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 Posted: Tue Nov 10, 2009 4:20 pm
"Yeah, yeah, you're a senior," Sue echoed indistinctly. There were a lot of instances in which he liked to think himself detached from social convention - this, however, was not one of them. He was a sophomore, she was a senior; if she was trying to do something good for him in his life, then dammit, until she crossed the line, he was supposed to shut up and make good. Of course, the fact that most seniors only knew him for about five seconds before ruining his opinion of them might have helped his illusion of elder respect - but she hadn't gotten there yet.
"Your name is Sue?" Inquisition, disbelief. Plus all that scowling. Scratch it - maybe she'd just stepped over the line.
"My name," Sue answered, tone firm, "is Sue." And if she had a problem with it, by God, she'd better speak up now so that he could give her the telling-off she deserved! "Why, what's your name?"
They were already through the door, though, and Sue's voice must have been drowned out by the chatter of the crowds. He opened his mouth to repeat himself, but then she was talking again to classy man with a name tag. Sue grumbled to himself, but kept his cool. Job was the important thing here - not being pulled around by a girl whose first name he didn't even know, but the fact that he was here to get a job....
At the owner's question, Sue grudgingly offered up his resume. Lots of volunteer work at no-kill shelters, a summer job three years ago assembling pocket fans at a manufacturing company, another one spent bussing tables at a breakfast joint, and - the highlight of the page - a full year and a half of employment at Patty's Pet Emporium, which boasted a number of skills. Including, but not limited to, cashiering.
Maybe he wasn't entirely hopeless. At least, not this time.
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Posted: Sat Nov 14, 2009 4:13 pm
"It's Amaravati," Amara said in an undertone, as Mr. Daniels looked over Sue's resume. "Your name is so short." Fortunately, the owner of the boutique seemed far too busy examining the sheet of paper to pay any mind to the girl and her tallish sidekick. ... Hehe. Sidekick. Now that was an amusing thought, there. Amusing, but perhaps a touch excessive. He didn't really seem like the kind of boy who #*@$ing lowered himself to that kind of $@%#.
Before she really had the chance to contemplate the thought, Mr. Daniels was speaking again, and that required more of her attention. They were trying to get him a job, after all, and if he asked her a question, and she wasn't paying attention-- but the question was for Sue.
"Everything seems to be in order. When can you start, young man?" Jackpot! ... Then again, she'd known that Mr. Daniels was in pretty serious need of a new cashier. Why else would she have dragged Sue around, huh? She wasn't that %*#@ing outlandish. Not quite.
"I will need to know your schedule, of course. I presume that you will be working for me part-time?" Yes. Yes, Sue would, if he knew what was good for him. No sneaking off from school to work! Amara nudged Sue, hoping that he'd get the hint and answer appropriately. If he just answered this part right, he had the job.
Hook, line, and sinker.
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Posted: Sat Nov 14, 2009 4:48 pm
Aware though he was that he was on trial, Sue couldn't help a narrow glance in Amara's direction. "Too short"... was that slang for "girl's name?" It was hard to read her. She was too... poised, damnably so!
"Christ, well, your name's too long," he muttered back childishly, not about to let anyone get a shot off his name without return fire. Even though he wasn't. Entirely sure. She'd been trying to get a jab at him.
Any bits of grumbling he might have been holding in about her, however, abruptly vanished when Mr. Daniels spoke up again. Sue stiffened, ready for rejection, but.... "You mean I got the job?" he asked, the most pathetically unnecessary of inquisitions. It wasn't as though the store owner had been vague in any way -- YES Sue, you got the job!
Amara's helpful nudge broke him free of his slack-jawed stare. "Uh-- yessir," he gulped, suddenly a bit disjointed, "part-time. I take classes at Barren Pines, but I'm free afternoons and weekends, sir!" This last part came off almost militarily-sharp, and Sue pulled himself up straight to complete the impression. "I can start anytime you need."
Hah! Looked like the cats weren't going to go hungry anytime soon after all!
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Posted: Sat Nov 14, 2009 5:05 pm
"Of course it's not too long, silly. It needs to be long enough so that I can choose my own nickname, see?" Amara was feeling particularly magnanimous, so she didn't raise a fuss. "But how will I find a nickname for you, with your name already three letters? It is impossible, I tell you!" Hushed, quiet enough that Mr. Daniels would ignore it, but still emphatic enough to get her point across.
