7.
In September, three months after that new senior clerk bombshell hit the planet of Purchasing, a separate event occurred in Carl's life which was to redirect his attention for ten long months to come. He was chosen to audition for the Wheel of Fortune television game show.
Those brief yet strenuous rounds of activity, and months of waiting afterward, are another story. It is enough to say he made the final cut and was certified an eligible contestant for one year to come. The game show nonsense, however, helped take his mind off the disappointment with his job, and, coincidentally enough, the promise-to-appear on the Wheel played an integral part in orchestrating his final confrontation with Kristin Fulton - many months later - and his talking with her about the hiring and departure of Cerise Chimera; although that final revelation did not come until after Cerise finally left her job as contract aide.
But let us consider things in their proper order.
On the very day he was absent from work to participate in his first round of auditions for the Wheel of Fortune, the official announcement was made, the announcement Carl had waited so long to hear: Cerise was leaving. She was transferring to the Police Department.
By spending his day away from work, playing mass word games and beating his hands together in frantic enthusiasm, he missed the flurry of speculation which swept the office as the word came down that Cerise would be moving on. When Carl returned the next day, his co-workers were far more interested in getting the details from him of how the audition went. They did not want to talk about Cerise. Only in the late afternoon, after he had been drained dry of every bit of experience from the Wheel tryouts, did Lisa Castro remember to tell him what had been announced the day before.
"What?!" he blurted.
"Look in your in-box, Carl. You've probably got the memo buried in there."
Sure enough, under the last folders that had piled up in his absence, the one sheet memo from Laura Schwartz announced the near-future transfer of Cerise Chimera to an admin-aide position with the Police. Carl smiled. It was finally true. She was bailing out on them.
Her new job was clearly nothing more than a lateral transfer. Not a promotion. Behind the flattering language in the assistant director's memo, Carl knew what had happened. Even with a senior clerk to help her, Cerise had finally realized -- or been told -- that she just was not cut out to manipulate contracts and cover all their technical details. She could not do the job, and now she was getting out while the getting was good. Or so Carl imagined. "At the very least," he wrote, "I am sure she has read the handwriting on the wall -- it said she hasn't measured up and better move on before judgement falls upon her. Mene mene tekel upharsin."
When management had first chosen her, and Carl heard what her staff reputation was in the City Attorney's office, his intuition had suggested Cerise would not last more than six months as contract aide. Now it looked as if that was about to become true. He might have felt vindicated, but he did not care any more. Not today.
Just yesterday evening he had been told that sometime within the next year he would be spinning the great wheel with Pat Sajak and buying vowels from Vanna White. Nothing as petty as a job he could never have would bring him down from the floating cloud of euphoria. He was going to go to HOLLYWOOD! Maybe even win some money! Or, at least, a year's supply of beauty soap, shampoo, vitamins, and spices.
Cerise herself came by Carl's desk to tell him how envious she was of his getting to go on the Wheel of Fortune. "Ooo, I'd give anything to go on that show! You make sure and tell me when it's going to be, Carl. I've got to watch."
He smiled. Finally he had something she wanted. Carl struggled not to gloat. To hold back. To be polite.
Later, Laura Schwartz came by his desk, congratulated him, and mentioned, almost as an aside, that there would be a new round of interviews for contract aide, now that Cerise was leaving. A little devil was dancing within Carl in glee, but it looked a lot like Vanna White in drag.
"Would you be interested in interviewing again, Carl?" She seemed reluctant, somehow, about asking him.
"I'll have to think about it, Laura, I mean, I'm a little distracted right now."
She smiled. But Carl believed from the sharp look in her eye that she had already decided who the top candidates were going to be. After all, it was less than five months ago she and Kris had gone through this whole mess. She already knew who was going to be eligible for interview, probably had them all ranked in her mind. But then Carl stopped, and thought he was being a little too cynical. Tried to be more positive. Struggled to find something nice to say.
"It's a pity you can't reach Sandra," he finally remarked, wondering how Laura would take this, "if only she had scored a little higher on the exam."
Laura sighed, nodded her head. Carl suddenly realized how deeply and honestly she regretted not being able to promote Sandra and avoid all this continuing confusion. It would all have been so much simpler. He watched her struggle not to make the obvious comparison between Sandra and him, and Cerise. Or imagined her doing so. Then she straightened up, smiled, "Well, Personnel tells us the certifications will be mailed out this week. When you get yours, let us know if you want to interview again."
Her voice cracked slightly as she said the last word, "again," and Carl felt sure she had already decided that he would not be the one to be chosen.