I waited in line like everyone else, but I wasn’t sure why I was there. The temp service had called and asked me to come in. I thought that I was there for a job, but it seemed I wasn’t the only one who’d been called in that day. I started to worry that I was going to have more hoops to jump through. I really didn’t like the idea of having to compete with all of the people lined up in the office.
“Nicola King?”
I raised my hand like I was in school and weaved my way through the standing people to the voice in the front. She smiled at me and ushered me into her office. I remembered Nadia from when I had come to Algon Temp Service months ago looking to get a jumpstart on my job hunting. She was very helpful, and after I took all of her tests, Nadia told me that she would do her best to find me something. I was really hoping that today was that something she was talking about, because I was ready to get started.
“It’s good to see you back here. Sorry about the lines in the front. We just got a new client and I think the news of it has made things a little chaotic, but don’t you worry, Nicola, I have found you something that I think will be perfect for you.”
“Really? I can’t tell you how happy I am to hear that. I graduate in a couple of weeks and I have been worried about finding something.”
“You got a head start, and I think that’s going to help you down the road. You would not want to be behind all of those other applicants.”
I looked back towards the small glass window in the door and I knew that what she said was true. If I had to wait behind all of those other people, my chances of getting a job were going to be even smaller than I’d imagined. In a town like Brewer, there were always more college students graduating than there were jobs to support them. I didn’t want to move away from Brewer, though; it was my home, and going down to the temp service had been a way of trying to ensure I could stay.
“I’m happy to hear that. I tried starting early because I figured with over a hundred students about to graduate, there was going to be a lot of competition.”
The older blonde just kind of nodded her head and looked through some documents in front of her. She was reading something to herself and I could see her lips moving slightly as she read. I tried not to look too bored. I was feeling restless, and if Nadia had something for me, I would be more than happy to take it. It didn’t really matter what it was, as long as it was in my field of study.
“So, this is what I was able to find.”
She told me about a local catering service that needed some help. They worked with many of the larger businesses in town to supply their employees with lunches and dinners, even breakfast sometimes as needed. I was getting excited because it sounded like a good fit, but I wasn’t prepared for the actual job.
“So will I be cooking?”
Nadia looked up at me from behind her thick-framed glasses and shook her head. “Since you have no real experience, they want to start you out doing some delivering. I know that it is not exactly what you were wanting, Nicola, but I think this is a good opportunity. It will give you some experience and you will get to meet a lot of people that are in the business. That’s how you can build up your connections and get into something more attuned to your skills.”
I was graduating from culinary school in a couple of weeks, and I hoped that she was right. I didn’t know how I was going to tell my family that I was going to be a glorified delivery driver. It was not going to be easy to convince them that I had been right to go to the school in the first place. Now I didn’t know what to say, but I was nodding my head and agreeing to the job before I really thought about anything else. One way or another, it was still a job, and that was something that I needed at the moment.
“I thank you for finding me something so quickly, Nadia. I look forward to starting the next chapter of my life.”
She smiled at me, and before long I was signing a contract for temporary employment at Jesse’s. Nadia gave me a sheet of paper with details on the where and when, and we said our goodbyes. I felt a little better as I passed the many people who were still waiting in almost the same spots as when I had seen them before. It may not have been what I wanted – not by any stretch of the imagination – but at the end of the day, I was grateful not to be in their shoes. At least I had a job, even if it was just driving good food around.
I kept reminding myself of that as I made my way home. I also had to find a way to word it so that it didn’t seem like I had settled for less. I had to convince my parents of that, and maybe myself a little bit too.
When I parked out front of the rundown three-story house that I’d grown up in, there was a steady tension in my body. I tried to shake the feeling. It was Friday afternoon and it was time for a family dinner. A smile painted on my face, I moved towards the familiar door and wondered if I was ever going to get my parents to be happy with my career choice. The job that I had just gotten wasn’t going to do that, but at least they couldn’t say I wouldn’t be able to do anything with my degree.
Walking through the front door, I was bombarded by my two little nephews. They’d seen me coming up the cobbled walkway and insisted on wrestling before I got in the door. I played along, anything to take my mind from what was going on, but we were stopped by the sharp voice of their mother, my sister.
“Boys, leave your aunt alone.”
They heard the tone and scurried away before I could get up from the position I had fallen on the floor. “Really, Nicola, do you have to wind them up so much?”
I grinned at her and kissed her cheek. “If I don’t get to wrestle and spoil them, what is the point of being an aunt?”
“You are a person that they look up to.”
I knew where that was going. A conversation was about to break out that I didn’t want to have. “I’m going to go see if mom needs any help in the kitchen, Karen. Your hair looks good.”
She smiled and put her hand up to the fresh do and I just kind of laughed a little. A compliment was the only way to get my sister to stop her steady efforts to get me married and pregnant like she was around my age. She reminded me of my singleness all the time, but I tried to ignore all of that. I was not ready to settle down. Not when my dreams of cooking for the rich and famous were still not a reality.
***
I moved towards the white swinging doors that led into the kitchen. My mom, Angela, had her apron on, and somehow she knew that I was the one who’d come in. “Nicola, go ahead and put an apron on and help me.”
I was surprised that she knew it was me. She hadn’t even looked up. “How did you know it was me, mom?”
She looked up and smiled. “Honey, you are the only one who would even come into the kitchen to help in the first place. Lord knows that your sister could do with some time in here.”
“She doesn’t need to learn. She has Alfred.”
She kind of gave me a look and I had to laugh. My mother was more conservative, always spouting obedience and the more traditional gender roles. I wasn’t sure if she actually lived up to it; her mouth was always telling everyone how she felt. But she did believe in it, and she had hammered it into me and my sister for quite some time. It just hadn’t really stuck with Karen.
“Well, maybe I just need to find me an Alfred too.”
She scowled at me and gave me some vegetables to chop. “That is really not the way to use your education, Nicola. I don’t know why you went to begin with. I taught you everything I know.”
“I know, mom, I just don’t think that marriage and kids are for me right now.”
She looked at me as if I had broken her heart and I looked away. She already had grandchildren and I refused to feel the obligation. I was twenty-two and just out of college. There was no way that I wanted to hear it right now, so to change the subject I decided to bring up my good news. It would be easier to tell her first and get her reaction before the rest of the family knew.
“So I wanted to tell you about the good news I got today.”
“Did Jamie come back to town?”
The sound of his name made me frown. “No, he didn’t. God, mom.” She had thrown me off talking about my ex and it took me a minute to remember what I’d wanted to say. “No, I was going to tell you that I got a job today. I start next Monday.”
“What about school?”
I shrugged and handed her the bowl of cut veggies for the broth. “It’s only a couple of classes that I’ll miss, and I graduate in a couple of weeks anyways. It was just an opportunity to slide into a job, so I took it.”
She smiled and for a moment I thought it was going to be okay.
“So what kind of job is it?”
“Working with a catering service.”
“That’s good, Nicola. Now help me get the chicken de-boned or we are never going to eat.”
It was less than I had anticipated, and I hated to admit that I was a little disappointed that she wasn’t happier for me. But it was better than hearing a lecture about how I needed to be more like Karen, so I was going to take it for what it was.