The one where I get a job

I'm a nervous wreck.

I clasp my hands in front of me to keep them from shaking. I'm standing in line, in front of the office of the manager in a coffee shop. Recently, I came to the realization that I'm broke.

Between normal expenses and a new therapist that my Dad doesn't know about, I don't have money to spare. I considered asking my Dad for money, but considering that I have not spoken to the man in five months,and also the fact that I'm sure he blames me for the accident, I feel a bit shameless asking him for money, and if I'm being honest, I want to do this myself. I've been looking for things that's going to get me money, but I've not had the courage to actually do anything about it or to apply to jobs till today.

I look longingly at a fat and delicious looking cookie. At any other time, I might have considered eating the cookie, but right now, that thought just makes me feel nauseated.

I look round the cafe, at the customers coming and going. I realise vaguely, there is a lot of interaction going on. I haven't spoken to anyone except my father and therapist for close to a year, so the idea of a conversation, much less an interview, makes me break out in cold sweat. I mean, I've had experience waiting tables before, but I have no experience whatsoever with interviews. The last time i worked, I didn't have to go through an interview. The owner of the backery was a mutual friend who had just opened up her bakery, so when i asked her, she just hired me on the spot. Nepotism at it's finest.

I look down at what I'm wearing, blue boyfriend jeans and a plain black tee paired with beat-up sneakers, and I start regretting what seemed like a pretty sensible outfit when I put it on this morning.

The girl in front of me enters when it's her turn, and all of a sudden, this is too real for me. Coming here was a stupid and impulsive decision. Whoever is behind that door will probably take one good look at me and run me out of here. I'm talking myself into going back home when the girl right before me comes out with an irritated look on her face. She eyes me up and down and gives me a condescending smile.

"You look a mess, sweetie," she says, and I have the urge to punch the stupid smile off of her face. I'm already nervous enough. I don't need some idiot making me feel even worse.

"Next!"

The person I assume is the manager calls out from inside the room, diverting my attention. When I look back at the girl, she's already sauntering out of the cafe.

I take a deep breath, square my shoulders, and take a small step forward, but I hesitate for a second, unsure of myself.

"Fuck it " I mumble and open the door.

I'm not really sure what I expected walking in here, but it definitely wasn't this. I think it was maybe used as a broom closet at one point. The room, if you could even call it that , was a cramped space with poor lighting made even smaller by the table just smack in the middle.

The girl sitting behind the desk was another shock. A pretty girl who looks a little older than me with blue hair and eyebrow piercing

"Not what you expected, huh?" she asks

"Not really?" I say with a small laugh

"Yeah, I get that a lot," she replies. She beckons me over

"Well, take a seat," I eye the rickety looking chair suspiciously but take a seat anyway ,to my suprise it was a comfortable chair. She looks at me expectantly, and I just stare back.

"Well, are you going to start?"

"Oh right, yes," I clear my throat

"Umm... my name is Callista Richards the second." My nerves take over and I start talking

"funny story actually, when my mum was pregnantwith me, she and my Dad had this running joke about how men can be renamed after their male ancestors but women can't, so my mum decided to call me by her name. So there you have it"

I notice the strained smile on her face and realise I've been rambling. I clear my throat.

"but you can call me Callie."

"Okay, Callie, have you been a waitress before?"

"Yeah, it's been three years since i waited tables, but I know my my way around tables." I stop, but she doesn't say a thing. She just stares at me, and I panic

"I once won employee of the month for three consecutive months, and some might even say I'm a people person." I smile, at least I think I do, but I'm willing to bet it turned out more like a grimace.

"See here, Callie, you seem like a pretty great person, but you just don't fit what we are looking for." she's delivering my soul crushing rejection when someone starts screaming. She excuses herself, and I follow her.

The sight that greets us is crazy. There are two girls screaming at each other beside an overturned table and a green liquid, I'm assuming, is matcha. Someone is whispering to another person about the fight, and I slide in close to them.

"Samantha has always been a nut job, I mean, she's always messing up her orders and insulting customers. She finally messed with the wrong person today. Today, she gets a taste of her own medicine.

"All right, that's enough. No more screaming, no more fighting, and no more spilt beverages."

"You know what?" The one I assume is Samantha screams,

"I quit. You can take your stupid coffee and your stupid teas and shove it up your ass. "

She turns to go, but someone calls from the back

"Your apron!"

Samantha gives an exasperated scream, balls the apron and throws it, and miraculously, or by an accident of fate, it lands in my hands

"Hey, interview girl," the manager says, "you're hired." People fighting has never benefitted me before, but today luck is definitely on my side. I think happily as I tie my new apron