her hand. “I think I just want to concentrate on someone else’s love life other than mine. If you haven’t noticed––it pretty much blows.”
We discussed Lila and Joel for a while longer–– getting nowhere on the matter––before Hannah bailed to head back to her room and get some shut eye. Lila downed another glass of wine, putting her at four for the night, and I had a midnight (well, ten o’clock) snack of a bowl of cereal, before we both headed to bed ourselves. My to-do list for the next day read: thirty minutes of cardio, schedule eye doc appt, send off résumé.
Chapter 4
“Could I speak with Alex Abrams?” an unfamiliar female voice asked over the phone, which had started to ring at 8:30 on Tuesday evening. Lila, Carmen, Emma, Hannah and I were all squeezed into my apartment, having a scary movie marathon to prep us for Halloween that was just around the corner. I took my cell phone and slinked into my bedroom so I wouldn’t disturb my friends as I tried to figure out who the caller was.
“This is she,” I answered, wondering who would be calling me so late at night.
“Hi, Alex. This is Dani Dohlman, the owner of Blissful Salon and Spa. I received your résumé yesterday and wanted to ask if you could come in for an interview sometime this week?”
Oh my God, oh my God! I was really getting an interview? I found my voice. “That’s great! Thank you! Any day!” Calm yourself. Stop speaking in exclamation points. I cleared my throat to give myself a second. “I’m in class until about one each day, but anytime after that would work great.”
“Let me pull up my calendar here, just a minute.” Pause. Longer pause. Was she still there? I heard a kid shrieking in the background. “Brianna, put Cami down! Brianna, you better listen to Mommy!” Dani’s sweet voice turned strict, and I could hear a little girl yelling but couldn’t make out her words. “Sorry about that, Alex. My girls are running wild tonight. They should be asleep by now.”
“Oh, that’s no problem.” What else could I say?
“How about we meet on Thursday? Say 1:30? If you want, we could do a late lunch at AJ’s Bar and Grill?”
“Sounds good to me. Thanks so much for calling, Dani.”
“You’re welcome, sweetie. Thanks for applying. We’re in desperate need for a manager, after the last girl quit pretty abruptly, and my husband has a lot of great contacts that came from Kaufman. I had a good feeling as soon as I opened your email.”
I was thrilled, and silently thanked my college for its good reputation. “I’ll be looking forward to meeting with you. Thanks again. And good luck with your girls!” I felt the need to add in a little personal touch.
Dani laughed. “Thanks. I’ll need it. Their father isn’t home yet, and I made the mistake of telling them Daddy would tuck them in. I didn’t think he would be this late.”
I hesitated, not sure what my response should be. I’m sorry? That’s too bad? I stalled for a moment too soon, because Dani spoke again. “No worries, though. He’ll either be home soon or they’ll just tucker out before then. I have to rush now, looks like Brianna is trying to shove something up her sister’s nose. See you Thursday at 1:30!”
And then she was gone. I stared down at my phone for a moment, a little bewildered. Dani Dohlman of Blissful Salon and Spa seemed a bit all over the place. But her voice was friendly and she was offering me a job interview.
“I did it, guys! I got the interview!” I rushed back out into the living room, no longer caring about interrupting our movie. I stood in the middle of the room and did a little shimmy dance.
“Congrats, Alex!”
“ Way to go!”
“ When is it?”
“ Let’s drink!” My friends all started congratulating me at once, with Carmen suggesting a celebratory drink.
“Thank you, thank you. I’m meeting her at AJ’s on Thursday after class. It was the owner, Dani, that called me. She said her husband knows some people at Kaufman, so they had to give me a chance.”
“This college is good for something! I knew there had to be a reason we’re all still here,” Emma said, giving me a high five. “Way to go, girl. I hope you get the job.”
“Thanks. Now I’m really nervous. What do I wear? What do I say? I have no experience managing