Second Chance Baby

The local job site wasn’t overflowing with opportunities. Especially considering I couldn’t commit to a long-term arrangement or an extended stretch of training before the position began. I needed something I could start fast and would start bringing in money pretty much immediately. The first one that caught my eye was for a bar downtown looking for a bartender. I was way overqualified, but it was better than nothing and I could start earning right away. This was about helping my parents, not getting a glamorous new career.

Twenty minutes later, I got a call from Stephanie. She filled me in about her meeting with her clients and asked how lunch went. I gave her a quick overview of what was going on and said I was filling out applications. I didn’t tell her which positions I’d selected. While I would have to tell her once I got the job, I didn’t really want to tell her I was applying to be a bartender at a bar and a cook in a fast-food restaurant. She would probably try to talk me out of it and convince me to look for something else. It would be better to just get the job and tell her I had it.

While I continued to flip through postings, we talked and eventually made plans to meet up a couple of days later. We got off the phone, and I was heading for the kitchen to start making a grocery list when my phone rang. Assuming it was Stephanie remembering something she didn’t tell me, I scooped it up and answered it.

“Ava?” an unfamiliar voice said.

“Yes,” I said.

“My name is Tyler Anderson. I just read your application for the bartender position.”

“Oh,” I said, surprised he was already calling me. “Yes.”

“Could you come in for an interview tomorrow?” he asked.

“Absolutely,” I said.

“Great. Come on in around noon.”

He gave me the address, and I thanked him before hanging up. There was a tingling feeling in the back of my mind. Tyler Anderson. The same last name as Mason. And the same first name as one of his slew of brothers. What were the chances it was the same Tyler?

Probably pretty good. But what were the chances Mason had something to do with the bar, too?

Just the thought of it made me nervous.4MasonTyler had managed to read over the applications submitted into the job site the day before. But I was the one running the interviews. From the very beginning when Tom bought the bar for us, I was put in the position of manager. All of us worked together as much as possible, but most of the administrative work and management duties fell on me anyway. It was just part of my personality to take on those tasks and be able to handle them.

Hiring somebody for the bar was a new prospect, but one I was looking forward to. Having somebody else there to help behind the bar would benefit everybody.

“Alright, Tyler. Fill me in,” I said, sipping my second cup of coffee and gearing up for the interviews.

“We had five people apply,” he said.

“Wow. That’s a pretty good showing for the first day.”

“I contacted all of them, and three agreed to come in today.”

I shrugged. “Slightly less of a good showing, but it thins the pool. We’re not looking for the leader of the free world, here. We just need somebody with at least something resembling a personality who knows how to make drinks and can add.”

“Well, I’m pretty sure all of them have those qualifications. At least the last two. Can’t promise anything on the personality front. Here’s the application for the first guy. He should be here any minute. I set up the appointments kind of separate from each other so there wouldn’t be any awkwardness,” Tyler said.

“Awkwardness?” I asked.

“If one showed up while the other was there,” he said.

“Tyler, we’re not dating these people. They know there will be other people applying for the job.”

He nodded but didn’t look convinced. Laughing as I took another sip of my coffee, I carried the application out to the front. Jesse was behind the bar cleaning, but Matt hadn’t gotten in yet. I’d told him to go ahead and take the afternoon off. He would be in later in the evening to help with what I hoped would be a decent crowd.

I didn’t have a lot of hope when the first applicant walked in. His ill-fitting suit aside, he looked nervous and uncomfortable from the first second he stepped into the bar. He looked around like he was waiting for somebody to jump out at him. I waved from the table where I’d set up shop for the interviews.

“Hey,” I said. “You must be Brad. I’m Mason. Come on over and we’ll get started.”

He nodded and came toward me, keeping his arms close to his sides and looking at every surface like he was afraid of what might be on them. This wasn’t going to work out for him. But I was still going to give him the benefit of the doubt and the fairness of a full interview. If he could survive sitting down in the chair across from me. His hand shot straight out in front of him when he got to within a couple of feet of me.