Page 8 of Rivers of Ink
Callan studied her as she fussed around, making herself comfortable. She was blonde, a little on the plump side, and the type of woman who used fake tan and layers of make-up to disguise their natural beauty. On that basis she could be anywhere between twenty or thirty years old.
“Hey, Susie, I’m Callan. Thanks for seeing us today.”
Susie beamed. “No worries. My boyfriend loves this place, so he’s hoping if I get the job I’ll be able to get him a discount.”
Aidy rolled his eyes. Callan wondered if he had tattooed her boyfriend; he prided himself on remembering his best clients. He didn’t remember inkingSusieonto anyone recently.
“Xander always cut his hair. Such a tragic accident.”
Suddenly Callan couldn’t breathe. It was fine for Aidy or any of The Unbound Soul staff or his other friends to talk about his brother but hearing Xander’s name from a stranger’s lips felt wrong. He tried to signal to Aidy that he needed to leave the room. Aidy misinterpreted the gestures and instead started to ask Susie the same list of questions they had asked Alicia. Callan sat in silence as she answered, letting Aidy take charge of the interview. Everything she said grated on him: the sound of her voice, the silly giggle that ended the majority of her sentences, the well-practiced responses sounding fake. The next half an hour felt like days as Callan tried to listen diligently to Susie’s answers. It was clear that Susie had a wealth of reception experience, even if Callan was worried that she might be a bit much for the clientele that liked to frequent The Unbound Soul. And if that was the case, they might head over to Cutting Ink. He wasn’t sure she was the girl for the job. Although was Alicia?
“Do you have any questions for us, Susie?” asked Aidy. Callan almost felt like cheering. He was ready for this to be over.
The blonde shook her head, her oversized earrings jangling as she did so. “Nope, I think you’ve told me everything I need to know. This will be such a great place to work! Tommy will be so excited.” Her smile almost overtook her whole face. “Oh, when will I hear back?”
“Soon, very soon, Susie,” Callan cut in before Aidy could speak. “It’ll definitely be within the next two days.” He stood up and held his hand out. Unlike the handshake with Alicia, he felt nothing.
“I’ll see you out.”
As Aidy took Susie back downstairs, Callan went to the fridge and got out a two of the bottles of Friday afternoon beers, flipping the lids off with ease. He went back into the office and stared out of the window, watching the commuters heading in and out of the station. Sometimes he loved the location of the shop. Staring at the hustle and bustle of the people at Oakridge Station made him appreciate his slower pace of life.
“You’re starting early, mate. Not a bad shout though.” Aidy grabbed one of the bottles. “Well, they were interesting.”
And I could make it even more interesting, thought Callan. “What did you think?” he asked instead.
“They both seem to have good experience, although I think Alicia is perhaps a bit too corporate for us. Susie seemed quite bubbly though.”
Corporate wasn’t the word that sprang to Callan’s mind as he thought about Alicia’s lips wrapped around his cock. He knew he was going to have to come clean to Aidy at some point, not yet though. If Alicia didn’t get the job or turned them down, he did think he would still try to see her again. At least now he had a number for her. The prospect of getting to know her better was an attractive one.
“What’s more important to us though, Aidy? A nice, chatty receptionist who’s going to make the customers we have feel welcome, or a personable one with the nous to bring in more business? I think Ali would be great.”
“Who’s Ali?” Aidy frowned. “Wait, didn’t you call Alicia that when she was leaving? Do you know her?”
The pen on the desk was much more appealing to fiddle with than to actually tell Aidy the truth. “Nope, never seen her before today.” He avoided looking directly at Aidy. “Thought she had a lot of great ideas, you know, good experience in that whole marketing sector.”
“I liked Susie’s enthusiasm though.”
Involuntarily, Callan wrinkled his nose. He knew that Susie would irritate the hell out of him within about five minutes of her starting work there. It was time for him to pull rank. “I think we should offer Alicia.”
“You really think she’s the best person for the job?”
“Hands down.”
There was a minute’s silence as Aidy considered what Callan had said. “You’re sure? Wouldn’t want to give them both a proper trial first?”
“Why wait? We need someone now. What’s the worst that could happen?” He had to count on the fact that Aidy agreed with him.
After what felt like an eternity, Aidy let out a hard breath.
“Okay, you win,” said Aidy. “I’ll call them both this afternoon. Let’s hope that Alicia accepts.”
Callan felt the corner of his mouth curve up into a smile. He hoped so too.
* * *
Fosse Arcade was starting to get busy with lunchtime trade as Alicia left The Unbound Soul. While she knew it wasn’t a done deal that she would get the job, seeing Callan again had done a great job of raising her spirits. She decided to treat herself to something, maybe a new novel and a coffee at the place she’d spotted on the way in.
Books ’n’ Beans greeted her with the aroma of freshly baked cakes and the pages of a new book. Seriously, if someone could bottle those scents they would make a fortune. Initially, she wandered over to the business section and began browsing the marketing books. Realising that wasn’t exactly the treat she’d had in mind, she headed for the new titles table instead. After a few moments of looking, she found one that was perfect and headed towards the counter where a friendly redhead beamed at her.
