Chapter 4 The interview

Thanks to Ronnie I had barely slept, kept thinking of the horror he put me through. In total I think I got about two hours sleep.

It had not even stopped there. Even when I finally managed to fall asleep, I had the misfortune of dreaming of him. I dreamt that he had come into my room and he was touching me again. I woke screaming and I was not able to sleep over that. I was exhausted but I forced myself out of bed because I desperately needed the interview. The bills were about to start rolling in and I did not want to burden my poor mother who was already struggling with my brother's medical bills that kept increasing day by day.

I was two minutes late but since I was not the only interviewee, I was lucky. My name had not yet been called. Three people were needed for the position and there were about eleven people in the waiting room when I got there. This made me even more nervous than I had been. A lot of them seemed to have it together and I felt almost sure that I would not get a job. At some point, I felt like walking away but I remembered my grandmother's words. She said it was better to try and fail than to not try at all.

My grandmother had died two years back. When she was alive, she was my favorite person, my best friend, my everything. When I was not at school, I spent almost all my time with her. I loved her even more than my own mother. Sometimes, the connection between her and I actually made my mother jealous. Grandmother was the best and even after her death, her words always came back to me. In a lot of actions, I'd think of what my grandmother would tell me to do. In this instance, I knew she would tell me to stop being such a lazy fool. She would tell me to reach out for what I wanted and grab it. That was what I knew I had to do. I needed this job.

I was starting school in a week and I needed to be settled by then. I did not want to start studies while looking for a job and having all the stress involved in it. New York was a big city therefore had many opportunities but then again there were many people looking for all those opportunities. I had heard it was amazing to live there if you had enough money. If not, it could turn into hell.

"Lilliana Rivers."

My heart skipped a beat. I looked around and stood up, straightening my skirt then with as much confidence I could gather, walked into the manager's office.

"Good morning, miss Reynolds." I said, having noted her name from their website. Randome was not an average coffee shop but a big name. It had branches in other cities all over the United States.

"Good morning, please have a seat."

"Thank you," I said, sitting on a straight backed chair that was facing her. It was placed a few meters away from her desk. I had worked before, in a coffee shop in my town but I didn't have to interview for it. My aunt was the owner. She was one of the few people who had managed to get some money from my father and invested it. She had benefited from his millions, except my mother who had been so busy bearing children to realize how slimy and trashy the man she loved was. If only she had got some and transferred in her account. But she thought her husband would always be there. She did not know that he was not capable of love and thinking about others. He only cared about himself.

Thinking about him made me so angry and my breathing increased. Miss Reynolds looked concerned. "Are you okay?"

"Yes, I'm fine."

"You're not. Have you gone through something traumatic recently?"

"No," I said, looking directly at her with confidence. How dare she think she could read me?

"Okay. Let's proceed. Tell me about yourself."

"My name is Lilliana Rivers. I was born in South Bend and have lived there all my life. I went to SB high school. I'm a new student of journalism at NYU. I have worked in a coffee shop before and loved it. I believe I have the experience and skills required for this job."

"South Bend?" She smiled. "Interesting. One of our newest partners is from there."

"That's nice to hear," I said. It was probably someone I knew.

"Would you like to know who it is?"

"Sure. I'd love to."

"Ronnie Trump, the son of businessman George Trump."

It was as if all the air had been sucked out of my body. Why was the universe so against me? Ronnie Trump here, Ronnie Trump there, Ronnie Trump everywhere. I started breathing faster, my heart beating. Miss Reynolds just watched me, not saying a word, not offering any help. When my mini-panic attack faded, she spoke.

"I cannot hire you," she said. "You need therapy."

She was smiling. I knew what was going on.

"He told you not hire me, right?" I asked, furious. How did he even find out?

"There are people waiting in line, Rivers."

I wanted to yell, let out my frustration at her but decided it was not worth it. I left the office. My phone rang when I had walked a few meters away from the coffee shop. It was Leleti.

"Hey."

"Did you get the job?"

"No."

"Okay, an envelope arrived for you. It's from Riverdon."

"I can't take any more bad news today," I said.

"How sure are you it's bad news?"