Solo Fresh New Faces

[Rosela]

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Timestamp: 52nd of Winter, 513AV

It was dark when Rosela awoke, extra early to put herself together with care. She was more than ready for winter to be over, with its short days and cold winds. Today however, she forced herself not to go about her business bitterly. It was the day of the interviews, and while she hadn’t gotten as many applicants as she would have liked, there were a few that had seemed promising. There were also a couple she was on the fence about, but the element of surprise made it interesting.

Fluttering her foundation brush over her cheeks, she gathered a sense of calmness around her, pausing to stare into her own eyes in the mirror and pulling in the red mist of her hypnotism for the first time in quite a while. The last time she’d used it extensively was the end of the previous season, where she’d woken up with such a pounding headache that she’d sworn off it for a while. After that… between the shop’s damage and installing the new makeup section, her life had revolved around her store. It gave her a flutter of happiness that her venture into hypnotism would be benefiting her shop. The red mist swirled calmly about her mind, and as she stared into the calm green of her own eyes, she once again had to stop her thumbs from working mindlessly. With a slow breath, the mist receded and she lifted her makeup brush again. Blush was quickly applied, then eyeliner and lipstick, and she got sidetracked investigating her hair for split ends before she realized how light it had gotten outside.

Still, she arrived at the shop earlier than usual, and edged inside quickly, already cold from her brief walk through town. Rubbing all six hands together, she crossed the room, picking up a candle from the candelabra on the way, and pulled the flint and steel from the side of the fireplace. Her fingers stiff from the cold, it took her a few strikes to get the sparks to alight the kindling properly, and she nudged the small sticks towards the middle of the fireplace, where they slowly caught on the larger logs. Putting the flint away, her hand with the candle leaned forward just enough to light the wick. She reminded herself, as she did nearly every day, to get scented candles for the store when her current stock ran out. The smell of herbs from the makeup section was often not that noticeable, but it would begin to irritate her if she didn’t take steps to counter it. Two hands pushed back her cloak as she stood, and she moved back to the center of the room to finish lighting the candelabra.

Warmth and light taken care of, Rosela hung up her cloak in the workroom and began busying herself straightening up around the floor. Each applicant would have already seen her shop when they came to apply, but it never hurt to tidy up. By the time the eighth bell came around, she was sitting primly in front of her straightened front desk, spare chair dragged over to sit in front of her, and the door unlocked for her first interviewee.

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[Rosela]

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”Since you were a little girl? That’s quite a bit of experience.”

“Oh yes, my mother was quite the seamstress, and she taught me everything she knew.”

A mental check went up in Rosela’s head as she smiled back at the older woman. She was a matronly Konti, apparently trying to get back into the work force after her last child just moved out. Rosela wasn’t a huge fan of her look though, too dull and worn. At the same time, a woman with children was well-respected in Riverfall, and may lend a propriety to her store that she could not provide herself.

That’s what she told herself anyway.

”So you’re clearly qualified to do the sewing, but there is obviously the aspect of manning the desk. Do you have any sales experience?”

The woman barked a laugh, revealing a row of crooked, yellowed teeth. With effort, Rosela offered a single, airy cough in lieu of a companiable laugh. “Thirty years of raising children, I know what I’m doing when it comes to getting things done.”

Unsure if her question had actually been answered, Rosela glanced down at the paper in front of her, where her notes were made in neat Arumenic. ”Oh good… So, say a young Akalak, seventeen or so, comes in wanting to buy trousers. What might you offer as an additional item he could buy?”

“Oh, a good sweater,” she replied immediately, adding a sage nod. “These young men never dress warm enough. Why, my oldest…”

Tuning out the story, Rosela added another mental strike in the ‘against’ column for this woman. She’d been hoping for ‘belt’ or anything with at least a tenuous relationship to what was being bought.

“…and I don’t think he ever did figure out what was going on!” Another loud laugh punctuated the apparent end of the story, and Rosela echoed it as best she could.

”Well, I would just love to continue this interview, but I’m afraid we’re out of time.” She uncrossed her legs and stood, which encouraged the woman to follow. Rosela was sure to offer her hand to shake first, hoping to avoid the usual confusion people had around her arms. ”Thank you so much for coming in. Did you have any last questions?”

