liz stewart ; gwen stacy (offabridge) wrote in musingslogs, @ 2011-05-29 23:47:00 |
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Entry tags: | elizabeth bennet, gwen stacy |
Who: Liz and Eli
What: Coffee and a job offer.
Where: Reliquary.
When: Recently (before this).
Warnings: None!
Liz thought she was doing pretty well for a girl who’d gotten off a bus barely 72 hours ago, with nothing but a couple suitcases holding her belongings in tow. By the end of the first day she’d gotten herself an apartment, even if the area and state of the building would’ve given her Dad a heart attack, while the second day was spent carefully spending some of her savings on the essentials. Unfortunately it ended up costing her more than she’d been expecting and that bumped up the job search on her priority list. The last thing she wanted to do was call her father for money; she was supposed to be standing on her own two feet here. She’d have to handle her money crisis on her own, especially if she wanted to enroll in classes for the fall semester.
Any good search began with coffee, but she skipped over chains like Starbucks in favor of something a little less commercial. One of the other teenagers on the bus from Chicago, who’d been visiting family before returning to Seattle, had told her about Reliquary and mentioned that it was a decent place for university-aged students to work. Liz figured it’d be a two birds with one stone kind of thing.
She liked the place from the moment she stepped inside, and approached the register with a bright smile despite not knowing much about coffee other than the fact that it tasted fantastic. It wouldn’t be hard to learn, after all. “Hi. This is my first time here, so... what do you suggest?”
It was quiet in the shop, and Eli was bent over a book on photography at the counter. He was down one hostess and one precocious five-year-old (who generally announced new arrivals), and so he looked up apologetically when he heard the young woman's voice. "Do forgive me," he said, all scholarly academic in a brown cardigan and messy hair. He tugged his reading glasses off, and he set them aside. "Something sweet?" he asked, "or something tart?"
She almost leaned over the counter to see what he was reading, fortunately managing to catch herself before becoming that creepy girl who had no understanding of personal space. That would be a great impression to make on a potential employer. “Oh, it’s alright.” The guy looked more like a professor than a college student, though Liz knew better than to assume. “Um... something tart, thanks.” The fact that it was quiet would definitely help rather than hinder her plans. “You’re the only one working?” She pulled a sympathetic face as though to say she understood how boring it could be to be on shift alone during a slow period. Liz was aware that the question was unnecessary, but she was treating it as a lead-in to what she really wanted to ask.
Eli left the book open as he turned his back to her, and he set to making her a dark espresso with bite, a touch of lime and very little sugar past the froth. He set it in front of her a moment later, and he folded his arms on the counter and looked at her. He’d seen her almost look at the book, noticed the tensing of bodies and shoulders that meant she was about to lean over it. “It’s photography,” he said, nudging the book toward her, as he had the drink. “Abandoned places are a passion, and I am, yes. It’s normally quite a bit busier, but the snow is keeping people indoors, and the end of the school year has me short a staff member or two.” He smiled, because he always enjoyed meeting new people. It was one of the things he truly enjoyed about the shop. “Are you new in the area? I don’t recall your face, and I have quite a good memory for regulars.”
Deviating away from sweet-tasting drinks was a bit of a risk, but after a small taste it proved to be worthwhile. “Wow. Starbucks has nothing on this,” she said with a small laugh, momentarily surprised when he nudged the book in her direction. So much for subtlety. “Why abandoned places?” Liz tried to hide her delight when he mentioned being short on staff, which might accidentally be construed as rude. “Brand new. I just moved here a few days ago.” She hadn’t even let Aaron know she was in town yet, which was why she’d avoided the forums; a small price to pay to see the look on his face when she paid him a visit. “This might be a little forward, but I’m actually looking for a job.”
“I’m fond of the stories of old homes and buildings, their pasts and the lives that happened within their walls. It’s an old habit, trying to determine what happened in a place before my arrival.” He didn’t add that upon crossing from Musings his passion became his ability, because he had no way of knowing whether or not this girl was a Creation.
When she said she was looking for a job, he quirked a brow. She was young, but that was hardly an issue. His staff was a motley one, hardly chosen because of experience or stellar resumes. And, in truth, he would hire anyone he felt needed a job, over someone who was skilled but not as needy. It was a luxury he could allow himself, since the funding for Reliquary came entirely from his aunt and uncle, and was not dependant upon profits. “Have you worked in a coffee shop before?” he asked. “And I shall forgive you if you mention one of those horrific chain shops, but only this once,” he said, grinning in a way that said he was considering giving her the position, based on that little information alone.
Most people would have answered with something along the lines of ‘because they’re cool’, but five minutes in and Liz already had the suspicion that words like that weren’t in this guy’s vocabulary. “Most people don’t seem to care about any past that isn’t their own,” she commented, taking another sip of coffee.
She unconsciously straightened up, aware that she was both young and slightly unqualified. “Back home working in a chain store was like a rite of passage. I wasn’t there long, but I have a lot of other experience working with people,” she added with a grin. That much was true. Liz figured as long as she could learn about coffee and keep a handle on her people skills it wouldn’t be that bad.
