There's a better life, and you dream about it, don't you? Who: Kitty Gilmore and Isaac Callahan Where: Department of Justice - Isaac’s Office What: Now that futures seem possible again -- and careers even -- Kitty seeks to get a job that is closer to what she thinks she might like to do. Otherwise known as Kitty asking for a job as Isaac’s secretary so she can learn the ins and outs of being a lawyer. When: June 7th, Early afternoon.
You're in the same boat with a lotta your friends Waitin' for the day your ship'll come in An' the tide's gonna turn and
With the world kind of righting itself, or at least feeling less like the end now that the United States Government had in fact freed Austin from the tyrant holding them all hostage. Kitty felt for the first time in a very long time like she could have a future that was more than simply trying to survive and make sure her children did as well. It was a bit overwhelming the way her mind had drifted towards a long forgotten dream, or maybe more of a goal. Once upon a time Kitty had thought she might want to be a lawyer and now it seemed that very same dream had spurred her on to make an appointment with the newly appointed Commissioner of the Department of Justice.
From everything she had heard about Isaac Callahan, Kitty could still admit she didn't know what to expect as she was ushered towards his office. They had never met and all she truly knew about him was that he had good taste in suits and maybe be a Star Wars fan. All of this was of course garnered from the few hours she had spent packing up his things upon moving into his own apartment. But none of it told her how he might respond to her reason for showing up today in the Department of Justice today.
The woman who had lead her to Mr. Callahan’s office knocked on the door twice before easing the door open and announcing, “Ms. Gilmore is here,” Before she took her leave and left Kitty standing in the doorway waiting to be invited into the Commissioner’s office.
“Yeah, come in,” Isaac called from his desk, his voice clearly distracted as he was looking through a pile of papers and only shifting his gaze up when a young, blonde girl was standing in front of him.
“Oh, right. Well, sit--” he said, motioning to the chair in front of his desk. “You’re the one who made an honest-to-God appointment to see me, Miss, uh, Gilmore. Look, if you’re here to plead your dad’s case about getting back onto the council, I don’t think that’s in my jurisdiction anymore now that Big Brother is here. I just don’t want to beat around the bush and waste either of our time, but if there was something else on your mind, then I’m all ears.”
“I am,” Kitty answered while she took Isaac up on his invitation (though Kitty wasn’t sure she would whole heartedly call it that) to sit. “And I’m not. My father isn’t the kind of man that would need or want me to be here pleading his case for him.” she continued, crossing one leg over the other and resting her hands in her lap. She was determined to look both as grown up and as professional as possible while she approached Mr. Callahan about her desire to work in the Department of Justice.
“Actually, I’m here about a job,” Kitty said, “So if you truly mean what you said about being all ears, I’d like to talk to you about whether there’s a possibility for me to switch departments.”
Isaac stopped rummaging through papers at the mention of a job and looked across the desk, confusion clearly on his face. She hardly looked old enough to be a lawyer, and still confused, he asked, “What kind of job? What do you do now and what do you want to do? And most importantly, why?”
Kitty didn’t even flinch as Isaac finally stopped rummaging through things on his desk and gave her his full attention and fired a string of questions at her. “Whatever you're willing to offer,” she began, voice assured and calm. “Before the world crumbled I had been eying the idea of doing pre-law in college, and I'm working in the department of resources right now mostly doing filing, but I think working here in the department of justice may eventually open doors to pursuing a law career,” Kitty took a moment before adding. “That’s why I want to transfer departments. I don’t see much of a future for myself working in the Department of Resources. But with Austin joining the rest of the remaining United States, somewhere down the road I could have a future in law again, and exposing myself to that environment now seems more beneficial than remaining where I’m at.” Her answers were honest and now all she could hope was that Isaac would be willing to give her a job in the DoJ.
Isaac had gone to school with a handful of politician’s children, choosing law to follow the family legacy and boost their own future in public service. The work his own parents did was proof enough that not every elected official was a scumbag, but even still Isaac asked, “What made you interested in law school before?”
He couldn’t deny that if this was a career she wanted to pursuit, especially with opportunities opening up every day now that they were being incorporated back into the United States, it really wouldn’t do her any good to be working in Resources. Maybe it was his own idealism, but Isaac wanted to make sure it was the right move for the right reason.
