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 Posted: Fri Aug 10, 2012 9:55 am
It had been 3 weeks since Damien, the office arm candy, had up sticks and moved abroad. Away from the terrorists, kidnappings, murders and absurd coffee prices. Away from everything that was wrong or evil and that meant evidently, away from Destiny City. Not a news report went by that didn’t have a missing face of a teenager or young adult being arrested. It had become too much for the pretty brunette to take and after a whimper and a swoon he was so well known for he had left the confines of “A Brush with Class” and set up roots in a third world country to better himself in a most pretentious way. The whole gang had routed for him, Venice gave him 6 weeks tops.
It was with his drifting that the shop needed a new floor assistant. Someone who was customer friendly and good at stock management and keen team player and…well, it would have said that on the advertisement, in Venice’s mind there were just a few simple rules. Know blue from red, never eat the paste and if your going to glue things onto your face to do it away from your eyes. A woman could lose her eyelashes if they weren’t careful! It was only because they would be working so close to Venice’s role that she was heading the interviews and after a full morning of potential hopefuls Venice was feeling the strain.
“I just want someone, just one person who happens to be interesting! I don’t care for how big their references are, just like…give me someone cute oh mighty Thor! I will have to be working with them so much and that last guy smelt like beans!” Puffing on a cigarette (against shop rules but a stressed Venice was not to be pushed) she waited for the next contestant to arrive. An “Ophelia Báthory” – Venice could only hope there was not a bean in sight.
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Posted: Fri Aug 10, 2012 3:25 pm
Once again she had been forced to borrow some of Jett's mother's attire. She could not wait to get her own wardrobe back, maybe then she would start looking her age and not like she was in her mid-twenties. Her interview attire was not something he would usually wear, but it is what fit her the best. Oh. she remembered the days when she used to walk around in corsets and little black dresses. Now she had to deal with loose and breezy and her body ached to be constrained and hugged by fabric.
She needed to get a job, she had to stop being such a burden on Jett. He had been so kind to her and she hated feeling like she had to rely on him, despite how willing he was to let her. There was only so many times you could clean a toilet, only so many times you could make someone a coffee, only so many times you could say thank you before it felt like it lost its meaning. She had applied for a few positions, mainly in retail. Today she was heading down to 'A Brush with Class', Ophelia was not very creative, she could talk about the masters, she could quote some of her favorite artworks, but when putting pencil to paper she was like a preschooler at best. In her hand she carried her violin case, she had been playing in the park this morning and did not have time to take it back to her borrowed residence.
Playing for strangers had actually earned her a little bit, not enough to sustain herself but enough to put a dent in the weekly food bill. After a little searching she came across the shop, and after a brief pause she stepped inside. Her waist length brown hair trailing loose behind her. It did not take her long to stop the black haired woman with cigarette in hand.
"Hello, I am here for an interview."
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Posted: Mon Aug 13, 2012 9:23 am
Venice was mid puff when Ophelia’s dainty voice interrupted her thought process. It was only a second but she took this opportunity to look the young girl up and down before showing a wide toothy grin, smoke trailing from her nose like a fashionable dragon.
“Ophelia I presume? You’re just on time!” Venice’s free hand reached out to shake the brunette’s while the other one wafted the smoke fumes from their view (it might have helped more if Venice had actually put the cigarette out). “Sorry about the smoke, 30 year suicide and all that. Please follow me to the office, am Venice by the way, store manager and occasional shop lifter.” She winked to assure the girl she was only joking as they made their way towards the back of the store and into a brightly decorated office. Instead of the standard long table and two chairs Venice had opted for the interview be much less formal and chose to bring though the staff rooms comfy high back arm chairs of red, purple and green, placing them in a circle facing inwards towards a glass coffee table that had been laid out with cups and saucers.
“Don’t be nervous ok, its just a few routine questions, your CV was more than adequate to spell out your employment history and qualifications. We don’t need numbers of facts here, we just like to know who you are, what your like and how well you will fit into our little family!”
Plonking herself down in the purple chair Venice twirled slightly, almost as if she was going to whip her legs over the arm rest and lounge before thinking better off it. Instead she crossed her legs and snuggling into the seat for more room. She signalled for Ophelia to do the same pointing at the opposite chairs.
“So Ophelia, gorgeous name by the way, describe to me you personality. Are you fun and wacky or serious and foreboding? Do you have any strengths you can bring to this job? Like ohhhhh…I don’t know, being polite, resourceful or wearing low cut tops?”
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Posted: Tue Aug 14, 2012 12:47 am
"Do not worry, my mother was a chain smoker, I am used to it."
Ophelia sat down on a seat. Her face not showing the pleasure she felt. Her CV was total bullshit, her new identity did not have any qualifications so she babbled her way through it, which suggested either the other girl did not bother checking her references, or that she did not care either way. Making herself at home she reached out and started to make herself a cup of tea, she was never one to turn down a warm drink. In truth she was not nervous, she had been for hundreds of interviews, but she had never needed work this badly.
"My mother was a fan of Shakespeare." She nodded when Venice complimented her name, it might have been the most truthful bit of information she had given her potential employer thus far.
