| ❅ | Finding Home | ❅ | A Novel | ❅ | Complete | ❅ |

❅ Chapter Twenty-Seven ❅

Risa woke up the next morning, she knew she had to start looking for a job if she was going to stay here in Paris. She also needed to get her apartment and she couldn't do that without any money. She didn't want to rely on Stella or Rolando to keep buying things for her, she wanted to earn them herself. There was just something different about earning money for yourself. She wanted to experience that.

As she made her way around Paris, asking if anyone needed hiring, so far, every place she had gone said they weren't hiring anyone. It was discouraging, to say the least. She had gotten her hopes up way too high only to have them crash down around her. Perhaps she might have been a little too melodramatic. She did know with no family or prior experience, it was hard to find a job. Plus, living in a hotel didn't help.

She didn't make any progress as the day went on and it was getting lunchtime, she was beginning to get hungry. Her stomach grumbled and she sighed, looking around her eyes laid on the Café Of Group Social which had come into view. "Perhaps it wouldn't hurt to see if they are hiring." She wouldn't use Stella's name since she was a regular here, she had to do this herself. This was all on her, she needed to learn how to be an adult and handle things for herself.

She stopped and looked in one of the windows that a curtain was covering so light couldn't get in. She took a deep breath, smoothed down the front of her dress. She needed to look presentable. She smoothed down a few stray hairs and then unbuttoned her coat. She took a deep breath and smiled brightly.

She paused with her hand on the handle and took another deep breath and closed her eyes as she collected herself. "You can do it. Just answer the questions honestly. Be true to yourself. Do not give them too much information or too little information either." She tried to give herself a pep talk. She was nervous because so far she had been turned down and she didn't want to use Stella as a last resort.

She smiled and pivoted on her feet walking inside the building. It was a bit busy and they looked like they could use some more help. There seemed to be only three people working here, one taking orders, one serving orders, and one cooking. There may have been another one back there but Risa couldn't see or hear them.

She sat up on the barstool and placed her purse in her lap. She pursed her lips and waited for the girl who was waiting on people to notice she was here. She felt a little nervous since this could be her first job ever. Her fingers ran over the pearl handle of her purse, which seemed to help her calm down.

Quintessa Dimka turned around as her brown eyes looked straight at Risa. She ran a hand through her black hair and walked over pulling out a notepad and a pencil. "Hello, welcome to the Café of Group Social. What can I get ya?" She smiled, she didn't have a Parisian accent at all, but a southern Louisiana drawl.

Risa figured she would think she was merely just a customer. She had to quickly correct her. "Oh, no, I am not here to order anything. I was wondering about a job? Is there an opening or something I could apply for?" She asked hopefully, not trying to get her hopes up. She had gone over what she would say and that was not what she had planned.

Tessa folded up the notepad and stuffed it back in her pocket. She tucked the pencil behind her ear and crossed her arms. "Hmm," She mused, tapping her index finger on her arm. "We are a bit short-staffed at the moment. So a new employee would help a great deal." It wouldn't be so bad to hire a new employee. 

Risa's eyes lit up. She was hopeful again at her words. If they needed some more help she would be more than happy to start.  "So does that mean I can have the job?" Her voice was optimistic as she leaned forward. Could this be the answer to her prayers? Could she start right away? She wouldn't mind that.

Tessa raised her eyebrows and gave an amused smile. She was quite optimistic about having this job. "I can't give a job to you unless I interview you first." She was sure she knew that. She must have been down in the dumps about being turned down since she knew no one was hiring at this time. "I'm Tessa Dimka by the way." She introduced herself, giving a simple nod.