Rain met his gaze. ‘Yes, that’s me.’
‘You’re late. Not a good start. I hope you won’t be as unreliable as the person you could be replacing. She just up and left without giving any notice,’ he said as he leaned back in his chair.
‘I’m sorry, I’d never do that. I, um, got held up in traffic.’ Way to go, Rain, great first impression.
With a dismissive wave of his hand, Mr Larkins said curtly, ‘Let’s just get on with it. Why do you think you’re suitable for this position?’
Rain launched into her practised response, trying to sound confident and professional. But her mind was still half on Lauren, and she found herself stumbling over her words.
Mr Larkins scribbled notes on a pad, his face unreadable. ‘I see. And how would you deal with difficult guests?’
Rain clasped her hands in her lap and started to describe a situation from her last job. But just as she was getting into the story, her phone started ringing in her pocket, completely throwing her off.
‘Crap,’ she muttered under her breath, fishing out her phone. It was, of course, her mum. She quickly silenced it. Mr Larkins gave her a disapproving look, and Rain offered a sheepish grin.
‘Sorry about that,’ Rain said. ‘Now, where was I? Dealing with difficult customers . . . as I was saying—’
Her phone now buzzed with an incoming text. Rain wanted to disappear into the ground. Fuck!
She grabbed her phone again and turned it off completely, but the damage was done. She’d totally lost her train of thought, and the rest of the interview went downhill from there. Rain knew she’d blown it. Leaving her phone on had been such a rookie mistake, and there was no coming back from it. Mr Larkins had clearly already made up his mind.
Mr Larkins stood up, signalling the end of the interview. Rain quickly got to her feet too.
‘Thank you for your time, Ms Thomas. You will be notified of my decision in due course.’
‘Oh right, well, um, thanks. Well, it was nice meeting you, Mr Larkins.’
Not!
She left the room and headed back to the lobby, her thoughts running amok as she replayed every painful moment of the interview. She analysed every word she had and hadn’t said, obsessing over each tiny detail. No surprise, the whole thing had lasted maybe ten minutes, tops.
I’ve possibly established a new record for the shortest interview in history.
As she passed the reception desk on her way out, Denise caught her eye and smiled.
‘Hope you get good news!’
‘Thanks,’ Rain replied, forcing a smile in return.
Outside, Rain spotted a bar just down the street. Suddenly, a drink sounded like the perfect thing to help her regroup and figure out her next move.
She ordered a gin and tonic and took a seat by the window, watching the throngs of people rushing by. When her phone buzzed, Rain assumed it was her mum again. But when she checked the message, her breath caught for a moment.
Hey, Rain, it’s Lauren. Want to catch up this afternoon?
Wow, this is unexpected.
Rain couldn’t help but smile as she quickly typed back.
Just tell me when and where, and I’m there.
When her phone pinged with Lauren’s reply, Rain’s smile faltered.
1 p.m. at The Mayfair Heritage Hotel?
A groan escaped Rain’s lips. Of all the places in London, Lauren wanted to meet at the very hotel she’d just bombed her interview at. And at a five-star place like that, the drinks were probably crazy expensive.
I’ll have to sell a kidney just to afford one round.
She stared at the message, torn. Did she really want to go back there so soon after that train wreck?
Fuck it. She typed out her response and sent it before she could change her mind.
Great. See you then!
Now that she’d made up her mind about seeing Lauren, Rain knew there was one more thing she had to do. Call her mum back. The phone rang a few times before her mother picked up, sounding almost frantic.
‘How did the interview go?’
Rain hesitated. She couldn’t bring herself to tell her that she’d messed it up because of her phone call. But she also didn’t want to give her false hope. There was only one thing to do – tell the truth.
‘It didn’t go well. I don’t think I’m gonna get the job.’
Sharon let out a soft, disappointed sigh. ‘Oh, Rain . . . What happened?’
Rain recounted the interview, carefully leaving out the part about her mum’s call interrupting. When she finished, there was a heavy silence before Sharon started to cry.
‘What are we going to do now?’ she asked, her voice breaking.
