Chapter 32: New Job
Saturday morning, Mia was up and dressed before the rest of the family was awake, even Georgie and that kid rose with the sun. She wore her nicest dress and pulled her hair up into a ponytail. She needed to look as presentable as possible.
While making a quick breakfast, Bill, dressed in boxers and a t-shirt, comes down the stairs. He's stunned that his cousin is not only awake but looking like she's going to an office job.
"W-Where are you going?" he asks, grabbing juice from the fridge.
Mia leans against the counter wolfing down cereal and takes a swig of juice before answering.
"Job Interview," she answers.
"Where?" he asks.
Mia holds out the flier that she'd picked up last weekend and continues to eat while Bill reads it over.
"Y-You want to tutor someone?"
"It's way better paycheck than what I'd get for pumping gas at the station or stocking shelves at the supermarket."
"What about getting a job at the mall?"
"Thought about it, but honestly I'd rather do something I'll enjoy than something that would make me wish I was dead for no money at all."
Bill looks at her in confusion.
"The job market is not exactly promising when you're a teenager, remember that," she says before dumping the bowl in the sink. "Anyways, I gotta go… gonna be late."
She goes for the car keys, which she had permission from her aunt and uncle to use as biking in a dress is far from a good idea.
"Isn't J-Jim Hopper the sheriff?"
"Yep, anyways see ya," she says before going out the door.
…
It takes at least 20 minutes to actually find this "place of residence." While Mia could have gone to the station and interviewed there, something just didn't feel right to be asked questions by the police in their place of work. Could really ruin her reputation. She'd actually returned to talk to Mrs. Byers again and found out Jim Hopper's address and the nice woman even drew directions on how to get there.
As she pulls up on this wooden cabin, which looked completely run down and dilapidated, she can't help but wonder why the sheriff of Hawkins would choose to live all the way out here. To get away from the people? To really avoid people, especially crooks, finding out where he lived and bothering him? Guess that could check out.
She checks her hair in the rear-view mirror before stepping out.
…
Meanwhile, Eleven heard the car pull up and went to her bedroom window to look. It was some strange lady and fortunately, she didn't look like someone from the lab. She looked to be about Nancy or Johnathan's age, but that could still mean that they were bad.
She hops off her bed and goes to find Hopper, who is sipping coffee and putting Eggos in the toaster for her.
"Papa," she says.
"What's up?"
"There's someone here."
"This early in the morning. Damn solicitors…" he grumbles. He was glad he was licensed to carry a firearm, ready to scare them off... or maybe he should buy and hose and have fun that way.
"It's a girl," Eleven adds.
"Well then, if it's girl scouts I'll buy us some cookies," he says, heading to the door with his mug still in hand.
He was surprised that someone had managed to find this place. One of the guys at the station might've given the address. Even if it was safe for Eleven to be around and interact in public again, he could never be too careful and approached any visitors to this isolated place with caution.
…
With a deep breath and a smile, Mia barely knocks on the door of the cabin before it opens. It creaks loudly on its ancient hinges.
The teen looks up at the tall, bearded sheriff and swallows, feeling intimidated. He did not look happy at all and a wave of guilt washed over her. She tries to breathe and power through, despite the butterflies in her stomach and the stiffness in her body.
"H-Hello, are you Chief Hopper?"
"I am and you are?"
"I'm Mia Rogers. I'm here about that tutoring job."
"Oh right," he grimaces. He'd forgotten about the "job" that Joyce had made him advertise for Eleven's sake. While she had handed out some flyers at the store, when she wasn't looking, he'd dumped the rest of them out. He just couldn't trust anyone to properly teach his daughter and it was too risky if they somehow discovered her secret.
"I know it's early, but I wanted to catch you before you went to work."
"Mornings are for coffee and contemplation."
"Or chores and a hot breakfast," the girl adds.
Hopper raises an eyebrow.
"Sorry, my grandma used to say that. I lived on a farm for a while."
"Ah," he says, losing interest quickly.
The girl looked really nervous and lacked any kind of confidence. But he could excuse it because of the girl's previous history. It did piss him off to no end that no one had jailed the girl's father, who was clearly a bastard and deserved some kind of retaliation for the horrific treatment of his family.
He then decides to ask her something more important.
