CH. 26.5

"So what have you been doing since you graduated college?" Rachel Benson asked, adjusting her pince-nez at the same time she looked down her Adrien Brody-esque nose at Willa.

"It's, um, right there on my resume." Willa leaned forward and pointed her finger at the single sheet of paper that Ms. Benson was gingerly holding in front of her. The smile she tried to bestow upon the crotchety sixty-year-old fell flat; the woman merely pinched her lips together and looked more sternly at Willa.

When she'd found an opening at a local bookstore that was conveniently close to her condo only a day after receiving Jackie's phone call, Willa had jumped at the opportunity. She'd quickly revamped her resume, emailed it in, and within two days she had received a reply letting her know she was being considered for the position. All that was left was nailing the interview.

Willa shifted on the wooden chair she was sitting in. The owner's office was quaintly untidy, with books piled high on shelves and arranged in a fortress around her desk. The walls were a deep shade of plum, complimenting the gold-framed black and white photos that took up almost the entire surface area.

This was her first interview since Paige had hired her two years ago and Willa didn't want to blow it. But it appeared like Ms. Benson had already come to a decision, even though the interview for the position of manager at The Red Herring had only started a minute ago.

"But I'm asking you," Ms. Benson said, closing her eyes like she couldn't believe Willa was this inept.

"Oh, um," Willa awkwardly laughed. "Well, I've been working for the past two years at the university as a social media manager."

"But you don't have your employer down as a reference."

Willa bit her lip. "No."

"And you don't have any other professional references listed either."

"No." Was the woman just trying to clarify or was she low-key being a bitch, Willa wondered.

"And you think you're qualified to be a manager?" Ms. Benson raised her thin, pale-as-her-skin eyebrow almost to her hairline. "I'm an independent bookshop owner, Miss Grainger. This is my income. I'm getting on in years and I'd like to hire a part-time manager to work during the mornings so I can take it easy in my old age."

"I completely understand, Ms. Benson. I realize that I may not have the qualifications you're looking for, but whatever I don't know, I promise you that I'll learn." Willa's smile was bright and earnest, the kind of smile she thought would convince any employer how hardworking she was.

It didn't seem to work so far, though. Ms. Benson's frown just got deeper and more furrowed. "I see," she said and scribbled something on a notepad.

Was it a note to pick up milk on the way home or was it "Don't hire Willa Grainger", followed by a bunch of exclamation points? Willa's eyes involuntarily glanced at the pad. As a reflex, Ms. Benson covered it with her hand and pulled it closer towards her, eying Willa suspiciously.

"I really love books," Willa blurted out. Ugh. I love books? What is wrong with me?

"How interesting," Ms. Benson smiled frigidly. "And what makes you think that alone is enough to make you a candidate for this job? From what I can see, you have no retail experience. If someone came in and wanted a book we didn't have, what would you do?"

Great, roleplaying. "I would..." Willa began to say, then trailed off, stalling for time.

Patiently, her interviewer folded her arms across the table and stared Willa down.

"I would suggest that they try looking at another bookshop?" Willa tried.

"So you would send business to my competitors, like Barnes and Noble and Books-A-Million? Corporate entities which already take the food out of the mouths of small business owners?"

Oh god, there was no right answer to this. Willa mentally flailed, hoping her thinking face didn't look as dumb as she thought it did. Her fingers dug into the wooden seat. Think, Willa, think. "I would suggest similar titles they might also enjoy."

"Fine. So let's say the customer wants a copy of Pride and Prejudice but we're out of stock. What other books would you suggest?" Ms. Benson inquired, pen still poised over her pad.

"Sense and...Sensibility?"

"Was that a question or a statement?"

"Statement." Willa blinked owlishly, suddenly rethinking how much she wanted this job, after all.

"What if they already own a copy - what other books by that author would you recommend?"

"Well, Jane Austen is the author," Willa stalled. She darted a furtive glance around the office, wondering if there was, by some miracle, some other Jane Austen novels in the room.

"Do you not know any other titles?" Ms. Benson acidly asked. "I suppose you're one of those young people who has only ever watched the movie."

Damn, old people were crotchety. Willa's grandparents were sweet and sedate and thus far she had been spared the lectures of the "kids these days". She could only stare at the interviewer in flummoxed anxiety. This interview was so not going well.

"You would go to the computer and order the book for the customer," prodded Ms. Benson.

"Oh, Amazon. Of course," Willa nodded gamely.

The old woman looked horrified. "No!" she gasped, clutching her pearl necklace. "No! We're in a shrinking market, Miss Grainger! We can't compete with the Internet. You would order the book from our book reseller. It would arrive in two weeks and the customer would pay a $5.99 service charge."

Willa couldn't control her outburst. "But that's ridiculous. They could order it online for half the price, probably, and use a coupon code or something to get free shipping and it would arrive at their doorstep within a week, tops. Saving the customer money is better customer service and would be more likely to win their loyalty in the long run."

For a moment, Ms. Benson just stared at her. Willa writhed inside, wishing she could melt into a puddle on the floor. What on earth had possessed her to open her big blabbermouth and argue with a potential boss?

"Thank you for coming in. I'll be sure to give you a call if I decide to hire you," the woman finally said. She didn't bother getting up from her seat or shaking Willa's hand. It was a curt, obvious dismissal.

Willa hesitantly rose. "Thank you for your time," she said mechanically.

"Mmm," murmured the white-haired woman, not looking up from her notepad. "Drive safe."

Willa didn't bother saying thank-you as she walked out the door. That was the most depressing interview in the history of interviews, she was sure.

Jackie's offer was still burning in her mind. At first, she had been unsure. It wasn't too late, after all, to just scratch the whole thing up to a mistake and go back and beg Maryam and Cyn to be her friends again. As much as she was pissed at them right now, Willa couldn't deny that there was a small part of her that missed being their friend. Even if it was only out of habit.

There was something comforting about having someone to text when you really needed them or even when you didn't, in those small snatches of boredom when all you wanted was the knowledge that someone out there would reply to you if you sent them a "hey".

But then she remembered Cyn accusing her of stealing her life. She remembered Luke's unabashed shamelessness when he had encountered her on his date with another woman. She remembered Maryam's big brown eyes imploring her for the thousandth time to just suck it up.

Suck it up. It felt like that was what Willa had spent most of their friendship doing. Why should she hold herself back just because Cyn's feelings might get hurt? It wasn't like she had taken actual events from Cyn's life and repurposed them for her own agenda. It was fiction, after all.

Willa had spent so long doing what Maryam wanted, what Cyn wanted, what Paige wanted. What about what she wanted?

She knew the answer as soon as she asked herself the question. As soon as she got in her car, she pulled her phone out of her square satchel. "Hi, Jackie? It's Willa. I have an answer for you."

Author's Note: What do you think Willa's answer could possibly be? Do any of you guys have mortifying interview stories you'd like to share? Drop me a comment! And don't forget to vote if you enjoyed it :)

P.S. If you haven't already started reading my other ChickLit novel, A Marriage of Convenience, I really encourage you to try it out! If you like Willa, I think you'll like the protagonist of that story as well.