Chapter 2- Help Wanted

In the morning Chell was woken up by the smell of hash browns. She walked down to the kitchen where Karla was placing the meal on their plates. Karla was wearing her work uniform, khaki pants and an orange shirt with yellow trim.

"Would you like hash browns and orange juice?" Karla asked Chell when she saw her in the stairs.

"Sure." Chell answered despite hating hash browns. Karla placed a plate in front of her. Chell slowly shredded the hash brown because it was made of potatoes.

"Look Chell I know you went a long time without food but you really should eat." Karla told her. Chell didn't show any response and continued ripping it apart. Changing the topic Karla said, "I own a donut shop. Would you like a job there? " Chell nodded.

After breakfast Karla pointed out important building to help Chell remember the way there. Chell was looked up at the small brightly colored building surrounded by a gray environment. It looked so out of place. Karla matched the building perfectly.

"Step into this office and I'll get you your uniform." Karla said. Chell walked in and sat in the chair beside the door. The office was small and messy. It had a computer with the main page being the website for the shop. Karla soon walked in. "Here you go." Karla handed her the clothing. "The restrooms are over there. You can put your uniform on in there and make sure you wash your hands. Just leave your clothes in my office."

"Actually," Chell said, "is there a chance I can burn them?"

"I suppose you could burn them after work."

They had arrived an hour early. During that hour Karla showed her how to work the cash register and taught her how to package donuts. Shortly after they arrived the two other people who worked there showed up but Chell didn't interact with them. She was paid 9 dollars an hour, which would add up quickly. She would be able to by her own apartment in about 2 months.

The entire day Chell was planning on how she would be able to get Wheatley back. It wasn't going to be easy since she didn't have a portal gun or support from anyone. She hadn't told Karla about her plan. So far the only idea Chell had was head back to the Enrichment Center and demand that GLaDOS bring Wheatley back without talking. Chell didn't care if GLaDOS ran her through more tests before she brought the little, moron back. Chell wasn't sure why she wanted him back. It was probably because he had tried to treat her as a friend when she first met him.

"Chell," Karla said, "can you take those chocolate donuts over there and fill them with cream?" Chell didn't respond, she just walked over and started filling the donuts. The first part of her plan was to stop talking again. She wanted to mess GLaDOS' data up as much as she could and not talking would be noted on her file.

Karla noticed Chell's dreamy, romantic attitude from watching and reading so many romances. It made her wonder what was going on in Chell's head. She obviously wasn't very open with her feelings. She watched her try to fill the donuts with cream but get her hands covered in it.

Chell was plotting while she filled the pastries. She realized that Karla would get suspicious if she randomly didn't show up for work. It would also take her a long time to walk back to Aperture, time she couldn't waste. That's when she realized every second Wheatley was going farther into space. He could hit by an asteroid or deactivate himself. She was terrified by thinking of all the terrible things that could happen she missed filling the donut with cream and got her hand instead. Picking up a rag she quickly wiped her hands off hoping no one had noticed.

After work they walked home. Chell didn't pay any attention to Karla. That only made Karla want to know what Chell was thinking more. When they arrived at Karla's house Karla turned to Chell.

"So, Chell what boy do you have your eye on?" Karla questioned Chell. You could imagine Chell's surprise. How had she figured that out? Although Chell saw Karla as being her mother, another adopted mother, and Chell had learned mothers seemed to know everything.

"Um… you uh… wouldn't know him. He's far away from here." Chell answered, happy she didn't have to lie.

"That wasn't the answer I wanted Chell. Is he- oh, is he the deranged scientist you were talking about. A little rough but I think you can work past it. You should-"

"NO! Karla, why would I like him? He could be the same age as my dad!" Chell yelled back at Karla.

"Then who is he?"

"Why does it matter to you?"

"I don't want you to be unbelievably lonely like me. Having to watch and read pointless happily ever afters because I don't have my own. I should have told Jerry I loved him before he signed up to be put in a core, then he wouldn't have died from the procedure."

"I completely forgot to tell you about Jerry the Nanobot! He probably survived it!" Chell was so surprised. That made her think if Jerry was once human why couldn't Wheatley also be human! Chell looked to Karla to tell her about how they could go back to Aperture and get Jerry, Wheatley, and maybe even all the cores back with them but Karla was crying on the couch. "No! Don't cry Karla! We can go get them. It's not a problem." Karla looked up at Chell as if she had told a poor person was told they were rich.

"Okay. But uh… Chell, who do you like?"