Other Places 1: Shortcuts (2 page)

Once inside he noticed that it looked a little plain. There were the normal fake plants in huge ceramic planters and benches to sit on, all resting on very standard red ceramic brick tile. It was clean, but that was about all he could say for it.

Most of the store fronts were closed too, at least at this end of the mall, which didn't seem to bode well for his chances of getting work. There were some shoppers in the place, walking around, going into one place or another it seemed, so while not busy, it wasn't dead either. Slow for this time of year, but it would probably pick up, since it was the beginning of December. There were no holiday displays up or anything yet, which was odd. Most places on T.V. had been advertising since late October. Maybe they were just being traditional and waiting for the actual season to come around?

This seemed to be the naturally partitioned far side of the store. Everyplace had one, and in this case the two stores on this end, facing each other, were it. Like the fat kid in school that was left almost last every time they chose sides for a game. Zack hadn't been in regular school past the time he'd been kidnapped, but he was always one of the first picked back before that. He'd actually had something close to charisma at one point. When he was nine or so.

It wasn't the best rationale for a job search, but he could see a cute woman working in a brightly lit place called Yoghurt World. It was decked out in cheery oranges and yellows and the girl who was cleaning the counter smiled at him, when she noticed him looking at her. It was either walk in for a job application or admit to himself that he was totally checking her out. Not that he had a problem with that, but if he was going to admit that, he needed to go and talk to her and try to pick her up. Without money
that
wasn't happening, so he went with option one.

"Why can't it be both?" M.H. said, the tone just a little bit too playful for a real job search. Before he could do more than think about it, the mental creation grunted. "Sorry, not trying to destroy the flow. Go get 'em tiger. Women can't resist an assertive man. Well, I mean, they
can
, if they attack the eyes, throat and groin rapidly and with sufficient force, but you know what I mean."

Zack didn't, of course, except that it seemed like his subconscious mind was saying that this woman would kick his ass if he wasn't polite enough. Since that wouldn't be hard to do, as weak as he was right now, he decided to go for being as professional as he could manage.

She didn't have a name tag, so he didn't know what her position at the place was. Her dress was very old fashioned and she had a cute white apron that was very clean, over it. When he came in she scurried behind the counter and smiled at him, a closed lip thing, so the fangs wouldn't show as much. Most people wouldn't have noticed it, but there was a bulge where they protruded just a bit, held under the upper lip. To each their own though, Zack wasn't one to judge based on things like that, was he? No...
he
talked to the man in the mirror and got responses, so who was he to judge anyone?

"Hello, is the manager around? I'm looking for work and wondering if I could get a job application. They say it's always best to go to the person that does the hiring, if possible." He was talking too much, but it sounded smooth so far. He hoped so at least. The woman seemed happy enough to see him, her eyes going just a little red inside the natural brown.

She looked at him seriously and then retrieved something from under the counter. A single sheet of paper.

"I'm Lenore, the manager here. We might be able to use someone part time on the morning shift actually. It's a very slow time of day for us, though we like to keep very high quality standards. Would you like to try something?" She didn't wait to see how he'd reply, beginning to work instantly, and his mouth fairly watered at the idea of a free sample. He looked at the paper which was nearly identical to a hundred like it he'd filled out before and probably came from a book of the things. Generic and plain.

The large frosty concoction the woman put in front of him wasn't however. It looked marvelous. Like the kind of thing that restaurants had on the front of their menus to fool people into buying an anemic and weak version of the same thing. It was nearly a foot high, with a tower coming out of a drinking cup, made of frozen yoghurt. There were chopped nuts on it and the scent of caramel in the air, his stomach growled, but he shook his head, a little sadly. If he had money for things like that, he would have spent it on more Ramen, or possibly deodorant.

"Sorry, I'm a little light on funds right now. Hence the looking for work. I'm good though. Show up on time, follow instructions and hardly ever do strange things that no one else can understand.
Honest
." He didn't wince, but knew that he'd said too much. For some reason the Vampire girl in front of him just smiled and handed the treat over anyway.

"Part of the job interview. I can't eat them. Bad for the waistline. You look trim enough however, to safely test some things out." She was being very polite about pushing the food on him, so he took it and tried not to use the plastic spoon as a shovel, and went slowly, in case she was serious about it being part of the job process. He really needed the work. The food too. He'd show up just for one of these each day.

Lenore gestured for him to sit, pulling out a pad and pen, the big yellow legal kind, which came from under the counter too, then moved into the small booth across from him. It had orange seats in a hard and shining plastic, which meant his but slid easily into place.

"So, may I enquire as to your name please sir?" She sounded cute, her voice holding just the slightest hint of an Irish accent. At least if the people on television had it right. He blinked and nodded, waiting to finish his bite, feeling a bit awkward, if this was a real interview.

"Um, Zack Hartley. Twenty-two years old, horrible job history and only mediocre luck with women. They tend to like my honesty at first, but then when I tell them
everything
they don't so much. I'm a good worker though, that isn't a lie. I can't lie at all. I just tend to mess things up in other ways. If you hire me I'll probably scare all my coworkers and part of the customers away." He did that. It wasn't the best way to get a job, being honest like this, but he couldn't help it. Not really. When he spoke, that's what came out, the truth. Compulsively.

He started to eat a little more quickly in case she kicked him out for it.

