Eight

Jim was arranging the stools accross the bar when he heard a knock on the door. The bar was still closed to customers.

He went to the door, hoping it wasn't a drunkard desperately for liquor.

When he opened the door, a girl looked up at him with a polite smile.

"Hey!" she said "I saw the sign you had about the needing a waitress, I mean, like, my friend saw it, and told me about it which, thank god because she's usually so forgetful and so yeah"

Jim was silent, he was stifled. She spoke quickly and Jim was taken aback by how beautiful she was.

"Umm... so are you still hiring? Did I miss it? Like, are you, like the manager?" she asked.

Jim re-gained consciousness.

"Er yes.. I mean no, I mean..." struggled Jim "yes we're hiring but I'm not the manger he'll be around in a couple of hours. You can wait here I guess, or I can tell him to give you a call later"

"Oh right, no, I have time" she said.

"Okay, come in, take a seat wherever you like" he said.

"So what's your name?" she asked.

"Oh, I'm Jim" he said.

"Oh cool, I'm Trisha" she said.

"Cool, nice to meet you Trisha" he said, he regretted it as soon as he said it.

"Nice to meet you too Jim" she said, playfully mocking his excessive politeness.

Jim gave an awkward smile.

"So have you been working here long?" asked Trisha making small talk.

"About a couple of years, first on the holidays, not full time." said Jim whilst he continued to complete the necessary tasks for the bar to open on time.

"Oh cool, that's quite a while, did you need experience?" asked Trisha "because I have, like, no experience and I'm super worried they'll be like 'oh my god what are you doing here', like"

"Oh right, no I was still in school when I started, I just finished school last year" he said "I'm sure you'll be fine". Jim knew that given how hot she was she was 80% there towards getting the job. She'd have to be a real moron not to get it.

"Oh cool that's good to know. I also just finished school! I've done basically nothing since then and I'm like 'oh my god I need a job'" she giggled. Jim smiled back politely. "My 18th birthday party took so much planning though, that's why I was a bum all of these months".

"Oh right" said Jim, not quite sure what kind of party would take months of full time planning.

"It was great, like, everyone wore matching everything, there was this massive cake, I showed up in a parachute..." said Trisha, she sounded sure that Jim would be impressed by her list.

"Oh cool" said Jim.

"Yeah... it was like crazy, definitely had a bit too much to drink" said Trisha.

Suddenly, the door of the bar swung open.

Hank walked in with his determined step. He was in earlier than usual. He came in earlier when he had some paperwork to go over.

He froze when he saw Trisha.

"You" Hank pointed at Trisha "Out. Now. We don't open for another hour"

"Oh I was here for..." started Trisha.

"I said OUT! NOW!" said Hank.

"She's here for the job opening" interjeted Jim with caution.

Hank's eyes darted to Jim.

"Well then it's your fault" he said with an accusatory finger "you should have told her to wait outside or to come back later"

Hank walked towards his office.

Jim and Trisha lookedat each other nervously, unsure whether Trisha should stay or leave.

Hank reached the door of his office. He looked at Trisha.

"Well?" said Hank, gesturing his office "are you here for the interview or not?"

WIthout a word, Trisha nodded, talking a few shy steps towards the door, trying to figure out if that was the correct action to take. She was visibly nervous by howbadly her interview had started, on top of how nervous she was already.

Hank left the door of his office slightly open. Trisha sat down. She looked at Hank for his reaction. She was probably afraid she'd sat on the wrong chair.

"Qualfications, experience...?" said Hank in a demanding tone.

"Well, I haven't worked in a bar before but..." started Trisha nervously.

Jim grabbed a rag and a bucked and went to the upstairs seating. He was out of earshot of the conversation in the office. He felt bad for Trisha. Her interview had started so poorly. He hoped it wouldn't cost her getting the job.

She was beautiful, and she seemed nice, maybe they could get to be friends, or who knows, maybe more than that... He hadn't slept with any of the waitresses in the bar. They had all been a few years older than him, in their mid-twenties. But Trisha was his age.

He didn't want to get his hopes up, but it might be an opportunity for him. He'd only ever had one girlfriend in his life. They'd broken up when she went to university. He was ready to date again, and he liked Trisha.