Regret In Her Eyes

CHAPTER 1

THE INTERVIEW

JOANNA

OKAY. YOU CAN DO THIS. You can totally do this. It's going to be an interview, just like all the others, okay? You've nothing to worry about. Just keep your shit together, and you'll get through and actually have a chance at this job.

As I walked down the street to the building where my latest interview was taking place, I felt that rush of panic consume me once more and tried my best to calm it down before it got the better of me. I needed to play it cool.

I knew I had been way too enthusiastic in my last few interviews over the past couple of weeks. I thought it would be a good thing to come out swinging with such enthusiasm, but I had swiftly discovered that no company seemed to want to hire someone who was almost down on their knees begging for a chance at a job.

Which was why I was going into this next interview totally calm. As calm as they came. If there was a calmer person in this city right now, I would like to meet them. Mainly so I could ask for tips on how not to freak out right now. Ugh. Why couldn't I ever keep myself together when things got tough?

I came to a halt outside the building that was my destination, and I lifted my gaze to look up at the place that stood before me. Tall. Lots of floors. That was a good sign, right? Floors meant upward mobility, and upward mobility meant that I had a chance to work my way up. I didn't care if I had to start at the bottom if there was a hope in hell of me ever getting to the top.

Not stopping to let myself get distracted, I pushed the door open and tried to stride over to the reception area with some confidence. I wasn't sure I was selling it. I certainly didn't feel like I was.

I could feel my heart pounding in my chest, even as I tried to soothe myself. I needed a job, something that told me I wasn't a total waste of space. My heart couldn't take another rejection, and my thighs couldn't take any more of the commiseration sundaes Violet made for me every time I got turned down.

"Hello," I said to the woman behind the desk, my voice sounding way squeakier than it ever had before. "I-I'm Joanna I'm here for the-"

"For the interview." A voice caught my attention, and I glanced around to see a woman striding toward me. She looked to be in her sixties, with a short coif of no-nonsense grey hair and bright grey eyes that seemed to pierce straight through me. My heart twisted in my chest. This must be the woman I was interviewing with.

"Yes, that's right," I replied with a smile.