I was in a rut with my job and needed to find something that could advance my position. I could see I was getting nowhere in my present status, so I decided I should find a job, perhaps in another town - maybe a bigger city where there is more competition in my field. I was good at accounting and well versed in computer technology, which gave me a slight edge over other accountants in my age bracket. I decided to move from the small town of Cloverdale to San Francisco. I looked at the ads in the San Francisco papers for accountants and nothing caught my eye until I saw a small ad down at the bottom that read, 'New company forming. Accountants needed.' I decided, what that heck and immediately called the phone number listed to set up an interview. I had moved my household belongings to a small self-storage place and I was living in a small, but expensive, motel just south of San Francisco.

The morning of the interview, I arrived 30 minutes early and took a seat in the outer office of the CEO. A guy, about my age, came in and sat down in the chair next to mine. He was a very handsome young lad and we struck up a casual conversation. We discovered that we were both there for interviews for the same job. Promptly at 10:00, the door to the CEO's office opened and a middle aged man said, "Good morning. Would the two of you come in to the office, please?"

We both got up and followed the man into the office. He motioned for us to sit down in two chairs facing a big desk. The desk was cluttered with papers and he pushed them aside in order to place his coffee cup down. He asked if we would like a cup of coffee before we start. We both declined and he sat down and looked us both over.

He introduced himself as Mark Gearson, the President and CEO of the company. He said this was an unusual interview because in order to save time, he needed to interview both of us at once. He had two positions open and needed to fill them immediately. He asked, "Which one of you is Jason Smith and which is Alex Holt?" I said that I was Alex. He looked at the other guy and said, "Then you must be Jason." Jason nodded and I could tell he was a bit nervous as he kept rubbing the sweat off his hands onto the legs of his pants.

The interview went smoothly and Mark said we were both hired and asked us when we could start. I told him I could start the next day, but I needed to find a place to live. Jason said he could also start immediately but he was in the same fix as I and needed to find a place. "Ok guys," said Mark, "This is Thursday and you both can start on Monday. That will give you both time to find a place to live." We agreed, shook Mark's hand and said we'd be back on Monday to start our new jobs.

On the way out the door, Jason turned to me and said, "Alex, have you looked at any places yet?" I told him that I hadn't yet but was going to start that day. He asked if I minded that we both look together. Maybe one place would not suit me but he might