InsaneJournal

Armed and Ready
Who: Lily, Don
What: job hunting
When: Sunday, noonish
Where: a diner around town
Rating: Low
Status: Complete

When Lily had procured a room and some general knowledge about the place, she'd retreated to her new quarters, and thought. She'd thought about every scenario, likely and unlikely, in regard to her presence here. She did take into account everything that Lee and told her, and everything she'd learned at the information desk, and she still didn't like the picture it was painting. She had posted a note, and despite multiple trips to check the board, she hadn't seen a response yet. Maybe he wasn't here. Maybe no one from her world was here. She felt horribly alone at the thought of that. She reasoned she'd make friends here easily enough; that had never been a problem for her. But it was the other bits that had her concerned. If she was here, she wasn't home, which meant she was missing, and James was probably going crazy. That, strangely, was her primary concern. Not her own welfare, but the fact that because of this, James was going to do something stupid and get himself killed. Still, there was nothing she could do about that, at all, so that left her focusing on her own predicament. Her own predicament included finding a job that paid enough for her to get her own place, or at least half-rent on a place she could share with someone, and to feed and clothe herself. She wasn't horribly concerned with extras just then. She had managed to convert what money she'd had on her to American currency, and between inflation (or deflation, she supposed, depending on which direction one looked at it from) and the exchange rate, she had enough to comfortably see her through the first week or so, if she was prudent about it. She still had her wizarding money, and she figured she could get a good price for the galleons and sickles, and maybe even the knuts; she wasn't sure what the value of bronze was -- but she assumed silver and gold were pricey enough. Turning those in seemed too much like accepting that this was permanent though, so she'd hang onto those until she had to. Either way, it meant she was relatively set for money, at least for a little while. If she was fortunate, a little while was how long she'd be here before they managed to get her back home. Lily had found a copy of the morning paper and had spent her time going through the classifieds in addition to the jobs that had been posted at the welcome center. She wasn't sure how many marketable Muggle skills she had, but she could type well enough and she was a friendly sort so she could get some sort of secretary or sales job or something in that area. She was also looking at any places looking for roommates, though she reasoned she'd do better finding a place with someone else familiar with the situation than just some random native. At least then the presence of her wand wouldn't be such a stretch to explain. That was also long-term planning, and right now she was still balking at that. So she'd settle for finding a job, and work on saving up some money, and ... go from there. Armed with a plan, Lily set out into the world. _________ The streets were becoming more familiar, and it was easy enough to navigate the ones in the grid pattern. She'd stopped in to fill out applications at a few places nearer the welcome center, and she thought she'd branch out a little further after lunch. It was pleasant enough out, if a touch warm for her tastes, and she was getting accustomed to the flow of the crowds. Spying a diner ahead, Lily decided that now was just as good a time to eat lunch as any, so she wandered herself inside and found a seat near the window so she could watch people while she ate. Once she'd ordered, she fixed her emerald eyes on the people passing by the window, wondering if she'd see anyone familiar and doubting it. Still, a woman eating alone was probably interesting enough to catch someone's attention, so she reasoned the odds were good she'd have some form of company before she was done eating.