Across the Years

Chapter 3: A New Job

Lisa's POV

My funds were running low so I most certainly needed a job. While my college was paid for and I had saved enough for my room and board, I had little else to spare. My purchase of the things belonging to Jennie used up a good sized chunk of the cash I had.

I had spotted a note advertising a job for a lab assistant. It was a strange note stating the job had long hours and lousy pay, but possible great rewards. So I called the number, but got an answering machine. I left my name, number, email address and said I was interested in the lab assistant position.

I got an email 2 hours later.

"Come today at 12 noon to my lab for an interview. It's in an old factory on the east end of London. 320 Black Church lane.

Looking at my clock, I realized that I had to leave this instant to get there on time. I didn't even have time to change into something presentable. I was dressed in black rip jeans, a yellow t-shirt and leader jacket.

"Oh well. You didn't give me time to change. What you see is what you get." I mumbled as I grabbed my keys and headed out.

I made it down to the tube station in record time. Fortunately, luck was with me and I managed to arrive at the address with 5 minutes to spare. The building looked very old and appeared to be once a small factory. The area had several old factories that appeared to have been converted into lofts and small businesses. The front appeared to have been remodeled at some point and some storefronts put in. There was a dry cleaners and a Chinese restaurant in the only 2 that appeared to be occupied at the moment.

320 Black Church Lane. was at the end and I noticed immediately the glass was painted over. But over the doorway in faded letters read. "Atlas Records and Tapes."

I began to have a bad feeling about this job and reached into my leather jacket to make sure my trusty pair of scissors was present. Knocking on the door, I got no response, so I tried the knob. The door was open, so I walked in.

The front room was obviously a record store at one point in time. I saw a counter, and empty racks which once held cd's. But besides that, there were boxes of what appeared to be electronic parts. Other boxes held papers and reference books of some technical nature. The whole place looked chaotic and unorganized. In one corner sat a cluttered desk that was covered with papers.

Before I could do anything, a man who looked about 30 burst out of the door in the back. The door itself said 'Keep Out'. His hair was unkempt and dressed kind of like a mad scientist.

Holding something in his hand he rushed up to me with an excited expression. "Tell me, what is this?"

I took a quick look at the object in his hand. "Um...It looks like a socket wrench that's half melted."

He huffed and looked at the thing rather strangely. "I thought so too. At least, it didn't melt completely."

He then pulled out a coconut from his pocket and took a sip while looking me over carefully. "Dressed in Badass clothing, hasty judgmental expression. Do you like science fiction?"

I shook my head. "Only when people die."

"Are you a patient person?"

"No!"

"Let me guess. You love horror movies and all kinds of morbid things."

"Yes."

"Are you a student?"

"Yes"

"What's your major? Please tell me it's not physics, mathematics or history."

This was the strangest interview I've ever had. He didn't seem menacing, but just odd. "I'm majoring in Theatre, with a minor in writing."