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The Interview2,183 words

The Interview

(CHAPTER 2) The Interview

Excitement! That was the only emotion Sonata could feel at the moment. After a rough morning of fighting with Aria, then being turned down from job after job, she was finally being given a chance to prove that she was employable.

She sat in a small office in the back of the restaurant. For her, everything was happening very quickly. From the time she had asked about getting a job, she had been approached by a man who had “Manager” on the bottom of his name tag. She hadn’t actually caught his name, truth be told, she was to excited to even care. This was her golden opportunity to prove Aria wrong that she was capable of holding down a job, and she had all intention of making her moody friend eat her words when the time came.

Sonata’s plans of domination screeched to a halt when she heard the door behind her open. The person she had spoken to earlier with “Manager” on his tag walked in. “Sorry to keep you waiting.” He said with a little bit of wear and tare to his voice. “This shift is short handed so I’m usually out there helping during the lunch rush. It can get a little hectic when it get‘s busy.” He smiled at Sonata as he sat in a simple chair at a desk that was typical of a small office such as this.

He was older, but not too old, if anything he matched the age of her father. His hair was a deep brown, and his skin a pale yellow. Along with his green eyes, he wasn’t all that intimidating. Just the typical manager of a chain business. He continued as he pulled out a few pieces of paper, “That being said, I’ll keep this short and sweet!”

Sonata wanted to reply but out of nowhere her excitement was being intruded upon by the light feeling of butterflies in her stomach. Strange… She wasn’t nervous a second ago… For Sonata it seemed that the reality of her situation was finally beginning to set in. This was it, her chance to prove that she was capable of maturity, the last thing she wanted to do was screw this all up. With a slight shudder to her voice, she let out a nervous laugh, and said back, “Eh heh heh… No problem.”

The manager caught the hint. This wasn’t his first time dealing with a student looking for their first job. That being said, he wasn’t the kind of person that liked to intimidate his employees. He set the papers he was fumbling with on the desk and slipped the pen behind his ear. He gave Sonata a reassuring smile and said, “Let’s start with the basics, my name is Carne Asada, I’m the manager of this fine restaurant that you see before you!” Sonata looked around as he motioned. With the door closed to keep out the noise of the kitchen, she could only see the cluttered white office lit by a line of fluorescent bulbs. Carne Asada took the hint and let out a small chuckle. “Well, the restaurant out there anyway.”

Not letting to much silence come between them, he continued, “Well you know my name, how about you tell me yours.

Again, Sonata could feel the fluttering of nerves in her belly. It was very distracting and it made the simple question feel like she was back in her algebra classes. She took a breath and blurted out a little louder than she should have. “Sonata!”

“Sonata?”

“Sonata Dusk!” She made her smile return as she spoke trying to keep her confidence going.

“Sonata Dusk…” He said as he slipped the pen out from behind his ear and wrote her name down. “That’s a nice name.” He remarked. He then looked back up to her and said, “Okay then Sonata, tell me a little about yourself.”

“About myself?” She asked. Sonata couldn’t figure out why all of these basic questions felt like she needed a Ph. D. to answer.

“That’s right,” Carne told her, trying to get her started. “What grade you’re in? Favorite color? Favorite kind of music? Favorite food?”

“I’m going to be a senior this coming school year…” She started off slowly, simply trying to get her rhythm of talking to start moving again. “I go to Canterlot Prep. Daddy decided that type of school would be better for me than public school…” She felt herself starting to pick up her normal talking now that her mind was going off the fact of what was happening around her. “I don’t mind it too much but some of the classes can get pretty hard, you know? I mean come on! Why would someone put letters in math problems?! Math is hard enough, but throwing spelling in with it just makes it worse!”

Without realizing, Sonata was back to her usual talking pace. “I guess my favorite color is dark purple, I do like blue too, but for realzies have you seen my outfit?! It’s entirely purple so I guess that settles that.” As sonata kept ranting, Carne Asada’s pen was busy trying to keep up with her answers. The more she spoke, the more questions she was inadvertently answering about herself on her employment form.

“My favorite music would probably be pop. Oh! But sometimes I do like heavy metal! I mean I was never big into it at first but then the other day I heard this new foreign metal band that had the most awesome guitar I’ve ever heard. They do sing in another language but that doesn’t bother me, as long as it sounds good, am I right?!”

Carne Asada could already tell what he was dealing with as far as Sonata was concerned. She came off as shy around new people; however, once you gave her a task that she felt comfortable with she would easily open up and set to it. One other important factor about her that he saw was that she seemed to be nothing but energy! She didn’t come off as the kind of person to tire of a task easily. With his pen still scratching away on the paper, he heard her ask, “What was that last one?”

“Uhh…” He said trying to refocus himself, “Favorite food?”

“Helloo~~ Taco’s of course! That’s what drew me here in the first place!”

“Well that’s good to hear.” He remarked, “Do you have experience making them?”

