Simply Sonny: An SVU love story

Chapter 54: Jobs

"That went better then I expected," I say to Sonny after we shut the door and his mom has left. She stayed for another 30 minutes, wanting all the details on wedding planning. Sonny and I just smiled most of the time, knowing the planning is still to come.

Just then, his phone rings and he moves to his jacket to check it. He holds it up for me to see and chuckles, "Gina. My mom already called my sisters." He shakes his head, silencing the phone and putting it back in the jacket.

"What if Olivia calls?" I ask as he comes back over to me.

He shrugs, pulling me into his arms, "I'm suspended, remember?"

I duck my head into his shoulder and mumble, "mmhmm, sorry bout that." He pulls me away to give me a stern look and I know exactly what he wants to say. I correct my earlier apology, "fine, I'm sorry for being sorry."

He shakes his head just a little but accepts it, allowing me to tuck my head back into his shoulder, "so, what should we do for the rest of the evening, my love?" He questions, starting to rock and sway with me as we hug.

The next few days Sonny spoils me with trips to places in New York I've never been. He takes me to the zoo, Madison square garden and the Statue of Liberty. On Thursday he gets a call from Olivia letting him know what time his interview with IAB is, "so, they're going to ask you questions about that night?" I ask him as we walk hand in hand to his apartment.

He answers, "yes, and maybe somethings about you and me." I squeeze his hand at his words and he catches on to it instantly, "I won't overshare anything with them, but if they want to know when we started dating and everything I don't want to lie either."

"No, I totally understand. That's fine. Just sucks you have to go through this." I return back to him.

He looks over to me and smiles, "yes but once I start working again we can start planning our wedding. I was thinking maybe New Year's Eve?" His eyes sparkle with anticipation and wonder.

"New Years? That's only like 7 months away!" I try to quickly count out in my head.

His smile stays plastered onto his face, "I know but I just can't wait very much longer to make you my wife. And who doesn't love a good wedding on New Years?" He rhetorically asks me.

"Hmmm," I say loudly, letting him know it's not officially okayed yet, "I'll think about it!"

"Awesome!" He returns with a wide grin.

While Sonny heads off to IAB I decide it's time I get looking for a job. I'm quickly losing my savings as I pay for an apartment I'm rarely at. And the idea of planning a wedding on one income has got me anxious. I circle a few things in the local paper, look online for postings and schedule 3 interviews. After the first one went horrible, I was feeling down heading into the second interview. I walk into the building, head up to the third floor and wait to be called in. A woman, no older than I am comes out of a back room and introduces herself, "Hi, you must be Addison. I'm Lori, it's nice to meet you." She puts her hand out and I shake it, "come on back and we'll start the interview." I follow her to another room, and at across from her at a desk, "why don't you start off by telling me why you'd like to work for us?" She smiles, holding a pen to a piece of paper.

I exhale slowly then start to go over my reasons "Well, I was previously a teacher, 2 years in the city actually and I taught 2nd grade most recently. I've always enjoyed working with kids and I think I'd be really good tutoring at-risk kids."

"Do you have experience with kids who are at risk?" She follows up.

I nod my head, "I've had quite a few kids in my classes at risk, yes."

She writes it down then follows up with, "why do you think you'd be good at this job?"

I push my lips together, wondering how to word what it is I want to say. I slowly start to respond, "well, I've recently gone through a pretty devastating event and am I continuing to come out of it pretty strongly. I know adults, and kids, won't be able to forget what happened but we can work on ourselves and be open about things to continue to live our best lives."

She smirks and nods at me, not writing anything I said down. She puts her pen down and asks, "so, does this event you're talking about have to do with why you left teaching?"

I'm a little taken aback at her question, but answer it anyway, "well, the event was separate. But I felt I could do something more than just teach afterward. I really want to help people who've gone through something hard."

She nods while I talk, picking her pen back up to write something down. She then looks back to me and asks, "do you have any questions for me?"

I bite the inside of my lip but manage to come up with a question rather quickly, "how many kids does one usually work with?"

She answers without missing a beat, "it depends, we have some as little as 2 and some as large as 8. We don't usually go higher than that though. We really try to make sure each kid gets enough time with their mentor"

"Ok. Great." I respond. She waits for me to ask more and I just say back, "that's all my questions for now."

"Great. Well, I'll need to check your references but I will be able to give you a call back by tomorrow either way." She tells me, then moving her chair back to stand up, "it was great meeting you Addison." She puts her hand back out.

"It was great to meet you too. Thank you so much." I smile, shake her hand and leave the room. Once I get outside and really exhale for the first time since walking in. I go to one more interview then head back to Sonny's. I'm there before he is and start to make dinner for us with whatever he has in the kitchen. My cell rings and I pick it up with a, "hello?"

"Hi, Addison Collins please?" I'm asked.

"This is her," I assure the person on the other line.

"Good evening, this is Lori. I wanted to contact you in regards to the position you interviewed for today." She says over the phone.

I put the bowl of pasta down that I'm mixing and give her my full attention, "yes, yes. Please."

"After some discussion with my colleague we have decided that we can not offer you the position you've applied for." The hit is a blow to my gut and I'm overwhelmingly sad. Before I could say anything back though, she continues, "but I was very moved with your interview and would like to offer you a different position."

"A different position?" I ask back, wondering what she means.

"Well, I'd like to offer you a sort of assistant position. One to help you learn more about the work we do." She explains a bit further.

The door opens to the apartment and my mind runs with something to say. I manage to sputter out, "oh, wow. Okay. That's great. Is there uhh, can I think about it, get back to you?" I ask.

Sonny walks over to me with inquisitive eyes and kisses me on the forehead. Lori answers, "of course, I can email you all of the details with what times would look like and pay. Is that alright?"

"Yes, of course. Thank you!" I say back, smiling at Sonny.

"I look forward to hearing from you, have a good night." She says.

"Thanks, you too!" I return and hang up.