Waking up the next morning, Penny stretched as she remembered her impromptu evening with Raoul. It hadn't bothered her a bit to finish his route with him. As a matter of fact, she continued to not be bothered when she accepted his invitation to coffee afterward before he took her home and dropped her off at her door. It really did feel like she had made a new friend. They had easily filled their time together with chatting and friendly banter; it was not difficult to say that they had both enjoyed their unplanned outing. He had even invited her to his church which Penny was thinking about visiting the following Sunday. See, Mom? Not everyone in New York is a hardened criminal out to get me. She had only been there less than a week, and already God had sent a fellow believer her way. Thank you, Jesus. You truly are faithful. Speaking of faithful...I should probably get out of bed and start my day, thought Penny. Sitting up, she pressed the Play button on her CD player to get some upbeat morning music playing.
After her shower, Penny made herself some toast with peanut butter and a gigantic mug of coffee. Then she sat down to fill out some job applications. She was half way through the third one when her cell phone rang. Happy for the interruption, Penny cheerfully answered in a sing song tone, "Hello?"
"Hi, may I speak with Penny Mallard, please?" came the cheerful, if a bit frantic, voice on the other end of the line.
"This is she. How can I help you?"
"Hi, Penny. This is Michelle Dot from the VistaPrint store. I was calling regarding your application that you filled out yesterday. We'd like you to come in for an interview. Are you free later today? I know it's short notice, but we're kind of desperate right now, and... I know I'm going on and on, but I just had my main floor manager quit on me, and I really need someone ASAP. You seemed like a really good candidate when I met you yesterday. Anyway, would you be willing to come in right away?"
Penny remembered that she had filled out VistaPrint's application on a whim when she went on her jog the night before. A job at a "full service printing shop" wasn't her ideal, but, hey, until she got her acting break, it would do, right?
"Sure! Thanks for calling, Michelle. When would be a good time for the interview?"
"Oh, good! You don't know how much this means to me. Seriously, how soon can you come? I'll work with your schedule. Whenever you can get here, I'll interview you. I'll owe you one. And you don't even work for me yet." Michelle giggled.
Penny gently pushed aside the stack of applications in front of her, "I actually live right around the corner. I can be there in thirty minutes." She could probably be there in two minutes, but she thought she should throw on her new interview outfit and a little make-up before heading over for the interview.
"Oh. That's wonderful! Penny, you're amazing. So, I'll see you at 12:30? I really do appreciate this."
"Yes, ma'am. Twelve thirty it is."
