A pleasant lunch at Carol's

You reached for the doorbell, but Carol quickly whipped open the door as you approached, almost as if she had been watching you.

"Erica, so glad you could make it!" Carol exclaimed as she led you into her living room. You'd have responded and corrected her, but you were too taken aback by the style of the room. Despite this being a major problem, you could still appreciate that you were in the actual 1950's, and so you didn't hear her.

"This is so quai... I mean charming." you remarked. "Oh, that's a Victrola!"

"Thank you so much." Carol replied. "Take a seat on the couch and I'll go get the food, I made sandwiches if that's okay."

"I'm not picky, so I'm sure it'll be fine." you said as you sat down on the couch.

Carol took note of how uncouth you were and how unladylike your sitting was.

How did Erica expect to find a husband acting like that?

She quickly grabbed a tray and carried it into the living room, setting it on the coffee table. She handed a plate to you, which you took.

"Thank you." you said.

Carol took notice of how not put together Erica was. Nails were a mess, hair was a mess, and Carol still wasn't convinced that Erica was who she said she was.

"So, your outfit..." Carol started.

"Crap! She recognizes it! I'm done for!" you thought to yourself.

"I can't help but notice it's the same thing you had on last night." Carol finished.

You breathed an audible sigh of relief before you responded.

"Oh, yeah... it's just that well..." you started to stammer. You needed an excuse, fast. "Uh, I... don't have any others. My move was sorta sudden, got kicked out of my house and I only brought the clothes on my back."

"You poor thing!" Carol exclaimed. "What happened?"

"I really can't talk about it... In fact, I should be going. But before I do, do you have a newspaper I could borrow?" you asked.

"What do you need it for?" Carol asked.

"I just want to look at the classifieds, really." you replied. Better to say that than you want to read up on current events cause you're a time traveler from decades in the future. Plus, that would help you find a job faster."

"I don't have today's, Steve took it to work, but I have yesterday's if that works." Carol said.

"Yesterday's is fine."

"If it's the want-ads you're looking at, I have a few friends in town that might be hiring, I can ask them and get back to you."

"That would be great. Thank you, Carol."

"Not a problem at all." Carol quickly got up and grabbed the paper, handing it to you.

And with that, you bid Carol farewell, heading out the door.

"Oh, one more thing. If you're really **** for clothes, I'm sure that Marie would understand if you borrowed some of her things." Carol said. "Especially if you make sure to launder them after you're done."

You stopped in your tracks and turned around.

"Is it that obvious?" you asked.

"No, but I bought her that top." Carol replied.

"I... uh... wouldn't normally do anything like this." you said.

"Of course not." Carol said.

You quickly rushed back to the house and started researching the time period, while Carol debated which of her friends to call. She had a friend who owned a clothing store and might need a sales clerk, a friend who ran a salon and always needed girls to do this and that, and a friend who owned a restaurant and could always use a new waitress.

Carol picks up the phone and starts to dial the rotary, deciding on....