for sunlight. Finally, she attacked the bed, pulling on the sheets, arranging the pillows and centering the bedspread exactly in place. She stood back, smoothed away a last, stubborn wrinkle on the bed, and dusted her hands.
“Perfect,” she said, proudly, “Anna Dawn, welcome to your new home!”
“Yikes,” she exclaimed, glancing at her watch. “It’s two-thirty already! I'm due at the Student Employment Office in an hour.”
Forgetting everything else, she pulled off her clothes, dashed into the shower stall and turned on the water.
For a moment, she stood under the warm, steamy water in total bliss. Then her eyes flew open.
“Oh no,” she groaned, realizing the awful truth; the towels were still in the car.
An hour later, Anna Dawn found herself sitting at the Colorado State University Student Employment Center, dressed, pressed and confident, filling out a job application. The personnel advisor sitting across from the neat, confident-appearing, redheaded girl watched her, never guessing the disheveled appearance of this same person sixty minutes earlier. Everything about the applicant’s grooming and person bespoke an immaculate attention to detail.
The advisor took the finished application from Anna Dawn’s hands and scanned it quickly, turning it from front to back.
“You're from Texas, Ms. Hamlyn?” she asked politely.
“Yes, Carpenter, a small town just outside of San Antonio.” Anna Dawn gave a nervous laugh. “Remember the Alamo!”
“Yes. Indeed. Well, judging by your resume´ and appearance, you give a very fine first impression,” the advisor said, smiling at her encouragingly.
“Thank you,” Anna Dawn blushed.
“Where are you staying, if I may ask?”
“I found an apartment not far from campus.”
“And some nice roommates, I hope?”
“No roommates. Just me and Bowlinda.”
“Bowlinda?” the advisor questioned.
Anna Dawn laughed. “My cello. We’re best friends.”
The advisor nodded. “I see. It says here you type 95 words a minute?”
“That's right,” Anna Dawn said.
“And what would you consider your other strengths?”
“Well, I'm a whiz with a computer. As you can see, I’ve had experience as both a secretary and a receptionist. I'm very organized and neat—you could eat off my desktop—and I enjoy meeting people.”
“Excellent. And your weaknesses?”
Anna Dawn hesitated. “Well, I've been told by my previous roommates I tread a bit too closely to the neatnik edge of sanity.”
The personnel advisor smiled.
“By the way,” Anna Dawn added, “I'm looking for just a part-time position so I can attend school.”
“Of course. Most of our employees here are part-time for the same reason. What are you studying, Ms. Hamlyn?'
“Botany, with a music minor. I'm actually coming here on a music scholarship.”
“Well, that's lovely. Now, as to an opening ... as luck would have it, your timing is impeccable. I received a request from the College of Natural Sciences a few days ago for a part- time secretary. After reviewing the resumes already on file, I was left wanting. And, then, you walked through the door. You have the manner and personality of a good receptionist and the skills of a good secretary. Besides that, you are studying botany, which means you will fit right into the biological science department. All in all, Ms. Hamlyn, you not only seem the best qualified, but I just have a strong feeling you and this job were made for each other. Will you be available to start on Monday?”
Anna Dawn gulped to catch her breath. Life didn't usually hand you a job on a silver platter at the first try. This was a welcome stroke of luck.
She paused, reflecting within a split second how everything seemed to have fallen in place for her since deciding to come to Colorado State University. It was like one of those fate things … meant to be. Then again, Anna Dawn checked herself—she did not believe in fate—luck maybe—but not fate. No predetermined path for her feet! No battling against the gods. Free will and choice were two essential elements of her being. Nevertheless, she was not opposed to taking advantage of a lucky break and this job sounded perfect.
“Oh yes, m'am,” she said enthusiastically. “I can start tomorrow, if you want me.”
“No. Monday will be fine,” the advisor said. “That will give you four days to settle in, get unpacked and get acquainted with the city. I hope you will like Fort Collins.”
“It’s bigger than I expected,” Anna Dawn said. “But I like it. I feel at home here already.”
The advisor folded her hands on her desk and looked kindly at Anna Dawn. “Well then, we will expect you to begin work Monday morning, eight o'clock sharp. You will work in the Department of Biology. Here is a card with the name of the department chair’s secretary and her extension. Report to her in the Biology Building, first floor. I will call her and tell her to be ready to go over the job description with you and take you to your office where you may begin getting things organized. Since summer classes begin in three weeks, I imagine your professor will want you to get right to work.”
“That's great, but who, may I ask, will I be working for?”
The advisor hesitated. “I was just about to tell you that. Actually, your position is a bit unusual. You will be personal secretary to a professor who is very special. We don’t usually assign personal secretaries to our faculty. The best they can hope for is a graduate assistant. But in this case, at the dean’s insistence, we’re making an exception. Your man is new to our faculty this year and a bit of a celebrity, they tell me. His name is Dr. James Omega.”
Anna Dawn's purse fell off her lap. She leaned over, picking it up with shaking hands. “Not the Dr. James Omega, the James Omega on PBS?”
“The same.”
“My gosh. He's a professor here? You're kidding.”
“No, I'm not.”
Anna Dawn pushed up her glasses. “Wow. I mean, wow! I can't believe it. This is unreal!”
“No, Ms. Hamlyn,” the advisor said with a smile. She stood to bend over the table and offer a parting handshake, “This is one hundred percent real, believe me. And now I must mention, there are some very specific instructions I need to give you. Dr. Omega’s presence on the campus is, for the time being, to remain a secret from the world outside the campus. Dean Hyden said Dr. Omega’s been terribly harassed by people at his previous post—I suppose that’s the price you pay for fame—anyway, the Doctor insists on his privacy. Thus, part of your job will be to ward off outsiders; and that goes especially for anyone from the media. Screen all his calls carefully. If they are not directly related to his work here at CSU, do NOT connect any such callers with Omega directly. Do what you must, but DO NOT do or say anything that might reveal the nature of his research or even the fact that he is a member of the faculty here. If anyone outside the university calls for him, say, “One moment, please,” then transfer them to Dr. Annie Groff’s secretary without further explanation or comment. Do you understand?”
“Sure. No problem,” Anna Dawn responded, taking on a wide-eyed expression. “Sounds very intriguing.”
“As his personal secretary, you are to do what Dr. Omega asks you to do and protect his privacy as the situation arises. Do you think you can handle that?”
Yes.” Anna Dawn nodded confidently. “Certainly. I can handle that.”
“Very well. That is all,” the advisor concluded, placing Anna Dawn’s