Ink || h.s [sequel to grapite]

Chapter 6

Chapter 6

"What qualities do you have that you think fulfil the role in which you have applied for?"

I sunk into the chair, stumbling over my thoughts. Nothing came to mind; I didn't know where to begin. For a few seconds I glanced around the room, desperately searching for inspiration. I couldn't think of any mere skill that I possessed which could contribute to waitressing in a restaurant.

It made me reconsider my options. When I'd applied for the position, I thought it would be the perfect place to start. I knew that it would only be temporary until I could find something that I would enjoy doing day in and day out.

"I think that I'm a people-person, I have good communication skills and I'm reliable." I managed to muster a sentence but couldn't continue, simply from the inability to name any positive attributes that I may have had.

"Is that all?" The brunette woman behind the desk inquired, scribbling notes on a clear page of her planner. I nodded meekly and she shut the diary promptly. "Thank you for your time, we'll contact you should we have any further information."

"Thank you." I replied politely, leaving the office. I didn't expect to hear anything back since my interview had gone so horribly wrong. Who'd want to employ a girl who took ten seconds to think of her own name?

I left through the back entrance to the restaurant, keeping my head low as I strode through the alleyway. The walls to either side of me cast the alley in a dark shadow, even though the sun hung overhead in the sky. I kept walking until the space opened up into the streets that I was familiar with.

The faint bleeping from inside of my pocket roused me from my daze. I rummaged through the deep pocket of my coat and pulled out my phone. Sub-consciously pressing answer, I lifted the phone to my ear.

"How did the job interview go?" Mum's voice sounded through the speaker. I groaned and pressed my palm to my forehead.

"I messed it up," I sighed into the phone, continuing to stride down the paved street. My gaze remained at my feet, watching as each brogue clacked against the slabs of stone. I stopped at the traffic lights, only looking up to press the button.

"Honey, I'm sure you didn't." She tried to comfort me, but I didn't buy into it. Whenever I truly knew that I'd messed something up, I was usually right. Kind of like how I'd messed everything up with Harry.

It was down to me that the two of us weren't even amicable anymore. I'd been the driving force behind the reason we weren't even on speaking terms. If only I hadn't been so stupid and left for America without keeping him in the know. I'd left any shred of dignity that I had in the airport terminal.

The silence from the other end of the line left me uninterrupted in my thoughts, only noticing the green man of the traffic lights when the incessant noise sounded. I crossed, looking into the road as I compared myself to a car crash. That was the only metaphor that I could think of to describe my life since that summer.

College had been great, it helped to distract me a little. Only, when I was alone at night, there was nobody to save me from myself and I got lost within the regret and loneliness that consumed me.

I'd been a time bomb waiting to explode.