BLACK TIE

The alarm startet ringing at 7:30 AM sharp.

»Not again!« Emily sighted.

She wished for different job for a very long time but she did not found any that would suit her. She was a waiter at Lucy’s coffee place for 2 years now. Lucy, the owner, was kind to her, no doubt, but she hated waiting tables. It just didn’t make her happy. She studied HR management but so far she didn’t fine a suitable job for her in that business. At 23 years old she wanted to try something new now - not just waiting tables.

She slowly went to the bathroom, cleaned herself, put her light brown hair in a messy bun and put a touch of make up. Emily never wore a ton of make up, her skin was perfect with freckles. She never tried to hide them, so she just put a bit of light shimmery eyshadow on and some mascara. She then dressed herself into the waiting uniform - brown skinny jeans and black polo T-shirt with the logo of Lucy’s.

She grabbed her backpack and ran to the streets. The suburbs were not too loud and to too quiet, just the way Emily liked. The coffee place was not far, 5 minutes walking. Walking into Lucy’s the scent of fresh ground coffee hit her.

»Mmmm, is that coffee for me?« she laughed at Joe who was drinking his cup of coffee before shift.

»Oh, no! Em I told you, I am done making it for you!«

They both laughed. Joe was Emily’s coworker and her work bestie. They were in a good mood if together. Joe was funny, chatty and the most honest guy she Emily has sever met. He was gay and that made her very relaxed next to her.

Emily broke up with her boyfriend a little over a year ago. He was putting her down, telling her she was useless and that she needed to loose some weight. Yes, she was never skinny but she was not fat. She loved her body because it was ‘just right’. She dumped that idiot and went on. But after all that, she did not trust men in general.

It was 8 AM now and Lucy’s started to fill up. People running to grab a cup befor work, girls and boys hanging around … Emily felt tired by the time the morning rush hours passed by. It was now 12 o’clock. Joe kept singing a very annoying song and Emily couldn’t help but laugh out loud at him.

»Adorable!« he said. »That smile of yours is worth a million if not more!«

»Oh, stop it, Joe!«

A sound of a bell over the entry door cut their chitt chat. In walked a lady dressed in a suit, her heals clapped along the tiles to the counter.

»Hey guys.« she said with a perky voice.

»Hello, welcome to Lucy’s.« Emily exclaimed like she is supposed to.

»I work at Evans HR company and I wanted to ask if I could hand this poster here? We are looking for new employees.«

The word HR struck like a lightning to Emily’s ears. She pointed at the window next to the entry and and nodded.

»Would you like a cup of the most delicious coffee?« asked Joe.

»Oh, yes, please! I would like a large vanilla latte, please.«

Joe prepared the coffe fort he nice lady while Emily made a plan - she wanted to apply for that job without anyone noticing at work. She scanned the poster from afar quickly cathing an web page adress. She will do this over computer …

Once the lady left the shift quickly came to an end so she rushed home.

Once she came to her apartment, Emily sat behind her laptop and started typing, searching fort he web page of Evans HR.

Scrolling throught search feed she found the right web page and Emily clicked it. The page uploaded and she started reading about the company. It's a family legacy now owned by the grandson of the founder. His name is James Evans. She then found the application form for the apprenticeship. Emily filled it up but she didn't submit it right away.

"Do I want this?" whispered her inner voice.

Sitting at the laptop for 20 minutes she felt her palms sweat. Emily stood up and walked to the bedroom.

"Maybe tomorrow ..."

Once she opened the door and sit on the bed her inner voice screamed: "You want this. This is your dream! Submit it!"

Running to the laptop she noticed she smiled. She pressed the submit button and screamed of joy.

"Now I just need to wait for the answer."

That night Emily slept peacefully, not knowing that her life will change ... a lot.