Alex leaves the store patron to his game and sets out to find Ted; business before pleasure, as they say.
Knowing that Ted is constantly asked and pleaded with for a job in his store, Alex knows his chances are slim, but he is desperate and not afraid to suffer some rejection if it means a chance at earning some extra cash.
Alex walks towards the far end of the store, hoping to find Ted near the backroom. The door, usually locked shut, is slightly ajar, allowing Alex a chance to peek inside. He sees Ted on a phone call, looking a bit distressed, talking to what he soon discovers is one of his employees.
"Linda, this is awfully short notice. You can't give me two weeks?...", he pleads.
After a short pause of explanation from the other side of the phone, Ted sighs heavily, saying only, "Don't worry about it. I'll figure something out.", and hanging up the phone. Alex is ready to back off, sensing Ted's frustration, just after Ted notices him.
"Who's there?... oh, hello Alex." Ted exclaims, still not so agitated to properly greet a regular customer.
"Something the matter, Ted?" Alex quizzes.
Ted only sighs again, rubbing his temple, "I just had one of my summer help quit to travel Europe for the summer." he says. "Replacing her will be tough."
Alex's eyes light up, and he jumps at the opportunity, "Actually Ted, I was looking for more work myself... maybe I could take the job?", he says with a smile. What great timing, he thinks to himself... this could be his lucky day!
Ted has to stop himself from rolling his eyes at the young comic fan... seems like all of his customers would like to work there, he thinks to himself. Even still, a possible solution to his problem has fell into his lap; it'd be silly not to at least consider it. "Okay Alex. Sit down with me for a minute, let's have an interview."
Alex's excitement is palpable; he can barely contain how excited he is that he's being given a chance. As he sits for the interview, Ted starts with his first and most important question...
"Do you have any retail experience?", he asks matter-of-factly.
Off to a bad start, Alex ponders... "N-no. I work with customers now and again, but I mostly do backstock and inventory control at where I'm working right now..."
"Hmmm...", Ted murmurs. The interview continues... but Alex fears that it was over right then and there. Ted gets so many people asking to work for him at a comic store, it's likely that he can afford to be picky, even in tough spots like this. Ted inquires about his comic and gaming knowledge, to which Alex feels is his strongpoint. However, he grows nervous over the course of the interview, and stumbles to express points about his hobbies that he can normally talk about for hours.
When finished, Ted thanks him for his time and says that he'll get back to him if anything opens up, but Alex can already feel like he blew his chance. Even still, as he's feeling a bit desperate, he decides to outright ask...
"So... did I get the job?", he asked hopefully.
With a sigh, "I'm not sure you are the best fit for what I'm looking for, to be honest Alex. Working a sales-focused retail job is a bit different than what I think you are used to, and to be honest, Linda was my best salesperson; I can't replace her with just anyone. I need someone with experience, and someone who can talk naturally even to strangers. Not to mention, it didn't hurt that Linda was attractive; she had energy and a lot of customers came just to see her. A lot of my regulars will be expecting me to replace her with someone similar. I know it's not completely fair, but it's the truth that in this line of work, women have an advantage in sales."
Alex nods along, hoping to keep cool in case Ted changed his mind, and then leaves him to look over other applications in the backroom. With nothing but time on his hands now, he simply wants to sit around and mope.
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