But how could she talk to him in this state? He would know in an instant that something was wrong. And she wasn’t prepared to answer his questions over the phone.
Time was ticking, though. There were five days left until his arrival.
Paralyzed with indecision, she doggedly returned to work. There was much to do before Gio’s visit. By then, she hoped she would gain some clarity.
Pulling up the call list, Ana studied her notes.
Some of the business owners in the other regions had offered some decent referrals. But Vitello’s ex-employees were supposed to be better, at least according to his own bragging. Unfortunately, none of them had picked up. Maybe they’d already snapped up other jobs?
The cursor blinked insistently on their entries:
M.W.-Systems Analyst-484…
S.J.-Support Technician-412…
Tapping her finger, she stared blankly.
Oh.
Brightening, Ana began typing into the search bar and scanned through the results until she found a suitable phone directory site. Entering each employee’s phone number into its search, she crossed her fingers as it began processing.
M.W.: No results found. Try narrowing your search by entering the full name or city.
S.J.: Are you looking for Stephen Johnson in Allentown, PA?
Address: Not found.
Professional History: Not found.
Relatives: Potential match with Cinda Johnson at Reading, PA.
Well, the first one was a bust. But S.J. had yielded something. Clicking on Cinda’s profile, Ana saw that it was just as sparse, with no phone number listed. But there was another relative listed on her page who did have a number: Sylvia Johnson.
Excited, Ana immediately dialed it.
Ring.
Ring.
Ring.
“Fourth Street Deli, how may I help you?”
Ana blinked and checked the number again.
“Hello…?”
“Yes, sorry. I-I thought this was the number for Sylvia Johnson.”
“Sylvia? She’s right here.”
After a shuffle, an annoyed voice came through. “Can I help you?”
Ana hesitated. Johnson wasn’t a common last name in any of their factions. Was she an outsider? Cautiously, she settled on a neutral introduction. “Hi Sylvia, this is Ana Bernardi. I was trying to reach a relative of yours–Stephen Johnson?”
There was a long pause.
“I am hiring for my company, and a friend referred me to him.”