as he became engulfed in his task. With traces of coffee still on his tongue, he licked his finger to turn the page. He moved on to the next page, continuing his number-crunching marathon. It was going to be a productive day; or so he thought.
While on the second page, he heard an unmistakable buzzing sound coming from across the room. The fly is back. But how? Bruce had taken pity on the fly the day before by opening the window to let it out. He thought for sure the fly had seen its way out yesterday. But no, it had quietly retired to the air vent in the ceiling for the rest of the day. The fly had come back, and Bruce was in no mood for distraction.
He looked over to see Real Estate Investing: A Complete Guide. Irritated, he grabbed the thick paperback book that sat on the nearby shelf. He walked quickly to the corner of the room, his lips pursed, as he reached up to crush the fly with the book. The book hit the wall as the fly flew out just in time. The fly flew onto the desk. Wham! No luck in killing the fly. It then landed on a rack of files neatly aligned on the desk. Wham! No luck. It landed on a messy stack of papers on top of a filing cabinet. Bruce tripped as he tried to come after the fly, sending the papers flying off the cabinet. This gave rise to an even bigger mess. The mess irritated him and he became more steadfast in his pursuit to kill the fly. He sprung in all various directions throughout the room, slamming down the book as the fly swiftly dodged each assault. His wife, and business partner, heard the commotion and came into the room.
“What is going on in here?” she said while walking into the room. Bruce turned to look at her, which made him lose sight of the fly. Then his eyes darted around to various corners of the ceiling, looking for the fly.
“Carol, can you pick up some fly traps while you’re out today?”
Timmy Stewart
Timmy Stewart pressed down on the gas pedal as he sped through a yellow light. It became apparent that the universe was on his side today, as he drove from light to light, each turning yellow just as he was passing through. He left the house early and there wasn’t a single red light on the way to his interview today. He laughed to himself imagining if he had left late; how he’d be stuck at every single red light. It was the irony of every commuter’s journey. He hit the blinker and made a left into the parking lot of Miller Realty Partners LLC. He was 20 minutes early and made the mistake of parking in a spot facing the office. Like a magnet, his eyes instantly met with Bruce’s eyes as Bruce looked up from his work to see who had pulled up. He instantly could see that this irritated Bruce, who still had a lot of work to do. The only thing that would be more awkward than going into the reception area early, would be sitting in his car staring at Bruce. He hit the lock button on his car and walked sheepishly toward the entrance with a folder of resumes in his hand. As he waited in the reception area, he looked down at his folder and was confronted by the idea of his unremarkable resume. He’d rehearsed all of his answers to explain the gaps and lack of advancement. He felt stuck. He could only find jobs in that which he had experience. All of the jobs he wanted required years of experience. Where could he find that? His work made him feel a lack of purpose all these years. It was time for something different.
The Interview
It was apparent that Bruce was looking at Timmy’s resume for the first time during the interview. Someone else must have been tasked with filtering through candidates, while Bruce made the final hiring decision.
Bruce described the basics of the position while nodding his head and scanning the resume. His lukewarm demeanor and confused expression on his face gave Timmy the impression that Bruce thought he was unqualified.
“Ah,T.W. Inspections.” Bruce recognized the real estate experience on his resume and kept reading. Timmy sat there waiting for Bruce’s inevitable realization that he wasn’t qualified. None of his previous tasks aligned with what this position entailed.
Timmy decided to fill the silence. “Yes, I was an administrative assistant for an inspection company. But, I’m looking to move up and gain more experience in the industry.”
Bruce nodded his head while still looking down at the resume. “So no appraisal experience?”
“No, but it’s something I’d certainly like to become licensed in someday.” Bruce nodded his head and looked slightly disappointed.
“Can you write listings?” Finally, a glimmer of hope.
“I would often help write the newsletter for the inspection company, so I have some writing experience,” said Timmy.
“We’re a brokerage, but we also do appraisals and inspections. We’re looking for someone who can wear many hats and take on whatever needs to be done.” Bruce said this in a delicate tone that implied here’s what we’re looking for, and I’m afraid you’re not it.
But, like mentioned before, the universe was on Timmy’s side that day. As he struggled to find the right words to say in this awkward circumstance, the fly came out from hiding behind a window curtain. It landed on a pen that was standing inside a pencil cup, then buzzed over a short distance onto the stapler that was on the corner of the desk. He saw Bruce’s eyes look over at the fly and caught the irritated microexpression on his face. Timmy realized he had nothing to lose. He wasn’t going to get this job anyway. He rolled up his resume and slowly brought it over, until it was about a foot above the fly. The fly sat comfortably on the stapler, rubbing its front feet together, attempting to clean itself. Timmy struck down on the fly with the rolled up resume and knocked it out in one blow. He stared at the dead fly as he slowly lowered the resume in his hand. Then he started to unroll the resume.
“Sorr—“ He began to apologize, looking up awkwardly at Bruce. He stopped when he saw a look in Bruce’s eyes that he hadn’t seen before. It was a look of intrigue; a connection. For the duration of the interview, Bruce was physically there, but his mind appeared to be somewhere else. Finally, he looked present, and this was evident by he gleam of enthusiasm in his eyes.
“Oh, don’t be sorry. That thing has been bugging me all day,” Bruce said.
Timmy’s unremarkable resume was finally good for something. He thought about this, and laughed to himself, as he was leaving the interview. A few days later, he received a call saying he got the job. Considering he was totally unqualified on paper, he knew it was the initiative he took with the paper that made Bruce believe in him.