Mr. Daniels removed his reading glasses, and frowned, thinking Sue's words over. "Very well. I will need you to be present tomorrow at four o'clock sharp. I will have to explain our system when you arrive. The wages are $10 an hour. I have an employee benefits packet for you. You are to read it over, young man." Once that was accomplished, the owner turned to Amaravati.
"Thank you, Miss Priti. You have been very helpful, as usual. Mr. Gottschalk, if you have any questions, you may phone the store. It will probably be the manager who answers." With that, the man returned to the business of gathering his things up. Amara had mentioned that he would be leaving soon, after all.
"C'mon, Sue. Let's get you some eats, or something." Tugging on Sue's sleeve, the girl headed toward the door. "Congratulations," she said once they were out of ear shot of the store. "See, I told you I'd get you a job." And she'd done it, hadn't she? Granted, it wasn't all that hard. Not when you had the right connections.
Maybe at another mall it would've been difficult, but she had had a good $*@#ing idea of what the man had been looking for. "We could get something to eat, unless you have somewhere to be?" Or unless he didn't want to tag around with her. That was entirely possible. He was younger than she was, and maybe her presence was embarrassing. No way of knowing.
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Posted: Sat Nov 14, 2009 6:01 pm
T... ten dollars an hour? Employee benefits? Holy hell! His last job had been flat minimum wage; "employee benefits" had consisted of a dirty drinking fountain and a black-and-white portable TV in the break room. Clutching the packet without reading it, Sue thought that he managed to get out an impressed, "Uh, yeah, um, thanks!" before being hauled out of the store. But really, he couldn't be sure for a fact that he did.
Once outside, he let out a whoosh of air like none other, ran his fingers through his hair (dislodging a few strands from Amara's carefully-done tie, but hell, he didn't need to look so pretty anymore anyway!) "You did," he had to admit, still too stunned to be snarly and claim that it was mostly his work. "Cripes, it really worked, di'n't it? Thank God...."
He didn't need to know that the owner were desperate for a cashier. Right now, Sue was riding a high of disbelief and gratitude. Certainly, he wasn't thinking anything along the lines of ditching the b***h, not just yet - I mean, hell, how many dollars worth of help did she just buy him? Sue took a lot for granted, but he knew when he had a debt to repay!
"No place else I gotta be," he informed her. "You uh. Got someplace in mind?"
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Posted: Sat Nov 14, 2009 6:35 pm
"I thought we could swing by the cafe on the corner, here. Pick up something. Unless you'd rather go to the food court?" Amaravati wouldn't. She had had e-$*@$ing-nough of the food court. If she had to have another plate of cooled down %$*#ing curry, she was going to throw the curry in someone's god$*@# face. Seriously. She might have to even throw a riot, man.
"If you hadn't had a decent resume, it wouldn't have worked anyway. But you can be sure he wouldn't have taken you seriously if you hadn't been dressed up. Hmmn. Okay, do you have any business casual clothes? That's what he expects his employees to wear. $&*#ing corporate nonsense. It's not so bad though. He'll probably want you to wear a white shirt, and some slacks. Wear the nice shoes too," she said, looking thoughtful.
Leading him along with her, as he wasn't making a fuss about it, Amara put her bags of shoes onto one arm, and slipped the other through his. No sense in wasting time on any of this $*@$ing personal space nonsense. "Right, so... why did you want a job so badly, anyway?" She was kind of curious now, having seen the look on his face when Mr. Daniels had hired him.
"Not that it's a bad idea. Jobs're good for people. My father says they give you some backbone." Something to draw on for more creative, esoteric things. Things like writing, for instance, or art. Typical Crystal Academy bull$*#@. Man, he was really excited about this, wasn't he? And not even ungrateful. Good. She'd have had to smack him around if after all of that he'd been ungrateful.
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Posted: Sun Nov 15, 2009 4:31 pm
The cafe was as good a place as any, so he nodded in its direction and started toward it. The clothing discussion... well, he didn't feel like adding to that. He'd had enough of this prissy stuff for one day.
"Gets you money in your pocket, too, which's more important for some of us," Sue replied, his voice just a bit tart. He couldn't really complain about Amara having it so easy now, after all, not when she'd just shared whatever wealth she had in order to cinch a job for him - but oh, there were moments when her I work to build character, tee hee! talk got on his nerves.
"I got some ferals 'round my school, though, that I take care of. Four of them right now, plus a few drifters," Sue explained as they walked. "My allowance's enough to feed them most times, but all it takes is one emergency, you know, and that'll wipe me out of everything I've got. Too dangerous not to have income, when you don't know what'll come up."
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