Thread: Next Time, Read the Fine Print. (Sync & Darkest_Fate)

Paige chewed her lip as she stared at the bank account information on her phone. It said she technically had some money left, a piddling amount that wouldn't have bought a meal to go with the coffees she had clutched in one nearly trembling hand. Her money after high school had just dried up, and it didn't help that her grades hadn't been quite stellar. Paige fell right into that horrible gap not quite dumb enough for college to be an impossibility or even an improbability, but not nearly smart enough to get any particular scholarships. Her family had just enough money to fall short of a lot of financial aid packages, and she was pretty much as white as you could get. So, she'd seen the AshTech job offering as something of a godsend. Considering the amount of traction the company had been getting, and its admittedly impressive CEO, just working in some capacity for them would be absolutely stellar for the resume. Paige had sent almost as a pipe dream she had a fair amount of high school type references, and she'd done some temp work, but nothing that should've got attention. She'd looked pretty good during her initial interview, though she usually opted for a more casual look. The tattoos would at least be covered up and all, though Paige had unfortunately forgotten to remove her nose ring today. Nerves kept tying her up today. She felt like her hair was a mess, sticking up everywhere. Her makeup just had to be caked on, despite her having rinsed her face entirely at least twice trying to get it together. There had to be something wrong with the pencil-striped skirt clinging to her hips. Most likely that was because she'd borrowed it from a friend. The blouse she had on top, a sort of creme color, was also from a friend, a different friend, but a friend all the same. The tights were a gift from her mother. The shoes were an aunt's. Pretty much the only thing Paige had on right now that she actually owned happened to be the underwear, which were a lucky black pair that were usually considered lucky for other reasons. But given the skirt and blouse, she literally had no other options the last thing she needed was a pantie line, or for something to show off a tat, or some other excuse. Because Paige just knew that Vivienne - God, MISS ASH, call her Miss Ash, think, Miss Ash, do you want to get fired? -- was probably all but looking for a reason to fire her new assistance. Hire some bumbling teenager straight out of college? Who'd all but flubbed the interview, with repeated insistences that she worked hard and could totally do the job as requested gah, I actually used that word, totally. like I'm twelve. Dammit . Paige still didn't know how the hell or why the hell she had this job. She kept looking for some sort of weird reason and all, but figured that maybe the woman just saw herself in Paige. God knows why Paige was this pale, skinny little thing who had to get piercings and tattoos to cover herself, while Viv--Miss Ash was this tanned, leggy blonde who looked like she should be posing in a magazine cover. I'm so totally screwed, Paige mumbled to herself, casting a look around. As she did, she realized that her new boss, Miss Vivienne Ash herself, was right in front of her. Paige nearly flailed, felt herself jerk, barely recover enough to stop the coffee from slopping everywhere. Paige fought the urge to overcorrect even then, swallowing hard, balancing herself as best she could. Miss Vivie--Ash, Paige said, nodding. I just wanted to thank you so very much for this opportunity. I know that you had a lot of different candidates to choose from, and I'm super glad that you picked me. I Promise to do the best I can and all. I even went and got you some coffee to start us off. I made sure to do, ah, a little research and get exactly the sort that you prefer, or at least what you mentioned preferring and, well, yeah, here it is, Paige nodded and held it up again, resisting the urge to start using it as a shield. She should be confident, mature, like she was around her friends. But there was just something about Miss Ash that made her feel all giggly and nervous and very much out of her depth. No amount of preparing could've readied the poor girl for looking at that CEO. Still, she tried. Mostly. And hey, she'd gotten a to-go bag with what Miss Ash had insisted on her packing and everything was ready, so that should count for something, right?