The Knowledge Stone (36 page)

Jana had been born into a poor but loving family. Her father was an Assistant Storeman in a local factory, a position which paid little and involved long hours of work. By his own admission, he was not very bright – as a rebellious teenager, he had been disruptive at school and, as a result, his education had been minimal. Now he used his plight to warn his children of the dangers of undisciplined living, citing his own case as a perfect illustration. Jana’s mother had achieved a higher state of education than her husband but marriage at an early age followed in short order by children had prevented her from following up her talents. Because the family was always short of money, she contributed by working as a cleaner at various industrial premises, jobs which were a certainty for wages set at the very lowest level.

Nevertheless, their rather small and cramped flat was always a happy place. Jana had a sister two years older than herself and a younger brother who had arrived five years later. Their parents were very proud of their children. Jana was judged to the academic of the family, although her young brother’s talents were also developing well. Her parents considered it right that she had a good job in an important law firm. By contrast, Jana’s elder sister did not show an academic bent in her education at school and was regarded as the stylish, flamboyant member of the family. Several years before, she had secured a job in one of the town’s department stores and was able to take advantage of staff discounts when buying the latest clothes styles. She had always had a streak of independence within her and Jana had learned everything about being a teenager from her!

The two girls were firm friends and Jana admired her sister greatly. The younger girl was allowed to try on any of the new clothes that her sister brought home triumphantly. This was always a time of great happiness. Gusts of laughter, also occasional screams, could be heard emanating from the girls’ bedroom when garments were being tried on experimentally. On one occasion, a fifteen year-old Jana had expressed a desire to try on the very latest in feminine underwear, a style of garment that had been adopted by her sister for everyday wear. The beautifully made peach-coloured garment had been slipped on and Jana was admiring herself in the mirror, blissfully unaware that that the minimalist thong design left her bottom completely naked. That particular scream was the result of turning round for a back view! However, it seems that fashion is an overpowering force for the young, especially the commercialism of the 21st century. It would not be long before Jana succumbed to the straightjacket of fashion conformity.

Months passed. School for Jana was coming to an end. She had been looking for employment opportunities and had seen this advertisement in the local newspaper: “Administrative staff required for large commercial law firm.”

She knew this firm and the impressive building it occupied in the town centre. This was the chance that Jana had been waiting for and she applied immediately. After several weeks, just when she was giving up hope, a large stiff envelope arrived and she was overjoyed to be called to interview. She had consulted her parents and her sister about dress and it was decided that she must have a formal suit for the interview. Jana was adamant that she would not attend in school clothes. A neat grey suit and white blouse were obtained by her sister from the department store (along with correctly fashionable underwear) and Jana was ready. On the day, she was careful with her makeup and arranged her long blonde hair neatly.

She was interviewed in a rather dingy office on the first floor of the building. Her two interviewers, a man and a woman, were kind to her and she was able to lose some of her nervousness.

‘Anyway,’ she told herself as she was about to go in, ‘at least I look quite nice.’

The man introduced himself. Jana knew it was vitally important to remember his name and immediately forgot it! He identified himself as the Head of the Document Control Department. Then he introduced the woman as his deputy. He explained that Jana was being considered for a post in his department and he outlined its functions and how it fitted in with the other activities of the Firm. She was, of course, in competition with other applicants for the post. After her interview, his deputy would show her around the department and she would be able to ask questions. Did she have any questions now, before they started? She didn’t.

The interview passed in a confusing blur, as so many interviews do. Eventually, the man intimated that the questions had come to an end and thanked her for attending. Did she have any questions at this time? She didn’t. Then the Firm would be in touch with her as soon as decisions were made.

The woman stood up and smiled at her saying: ‘Come with me, Jana, and I will show you what we all do here.’

Jana said goodbye to the man (he was really quite nice) and left with no memory of all the questions she had answered well but vivid, agonising memories of those that she considered had been answered badly!

The woman had taken her to a large room next door; the sign on the door said: “Document Control Department” and then, in smaller letters below: “General Office”

Inside, the room was quiet and seven or eight young men and women were working quietly at small desks. Jana thought that most of them looked little older than herself. Later, they told her they were instructed to look busy any time there were visitors. This was a Standing Order from HDC and so it had to be obeyed: ‘Normally, we’re not as quiet as this,’ they smiled, ‘or as hard-working!’

The room was lined with cabinets of varying sizes and there were also a good number of computer terminals, printers and copying machines around the walls. The woman explained that there were document stores throughout the building that were under the technical control of HDC and his department:

‘When the legal teams need document packs for their contracts and other work, it is our responsibility to supply them. You will appreciate that this means a lot of meticulous work – we can’t afford to get it wrong. It also means quite a lot of running around. That’s why the Document Control team are generally quite young; the young tend to have more energy.’ This final remark was accompanied by a pleasant smile.

She also explained that it was possible to obtain documentation from the computer terminals: ‘Then we print them out here in this room. So you need to know how to operate the terminals, printers and copying machines.’ Jana thought that all this sounded quite thrilling. As she was shown round, she asked a few intelligent questions and Margarite was duly impressed: ‘A nice girl, looks and sounds intelligent and serious. Probably a good bet for us.’ She would intimate this to Julian after the girl left.

