Spies Never Die

Not Alone

Slightly distressed, Casey pocketed her phone. She couldn't go on it now of all times, but she couldn't just not find out what was going on.

She followed the woman into the room, putting on her best smile despite her jumpy nerves. The man behind the desk was young with dark curly hair combed smoothly. He looked to be about college age, which Casey found a little strange.

"Hello," he said without looking up, "Be with you in a second."

Casey sat patiently in the chair across from his desk and glanced around the room.

It was very average. A desk, a filing cabinet, a standing plant near the window and a silver clock on the wall that told her it was 3:27.

Casey, very anxious at this point but the guy just sat there typing away.

Finally, Casey couldn't take the suspense anymore. With one quick glance to the guy at the desk, she snuck her phone out of her pocket and held it as discreetly as she could in her lap.

She opened her Kickstarter account and right at the top; A New Musical by the Tin Can Brothers. Casey could barely contain her excitement. Yeah, she knew it was happening, but this Kickstarter meant it was official. And it was pretty cool that is was her idea that started it all.

The guy at the desk coughed quietly and Casey realized the typing had stopped. Hurriedly, she turned her phone off and sat on it, hoping she didn't look too guilty.

"Um, hi!" she yelped, immediately forgetting all the prep she'd done.

"Yes, hello. Casey?"

"Yep."

"Casey, why do you want to work here?" The guy folded his arms and glared at her over the desk.

"Um, well...." Casey stuttered, on the verge of emotional panic, "...because I want money!"

Shocked at her own outburst, Casey quickly shut her mouth and bit her tongue. She knew she was done for. No one would hire a wimpy teenage girl who couldn't even keep her mouth shut. How was she going to deal with customers?

Mentally preparing herself for the obvious impending dismissal, Casey was taken aback when the guy behind the desk actually opened his mouth and laughed.

"I like your honesty, Casey" he chuckled, smiling at her, "My name is Will."

"Oh, uh, hi Will," she responded nervously.

"Now, tell me why else you want to work here," he said, still grinning.

"Well," she began nervously, "I've never had a real professional job before, and I like the look and vibe of this place. I guess I thought it would be a good place to start learning some responsibility."

Will nodded and wrote something down on a pad of paper on his desk.

"Now, I don't normally do this, but I like you, so I want to try."

Casey suddenly became very nervous.

"Okay...." she said.

"As you may know, part of customer service is being able to bond with people and keep them happy. You know, deliver good service so they will want to come back. I'd like to try a an exercise to see if you can build up a relationship with a stranger." Will indicated himself. "You don't know me, and I certainly don't know you. Now try to start a conversation so you can get more familiar without being to prying. A tip; try and find some similarities, or even talk about yourself to make the other person more comfortable."

"Okay," Casey started nervously, "I'm Casey."

Will nodded.

"Will."

As she glanced at him across the desk, his piercing grey eyes never left her. She was getting nervous, so she decided to be as honest as she could.

"I really like musicals," she tried.

Surprisingly, Will nodded in approval.

"Why?" he asked.

"Well, all the people are so talented, and the music is always really good." Casey felt like she was failing but she was in too deep to just change the subject. "My favorites are the one by Team Starkid."

"My uncle's an astronaut," said Will.

"Oh," said Casey, somewhat taken aback, "Well, my cousin wants to be one too. He's away at nerd school."

"Nerd school?" asked Will.

"Yeah," Casey backtracked hurriedly, "Like college for really smart people."

"I go to Stanford," said Will.

"Ah, that's nice," said Casey, hopelessly trying to save this conversation that had died a while ago.

There was an awkward silence, and Casey bit the inside of her cheek. This whole thing had been a disaster.

"Well, you're not great, but you're also not horrible," said Will, folding his arms, "With a little practice, I think you'd do fine. Would you take the job if we offered it to you?"

Casey was speechless.

"Um, yeah!" she responded.

Will looked at her.

"Yes, yes I would" she corrected, trying to save what was left of her dignity.

"Okay, well, thank you for coming in. I will let you know if you get the job."

"Thank you," said Casey, standing up.

"Bye Casey," said Will, already typing away on his computer.

As she scuttled out of the room, Casey saw a ray of hope. At least her interview had been memorable. That might help her chances.

Casey made her way out of the coffee stop and walked the couple blocks to the bus stop. As she waited, she couldn't help but feel accomplished. Even though nothing had happened yet, she felt good knowing she'd been able to go in there and talk to a real adult without messing up. Well, without messing up too badly. I mean, he had said he liked her.....

The bus pulled up and Casey got on, half hoping to see the girl from before, but the only people on it were a couple of tired looking women with strollers and a nurse in scrubs, napping against the window.

As she sat down in an empty row, Casey suddenly remembered that she hadn't actually read the Tin Can Bros announcement. She pulled it up and saw;

After much insistence and some good inspiration, fortune has blessed us to make yet another musical. This time, we return to the world of Spies and betrayal as Curt Mega once again must battle time and his own past in Spies Never Die, the sequel to Spies Are Forever.