Raina You're Irresistible

She held out her arms and Raina leapt from her armchair to be cuddled.

"Well dad, get a rider of the schedule of what will be done and when, and I'll sign the lease agreement as soon as it's ready," Charlie said. "Right, Raina?"

"For sure, mate. I can't wait to move in with you."

A couple of days later, the executive-director of production's PA was unable to contact Beryl or her personal assistant at precisely 1.00 pm on an urgent matter. The executive-director, Beryl's supreme boss, flew into a rage and ordered that the two women appear before him at 2.30.

At the time of that call, Raina had stepped out of the lift and was proceeding to their department and her first task would be to link Beryl's phone to her phone, as she would regularly do when starting work for the day. Beryl was thirty minutes into a management meeting where all phones had to be left in baskets just inside the room, switched off.

When Beryl arrived back at her office, Raina said to her they were in line for a kick in the butt, apparently.

"Yes, Raina. I've heard the unofficial version from the grapevine. Apparently, Geoffrey lost it completely when he was unable to contact me for a quick newspaper photo opportunity of the South Australian Prime Minister, who was visiting Sydney officially, had suddenly decided to call in on us to personally congratulate Geoffrey and I for the much-improved coverage of South Australian content in our rural programming, that incidentally is a result of your efforts."

"I couldn't be contacted and you were just arriving on time to commence work. It would have been a nice compliment for us but no big deal missing out, actually. However, Geoffrey is refusing to back down. He raged in front of everyone around him that someone's head will roll over this."

"Oh, god."

"Yes, darling. I'm sorry as it won't be my head."

"Right, I'll fuck off now, boss."

Beryl grabbed Raina, kissed her lightly on the tip of her nose, and said sternly, "Hold your ground, lass. Aren't you aware of compromise? I've already got the wheel turning for your second life at this TV station."

Raina looked so confused that it sent Beryl into laughter. She explained that Geoffrey would get his satisfaction when told that Raina's head had rolled from the 'Rural Perspective' department. He wouldn't be told that Raina had taken a salary drop to become an intern training cadet, effective immediately.

"Training at what?"

Beryl said, "The director of training and Human Resources used to bone me frequently in our first year here, he aged 20 and I a more worldly 21-year-old. I reminded him of those days when he was a timid gangly young man in glasses and I was the babe who taught him all about sex. Today, he intelligently sighed and said, how far did I wish to twist his arm behind his back. I said not far, I just required a young female hot shot being surplus to my department to be 'expressed trained' to join the crash response team that profiles 'Emerging Aussie Newsmakers' for screening before the screenings really gain in national popularity."

"Oh god, no, Beryl. The cream of Australia journalism will line up to have a stint of exposure on that programme accelerating prestige and I've been told is displaying all the indications of becoming a bolter, I'd be lucky to last a week in my preparations to join the team."

"Darling, wag your tail. Bevan Ryan is the director of training and his second wife Maggie Webster-Ryan heads the training team. She moans about there's a lack what she calls 'head-knocking personalities' in her current team. Now isn't that exactly how you'd described yourself if let free to run with the bulls, which is how I described you to Bevan?"

Horrified, and catching Beryl's huge wink, Raina replied weakly, "I guess it has to be; it's my big chance."

"Darling, just strive to be yourself and feed on your permeating natural confidence and awesome abilities. You probably have no idea of how much you have advanced in the thirteen weeks you have been under my thumb."

"A few steps. In comparison, the other trainees will have spent three or four years at university including gaining actual work experience.'

"Darling, you have the choice of taking the toe of my shoe in your butt or sitting with me and imbibing", Beryl said, hauling out her gin bottle and two glasses.

Raina sighed and watched the straight gins being poured.

She met Charlie after work at a bar to unload.

He practically stymied her as he arrived beside her, leading Raina to think that Beryl must have called him to re-inflate her.

"It's likely we can move into our penthouse the weekend after next."

"Great," she smiled. "That's ten days earlier than scheduled."

"Beryl called and told me you had a setback at work today but already are moving into greater things.

"Yes."

"Well?"

"I don't want to talk about it."

"That's odd, Raina. You called me less than three hours ago and wanted to meet here because you needed to unload."

"I've lost my founding job in television after only thirteen weeks."

"Well, that would have given you wonderful initial experience, I guess."

"I suppose so."

