2 Job Hunting

City A.

The beeping of the alarm roused Isabella from her deep slumber. Tightening the worn out duvet around her, she buried her head into the pillows so as to block the sounds from disturbing the only peaceful thing in her life, her sleep. Letting out a tiny grunt Isabella freed her hands, they danced in the empty air for a while before Isabella felt the familiar cold metallic surface against her palms. Turning off the alarm, she drowned herself behind the sheets. At the thought of sleeping away for a few hours, a smile spread across Isabella's drowsy face.

But, when has fate been so kind to her?

Before her eyelids could rest peacefully, a series of not so gentle knocks reached her ears. If not the alarm then there is one person who loves to disrupt the peace in her life, her brother, Eric Waters.

"Eric, let me sleep."

Perched outside the door, Eric felt his lips twitch in both amusement and annoyance at the same time. It was not like he was the monster who doesn't let her sleep, she had slept for damn ten hours straight. According to him, ten hours of sleep is too much for a grown up teenager. And, today is too important for his sister to laze around.

"Sure, you can sleep till dawn. I'm sure that all the positions will be unavailable if you go at that time." In a calm voice, Eric spoke.

All the signs of drowsiness drained from Isabella's face as Eric's words fell on her ears. With a swoosh, she sat straight on the bed. Pushing away all the stray hairs from her face, she grabbed her mobile from the nightstand. Pressing the unlock button she blinked her eyes to get used to the sudden brightness.

10:45 AM, Sunday.

Isabella could feel the screen almost glaring at her incompetence. She was supposed to go to all the marts where the vacancies for part time jobs are open. It was her big day of interviews and here she was sleeping like a log.

No, you sleep like a pig! her mind chastised. She truly had to thank her brother, if not for him she would still have been sleeping.

"Eric, love you. Muah!"

Eric's nose scrunched at the kissing sound, but he did not say anything in retort. Rolling his eyes, he spoke as he walked away to his room. "Whatever, hurry up!"

Cursing herself, Isabella tried to get up as she started to yank away the sheets from her body. Not noticing that her legs were entangled with the sheets she tried to get down the bed only to fall on the wooden floor with a thud.

The sharp pain in her butt sobered up Isabella in an instant. Throwing the duvet onto her bed, she ran towards the foldable wardrobe. Picking up her best jeans and a turtleneck sweater to go with it, she sprinted towards the bathroom.

Splash! Thump!

On the other side, Eric could hear the loud noise made by his sister. Is she unscrewing the shampoo lid or slamming the bottle against the wall?, he wondered as he entered the kitchen to whip up some breakfast for Isabella.

Flour, eggs, butter,... Eric recited the ingredients as he began to search for them in the shelves. Beating the eggs, mixing the flour, he started to perform the actions with practiced ease. In a short time, Eric completely immersed himself in preparing breakfast.

Humming a happy tune and flipping the pancakes in the air, this was how Isabella found her brother in the kitchen.

"Pancakes, hmm?" While fixing her hair into a ponytail Isabella squinted her eyes at the row of the flat brown round objects on her plate. It was not that she hated them, she was bored of eating them everyday. Eric loved pancakes which turned out to be a problem for Isabella.

"Yup, pancakes for a good day." her brother sang.

Knowing better than to pick a fight with her brother over some pancakes, Isabella mumbled a 'thank you' before starting to devour them. As much as she hated eating the same thing everyday, she had to admit that her brother was the best cook in the world. She wondered endlessly on how he could make even the pancakes taste so amazing?

Not able to withstand the temptations, Isabella served another five pancakes onto her plate. She could feel her brother's mocking eyes on her as if saying 'Admit that you love my pancakes?!'. Isabella could feel her cheeks heat up, ignoring the visible sign of her embarrassment she gobbled her food.

Eric rolled his eyes at her defiant behaviour. He leaned against the chair observing Isabella swipe away the entire food in a few minutes, no matter how many times he witnessed her speed in finishing the meal he could not help but be stunned.

"Let me do the cleaning..." Eric volunteered as he saw Isabella struggling to balance the plates.

"You are damn late, do you want to clean the house too before you leave?!"

This time Eric's words hit Isabella at the right point as she handed him all the plates in her hand. Sprinting towards the shoe rack, she slipped on red unbranded sneakers to go with her wine red sweater. Fixing the back pack on her shoulders and tightening the hold on the batman key-chain, Isabella turned towards Eric.

"I will be back before 9, hopefully with good news. Y-you..."

Eric cut off her rambling by dropping a kiss on her cheek.

"You will surely come back with good news." he encouraged.

"Yes, I will." Flashing a bright smile at her cute brother, Isabella exited their tiny apartment.

With renewed energy, Isabella rode on her bicycle towards the first address which she jotted down in her mini notebook.

...

"Isabella Waters, 19..." The manager spoke as he skimmed through her information.

A tiny frown appeared on his face, Isabella had a faint idea about what he was going to ask her. The manager did not fail her expectations.

"No parents is fine, but you do not have guardians either?"

Taking in a deep breath, she answered "All my childhood happened in the Military school for the juveniles. I was allowed to live on my own after I turned 18 and since I'm legally an adult, I am acting as a guardian for my brother."

Juvenile school is the place where the underage criminals are given proper education and the military helps them to get rid of their past problematic habits. And no sane person will employ someone with criminal record of any kind, be it big or small. If only there was some guardian behind her name, then he would have someone to go to if the girl commits anything wrong in the future. He would not be having second thoughts like now.

The manager sighed as he observed the girl before him, she looked decent enough. But, he could not take a risk by betting on the character of the girl, human nature is the most fickle of all.

"I'm sorry, I can't offer you the job given your questionable background. I need someone old enough who can be responsible for your actions later."

Isabella long expected this automated reply. But, she did not blame the manager or anyone who rejected to give her the opportunity. So, she politely thanked the manager before leaving the shop.

"Well, next one..." Plastering a bright smile on her face, Isabella headed to her next destination.