"Oh? Well honesty might be refreshing. You don't get a lot of it in the world today. Do you see any particular problems working here with us? A lot of our people are a little different. Is that an issue for you? It would be just you and I on days, and as I said, part time, perhaps two days a week?"

His face fell a little. Not that he didn't want the work, but if it paid minimum wage he needed at least full time. She started watching him very closely then, as if expecting him to have a problem with the conditions.

"I... I've been without a job for months. The economy isn't great, so I'll take anything, but I need more. I can't live on that. I don't suppose there are more hours available or anything?" She hadn't said so, but she had mentioned night work. He could sleep during the day if he had to.

She shook her head, then tilted it prettily, a delicate movement that drew his attention to the dark little shop across the way. The sign said Candles and More.

"Not here, but an enterprising man might be able to make his stake working two places. Go tell Lisa that if she wants you fulltime there she can get with me so that we can pick when you work here. That might work better anyway. I don't need that much time off and should really be here most days. But having someone to open occasionally would be a Godsend."

Zack looked at her and smiled, then ate more of the dish in front of him, which was nearly gone. He felt stuffed, but it was
so
good.

"Are they open? It looks... Honestly, it looks abandoned, to tell the truth." He tried to scan the interior for movement, or even lights, nothing showed, but some plain tan cardboard boxes in the window, one half open.

The Vampire nodded, an efficient movement that looked almost a little disapproving.

"Far be it for me to tell anyone how they should run their properties, but Lisa, while a dear, isn't up to handling the whole thing by herself. Her boss had to take a leave of absence, his wife is dying of cancer, which is a very sad thing. Then shortly after that, the secretary they had doing their books over there left without giving a reason. I suspect peculation, but that has yet to be proven. Since then the place has gone steadily downhill. Not to speak out of turn, but she's taken to drugs to try and meet her obligations and it just isn't working. No one wants the job however. So if you go and ask it might just work. Remember, you have a position here as well, so hold yourself with pride and tell her about that."

He resisted the urge to scrape the bottom of the cup and used a napkin, noticing some nuts had fallen on the table. He cleaned them up and then dumped them in the garbage can, which was just his habit and got a very appreciative look from the red headed woman. It wasn't a true red, more of a very red blonde. It seemed real to him, though he didn't want to ask, if he could help it.

"I'll give it a try. We don't really have a phone, I mean, my roommate Troy has a cell phone, but that isn't mine." Zack was about to explain it all but she just shrugged as if it wasn't expected at all. Everyone else always made a big deal of that, as if they didn't believe him for some reason. It probably meant she was older than she looked. From a time when not having that kind of thing wasn't an issue.

That would explain the dress, but maybe not. Really it was none of his business, unless she told him.

Not trying to seem ungrateful, since he wasn't at all, he waved to her and then walked directly over to the little hole in the wall shop. The door was glass, inside a wooden frame, which was painted red. The portion under the display window on either side was green and looked poorly done, as if whoever had performed the work hadn't really been interested in doing it at the time. That could have been due to the warping though, since the node in the back was huge. The handle was real brass at least. He expected a bell to chime when he opened the door, but it just made creaking noises. It would work, but that was going to get old, if he got a job here.

The store was a mess. Not just a little dusty and filled with cobwebs, but so disorganized it actually looked like the place was in the process of being packed up. There were boxes of candles and, one had to presume,
more
, all over the floor. Sometimes stacked on top of one another. There seemed to be lights in the place, they just hadn't been turned on. It was already noon, and the sign he'd passed had said "Open", he was almost certain.

"Hello?" He pitched his voice to be decently loud, and friendly at the same time. Just like the third string characters in teen horror movies did, right before they were attacked by machete wielding maniacs. "
Hello
?" No one answered. Looking around in the dim light, he got part of it. Why the lights weren't on. Someone had been placing wards all over the place. It was strong work too, so it glowed a bit to his eyes. Most people wouldn't be able to see it, including Mages, especially if strong lights were on. That was a good thing in general, because most of the time energies like that were just random, not spells or whatever they called them at all.

Zack could see it, and recognized the general pattern, but not specifically who or what it was supposed to be keeping out. Not him, or he wouldn't be there. He probably wouldn't have seen the place at all. It might explain the lack of customers if it was hidden from regular people. Who would try and run a store like that though? Maybe it was about stopping people from shoplifting?

"Um, Lisa? I was told to come and get a job from you." It was funny, and the woman that walked out of the back seemed shocked more than anything else, but smiled when she saw him.

"Ah! Thought I heard someone. Now what's this about a job? Who sent you?"

Zack glanced at her, noticing a couple of things right off the bat. She was definitely on drugs, something like speed, since her hands and legs moved constantly, almost as if she was a baby bird practicing for her first big flight. She was also not
too
far gone yet. At least she still bothered to put on make-up and was wearing nice clothing. She looked to be in her early thirties, but that could mean anything. Mages didn't age as fast as other people, depending on what they specialized in. Healers could live for hundreds of years, looking no older than Lisa did right that moment.
They
didn't do a lot of recreational drugs however. There was a kind of shaman that did those sorts of things, but they aged pretty fast. At least that was what he'd been taught while being home schooled. His grandparents were both educated, but they had some strange ideas about what the curriculum should hold for someone like him.