"Christ, girl. Where's the excitement? Beryl said you have landed into the last five weeks of a 12-week training programme and upon graduation will be launched into national television."

"Yes."

"And that's excitement?"

Raina rubbed an eye as if expecting a tear and said Charlie didn't understand that she'd been fired from a job for the first time in her life.

"Second job. You first job was working all those years on a farm."

"That wasn't a job, that involved dedicating myself to the love of the land and helping my family out."

"That's horseshit."

"Watch yourself Charlie Errol Hastings."

"Ah, that sounds like the resuscitation of my girl is underway."

"I need to be fucked."

"Patience, darling. Let's get this shit out of the way first."

"Raina, I understand you met your new boss, one of the most highly regard women under fifty in Greater Sydney, which virtually means Australia."

"How the hell could I know that but oh my, I could almost feel her presence wafting around me. Maggie Webster-Ryan is a bit over-weight, good looking and impressed me as the type of woman who'd hit any pesky person, male or female, without baulking."

"Oh yeah, rather like you."

"Why this horseshit, Charlie?"

"Be honest Raina, and this is just me feeling the vibes. She said during her interview with you that rather reminded herself at her age?"

"Ah actually, yes, right at the end and... omigod, her husband the director of training, who I remembered said something about my attitudes and enthusiasm reminded him of his wife. What is happening here, Charlie?"

"I think its called something like 'provisional acceptance' for whatever reason. But no worries. Just ride with it and it will unravel in time if it's that important. You are not quite yourself today, darling, for reasons I now understand."

Their second round of drinks were placed in front of them.

"I fell less like a punchbag and more like my usual self," Raina said, stroking Charlie's cheek. "I'm thinking that I must stop bemoaning that I'm not a university graduate and instead believe I have the capacity to perform better than anyone around me until proven incorrect, should that be possible, and in starting seven weeks behind other trainees that I won't be in the lowest half of final results. What's more, I'll make those in the established team of presenting 'An Emerging Aussie Newsmaker' wary of me right from day one of me joining the team."

"That's the ticket, darling."

"What does that mean?"

"It means... oh, whatever.

* * *

The next day, Thursday, Raina spent all day at the TV company's training department, first, being shown around, and then being expertly interviewed, tested and assessed.

She had dinner that evening with the director of the company's training and human resources department, Bevan Webster (53), and his wife head of training services, Maggie Webster-Ryan (44).

At the end of the evening, Bevan said, "Well Raina, I can see why Beryl Hunt pressured me to push Maggie to admit you to her current training intake as a late entrant. As Beryl claimed, I agree you are over-flowing with natural-born talent. You are irresistible as a formidable personality Raina Bullman."

"Agreed one hundred per cent," giggled Maggie. "Gosh, I'm tipsy and haven't laughed so much at restaurant dinner in years."

"I am in-intoxicated too, your ladyship," beamed Raina. "And I appear to have developed the urge to walk crablike to conceal my impairment."

Their insane burst of group laughter drew frowns from around the restaurant but those were outnumbered by the smiles.

Bevan's chauffeur detoured to drop Raina off at her nearby home.

The following morning, Maggie called a meeting of instructors, support personnel and the current intake of trainees.

She introduced Raina as being a late addition to the current intake of trainees.

"I've taken this unusual step of calling this meeting because, on paper, Raina appears to have none of the requirements of applicants who qualify for our advanced training programme. Therefore, explanations are required. Clearly, Raina is an unusual standout and she was referred to us by producer Mrs Beryl Hunt who heads 'Rural Perspective' as one of her roles. Raina began working as Beryl's personal assistant 13 weeks ago."

"Now, to shock you."

"Raina was born on a huge farm well inland from Adelaide and spent her entire life on that farm until recently. Her education was home-schooling through to completion of high school supplemented with small home-schooling focus groups in her locality."

"She speaks English of course and surprisingly speaks French and Italian fluently and has more than dabbled in Mandarin. She has sung Opera in regional shows in her home region, plays the flute brilliantly and plays more than 300 tunes on a mouth organ, according to documentation I have read."

"According to her father's references, she's won awards in horse show jumping, has won many local open horse races, can maintain farm machinery expertly and has won countless awards in regional cooking competitions, according to photographic evidence of cups and certificates supplied by her mother."

"Later, Raina will attempt to answer any concerns any of you may have in her joining this elite training group at this late stage."

