My Infinite Prison

Chapter 4

The image is a representation of what Jade is wearing to her interview in this chapter.

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"Beep, beep, beep, beep, beep," my alarm clock rang throughout the apartment. I bolted upright and slammed my fist onto the snooze button. Today was the day! I had my interview and then the Photography club met at 2. I was excited to finally begin the life I have always wanted. 

"Cierra, I'm leaving for my interview, don't expect me to come home until around 8. Love Ya hon," I shouted to her across the apartment.

She grumbled a response along the lines of, "okay now leave and be quiet." I chuckled at her laziness as I locked up our apartment and promised myself that I would motivate her later to get a job too.

I skipped down the stairs to whistle for a taxi while waving my other hand wildly around my head. One of the yellow vehicles pulled to the curb to offer me a ride, I took it willingly and told him the address of the Café. 

"Hi, I'm Billy," he offered his name and I looked at him with a hint of revulsion in my eyes. 

"Good for you," I muttered but it was still loud enough for him to hear me. The guy was trying to be kind but in every city I've been in, most people, especially men, aren't going to be nice without expecting a favor in return. 

When he pulled up to my stop, I grabbed a twenty from my front pocket, "thanks for the lift, keep the change." He gleamed at me overlooking my previous indecency and nodded his head towards me in a goodbye.

I turned to look towards the small coffee shop on the corner of the street across from me. The Rose Garden. I liked the name of it, but it wasn't in the best part of town. I examined the area around me and spotted a small boutique two shops down from the café. I quickly ran over to the Dare to Change boutique and scheduled an appointment for 7:30 am. I figured I would visit the salon to get my hair dyed and trimmed in my wide time frame between the interview and first club meeting. After, I jogged up to The Rose Garden and searched for the manager I spoke with over the phone. 

When I walked in the front doors, the worker on duty, looked up from the order she had begun to mix and smiled a little. She looked me up and down in a concerned way. With a drop of fear, she called out to me, "I'll be with you in a minute."

"Actually, I'm looking for the manager. I'm supposed to have an interview with her for the job opening at 6 this morning," I called back to her.

She exhaled in a seemingly relieved way, probably glad that I actually showed up. "Oh my god, thank you for coming in! Most people don't actually show up; they are rude in that way."

I smiled at her comment, "well when you get to know me," I glanced at her name badge, "Francesca, you'll learn that I do well to keep the promises I make." 

She seemed to beam brighter than the sun at my last remark. "Good, I believe that we should be able to trust our employees and know a little bit about them before they become a part of our small 'family' here," she replied putting air quotes around the word family.

"Hmm," I said debating on telling her the truth about my mom or using the cover story that I told most people. I decided to tell her the half-truth. "Where to start, well, my mom "committed suicide" but I think she was killed in the crosshairs of two gangs clashing, my sister was murdered by only God knows who, my step-father is a dick but also murdered by the gangs, and my biological father left me and my mom for a hot blonde hoe. Just the typical American Dream lifestyle." As I laid out the last 4 years of my life, Francesca's jaw slowly began to drop with every word I spoke about my past.