“Please! You should see my kitchen. I try to make them and burrito’s at least a few times a week. If you ask me there’s no food more perfect! The spicy beef, or seasoned chicken on top of the rice and beans that gets the cheese all gooey and melty, right along side with the cool contrast of the sour cream and lettuce, all topped off with a good spicy salsa!” She leaned in and motioned Carne closer. “And just between you and me, you haven’t lived until you’ve tried one of my burrito’s!”

Carne gave a light chuckle and sat back and wrote a few more lines on the employee evaluation sheet. “Good answer!” He told her. After he finished writing, he set his pen down and asked calmly, “Just one last thing…”

Sonata sat with full attention.

“Why do you want to work for Moe’s?”

Finally, a question that she could answer with no nervousness. With her trademark smile beaming once more, she said back with full on confidence, “Because I love southwestern style cooking, and I want to share that with the world!”

Sonata suddenly felt herself snap to a sudden reality. All this time she was out to prove Aria wrong, and show that she could get a job. Still, during this entire interview she hadn’t thought about Aria once. For Sonata it felt like a switch had been flipped. She wasn’t out to prove someone wrong anymore. She was just doing this for herself. …And of course the taco’s.

Carne wrote one final line on the sheet and said. “Well Miss. Dusk, I think that covers it all. Is there anything you’d like to ask me before we bring this to a close?”

Sonata felt the butterflies return one last time; however, she felt they were justified. “Just one question actually…” She took in a breath and asked, “…How did I do?”

He leaned back in his chair and said, “Well, a little shaky at the start, I can see that you’re a little nervous, and there’s nothing wrong with that. For future reference, you may want to hold off on using words like “Realzies” during an interview, but that’s just a small nitpick, I can’t very well tell you to change who you are. One last thing, Sonata, you have a great personality with a lot of energy. That’s the type of personality that I like to have on my team here at Moe’s.”

Sonata’s smile grew, “…Do you mean…?”

“Can you start tomorrow?”

Sonata absolutely beamed! She stood up from her chair and jumped in place with excitement. She grabbed Carne Asada by the hands and shook them with all the gratuity she could muster. “Thank you so much Mr. Carney Mazda! I won’t let you down!”

Carne debated on correcting her pronunciation of his name but stopped himself. He wasn’t about to kill her buzz. He did however calm her down slightly. “One last thing I’d like to discuss.”

Sonata paused and looked at him. “What’s that?” she asked.

“I’m looking for help for the afternoon to evening shift. It’s not a long one mind you. You would only work for 6 hours a day for 4 day’s a week. Since this is your first job I think it’s a good way for you to “get your feet wet” so to speak. This way you can adjust to your job without feeling to overwhelmed. Is that alright?”

With a firm nod she chirped, “Of course! I’m just glad I finally found work!” She turned to him and said, “And I promise, I’ll be the best employee you ever had!” ~grrr~

Sonata froze and blushed fiercely. There was one thing that she hadn’t done before the interview started, she still hadn’t eaten lunch. The two could hear her bellies audible growl of hunger. She wanted to hide her embarrassment but there was no where to run.

Carne simply gave her a smile and said, “Tell you what, take these booklets home with you and look over them.” He handed Sonata a packet and continued, “They have everything from basic job descriptions, food prep, and the general rules of Moe’s. Nothing to tough, it’s all pretty basic.”

He then stood up and opened the door. “And how about I buy your lunch today since you’re going to be working for me now.”

“Really?!” Sonata chimed, “Are you sure?”

“Positive. And while they’re making your food, watch how it’s prepared, and the steps to making it. I’m going to have you as a Line Cook. If you’re as good at making taco’s, and burrito’s as you say you are, then I want you to be the one making them for me. Can you do that?”

“Absolutely!”

“Alright then.” He said, “Go order your lunch, I’ll let them know that I have the cost covered. As for tomorrow, can you come in a little before 2? That’s right after the lunch rush so it’ll be on the slower side so you can learn without being to overwhelmed.”

“Sure! And thanks again! I really mean that.”

“Not a problem at all. I’ll see you tomorrow.”
_____________________________________________________________________________________

It was just about 2pm when Sonata left the mall. She had ordered her food to go so that she could eat it at her house and away from the crowd. Juggling the bag, and the packet of work info, she pulled her phone out of her skirt pocket and looked at the time. “Alright…” She said to herself, “24 hours to get myself together, and get ready for my first day! I can do this!” With the sun beaming down and the temperature far from comfortable, Sonata decided that taking the bus home was the smartest option.

She went to the closest bus stop that sat outside the mall and opened the tab on the packet with all of her work information. She could see 2 little booklets inside and a few pages of paperwork that looked like they needed to be filled out. All of that she would worry about once she got home. For the moment, she allowed herself just to be proud that she had done what her friend said was impossible. Sonata Dusk was now employed!

Author's Note:

Gotta say, I honestly didn't think this story would be as popular as it is. A lot of people tend to be overly critical about these slice of life stories. I must be doing something right! HA!

Thanks for all the positive feedback so far. I'll try to update when I can.

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