“Oh…just, when might I hear back on your decision?”

”In about three days, probably less.”

“Wonderful, thank you for the opportunity!” Her handshake was warm and firm, and they walked to the door together.

”Give my regards to your husband.” Rosela sent her off with a friendly wave, and retreated back to her desk to gather her thoughts for the next interviewee. While she’d be grateful for someone skilled at sewing, she’d decided even before the whole process that she could teach someone to sew, but sales was something they’d have to jump into.

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[Rosela]

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Rosela’s foot bounced impatiently as she did her best to look composed. The next applicant was late, and despite the dire retributions Rosela mentally promised the boy, this alone was enough to strike him from the list. He had been young, fresh faced, and possibly a little over eager. Of anyone she’d be seeing that day, he had been expected to show up early.

As it was, Rosela was stuck sitting in front of her desk, note page in front of her, trying not to stare furiously at the closed door. The sliver of window she could see out from her vantage point showed a sparsely populated street, people of various races and ages going about their mid-morning business. Her mind began to wander, and she aimlessly began to rate the clothing she saw on a scale of one to ten.

Five.

Four.

Seven.

Ew, three. Who in their right mind would try to pull off lime green-

The door abruptly flew open, and Rosela let out a startled cry as she leapt from her seat. Notes crushed to her chest, she stared in shock as a young man – her tardy applicant – stumbled through the door, red faced and gasping for air.

“Am…am I late?”

”Just a, um, a bit…” Two hands shakily smoothed out the paper as she attempted to slow her pounding heart. ”Please, sit down.” Immediately she cursed herself as the boy trotted over and plopped down in the chair, still red and puffing. Rosela had intended to chastise the boy for her lateness and send him on his way, but it seemed they were doing at least an abbreviated version of the interview.

“Whoa, you would not believe the morning I’ve had…” Brushing his floppy hair out of his face, Rosela began to see the fresh faced young man she’d been impressed by earlier. “There was this huge thing down on the third tier, and then this woman, ugh-“

”Oh, what’s happening on the third tier?”

Rosela’s question seemed to startle the boy, and he looked up in surprise from fussing with his hair. “Huh? Oh…just this thing. Not a huge thing, I mean, it was hard to get through, which is why I was late… So yea, I’m here about the job?” He gave what appeared to be a practiced shrug to roll off the topic, and Rosela had an irking suspicion she was missing something. The mark on the back of her neck urged her to dig into it.

The red mist of her djed drew in with a deep, calming breath, and she looked deep into the boy’s silver eyes while maintaining a casual smile. ”No please… I’m really curious.” ’She’s nice, she just wants to know, if being late was a problem, she wouldn’t have asked you to stay…’ Her thumbs began to move in small, soothing circles, but she didn’t want to break her concentration by forcing herself to stop.

’She’s just curious, I can tell her what happened…’

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[Rosela]

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He seemed to regress into the nervousness he’d had when he entered, and though his eyes darted around the room, they continually slid back to Rosela’s. “Yea, um…”

Worried she was coming on too strong, she scaled back her hypnotism and leaned casually back in her chair, projecting an air of friendly curiosity. ’She’s nice, just tell her, she’s nice, I should tell her, she’ll be happy to know…’

A rush of air seemed to deflate him as he released a dramatic breath. “I have to admit… I didn’t actually see anything on the third tier. I kindof slept in.” He winced, as though half-expecting a blow.

There was a moment of shock that soon gave way to irritation, but Rosela recovered her prudence quick enough to draw back in the red mist to cover her tracks. ’Look at her face, she’s not mad, I was good to just be honest…’ “Well, thank you for telling me.” The words, and possibly the mental suggestions, seemed to visibly calm him and he returned a goofy smile. ”But,” Rosela added, trying not to let the severity she felt leak out into her voice. ”I’m afraid we’re out of time for today. How about I send a note in a couple days and we can look at scheduling a new interview date.”

The boy had to be given credit; the amount of disappointment on his face almost made Rosela pause and take it back. “Oh, I, um-”

”Thank you for your time.” Standing, she put a hand on his shoulder and led him towards the door.

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[Rosela]

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“I was just – hic – so excited about this interview and now I – hic – look like an i-idiot…” The girl, far younger than her mother had implied, made a concerted effort to stop her sobs.

