Dying To Get Away

Chapter 2

When Carrie arrived home, she made herself some coffee. Her mum and dad had already gone to bed. Her dad was on the early shift in the morning. So Carrie thought she'd watch a bit of TV before going to bed. But when she got into bed all she could think about was what she was going to say at the interview – that was if she got offered an interview in the first place, but Emma said it was going to be a doddle because they needed extra staff. She thought how good it would be to earn money and be able to buy things she wanted - like a new phone. Her current one was ancient. She wanted an iPhone. Most of her friends had iPhones, even if they weren't the latest models, but she didn't care as long as she owned one.

The next morning came and Carrie got out of bed. She'd had little sleep because of being too excited. All she wanted was that job. So as soon as she got out of bed, she went down the stairs and phoned the factory, and to her surprise, had been invited for an interview that afternoon.

After having her lunch, Carrie went to get ready for the interview. She knew exactly what she was going to wear, even though it was a factory floor job, she was going formally dressed. The smarter she looked the better. If she went to the interview in jeans and trainers, the person interviewing her would be less impressed - that was the last thing she wanted - a rejection letter in the post.

'Off for your interview, love?' her mum asked.

'Oh, mum, I can't wait. I've wanted a job for so long. Now I've got a good chance of getting one.'

'You'll get it, love. After all the searching you have been doing, you deserve to get a job.'

Once outside of the front door, she noticed there was still snow on the ground, and it was crunchy underfoot. The shoes she had on her feet weren't ideal for snowy weather, but her boots wouldn't have gone with the clothes she was wearing. She couldn't have it both ways.

After arriving at the stop, she saw the bus heading towards her. She was hoping it wasn't full. She was nervous enough as it was, and she had butterflies in her stomach - all because of an interview.

The bus dropped her off a couple of streets away from where she wanted to be, so she walked along the canal bank, looking at the new business and industrial park. She passed the part where her dad used to work. Two years it took her dad to find another job after he had been made redundant, but he had been at the cement factory for over twenty years, so he did get redundancy; just as well with four mouths to feed – himself, Carrie, her mum and not forgetting her older brother, David, who lived in London with his wife and four children. Carrie didn't see him and his family often, maybe once or twice a year. Carrie wished she had a sister, but it was one of those things that weren't meant to be.

Carrie got to the factory., but didn't know where the entrance was. Then on the side of the building, she saw a sign for the reception area. Was she relieved? 

Once inside Carrie saw a girl sitting at a desk, looking something like a receptionist. So, she went up to her, but the girl seemed too busy attending to her nails to be bothered to look up to see who was staring at her.

'Excuse me,' Carrie said in a loud voice.

The girl looked up and stared at Carrie.

'Can I help you? she asked after putting her nailfile to one side

'I have got an interview at ten-fifteen.'

'Name?'

'Carrie Millington.'

The receptionist gave her computer screen a hard stare before telling Carrie to take a seat.

Carrie took a seat, but she seemed to be waiting for a long time. She began to wonder if she had been forgotten, so she picked up a magazine from the pile on the seat next to hers. while looking at the pictures she noticed the magazine was over three years old. Couldn't they get any newer ones? Then, just as she was going to put it back on the pile, she heard: