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 Posted: Tue Sep 18, 2012 8:16 pm
Tag had been in a sort of slump for a while now, but things had been picking up for him lately. He was doing two great things with his life. One, he was cheating on his girlfriend which of course was admirable because he's a male and therefore pimping. Not that Tag Swagger had a moment of doubt about his pimping prowess. He's Tag ******** Swagger, legal change of middle name pending. Two, he was hanging out with his son more and more now that Chelsea was spending more and more time with her new beau Mike. He wasn't thrilled about the other man being a part of his estranged family, but he loved the extra time with his rapidly growing kid.
"Alright buddy, down you go," he said, lowering his three-year-old son Liam to the ground from his shoulders as they went into the candy shop. "Now I can't get you too much or your mom would kill me and that'd be an awful thing for this world. So go pick out your favorite candy, okay pal? High-five."
The father and son high-fived as the tot scurried off with his dad always a pace or two behind. As he passed through the store, however, he caught eyes with a familiar blue-haired boy who looked to work there. Zinkenite - or Zac, in this form.
Tag smiled and waved at him at first, until his son had picked something out. The father hoisted up his son and approached Zac with a smile.
"Hey," Tag said, before turning to his son. "Want to say hi to Zac, Liam?"
"Hi," Liam said with a little wave before trying to hide his face. He was a bit shy, unlike his dad.
"What are you doing here?" Tag questioned. It was weird to think of General Zinkenite as working in a candy store of all places.
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Posted: Tue Sep 18, 2012 8:25 pm
A startled look passed over the Blue haired young man’s face for a moment, quickly wiped away with a, perhaps slightly forced ‘welcome to the store’ kind of smile that faded slightly as he glanced at Tag’s companion. “Hi Liam, pleased to meet you. If your…Dad? Is all right with it, I’ll let you sample some of the stuff I have cooling behind the counter. How’s that sound?”
He offered with a more authentic if slightly nervous smile.
He turned his gaze back to you to answer the next question though.
“I work here, supervise really.” He waved a hand around. “Apparently while I can’t cook much, I do well enough with candy, hiring and schedules that they trust me to run it, and cook a few sweets. What brings you in?” He asked as he finished adjusting a window display before opening the small wooden patrician that blocked customers from creeping behind the counter.
“What’s he like?” He asked nodding towards Liam. “If its not out yet I can probably dig some out of the back. We just had a raid by a last minute wedding party for a ‘candy buffet’. So trust me, we’re not quite as decimated as we appear.”
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Posted: Tue Sep 18, 2012 8:47 pm
"He can have one piece," Tag nodded to Zac with a suddenly paternal tone as he bounced his son a bit in his arms. Tag was a...pretty awful guy most of the time, but he fancied himself to be a pretty great dad. "Something soft, no nuts that he can choke on. And one for me, too."
"Do you like working...here?" he asked, as if anyone could like the job. He lowered his voice substantially, not that there was anyone around. "It just seems like a far cry from the normal context I see you in."
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Posted: Tue Sep 18, 2012 8:55 pm
“Caramels safe? Or should I do something ‘gluten’ free?” he offered fishing out a few strips of wax paper. “No nuts, just some chocolate and a touch of coarse salt. Top seller short of the chocolate dipped strawberries.” He plucked up two that he deemed cool enough from waving a hand close to them and set them, wrapped in wax paper onto the glass counter top for you to distribute.
“Tell me what you think Liam.” He said with a smile.
“As for…liking. Well, it pays, it’s marginally flexible on hours and I’m only tempted about three quarters of the time to do something quite… unprofessional.” He gave a wide and empty grin at the last word that vanished when the phone rang. “… I’ll just be a moment.” He said quietly and moved to grab the phone. “Hello, Something Sweet, how may I help you?”… “…Did you call anyone else? We…no…No, no you call around and unless you can get someone to cover then you need to be here. I don’t care… no. No, I have customers. Good bye.” He hung up with a sharp clatter.
“Open to suggestions given that I just got…of all things a music scholarship that ALSO needs worked around.” He said clenching his hand around the phone handle for a moment before really letting go.
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Posted: Sat Oct 20, 2012 9:04 pm
"Caramels could be fine, nothing to chewy or hard though," Tag explained, half-focused as he watched Zac on the phone with a frown. That did not sound like a pleasant phone call. "Are your coworkers proving to be a disappointment?"
He thought for a moment, then perked up with an idea.
"I could ask around, if you want," Tag said. "I have a lot of friends who could probably use an intern or some low-level employee to help them out. Friends in all sorts of high and low places. Business contacts mostly, but I can pull some strings and help you look for something better...if you're interested. I don't mean to be presumptuous."
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Posted: Sat Oct 20, 2012 9:16 pm
“I had one good person to work with, the rest consume almost as much as they produce, and call out the rest of the time.” He bit back what was clearly a continued rant… stopping to hear what you had to say, rather, what you had to OFFER.
“That would be enormously appreciated.” He said quietly, as though speaking with too great a volume would shatter the offer as well as the intent. “I just need… I’d appreciate whatever you could help me find. I’m not POSITIVE I could ask for a reference from this place though, if she knew I were searching.”
He trailed off with a small frown. Yes it was duplicitous to insert little doubts into an reference check but he’d not put it past the woman to do that. He had no doubt she’d try and hold on to anyone who put in more than a certain amount of face time.
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Posted: Sat Oct 20, 2012 9:27 pm
"Don't worry about it, I'll write up a reference for you if you need," Tag shrugged. "If there's any field or business you're interested in, just give me a call and I'll see what I can do for you. I'm always open to helping an ally." He paused, then gave a wink and a smile. "And a friend."
"Why don't you just ring me up, then think it over and get back to me," he suggested as Liam pulled on his ear impatiently.
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Posted: Mon Oct 22, 2012 8:00 am
Zac nodded, “Alright.” He said after a moment. “Thank you.” He glanced away, thoughtful for a moment and then back, offering a smile that –just- reached his eyes towards the ear-tugging child. “I’ll speak to you later, enjoy the caramels.”
He stepped back stood by the counter to watch them go, he had a great deal to think about as far as what and where he wanted try applying for a job.
((Call it a wrap for this one?))
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