Clean Slate

Prologue

"Well, Kadence, you don't have any real work experience and you are a nervous wreck. Why should I hire you at the studio annex?"

Kadence Walker sat at the desk in front of Erwin Smith, who scratched his head. Her heel bounced in her sandals as she tried to come up with an answer.

He was right. She had never had a job before and she was scared of her own shadow. Why should he hire her to be in charge of millions of dollars worth of camera and movie production equipment in the studio art annex?

She had a reason. She had practiced her answers on the phone with her mom and dad as she walked here across campus. She was ready. She could do it.

But Erwin's eyebrows were intense. Like really intense. Why did they move so much?

Kadence swallowed down the lump in her throat and cleared it.

"You shouldn't, honestly."

Not what she practiced! Why the hell would she say that?

"I've never had a job before and I'm not the best at talking to people. But I figured this job would make me do that." Kadence was honest. Lying wasn't her strong suit.

Nor did she want to.

"I love film. And I figured this would be a good way to grow." Kade's voice went small as she looked between her nail polish and Erwin's face.

Kadence Elise Walker was an awkward soul. She cried all the time, avoided social interaction, and chances of embarrassing.

She was sheltered all her life as an only child, afraid of making too much noise, afraid of eyes. She was a sensitive kid. That's how her parents liked her.

But that changed into a sensitive adult. She was afraid of being noticed, being in anyone's way, went out of her way to inconvenience herself to let others through.

That's why she had a panic attack before this job interview. School has barely started and she needed a campus job to help pay for her tuition at Paradis University. It was her dream.

And this was apart of the deal of her staying.

She wrote down her answers, printed a resume of pretty much nothing, and came with a recommendation letter. One from her uncle who was a photographer. She had nothing to her name. But she was still trying.

Maybe that was why Erwin sat back in his chair and smiled at her.

"You've got passion. I can see it." Erwin stroked his chin.
"Something tells me that's the only thing that got you here, correct?"

Kade nodded and spun the fidget ring on her index finger.
"Yes, sir."

"Hm." Erwin nodded and glanced at the pictures on his desk. The organized notes, the sticky notes. Kadence followed his eyes. They looked like students.

They were all posing with camera equipment out in the cold Tennessee air.
Erwin smiled at it fondly and looked back at the freshman in the chair in front of him. Another potential success.

Someone to be proud of.

"Well, Kadence, I appreciate you coming here. And it's not like I have people knocking down my door to work at the annex..." Erwin sat up in his chair and took out a sticky note writing on it swiftly.
"You start tomorrow. 6-10. You will be on shift with my two seniors, Hanji Zoe and Levi Ackerman. They will show you the ropes. You'll work on shift with them, Sundays, Tuesdays and Thursdays. You'll be put in the annex teams group in case you need to cover anyone's shifts but for now we'll start there."

Kadence could barely process his words as he spoke. This meant she got the job. After blatantly telling him not to hire her. She blinked away her tears of shock and nodded as he spoke.