“Truthfully? I saw it as a way to make a difference, have some kind of impact,” Kitty paused. “Without going into politics liked my father.” She had nothing against politics and who knows, maybe if life had played out differently she would have found herself in them anyway. But studying law felt like a better fit for her. “Which, I know wanting to make a difference is probably what everyone who goes into law cites as their reason,” Kitty continued. “But I don’t believe it makes it any less true of a reason. If you’re dedicating your life to upholding the law I think you have to be the sort of person who wants to make some kind of impact on the world.” She finished, hoping her answers were in Isaac’s opinion sufficient enough.
“I also realize it’s unlikely I’ll be practicing law any time soon,” Kitty added with a laugh. “But it’s still better than working in the Department of Resources.”
Isaac heard her out, nodding as she spoke, definitely recognizing some of the same reasons he’d gotten into law himself. “I’d say that’s pretty accurate. Most people get into law because they want to make a difference or they got screwed and want to make sure that never happens to someone else,” Isaac said, then smirked to himself as he replied, “The money was never bad either.”
“I imagine it wasn’t,” Kitty said with a bit of a smile. “Money is definitely not a determining factor for me, though.” She continued, mostly stating the obvious since money wasn’t necessarily something anyone had in Austin or would have for awhile she assumed. Kitty did appreciate Isaac's honesty, though. In the Capitol sometimes you never knew what sort of transparency you were going to get from someone or not.
Looking across his desk, he paused a moment before asking, “So, what kind of job are you looking for? I mean, what kind of experience or skills do you have that you think might be an asset to this department?” For whatever kind of jokester he could be, Isaac could also manage to do the serious lawyering stuff too.
Truthfully Kitty wasn’t even sure what sort of positions they had open in the department, but if he was asking her about her skills she had to hope there might be something her skills could be used for. “Well, I’ve mostly been managing files and handling correspondents in the Department of Resources,” Kitty began. “I don’t necessarily have much experience in an office place beyond that, if I’m being honest. But I do know how to handle varying situations with ease, composure and a level of professionalism.” Many years spent weathering the social events and expectations of her parents had instilled that in her.
Filing skills didn’t necessarily mean she had the makings of a great legal mind, but filing was helpful and he could work with that. “Well, as you can see, my office is a disaster. Let’s just say the guy before me wasn’t really big on organization. So, I could use some help with that and continued upkeep. Though I have to preface any offer with the fact that everything in this office is highly confidential. You’ll need to sign a nondisclosure contract and if you breach any part of it, legal action will be taken.”
Giving an uncharacteristic smile for the situation, Isaac added, “And I’m very good at my job.”
Part of changing departments was in fact Kitty’s way of seeing if law truly was the direction she wanted to take her life in. Though she kept that fact other self, unsure how the commissioner would feel about her testing the waters like this. Instead she glanced around his office and noted that it could in fact use some organizing and straightening up -- in truth it looked much like her father’s office always had. “You’ll be pleased to know I’m an incredibly organized person,” Kitty remarked with a small laugh, her face going serious as he mentioned the nondisclosure contract. “I assumed as much, on both counts.”
His smile came as a bit of a shock, but it caused Kitty to feel comfortable enough to add. “I would expect you would be, after all they don’t give out jobs like the one you hold to someone who's simply subpar.” Then after taking another pause she asked. “Does this mean I have a job?”
“I’ll draw up a contract and assuming you agree to the terms of privacy and sign it, then yes,” Isaac said, not seeing the point in beating around the bush. The way he saw it, they could help each other. If she wanted to break into the law business then he could help her with that and with her organizational skills, she would keep in sane in the process.
Kitty nodded. “I think it is probably a safe assumption that I will agree to the terms and sign it, Mr. Callahan,” she replied with a fair bit of certainty. Unless the contract was outrageous, which she didn’t believe it would be. She had no doubt that this move would be beneficial for herself -- and from the state of the commissioner’s office, him as well.
“Was there anything else on your mind, Ms. Gilmore? If so, that’s fine, but if not, then the sooner I can get going on that contract and the sooner we can put you to work.” It wasn’t a dismissal per se, but with the chaos of his desk, it was pretty clear that he had a lot of work to do.
Glancing at the clock on the wall and realizing she had already taken up a good deal of Isaac’s already limited time, she shook her head. “No, the request for a job was the only thing I needed to speak with you about,” she answered as she stood up from her chair and prepared to leave. “Thank you, both for the offer of a job and for your time, I really appreciated it.”