"How did you find this place?"
"Umm, Mrs. Byers told me how to get here."
"Of course, she did," he mutters, making a note to chew Joyce out later for revealing their locations. "Why don't you come in?"
"I'm not intruding, am I? I-I'll come back later if you..."
"You're here now," the sheriff grunts and steps aside to let the girl step in.
The cabin certainly was… rustic to say the least but it looked better on the inside than out. It was well furnished, even if the furniture was mismatched and a little worn out. It was mainly a fairly spacious room with different areas decorated as specific rooms in a house such as a kitchen, the dining room and living room. Off the side was a separate room painted green, which looked like his daughter's room based on the general mess and feminine things residing inside. Mia guessed that it was a hunting cabin due to the deer head looking down at her as she stood in the centre of the room.
"Have a seat," Hopper offered his couch. "I'll be right there." He then went to see Eleven in the kitchen. She'd stepped out of sight, still wary of the intruder in the house.
Mia can hear them talking in hushed tones and she does her best to ignore them and be as professional as she can despite the unprofessional circumstances.
Eventually, the daughter's bedroom door slams shut, startling the visitor and she looks back for a moment.
Jim Hopper comes over with another cup of coffee and sits in his easy chair. He turns to face the girl.
"So, what made you decide to apply for this job?"
"I… I like teaching and I'm considering becoming a teacher after college… I'm a decent student, I get mainly A's in school which should make tutoring pretty easy for me. I've been teaching my cousin how to read, and while he's younger, I just need to make the process to your daughter's age…"
While these answers are obviously scripted for interviews, Hopper can tell the girl is trying to seem like a good candidate.
"What made you decide not to go apply at the mall or something?"
Mia looks at the sheriff dead in the eye and decides that she should just play straight with him and forget all the fancy stuff.
"I want something quiet and anonymous. You have to know as well as I do that, I don't need my name in some employee listing or risk becoming an employee of the month. I can't be sharing my name all over the place and I'm hoping that you can pay a little bit more than minimum wage. I just need something to help me save for college and to keep me sane until I turn eighteen."
Hopper smirks and nods, pleased with her new blatant honesty.
"I'm willing to work every day, I'll even brave the snowstorms to get here… I just need something that I like and will open doors for me… give me new experiences."
The sheriff nods, stroking his beard and pretending to think about it but knows she's already got the job. While he wished that he could just tutor Eleven himself and still keep her within their small circle of friends, he knew he couldn't do everything. He wasn't superhuman. He knows he's still being a little overprotective of her, but you always had to be careful because, after the Russian discovery in the summer, they always had to be on their toes just in case. However, this girl seems harmless and just eager to get a job with decent pay. It did help that no one else had actually applied for the position (mostly due to his own interference) which limited the pool for picking and that he did feel bad for the girl due to her past, but she still has guts, is honest and driven, despite the seeming lack of confidence.
He wants to keep her nervous a little longer, pettily because she'd interrupted breakfast but doesn't do it too much longer.
"Well… I'd say your chances are pretty good because no one else has actually asked me about the job so…"
"R-Really?"
"Yeah, basically you have the job."
"I do?"
The girl is literally moved to tears. She jumps up and shakes the man's hand, maybe a little too eagerly. "Thank you, thank you… I promise I won't let you down."
"Glad to hear it," he says, standing up knowing he has to really get ready for work. No doubt Florence would be calling by now, wondering where he is. "We can start on Monday but come by later on after seven so you can meet E… Jane and learn what you should be teaching her."
"I will, I definitely will. Thank you, thank you, thank you! I'll see you tonight then."
"Looking forward to it," he says flatly.
The girl gets up, the biggest smile on her face and heads for the door, catching a brief glimpse of said-daughter Jane peeking out from her bedroom. Not wanting to spook her student, Mia continues to the door and heads back to the car.
Once the sound of the engine faded away, Eleven emerges and Hopper stands up to lock eyes with her. While slightly afraid, the girl was glad to finally be getting some form of schooling, even if it was still in the cabin. It did frustrate her that she wasn't allowed to go to school with Mike and everyone else, but with the stories of bullies picking on the weird kids, maybe it was best that she learn from home.
"Looks like you've got a new teacher," Jim grins.
A/N: Things are looking up for Mia.