Eli couldn’t help but chuckle when she straightened. It made him feel like a professor or a parent, and both options entertained him. “Fifteen dollars an hour to start,” he told her, “assuming you don’t mind a bit of chaos now and again,” which was an understatement, of course. There was quite a bit of chaos at Reliquary, and that was on a very good day. “I’ve a staff of three and a half at present. Nana works the kitchen, Julian cleans up, Rene does odd jobs, and Rome sweeps badly at times,” he said, perfectly aware that it sounded like a menagerie of unlikely souls. “If you’re not afraid to take us on, I’d be thrilled to have you join us.” Just like that. No resume, no interview, no formal process at all. Not strange for someone who gave away more coffee than he charged for.
It was more than Liz had been expecting, especially considering the circumstances, so she didn’t bat an eye at the possibility of chaos. An eventful job was much better than a boring one and excitement was the reason she’d moved to Seattle in the first place. “Nope. I can definitely handle chaos,” she assured him. Names didn’t usually give a lot away, but the people he listed off did sound... different. She was admittedly surprised that he didn’t ask for a resume or any kind of references, but that hardly meant she was going to point it out. No one questioned this kind of luck. “I’d love to,” she beamed, realizing a moment later that he didn’t even know her name. “Thank you so much. I’m Liz, by the way. Liz Stewart.”
He held out a hand for her to shake. “Elijah Pride,” he said, “and I warn you in advance, I have a tendency to take in strays.” He didn’t mention she was, obviously, a stray, but his smile was warm and welcoming. “I’m also bollocks with paperwork and answering phones, so if you’ve any inclination?” he asked, thinking of EIT’s office and the paperwork floating around in there, along with the taxes he’d never filed. “Are you a student?” he asked, not remembering if he’d asked her that or not. Most of the under-twenties that stumbled into the shop tended to be, and he took if for granted generally. “If you are, what are you studying?”
“Nice to meet you, Mr. Pride.” She shook his hand politely, unable to resist a laugh at his comment about strays. Liz doubted he was talking about animals but she doubted he would let anyone dangerous in, or at least she hoped that wouldn’t be the case. Exciting was good, but dangerous could get old fast. “I wouldn’t mind paperwork and answering phones. Especially not the phones.” The prospect of hours hadn’t crossed her mind yet. “Yeah, I am. I finished my first year in Chicago and I’m enrolling for the fall semester with the University of Washington.” She pulled a face. “Biology. It’s tough, but I haven’t been discouraged yet.”
“An interest in science? Or aspirations to be a doctor?” Eli asked, because he’d long since found the two did not always go hand-in-hand. He pulled his own hand back, appeased by her handshake, which was firm without being too delicate or too strong. She would do. “When would you like to begin?” he asked.
Becoming a doctor was something she’d been toying with over the past few years, ever since she decided a career in law enforcement wasn’t for her, but it still seemed too far away to be an actual possibility. “Just an interest in science for now.” She let her hands drop back down to her sides before returning to the cup of coffee. “As soon as possible, really. My schedule is pretty flexible.” More like empty, actually, but that just sounded pathetic.
He remembered, vaguely, being interested in studying just because he felt a love for a subject, and it made him like her all the more for it. He refrained from asking if she had anyone looking after her, though it was a constant question on his mind with people of his age. Creations, and she might possibly be one, tended to be displaced and alone, and young ones were no different. It was in his nature to worry, but he’d keep an eye on her. “Monday, then?” he asked.
Liz only had a fleeting thought as to whether or not he was a Creation, since he had no obvious ability that she’d noticed and her own wasn’t anything that would make her stand out either. In Chicago she had known some people with abilities that were difficult to hide and she was always grateful that wasn’t the case with hers. “Monday sounds great,” she agreed, finishing the rest of her coffee. “What time should I come in?”
“How does eight sound?” he asked. “We can adjust from there.” He closed the photography book, feeling like he’d been exceptionally productive just then, and he nodded toward her drink. “And that is on the house. Welcome to the family, Liz. I do hope we don’t drive you mad.”
So much for sleeping in till noon. At least she hadn’t had much time to get used to it, and her days always turned out less productive when she had no incentive to wake up at a decent hour. Being surrounded by coffee couldn’t hurt either. “That works for me,” she said with a nod, making a mental note to show up a few minutes early. Eli spoke just as she was digging in her pocket for the right amount of change, and she looked up in surprise. “Oh. Are you sure?” Deeply ingrained childhood lessons told her to insist, though she had a strong feeling he wouldn’t budge. No job she’d ever had ever referred to their employees as family, and for an insane moment she thought it sounded like some kind of mafia thing before managing to stifle her laughter. “Thanks. I’ll do my best to stay sane.”
“I am quite sure,” Eli insisted, smiling. Whoever her family, they’d brought her up well, and it gave him a sort of peace, the knowledge that she might not require saving like the others he took in. He smiled at her assurance she would stay sane, and he picked up his reading glasses and slipped them back onto the bridge of his nose. A second later, he pulled a business card for EIT out of the drawer beneath the register, and he scribbled his number on the back. He handed the card out to her, and he smiled. “Should you require anything,” he said, and he hoped she understood that he meant it, his offer. “I will see you Monday morning.”
She took the card with a smile, studying the number before flipping it over to see what was on the front. Liz had no idea what EIT was but it appeared to be something that wasn't related to coffee. Curiosity ensured that she'd probably do some research on it later, but for now she tucked it into her pocket. "See you then, Eli," she responded brightly, rather proud of herself for managing to get a job at the first place she'd visited. Moving to Seattle was turning out to be a good idea after all.