Maggie continued, "Now we'll take a look at her ability to conduct a life interview, something she will be required to do should she be admitted to the team profiling 'Emerging Aussie Newsmakers'. I see her as a possible addition or replacement on that team, but of course that would depend on her results produced during the last five weeks of the current training programme."

While a live interview filming unit was set-up, Maggie said, "Raina has had no formal experience of interviewing anyone on camera, but knows what's involved. She will go through the same progress as each of you in the current training intake completed for your initial interview. Each of you were isolated, and came in individually and interviewed me. At the end of those 10-minute interviews, a panel of three of our instructors, assessed the screening of each length of unedited filming and in consultation marked each one. The same three instructors will assess the raw filming from Raina's interview of me as an "An Emerging Aussie Newsmaker'.

After the test interview, coffee was served during which time Maggie invited questions from the assembly.

They ranged from how could Raina's recruited into an elite group of highly trained television journalists be justified when she had no formal qualification in journalism to why was she receiving such extreme favouritism from management. Finally, a female trainee asked Raina how did she feel about walking into an elite group of journalists when she so heavily lacked in advanced education and practical TV journalism experience.

"Oh. I'm the type of person who evolves. I slowly entered farm work for pocket money when I was seven and recently exited it entirely at the age of twenty-five. When leaving, there wasn't a job on those 647,859 acres that I couldn't handle with or without assistance that included shooting and burying a bull that fell over a cliff and broke its back, to judging when to begin harvesting wheat or managing the farm into the twenty-seventh month of drought conditions."

"The motivation was dead simple. I had the particular management role and it was my responsibility to handle it the best way humanly possible. That's why I expect to spend five weeks of catch-up learning to be ready to pull my weight in any role covered in that training that is thrown my way. Judge me not now, but in five weeks' time."

Raina's interview went well, but not as smoothly as a fully trained interviewer would have conducted it. However, the chairman of the assessment panel said compared with all interviews from trainees during the past five years, Raina's interview gained the third highest marks in the two main categories, newsworthiness and human-interest rating.

That announcement drew loud applause.

"Why am I not surprised by that particular outcome?" asked Maggie. "It's because yesterday, we in the engine room put Raina under extensive testing and assessment to gain a fair idea of her the abilities she possesses and to learn of her capacity to absorb intense tuition as well as to determine her attitudes, knowledge and values. Everyone from our director down had no wish to be associated with promoting a possible dead duck into the heart of this TV station's highly successful elite group presenting to the public this nation's emerging top newsmakers. We agreed that Raina possesses what it takes to elbow her way into the elite group."

"I say, good luck and good progress to you Raina for what happens to you from today."

"Finally, I was interested to hear our director sum up his thoughts about Raina late yesterday when he said, 'You are irresistible Raina Bullman'."

"Our director of course is one of the top Current Affairs interviewers that this top TV station has ever had. Thanks for your attendance, everyone. You needed to know why Raina is receiving special treatment and for me to indicated it only requires a short and intense catchup period to place her on a level playing field.

Applause was general polite, rather than resounding.

"You'll be exhausted," Maggie said quietly in an aside to Raina.

"Nah, it's been rather like a picnic compared with say being on the farm during haymaking and rushing to get the cut hay rolled into individual large-wrapped and sealed bales before the forecast dust storm hits surrounding farmland."

"Of course, I can imagine it. But we do have our own form of crises, lots of them."

"Oh, come to my office at 11.00. We'll get your contract signed and my PA will take you to the training unit. Your presence is already being felt."

Within minutes, Raina found herself alone. She wandered off to the café on that floor and ordered coffee and an egg sandwich and was sitting alone when a white-haired woman came up to her and said, "And you are?"

"Raina Bullman."

"Ah, I thought you might be. The description fits. I'm Shona Evans, manager of Wardrobe. My friend Beryl Hunt asked me to keep an eye out for you, the young woman she describes as her protégé. More of my friends will be arriving in a few minutes and so I place my order and return and sit with you and they'll join us."

Watching Shona walk off, Raina felt more settled. This could prove to be a historic day for her, if she did go on to develop a significant career in national television. Oh, that reminded her, she must call Charlie and bring him up to date, beginning by telling him what the sexy Maggie Webster-Ryan had said to her: 'Raina, your presence is already being felt'.

Charlie might think that meant nothing, whereas when she heard Maggie say that, she'd almost fell over in shock. It was a hugely supportive thing for Maggie to express.

The End