Who Would Want to Work Here

Jess struggled home with her shopping. Three flights of stairs she had to climb. Why couldn’t the council come and fix that lift? They were soon on to her if she missed a payment with the rent. It didn’t make sense.

Jess got finally got inside. She was getting fed up with being stuck in a place she hated, plus there was no sign of a job. Her prospects were nonexistent.

After making her coffee and then taking a seat to watch her favourite programme on TV, her mobile started to chirp away.

‘Hi, Jess,’ said her friend, Bethany. ‘I’ve got something to tell you.’

‘What?’ replied Jess, sounding intrigued.

‘I know where there’s a job going.’

‘Where?’

‘Down by the docks. You know the caff down there?’

‘I should do. It’s a dump. All the trouble makers of the day go in there.’

‘Well, that’s where the job is.’

After ringing off, Jess switched the TV off and tuned into some music on her phone, but all she could think about was that job down at the docks. Maybe it was a job. But there? No wonder there was a vacancy on offer. Who in their right mind would want to work there? But the next morning when Jess got out of bed she got her phone and phoned the cafe.

‘Can I help you?’ said a voice, sounding a bit too posh for a dump of a cafe.’

‘Yes,’ said Jess, feeling a bit more hopeful of hearing a posh accent. ‘I believe you have a vacancy?’

‘We do. Are you interested in applying for it?’

Interested in applying for it? She must have been out of her mind. She was beginning to wonder what had happened to the previous person who had worked there. But she ended up saying yes, and then was told that she had an interview for later that afternoon.

She got the job, with no trouble, and the place didn’t look half as bad as she thought, but she was still not happy about it being in the rough part of town, but she did need a job, so all she could say was yes.

That night, Jess and Bethany went into town to celebrate. They went to this bar they liked. It was a bit on the expensive side, but what did they care?

‘Great here, isn’t it, Britney?’ Said Jess while taking a sip of her drink.

‘Yeah, I love coming here, even if the drinks are expensive, but it’s worth it just for the atmosphere.’

But while they were having their drinks and enjoying the surroundings, Jess realised that they were soon to get some company. If it was an unwanted company, they were soon to find out.

‘Oh, no, here comes trouble,’ she said to Bethany just as two young men edged towards them.

‘These seats taken, love?’ one of them asked Jess.

‘Yeah, they belong to our boyfriends.’

‘Stange boyfriends,’ he replied. I can only see two drinks on the table. Teetotal are they?’

Jess just smiled and told the pair that they could sit in the seats.

They both tried hard to get into conversation with the two girls, but it wasn’t happening. Every time one of them asked one of the girls a question, they were just getting a silly reply in return.

When it came time to leave, the two girls grabbed their coats and were just about ready to leave.

‘We’ll walk you home,’ one of the young men said to Jess.

‘It’s OK,' she replied. ‘My dad is coming to fetch me,’ she lied.

Once outside, they stood by the main door, pretending they were waiting for Jess’ dad, hoping the two young men would just carry on their way and leave them alone, but they wouldn’t. They kept talking to the girls. They wouldn’t budge.

‘Sure your dad is coming?’ one of them asked, but neither girl gave a reply.

After twenty minutes had gone, they were still there, so Jess started to walk away and head towards a taxi rank, and Bethany followed, and so did the young men. Then just before getting to the taxi rank, one of them became abusive. The girls were really worried until something happened.

‘Hey, you two, why can’t you leave the girls alone?’ a stranger asked who could see what was happening.

What’s your problem, mate?’ one of them replied. ‘Looking for a fight are you?’

‘As a matter of a fact, I am,’ answered the stranger.

That was enough for them. They weren’t going to get into a fight with him, not when they realised how big he was. They couldn’t get away quick enough.

The stranger then went up to the two girls and said:

‘Come on, I’ll walk you to the taxi rank. You won’t be getting any trouble from those two again.’

The girls kept thanking him, even when they were getting inside the taxi.

When Jess got home, all she wanted to do was get in bed. She had a new job to start the next day.

Once in bed, Jess couldn’t sleep for thinking about the handsome stranger who had saved her and Bethany from the two young men. It was so scary until he had come along.

The next day, Jess got out of bed. She couldn’t care less if the cafe was in a rough area. The place was really nice inside. If it had been a dump, which was what she was expecting when she had gone for the interview, things would have been different.

After having her breakfast, she made her way for the bus, still feeling full of excitement. She had been out of work for quite a while and was looking forward to it.

When she got off the bus, she took a short walk to the cafe. Once Inside, she saw this girl.

‘Hi,’ she said to her. ‘I’m starting work here today.’

‘Hang on a second. The new manager is expecting you. I’ll go and fetch him.’

Jess waited for what seemed like ages before the girl came back.

‘He’ll see you in his office now. Come on, I’ll show you the way.’

Jess and the girl walked in through the office door. Then the girl left, leaving Jess feeling like she wanted to faint when she saw who the manager was.

‘Get home all right, last night, did you?’ he asked her.

‘Fine,’ she answered, realising she had made the right decision in taking the job after all.