I Don’t Golf

"Ah, Miss Steegel, come in." I stood and made my way into the office of Steve Gardener, my boss's, boss's, boss; the man currently in charge of my future.

"Sty-gle," I corrected gently, not bothering to correct his use of "Miss" as well. I took his hand in a brisk shake.

"Yes, sorry. Anway, I wanted to talk to you personally about the position you had applied for." Gardener wasted no time getting right down to business, not that I had expected any less. Or any other outcome.

"The panel has finished debating and, while we are grateful for your time and appreciate all you'd have to offer in this new role, we feel that another candidate is a better fit. You really seem to have found your niche in your current position and it would be an utter shame to lose your skills."

I knew it. "I see. Well, I appreciate you taking the time to inform me of this decision yourself. Just so I know for future reference, is there anything I could do to better myself as a candidate?"

"You have a lot of great skills. We just went in a different direction. Doug- er, Dr. Danielson, just has the type of something we are looking for."

"I see." I said again, working to keep my voice even. I knew it would be Doug.

"He's got the experience, education, and initiative we are looking for."

"Doug is a good worker. That is why I served as a reference after his internship under me," I reminded him.

"Of course. Well, I don't want to keep you. I'm sure you have plenty to attend to. But thank you for your interest in the position and keep up the good work, Miss..." he hesitated, clearly about to get my name wrong again.

"Stygle." I interjected. "Dr. Annabel Stygle."

"Oh, you have your doctorate as well?"

"Yes." I say with a fake smile. "Same degree as Doug's, in fact." And with that I stood and left the office.

I passed Doug in the hallway, only a few years my junior, and generally a decent guy, he gave me a small smile. I forced myself to return it and continued to the door as Gardener came out of his office.

"Dougy, my man! Your dad is meeting me for tee-off at 10 tomorrow! Will I see you there?"

"Of course! I'm meeting him after I take off today. He's out on the course today as well! The hard life of a retiree, right!" Doug replied, conversationally.

I left the office and the men reminisced about the days when Mr. Danielson was still a regular at the office and finalized their golf plans for the following day.

As I returned to my office, my friend Tammy looked up at me eagerly, "Well?" she demanded.

"They went with Doug." I stated plainly.

"Oh," She said, surpised. "Really? I mean, Doug is great, but you've been here longer. I would have thought you'd be a shoo-in. Did they give you a reason why?"

"Not particularly. Although I do suspect a large part of the reason is because I don't golf."

I know it's rough. It was just something that was rolling around in my head that I wanted to get to "paper". Thanks for reading.