Jana left the building impressed and excited. However, with every step she now revisited all the interview questions where her performance had been, in her opinion, below par: ‘Oh dear, why did I say that?’ She murmured this over and over again as she walked towards the bus station. By the time Jana alighted from the bus near her home, she was thoroughly depressed, knowing that she must have come across as a complete dullard, quite unsuitable for such a prestigious job. The trouble was – now she had to face her family. They would all be waiting to hear how she had done; she decided she could not possibly tell the truth. She would just have to be noncommittal, she decided.

As she had predicted, all the family were agog to hear what had happened to her. Forcing a degree of gaiety (extremely difficult to maintain), Jana told them all about the Document Control Department at the law firm, emphasising how complex, difficult and responsible the work was: ‘You need to know all about computers and a whole range of other very expensive office machinery; there’s absolutely no room for mistakes, that’s what the deputy head of the department told me.’

Her father’s face fell: ‘But, Jana, you don’t know anything about computers. We’ve never been able to afford one.’ He looked thoroughly miserable, convinced that he had let his lovely daughter down.

‘Don’t worry about that, Daddy,’ she responded cheerfully, ‘I’ve used computers at school (in truth, not very often!) and anyway, the lady told me that I would receive full training on everything I need to know.’

‘If only we had a bit more money,’ her father said mournfully to her mother, ‘then we could have prepared Jana better for this important job.’

‘Look everyone,’ Jana said firmly, ‘let’s not get ahead of ourselves here, no-one says I’ve got the job yet. There were a lot of other young people being interviewed as well as me (Jana crossed her fingers as she told this lie). I’m in competition with them. We won’t know for one or two weeks.’ Of course Jana was completely convinced she had failed.

Just seven days later, the Great Day arrived. A large white envelope, reassuringly thick, fell through the letterbox and fell on the floor with an audible thud. Feigning nonchalance, Jana sauntered into the hallway and saw that the envelope was addressed to her. Her mother came out from the kitchen and observed the frozen figure of Jana, wide-eyed, clutching the envelope to her chest. Without a word – sometimes speech is impossible – the girl slipped past her mother and disappeared into her bedroom, closing the door firmly behind her.

Ten minutes passed, little temporal blocks of tension. Jana’s mother hovered nervously around the kitchen door, often popping her head into the hallway to pick up any sound from the bedroom. Worryingly, all was completely silent. Annoyingly, a saucepan on the cooker required attention and the woman had to leave her post to deal with it. When she turned around, her younger daughter stood in the doorway, clutching a veritable sheaf of papers in her arms and grinning broadly. That grin took her mother back many years – a much smaller, younger Jana used to grin like that when she was especially pleased with herself; a grin that had been overlaid over the years by the sophisticated smile of a young lady! Speech was unnecessary but there was no way that silence would prevail: ‘I’ve got it! I knew I would! I felt it all along! I thought I interviewed well and asked some very good questions. I think it was a foregone conclusion as soon as I walked in!’ Jana knew she was lying but you are allowed a few lies at a time like this, surely? The girl threw the papers on the kitchen table and hugged her mother tightly. ‘Oh, isn’t it wonderful! I can’t wait to tell Daddy. He will be so pleased, won’t he? Everybody will be so pleased. Wait till I tell my friends, they will all be so pleased – well, maybe they will be a bit jealous, too, but I can’t help that …’ A delighted Jana was unable to stop talking and now started to dance around the room.

‘That’s wonderful, Darling.’ Her relieved mother finally managed to speak. ‘You are a very clever girl, I’m so pleased and, yes, I’m sure Daddy and everyone else will be very happy for you, too. When do you start work?’

‘The week after next,’ Jana exclaimed joyfully, ‘that will give me time to get myself organised. There are some things I need to buy – a document case, for instance.’

‘What do you need a document case for? I thought the Firm would provide everything?’

‘Yes, they do, but I’ll need it for my sandwiches.’ They looked at each other gravely for a moment and then burst out laughing. The laughter rapidly became hysterical as the linking of document case and sandwiches provided the trigger for an explosion of pure joy: ‘Sandwiches!’ her mother screeched, holding her sides.

‘Yes, sandwiches!’ Jana could hardly get the words out, she was so breathless with laughter. In the end, they both clung on to each other in an ecstasy of love and joy.

It was all so strange and thrilling. The man at the desk gave her a temporary pass with her name printed boldly on it. ‘You’ll need to get proper ID from HR,’ he said incomprehensibly, ‘your department will sort that out. Meanwhile, I’ll call someone to take you up.’

Jana sat in a sumptuous armchair, feeling like she was waiting outside the Headmaster’s Office! A few minutes later, a young girl arrived, wearing a green plastic-covered ID card on a chain around her neck. Jana thought this looked extremely official and decided this girl must be a very important person. The man behind the desk pointed to Jana and the girl approached: ‘Jana! Welcome. I’m Marie, one of the DC girls. Let’s go.’ She skipped over to the elevator and pressed the call button. A few minutes later they were both in the DC General Office. Everybody called “Hi!” to her in a very friendly way and the woman who had interviewed her came out of a small office in the corner of the room:

‘Jana! Here you are. Let’s get you sorted out. Come into my office.’ She closed the door and invited the girl to sit down. ‘I’m Margarite, the Deputy Head of DC. You can call me Margarite. We are going to be working together closely. The Head of DC is Julian (you remember him?) but you call him “Sir”.’