Chapter 310.<h4><b><strong>Chapter 310. My Birthday: </strong></b><b> Interview. (1/4)</b></h4>
<span style="font-weight:400">It happened right as I turned off my motorcycle in the parking lot of the convenience store I worked at. A rectangr shadow appeared on the ground below me. When I looked up, my eyes shrank as a truck descended upon me from the heavens.
<span style="font-weight:400">Like hell it was!
<span style="font-weight:400">I’d long checked there too!
<span style="font-weight:400">Hah!
<span style="font-weight:400">Screw you trucks, you’re not killing me today!
<span style="font-weight:400">When I stepped inside the convenience store, I looked over my shoulder onest time just to be one hundred percent sure there wasn’t a truck headed my way. I was paranoid, but it was better to be safe than sorry.
<span style="font-weight:400">Be it those dreaded sky trucks or over your shoulder convenience store trucks, none would have their way with my body today.
<span style="font-weight:400">Okay, enough escaping reality.
<span style="font-weight:400">As soon as I entered the store my eyesnded on the violet-haired monster resting her chin atop the palm of her right hand at the side of the counter. She was staring at me.
<span style="font-weight:400">“Anyst words~?” She asked as soon as our eyes locked.
<span style="font-weight:400">I nced around the store and confirmed there weren''t any customers inside before I responded, “I just got my license today and I didn’t want to get into a traffic ident because I was rushing to make it on time so I was doing the responsible thing by taking my time to get here.”
<span style="font-weight:400">“I see. How responsible of you~ Buuuut~ you’re still fired~”
<span style="font-weight:400">“Haaaaah.”
<span style="font-weight:400">“Now that you’re fired, let’s get on with your interview. Heh, really now, beingte for your interview, I really don’t know if I should hire such an unreliable person.”
<span style="font-weight:400">Alicia looked at me from behind the counter with a troubled expression. “But Owner-“ Alicia opened her mouth, but the Owner silenced her with a scary re.
<span style="font-weight:400">“What were you about to say, Alicia~?”
<span style="font-weight:400">“N-Nothing…” she shrunk back, unable to open her mouth again.
<span style="font-weight:400">I obediently followed behind the Owner as she led me into her office at the back of the store. I silently took a seat opposite to her in front of her desk, upon which she asked, “Aren’t you going to introduce yourself?”
<span style="font-weight:400">“Seriously?”
<span style="font-weight:400">“Of course.”
<span style="font-weight:400">“My name is... Ran Sozen.”
<span style="font-weight:400">“Are you old enough to work, Ran?”
<span style="font-weight:400">“Yes… I turned sixteen today.”
<span style="font-weight:400">“Oh, so it’s your birthday? What a surprise~”
<span style="font-weight:400">My ass it’s a surprise! Don’t act like you don’t know me!
<span style="font-weight:400">“Yes, it is my birthday.” I kept my retort to myself without showing the slightest sign of annoyance as we kept this farce going.
<span style="font-weight:400">“I see. I see. Well, first and foremost, what are your hours of avability, Ran?”
<span style="font-weight:400">“The same as ever.”
<span style="font-weight:400">“The same as ever? I don’t understand. Have you worked with us before? I don’t believe we’ve ever met~ oh! I know what it is. You were trying to hit on me just now, weren’t you?”
<span style="font-weight:400">“Haha, no, I wasn’t trying to hit on you.” This bitch. “It was my mistake, for some strange inexplicable reason, I thought you were some old hag I used to work for as your image momentarily ovepped with her in my head.”
<span style="font-weight:400">“Oh, really now?” Her eyes narrowed and her lips twitched back into a malicious grin.
<span style="font-weight:400">“Anyway, Ran, back to the question. What’s your avability?”
<span style="font-weight:400">“From 4:00 PM to 10:00 PM, preferably ending at 9:00 PM Monday through Saturday.”
<span style="font-weight:400">“I see. It just so happens we have a position that opened up today for that time slot. What a coincidence~”
<span style="font-weight:400">“Haha… that’s a real coincidence all right.”
<span style="font-weight:400">“So, Ran~, why do you want to work here?”
<span style="font-weight:400">“I don’t want to work here.” I snapped back.
<span style="font-weight:400">“Oh? You don’t~? Then why did youe to this interview?”
<span style="font-weight:400">“Because I need money. Personally, I’d love to live a life of unemployment and leach off of the government for the rest of my life, but at the same time, I don’t want to turn into a useless bum who can’t do anything for myself.”