Thoroughly horrified, Rosela made what she hoped were soothing shushing noises as all six hands patted the air in front of her. All she’d asked was whether she knew how to do a petching backstitch! “Shh, calm down, calm down…” That only seemed to make her cry harder, and in a fit of irritation, Rosela leaned forward to take her forcefully by the shoulders. The sobs stopped, forestalled by the obvious fear in her eyes. Somehow, that incensed the Eypharian further, but she stretched her cheeks in as convincing a smile as she could manage. ”Don’t cry now. It’s okay.” The words were clearly forced, but as she focused in on the girl’s eyes, she let the red mist of her djed rise and surround them both.

’I’m okay, it’s okay, everything’s okay…’

”Just stop crying.”

’I should really pull myself together, this is an interview…’ A slight crease appeared between the girl’s eyebrows and she frowned in confusion.

Still, Rosela pushed forward, hoping to end the tears and the interview on some manner of a good note. ’This was just a bad day, she’ll understand…’

”It’s okay.”

“I…what…” The confusion deepened, but in the space between thoughts, a dam seemed to break and her eyes filled with tears again.

Losing her patience, Rosela pushed harder, now frowning herself. ’No! Crying is not professional, I need to stop-‘

The connection was suddenly lost as the girl leaned forward and buried her face in her hands. “I’m so sorry, this is so unprof-un-unprofessional…”

Slumping back in her hair, Rosela rubbed her temples as she stared at the crying girl, wishing desperately for the day to be over.

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[Rosela]

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”I just want to gauge your taste in clothing.” Picking up the floral summer dress from her desk, she hung the hanger on the edge and brushed out the patterned cotton. ”This may or may not be one of my designs, so feel free to be honest.”

“Well, it’s…”

While her applicant, a stylish young Konti, searched for a diplomatic answer, did her best to remain poised and impartial. She liked this girl, even if her tastes were a bit muted. She’d had a tendency to be vague though, and Rosela was working hard to get her true opinion out of her.

“The cut is very streamline… and the fabric is clearly of good quality.”

”What do you think of the color? The patterns? If, say, a Konti walked in looking for a sundress, is this something you would recommend?” Leaning to the side casually, one thumb began slowly stroking the arm of her chair as she drew in her djed and narrowed it in on the young woman in front of her. She saw in her mind’s eye the red mist surrounding her, seeping in through her nose and eyes. ’I should just be honest, that’s what she’s looking for…’

“The pattern is, um, a bit…I mean, it’s not something I personally would wear?”

The diplomacy was starting to break down, and Rosela nodded amiably and gestured for her to continue. ’She likes honesty, she’s probably considering me for the position, I just have to be honest…’

Rosela was still reserving final judgment on whether this woman was what she was looking for, but a little hope might go a long way.

It seemed to do the trick, as the woman seemed to come to a decision and threw up her hands in mock-defeat. “To be honest, I’m…not a fan of the dress. It’s pretty ostentatious, and I really don’t think colors that strong would do well on a Konti. Maybe not a human either.”

Making a noncommittal hum, Rosela noted her reaction on her sheet. She had it right that the dress was a bit loud, but all it took was a sunnier complexion to pull it off. The woman’s own muted wardrobe suddenly made more sense, but she supposed it could be worse. Reaching up to take down the dress and fold it quickly in her lap, Rosela smiled. ”Wonderful, thank you for being honest. I really appreciate that in an applicant.”

~

By the end of the day, Rosela had seen all of her applicants and she was lounging in her more comfortable work room chair. She’d narrowed it down to two applicants: a young Akalak with promising taste, but was a little unnervingly ambitious when she dragged his future plans out of him through hypnotism; and the young Konti who’d had sales experience, but didn’t share Rosela’s colorful vision for her own designs. Each applicant had pros and cons, and by the time she gave up and went home, she’d decided to hold a second interview date for the pair, to better test each’s mettle.

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[Caelum]

Thread Award

Rosela

Skills

- Business +2
- Intelligence +1
- Investigation +2
- Hypnotism +5

Lores

- Business: Interviewing Applicants
- Intelligence: Investigative Techniques
- Hypnotism: Useful Applications

Notes

Beautifully done. Please edit your post in the grade request thread and don't hesitate to contact me with any questions or concerns.