Threads

Chapter Seven: Part 1

Chapter Seven

Of Elves and Egyptians

 

             The shop was steady until the afternoon, and after looking over Gabriel’s resume one more time, Alice decided to call him in spite of the ribbing she knew she’d get from Shakra. He picked up on the second ring.

“Hello?”

            “Hello, is this Gabriel?” She tried to make her voice sound as professional as possible, but her stomach was doing back flips. How was she supposed to do an interview? She was a total imposter.

            “Yes it is.”

            “This is Alice from Threads. I was wondering when you would be available to come down for an interview.”

            Gabriel’s voice became less smooth, he sounded both nervous and excited now. “I can come in any time you want me to. I’ll come in today if you like.”

            Alice checked her watch. “Why don’t you come around three? Does that work?”
            “Absolutely, I’ll be there.”

             She hung up after saying goodbye, letting out a breath of relief. She hadn’t screwed up and sounded like a total moron.

            “Called him, did you?” Shakra wandered in from the back room.

            “Yup, he’s coming in for an interview today.”

            “I think you should hire him,” Shakra said. “He’ll bring the ladies in.”

            Alice laughed. “They’ll buy out all the love potions and try to feed them to him.”

            She and Shakra shared a late lunch by the fire, the white Tiger eating the last of the hamburger meat and Alice munching a peanut butter sandwich. She tidied up the front desk area and the back room in preparation for Gabriel’s interview. She was starting to get jittery now, catching herself playing with her hair as she sat there making notes. It wasn’t like she’d ever interviewed anyone. What did you ask at an interview? He would probably see right through her act and be able to tell she was a total amateur.

            “I’ve never given an interview.” Alice made herself stop yanking at her hair. “What sort of things do I ask him? I mean, besides what hours he can work.”

            “Maybe what wage expectations he has, what jobs he’s had and why he quit them,” Shakra said. “Just try to get a feel for what he’s really like and if he would be good to work with or not.”

            “Right.” Alice jotted down a few more pointers. “Okay I think I’m ready for this.” She let out a breath, trying to calm herself. Just pretend, that was the key, pretend like she knew what she was doing and maybe he’d believe her.

            “You’re in charge. Don’t forget you run the interview, it’s not hard.”

            “Right, sure.”  It was easy for her to say. Shakra was confident, and probably way older. She’d probably run her own business before.  The bell over the door rang, and Alice looked up, determined not to be flustered by Gabriel’s good looks.  Today he was wearing a white collared shirt and black sweater and his shaggy hair was tousled exactly right. Alice couldn’t help being reminded of one of the sulky male models you see in the magazines, even though Gabriel was smiling widely at her.