<span style="font-weight:400">“How honest of you. Are you nning to go to university after you graduate high school?”
<span style="font-weight:400">“No.”
<span style="font-weight:400">“I see. What do you n to do then? Where do you see yourself in the next five years?”
<span style="font-weight:400">“Lazing about at home doing what I enjoy doing the most for a living.”
<span style="font-weight:400">The Owner raised one brow and mused, “Oh? What you enjoy doing the most for a living? And what would that be exactly?”
<span style="font-weight:400">“That’s a secret.”
<span style="font-weight:400">“Oh, no need to be shy. So working under me and being my toy is what you enjoy doing the most for a living?”
<span style="font-weight:400">“Nobody said that. Please don’t interpret my words however you want.”
<span style="font-weight:400">“Hmm… if it’s not that… could it be what you enjoy doing the most for a living is ying around with multiple women?”
<span style="font-weight:400">“I don’t have such bad taste. If possible, I’d like to minimize my interactions with women as much as possible in the future.”
<span style="font-weight:400">“Hmmm… considering how you have two girlfriends, that doesn’t sound very convincing.”
<span style="font-weight:400">“...” The number has grown a bit since then. I naturally couldn’t say that though.
<span style="font-weight:400">“Choosing to remain silent? As expected of a criminal guilty as charged. So, why should I hire you, Mr. Cheater?”
<span style="font-weight:400">“You shouldn’t.”
<span style="font-weight:400">“Hey, look, I’m seriously not going to hire you if you don’t take this seriously~”
<span style="font-weight:400">“I am taking this seriously. My two girlfriends work here, hiring me is obviously a bad business decision. I’m simply stating facts.”
<span style="font-weight:400">“Hmm… how about this for a question then. If you were going to kiss your boss’s ass and suck up to them to get in their good books, how would you do it?”
<span style="font-weight:400">“Huh? What sort of interview question is this?”
<span style="font-weight:400">“It’s one I just thought up on the spot. Now, answer it. Your answer here will be critical in determining whether you get hired.”
<span style="font-weight:400">I squinted my eyes as I covered my mouth, squeezed my chin, and seriously contemted seriously over what I could possiblypliment her on. There was nothing. Absolutely nothing.
<span style="font-weight:400">“Hey,e on~ there’s got to be something you can think of, right~?” When she realized how much I was struggling, she actually got desperate.
<span style="font-weight:400">“Uh… your purple hair makes you look like a monster? That counts as apliment, right?”
<span style="font-weight:400">“If I were in a world of demons!”
<span style="font-weight:400">“Then… uh… among the women I know... you’re definitely…
<span style="font-weight:400">“Definitely?” She sat up in her seat expectantly.
<span style="font-weight:400">“... the biggest pain in my ass?”
<span style="font-weight:400">“Keep trying.” Her lips spasmed.
<span style="font-weight:400">“You’re so young and pretty... pfft.”
<span style="font-weight:400">“At least say it with a straight face!”
<span style="font-weight:400">“Then… you’re so young and pretty for an olddy.”
<span style="font-weight:400">“Heheh… I see, I get it now. Now that you’re not employed here you’ve lost your fear of me as your boss. You believe you’re free to say whatever you want without consequences because you think it’s fine even if you don’t get hired here. You have the option to find another ce to work now that you’re old enough. I understand your game n now. If that happens, you cane to my stores, and so long as you don’t cross a certain line, you’re free to say whatever you want to me and I won’t really be able to punish you for it the way I would be able to if you were my employee. The only way for me to ensure you keep being a good little boy is by hiring you. Is that correct?”
<span style="font-weight:400">“Yeah. Pretty much. I’ll be sure to find you and talk shit all day as a <i><span style="font-weight:400">valued</i><span style="font-weight:400"> customer of your <i><span style="font-weight:400">humble</i><span style="font-weight:400"> establishment who’s <i><span style="font-weight:400">always</i><span style="font-weight:400"> right.” I couldn’t help but grin evilly to myself when I imagined being <i><span style="font-weight:400">always </i><span style="font-weight:400">right.
<span style="font-weight:400">You want to fire me, sure, cut my leash and I’m free to say whatever I want without worrying about the repercussions. I didn’t need to list this ce as a former workce since I was never officially hired and it wouldn’t show up as a ck mark on my employment record.