Where The Lines Overlap [CTH]

[28] The interview

Alexia

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G M T [Brighton, England]

I peered into the cafe, Treacle Treat's, shiny windows, before pushing their equally shiny glass door open. Upon doing so, the tinkling sound of a tiny bell rang from above me and the strong smell of coffee instantaneously greeted my nose. Two Door Cinema Club was playing in the background.

Momentarily, I stood with one hand still on the doorknob, overwhelmed by the interior of the place, growing slightly hesitant on whether I was suited for it. It was cosey yet cool at the same time. Every corner was decorated with hard accents of wood, brass and steel furniture and every nook and cranny with soft accents of lace trimmings on table runners, willow flowers in ceramic vases here in there and dainty curtains.

As I walked further into the middle of the room of the almost empty cafe, apart from two girls chatting quietly on the sofa, I was struck by all the photographs of people, presumably the cafe's customers, in black and white, of every shape and size imaginable, which hung all over the walls behind faded silver frames.

There were only two people working in the cafe at that time, one server was working behind the till and the other had his back turned to the counters, busily attending to some beautifully decorated iced drinks.

"Hiya, how can I help you?" The male server behind the till cheerily exclaimed, flashing me a crooked smile. He seemed to be in his mid-20s. He was quite tall in height, with an athletic build and a violet apron with the Treacle Treat's logo of a cat inside a cup in the middle, was wrapped loosely around his body.

"I just saw your sign outside actually and I was wondering if you're still hiring by any chance?" I began, feeling slightly a fool for clumsily creating my CV at an internet cafe, a few streets down, as soon as I saw the notice and since Hailey and I had parted.

I barely had anything to put in there, apart from the various clubs and organizations I had joined when I was younger and I crossed my fingers and toes in my shoes, hoping that training to be a Cadet was worth something, but at this moment, my head screamed the opposite. It screamed: "This is not going to work out.".

There was that one month of helping out in Victoria's Mum's clothing boutique in Portobello road which inclined me to put down "great customer service skills". Working during that summer was no joke, as it was a constant circuit of folding, hanging, steaming and asking people if they needed any help, only to be waved away because your job was to be that annoyingly attentive fuck.

Then under skills, I put "well-mannered, energetic, hardworking" and other adjectives that were true to who I am but also, what I felt like they wanted to read.

This was a spur of the moment idea.

This was probably not one of the best I've ever had in my life.

But, I had a good feeling about it.

"Unfortunately, one of the part-time positions have already been taken." The guy replied, much to my surprise.

"Really?" I pitched, trying not to show the disappointment in my voice.

There goes the good feeling about it.

"However, just your luck! There IS still another position we're looking to fill in." He enthusiastically continued, grinning at my reaction.

"Really?!" I mused in relief, hanging onto his every word. A smile creeped across my face.

Hoorah! The gut does not lie!

"Do you have your CV by any chance?" He asked and without further wait, I quickly fished for it in my purse and handed it over to him, hoping he didn't mind that it was a little bit crinkled from falling to the bottom. So what, it had a bit of personality!