"I am not going to say I am the warmest person in the world. I am sure you can already tell that much. I am however very organised, I am not an artist but I like talking about art and know my Botticelli's from my Picasso's. I am clean, I work on my own initiative and am fully capable of working a till, taking stock and remembering how everyone likes their coffee. I have just arrived in the area from Hungary, and customs has shipped my cases to some remote island someplace in the world. I am being kept by a friend and am, at the moment, playing the violin in the park to make ends meet. I am polite to those who give me the same respect, and will wear whatever you want me to. There is not really much else to say."
She added bringing the cup to her lips and taking a drink, pinky out ofcourse. You could take the girl out of the academy, but you could never take Crystal Academy out of the girl.
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Posted: Tue Aug 14, 2012 9:51 am
Wow, now that was a quick personal write up. Venice nodded slowly as Ophelia spoke, writing key words on a notepad as she listened. Things like “promising applicant’ and ‘will look good in red’ across the questions she had wrote, ‘hmming’ back answers to Ophelia’s blunt remarks. She obviously got straight to the point and although that was good in some ways the derby lover had to make sure she wasn’t too strict and uptight either.
“You know your own mind; I can’t fault you on that at least.” She stated as she leaned over to pick up her own half drunken cup of tea. It was nothing like the British blend she got from home but after nearly 18 months in this city she had found a brand she could love, and she would happily force it down the necks of anyone who would allow it.
“Nobody hired needs to be an artist here, if anything its preferred. We won’t be catching you using up all the good paint or abusing the staff discount. All that we ask is that you get to learn the new stock, the books we buy and the art styles they depict. The hours will be between eighteen and twenty six depending on which days you can work for us, lunch is forty five minutes and discount is placed at fifteen percent, you may not be buying pencils any time soon but I’ll be sure to point out the good glue.” Venice didn’t know if Ophelia would get the joke being only a hairs breath younger than her but sniffing glue behind the bike sheds would have been an urban myth for all schools at one point.
Placing the cup down she let her eyes wander over the violin case, she could pondered on doing the awful joke of it was actually a machine gun and bit her tongue against it. She was meant to be professional here!
“Your violin, is that what you want to do when you older? Play to an audience? Or is it more of a hobby?” It was obvious the student wanted to know Ophelia a bit more, but it was whether the stern girl was willing.
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Posted: Fri Aug 17, 2012 6:57 am
Ophelia looked at her case, picking it up and placing it on her knee. She flipped the case open so Venice could see the burgundy instrument, gold leaves ran up one side, making a filigree like pattern. "I would say it was more of a bonding experience, my mother taught me how to play. I have had this violin for about four years now, though I still have the one she got me when I was eight." She nodded, her mother was a genius, a broken genius, but a genius none the less. "We did a lot of things together, she took me to the opera, read me Shakespeare and often took me to see historical landmarks. Maybe not something that most children would enjoy, but it worked for us." Well, that was before she got institutionalised.
Once upon a time she might have wanted to play professionally, but making a living on music alone was near impossible. It would always be a hobby close to her heart, but nothing more, and she was okay with that. "I am actually thinking of attending university. I want to be a psychiatrist" She nodded, she had missed the applications this year, but with any luck she could get in next year. Who knows, maybe sooner if she really sniffed about.
The joke went right over her head, so much so she she was even wondering why she would need glue. "The hours sound reasonable, I will be willing to take as many as you are offering. The sooner I can grasp some independence the better." She nodded her head, honey coloured eyes looking around the room. This place was rather quirky, and she could not accuse the manager of not being colourful.
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Posted: Tue Aug 21, 2012 8:26 am
Venice nodded thoughtfully as she studied the instrument with a sense of quiet awe. She had never been musically gifted and even when she had tried to force herself to play the guitar she had failed epically. She did however consider her voice a work of art, not how many people saw it of course. It was more like a siren for World War 2 bombs going off than sweet floating lyrics. On mentioned her mother Venice couldn’t help think about her own, hundreds of miles away looking after her younger sibling. There was radiant pride in her eyes that was never spoken aloud. It was hard not to admire a woman who could hold down four different jobs and still have dinner waiting for you when you got home, to be the mum everyone deserved and needed yet was battling her own deep depression over losing her soul mate. Yes Venice admired her mum strongly, it was just a shame they hadn’t spoken to each other in over six months. It was easy looking at Venice’s life now who had made that decision.
“Your mum sounds like one cool lady, I love music, never had the time or the money to learn myself but I can sing the enamel of your teeth! Yep…I am amazing.” She nodded slowly as if reassuring Ophelia that what she said was completely and utterly true. No lie.
“Well I still have some other meat bags to interview but if you want I would be more than happy to store you on the short list for a call back? If your willing to learn that’s fantastic but we also want a team player, could you truly image yourself working with me for up to half of the week? What about if the whole staff were crazy zombies heh? How would you handle yourself?”
It was…an unusual question, half steeped in truth, half steeped in strange bullshit but Venice wanted to see how the girl would react to such a question, but also maybe see how she would handle herself in such a situation. Plus Venice loved zombies so there was always a reason to include them in an interview.
"Ha, but am not going to force you to answer that now, go home have a think and I hope to call you soon!" With a jump Venice shook the hand of Ophelia leading her to the door, her hand patting her back and singing her praises. She wasn't lying when she said she had loads more people to interview and she was already dreaming of dinner. "Be in touch soon ok!!! And remember, ZOMBIES!"
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