The girl, called Sky, stood there with her mouth hanging straight open. Recovering her composure, she replied with as much dignity as she could muster. ‘Well, I’d like to ask the same to you.’ she said in a husky tone.

‘Well, I—I’m, uh, applying for a job here!’ stuttered Sam.

‘Huh! I can’t believe my best friend wouldn’t tell me about something like that!’ Sky retorted, flipping her glossy brown hair over her shoulder and combing it back into a ponytail.

Sam hung her head. ‘I guess I just wanted to have it over and done with before I told you; that’s all.’

‘Me too.’

Sam’s confusion must have shown in her face, for Sky hurriedly added: ‘I’m applying for a job here too; and I kinda wanted to know whether or not I had got the job before I told you.’

There was an awkward silence; well, as much as there can be in a café. With people slurping their milkshakes, and kitchen staff shouting orders to each other, there wasn’t much of a silence at all!

‘I guess holidays must be a bad time for communicating, huh?’ Sam smiled as she broke the silence.

Sky smiled back, which turned into a grin, then a giggle, and then it turned into a whole-hearted laugh! ‘Still best friends?’ she offered, holding out her pinkie.

Sam laughed. ‘Always!’ they locked their pinkies together and stuck their thumbs out; their special handshake.
After exchanging various comments about what they were wearing, what they had been doing during the winter holidays the conversation grinded to a halt.

‘Well, I guess the people interviewing us should call us soon,’ Sky remarked.
‘Yeah.’

Just at the moment, a rather chubby lady in her mid-fifties with sandy-blonde hair bustled up behind them.
‘I’se be trusting you gals are Samantha Miller and Sky Bronze?’

Sam could see that Sky was just about to explode with laughter over the lady’s Canadian accent, (which, she had to admit, did sound pretty funny) so she answered for both of them. ‘Yes ma’am, that’s us!’
The chubby lady, quite satisfied with her answer, politely inquired, ‘And I also trust that you two both have your résumés?’
Sky, who had recovered her composure, nodded quickly.
‘Well then follow me!’
The chubby lady led the way over to a back door at the end of the café. It had slip of paper stuck to it with sticky tape that had ‘STAFF ONLY’ scrawled on it in black permanent marker. The chubby lady introduced herself. ‘Well gals, mah name is Mandie. Amanda Deborah Tucker. I started this café twenie years back, before you’s gals was born. Anyways, o’course, folks ‘round here just call me Sandi, ‘cos ‘o mah sandy blonde hair.’

Sky piped up. ‘Ohhh yes, you’ve lovely sandy-blonde hair.’
Sam rolled her eyes. Yep, that was Sky for you, she reflected. Always trying to get into people’s good books.

Sandi beamed, revealing a mouth of missing teeth. ‘Why thankyou mah dear,’ she said, chuckling to herself. ‘It’s been that way ever since I’s was born. But come now ma dears, I think we’s got a couple of interviews on our hands.’

******* ********** ********* ******* ********* ****** ************* *********** **

At the dinner table that night, everyone was talking at once as usual. Mr Miller kept retelling the story of how Cooper had beaten everyone in his age group at high jump that day at Little A’s. Ainsley hadn’t done quite as well; but Mrs Miller congratulated them both all the same. Liam had lost against the other team in his football match, but Ben’s had flogged their opposition. Mrs Miller and Tina had quite a productive time at the farmer’s market; and so on and so on.

Sam toyed with her green peas, burying them in the mashed potato, which had tomato sauce streaks all through it. Mrs Miller noticed. ‘Oh, honey how was your job interview today?’ Sam looked up. ‘Oh it was okay.’ Liam elbowed his sister in the ribs. ‘So, secret agent, how did the mission go?’ he pretended to whisper, but said in such a loud voice the whole family could hear. After the laughter subsided, Sam yielded.
‘Alright, you win. Well, uh, it was pretty good. The lady who interviewed me was called Mandie, the actual person who started the café. But she said to just call her Sandi, because everyone calls her that on account of her blonde hair. She has this really funny accent, and always calls us ‘mah dears’.’

‘Us?’ Liam had a quizzical look on his face.
‘Sky’s applying for a job there too. Anyways, Sandi asked me a couple of questions, and then all I had to do was fill out this form and then it was over,’ she added quickly.

Mr Miller raised his finger as if to ask a question. ‘And so when do you get to know if you get the job?’

‘I don’t know. I guess Mand—I mean Sandi, will just ring or email me if I get the job—or not.’
Mrs Miller nodded. ‘Yes, that’s how they usually do it, dear.’