Chapter 2: Now Hiring
"Miss Ral?"
"Hi, yes, this her. Who may I ask is calling?" The young woman spoke into the microphone of her earphones, cellphone in hand, screen currently displaying a pair of shoes for sale online. Her lips pursed as she looked at the pair of flats, trying to come up with at least five outfits she could wear with them before deciding on the possible purchase.
"My name is Eren Jaegar…I saw your help wanted ad for a part-time barista?"
Her brows rose, a smile coming to her lips as she quickly tapped the home button of her phone, opening a notepad app to type into. "Ah, yes; I take it you're interested, Eren? And please, call me Petra." She spoke, tapping out his name into her phone.
"Mm- yes, Petra."
"Great, do you mind if I ask you a few questions while I have you on the phone? Oh- and the number you're calling from, is this your best contact?" She shifted in her seat, almost knocking over the Styrofoam cup on the table. Her hand moved quickly, grabbing the top of the drink.
"…S-sure, I don't mind. And yes, it's my house phone actually."
"Great...Okay, so tell me, Eren…have you had any prior experience working in a coffee shop?" Petra asked, waiting patiently for an answer. The phone had gone mostly silent on Eren's end, save for what sounded like a few whispers from someone else.
"Um…no, not in a shop or anything. My mom usually asks me to put the coffee on in the mornings, though."
Petra bit back a smile as she heard someone groan in the background; it was clear they had been trying to coach him on how to answer.
"Well, that's definitely a start! It usually helps if you've had some prior experience with handling food and the like; but tell me this, do you think you'd be able to handle brewing more than just one pot of coffee at a time?"
"O-of course."
Petra continued tapping her thumbs against her phone, typing out the position he was applying and noting his lack of industry experience. She nodded, as though he were right in front of her, before continuing.
"And how about managing customers? Do you think you'd be able to meet the demands of the clientele in an orderly and timely fashion?"
"I think-" he paused again, whispers leaking through his receiver before he quickly spoke again "I mean yes! Absolutely I can."
Petra hummed, amused smile still present on her lips. "And what about your friend there, would they like to apply for a job as well?"
"Who, Mikasa? She already has a job with her cousin."
A light chuckle escaped the young, coffee shop owner as Eren's 'coach' groaned once again, lightly reprimanding him.
"Well, if she wants to reconsider, she can tag along with you for an interview as well." The ginger haired woman closed out of her notepad app on her phone, opening the calendar.
"But in the meantime, are you available to meet Tuesday afternoon? Say three o'clock? I'd like to get a more personal interview and find out about your schedule."
"Sure, Tuesday at three works fine."
"Perfect." She tapped the day on her calendar, a number of other interviews during that day popping up as well. She typed in his name for three o'clock, before exiting the calendar.
"I'll be conducting interviews in the shop, actually. The door will be unlocked so you can just come right in, okay?"
"Okay, great."
"Cool, I look forward to meeting you then! Thanks for calling." Petra spoke, hanging up after Eren said his goodbyes.
She sighed, setting her phone onto the table and picking up her drink in its place. Twenty interviews all lined up. And that was just for Tuesday. But as overwhelming as it seemed, she couldn't help to feel the excitement from it all. Her dream was coming together; in the form of her hard work, sacrifices and sheer determination...though perhaps determination was a bit of an understatement when taking into account that thirty drafts preceded her final business plan. But here she was, renovations complete, stock ordered, marketing lined up, and ready to pick her staff. It was surreal in a way; despite being confident that she could achieve her dreams, each morning she woke up, she couldn't help the smile that came to her lips as she realized it truly was reality.
Bzzzzzzzz
Petra glanced down as her cellphone vibrated, another unknown number appearing on the screen. She sighed, answering the phone to what was potentially interview number twenty one.
"Ymir, what are you doing here?" A very short, blonde teen asked in hushed voice. Despite the handful of people inside the new coffee shop (some early for their interview, some extra early, and one person late,) it was silent save for the occasional rustle of papers from one of the interviewees.
"Same as you." The freckled brunette leaned back in her chair, her voice toned at a normal volume and causing a few others to glance towards her. She paid no mind to her new audience, and instead found herself tempted to prop her feet up on the new, two person table she sat at.
"You already have a job across the street, you don't have to apply here just because I am."
Ymir chuckled. "Oh sweet Krista, I need a second job anyway. Gimpy's running out of extra shifts to give since school's out." She leaned forward, propping her hands into her chin as a sly, Cheshire smile came to her glossy, red lips.
"Working with you would just be an added ...perk, of course."
The blonde sighed, twisting the paper in her hands, then attempting to smooth it out upon remembering she had to hand it off. She looked to the center of the shop to a table set up with refreshments, momentarily debating on pouring herself a cup of coffee. However, her thoughts were cut off as the shop's bell rang, door opening and revealing yet another familiar face. She smiled s she continued to flatten her curled papers, about to say hello before finding her voice drowned out by that of Ymir's.
"Look who it is, I almost didn't recognize you without Mikasa halfway up your ass." She called out at the new arrival as he crossed the threshold of the glass door. He blinked, turning his head in the direction of Ymir. There was a bit of confusion settling in his green eyes as he stepped further into the shop.
"You work for Levi."
"Bingo! You're a lot smarter than I give you credit for, Eren." Ymir smirked, studying his appearance and deducing that his girlfriend must have helped him get ready.
"Ymir, thats not nice!" Krista scolded the other young woman, letting out a sigh as the freckled brunette threw a mock pout at her. There really was never any use in trying to point out the inconsideration and rudeness of what fell from the brunette's mind and into her mouth.
Eren came up to the two, fidgeting with the papers in his hands.
"Is this your first job interview, Eren?" Krista asked, a reassuring smile on her lips as she picked up on his slight nervousness.
"Huh? Oh yeah. Mikasa's been helping me prepare for it. I told her I'd be fine though, it's just a job interview, you know?" He said, twisting the papers as though wringing them dry of the information they carried.
"If you don't mind my asking, why don't you work for Mikasa's cousin?" The blonde expressed her curiosity. He already had an 'in' as he was dating the shop owner's cousin; and surely Mikasa would vouch on Eren's behalf.
But it wasn't Eren's voice that came to Krista's ears.
"That's because he thinks the two lovebirds would be too distracted from their work." Ymir raised her brows a few suggestive times, smirk ever present on her face.
"Well, he already makes me help clean his apartment." Eren began, neither commenting nor denying Ymir's statement. "Something about being there so much that I'm leaving my dead skin cells everywhere...I can't imagine what he'd make me do if I worked for him."
"Clean definitely. Maybe even make you count each individual tea leaf. In fact, I'm sure he would."
Krista rolled her eyes, tuning out the brunette. Apparently Eren practiced similarly. She turned a smile on her classmate, tucking a lock of hair behind her ear.
"Hopefully we'll both find jobs here then. It'll be nice to know a few people."
Eren nodded, returning a small smile of his own. He turned his head, movement catching in the corner of his eye. He watched as red head, maybe a few years older than himself, step through a doorway. She turned and spoke the man that followed her out (he seemed to be about the same age as the woman,) before making her way through the shop and out the front door.
"Krista Lenz?" The man called out, eyes scanning the room. As he caught the movement of the blonde teen, he gestured for her to make her way over.
"Ah-good luck!" Eren wished her. She thanked him, glancing back to Ymir and catching sight of the brunette's thumbs up. She smiled, crossing the room and following the man into the back.
