"You'll ace it, MJ. Don't even worry about it."

Sean pats Michael's arm in reassurance, stepping back to admire the smart-casual attire that his friend has chosen for his "interview" at the cafe today.

A crisp white button-up shirt hangs neatly over his slender torso, paired with black skinny jeans that perfectly hug his legs. Michael doesn't want to overdo the formalwear, as Allie and her business seem to give off a more down-to-earth feel. His hair is pulled back into a deliberately messy-looking ponytail, with flyaway strands groomed to elegantly frame his face.

"Shirt tucked in or left out?" Michael asks, glancing down to test both options. "I can't decide whether tucked in looks too ... pretentious. I don't want her to think I have a superiority complex."

"What about tucked in, and add a jacket or something?" Sean suggests. "Then it'll pull the look together."

"It's August, Sean," Michael says. "It's the hottest part of the year. I'll be dying if I wear a jacket."

"It doesn't have to be a thick one. Just enough to make you look a little more ... like you mean business."

"I'm already practically hired, man." Michael lets out a small chuckle. "This is just to check all the boxes. I don't think Allie will care if I'm wearing a nice pretty jacket."

Sean leans back, rubbing his chin with his fingers. "So if she won't be bothered, why are you so paranoid about a shirt being tucked in?"

Michael falters, realising he is right. "You may have a point, there."

"Just leave it tucked in, but not tightly. Leave it kinda loose," Sean instructs. "You've got the figure for it. Make the shirt look a little puffier."

Sean fiddles with Michael's shirt, despite his giggly protests, until Michael finally slaps his hands away playfully. "Hey, hey, hey! You know what, I'll just add a white t-shirt underneath — tucked in — and leave the over shirt unbuttoned, untucked."

"Seems like a plan," Sean answers. "But hurry, because you gotta leave soon."

Michael dashes back upstairs to his room to get changed, reappearing downstairs a few moments later in his new outfit. "What about this?"

"You look great, Mike." Sean gives him a double thumbs up, before grabbing Michael's satchel from the stairs banister to hand to him. "Now go! Your interview is in fifteen minutes, and it takes that long to walk to the town centre."

"Alright, alright! I'm goin'." Michael slings the bag over his body, then opens the front door of the house. On his way out, he calls to his son. "Case! Be good for Uncle Sean while I'm out. I love you!"

"Love you Daddy!" Casey calls back, from the bedroom upstairs.

Michael smiles at Casey's response, as he closes the door behind him and sets off.

• • •

"It's great to see you again, Michael." Allie extends her arm to him, offering her hand.

Michael accepts this invitation, giving her hand a firm shake as the pair take a seat at one of the cafe tables. "It's my pleasure, Allie."

"So, this is just something I have to do before I hire you, of course." Allie leans forward in her chair, silently confident in the candidate sat before her. "And provided you give me some good answers in the next twenty minutes or so, you'll be my new recruit."

"It sounds wonderful," Michael answers. "So, what would you like to know?"

"I'd just like to know some more about yourself, to begin with," Allie explains. "Just whatever you'd feel is necessary to tell me. Your personality. Your hobbies. Anything."

"Oh." He pauses a moment to contemplate what he can say to her; he isn't sure whether to sugarcoat his responses, or whether to tell her the truth about his rather depressing life. "Um, well, I have a five-year-old son, as I told you last time. We moved to England late last month after two years of ... well, not such a good time for me. I recently got divorced, and it's been pretty messy. Hence, you know, the whole "new life" stuff."

"I see." Allie frowns. "That must have been awful."

"I know it's all for the best," Michael answers. "She was very negligent, and didn't care for either of us. It hurts, but ... that's life, isn't it?"

Allie nods. "It is indeed. But you seem to have a wise head on your shoulders. Emotional maturity is a good quality to possess."

"I like to hope so," Michael agrees. "But um, yeah. I currently live with my best friend from my childhood. We grew up in California, but he moved over here when we were sixteen, back in the seventies. When I split with my ex-wife, he offered for me to move here. It did seem rather crazy at first, but ... maybe makin' some crazy decisions gets you to a better place in life."

"I absolutely agree with you," Allie says. "So, more related to this job now, do you have any previous experience in the hospitality industry?"

"Actually, I do," Michael replies. "When I was younger, I'd say maybe seventeen or eighteen, I worked in a restaurant in my town. It was a pretty small place, and I didn't work there for long because the owner wasn't the kindest, but I learned a thing or two."

"Excellent." Allie writes the information down in her notebook, before averting her eyes back to Michael. "How would you describe your work ethic?"

"I'd say I'm a hard worker, of course," Michael tells her. "I can work by myself or as a team with other people. I'm pretty versatile. I try to get along with everybody. It isn't in my nature to be malicious or unkind to others."

"Good, good." Allie smiles. "So, when you worked at the restaurant back home in America, what role did you play in the team?"

"I was something of an all-rounder, really. I could take the orders from customers, and I could take food and drinks to the tables. I could also prepare drinks and even some of the food, if I needed to. A handful of times I was made to host certain tables for the duration of their time at the restaurant. Considering I was only there a few months, I did my fair share, for sure."

"Were you ever praised for your hard work?"

"Not really." Michael snickers softly, as though the idea of such a concept is merely a joke to him. "I don't think the owner knew what praise even was. But my goodness, he sure knew what criticism and discipline was."

"Sounds like he was kind of ruthless," Allie comments.

"Oh, for sure. He'd shout at everybody for the smallest of mistakes," Michael answers. "I guess it helped me develop a thicker skin, though. And it also gave me a streak of debilitating perfectionism, too. I'm one of those guys who believes things have to be flawless a hundred percent of the time. It has its uses, but it also kinda sucks if you wanna be more carefree."

"Well, hopefully you can put it to use if you end up working here," Allie says. "By the way, given that you have moved here from The States, do you have all your legal documentation to prove you're allowed to work in the country? I probably should've asked sooner."

"I do." Michael opens his satchel, digging through to find the relevant documents. Once he has located them all, he hands them over to her. "Here. Do whatever you need to do with them."

"Thank you." She gives each piece a brief glance, before setting them down on the table next to her. "I'll probably have to get a copy of each of them printed, but other than that, everything seems to be in order."

"That's great," Michael says. "So, uh, is there anything else you need to know about me?"

She folds her arms across her chest, giving Michael a knowing smile. "I suppose there's one thing that you could answer for me."

Intrigue gets the better of him. "What's that?"

"Allie?"

A call from one of the women in the kitchen earns the attention of both Michael and Allie. Michael swears he recognises the voice, but dismisses the idea — after all, he doesn't know anyone in England well enough yet.

"Please excuse me," Allie laughs, rising from her seat to go and tend to the commotion.

Michael sits patiently, albeit nervously, in his chair. He is of the impression that the interview has been going well so far, but he doesn't wish to make assumptions before he knows for sure. While he waits, he subtly wipes his clammy hands against his jeans to rid the thin layer of sweat that has accumulated from a combination of anxiety and the summer humidity. He looks around him, at the small collection of customers enjoying food and drinks at other tables, and evaluates whether he'd be able to get used to such an environment professionally.

"I could get used to this," he mutters under his breath. "Totally."

Moments later, Allie re-emerges from the kitchen, with a couple of staff following behind her, ranting to her about some sort of injustice that has occurred between the employees. She abruptly turns around, halting them in their tracks, and quietly scolds them for causing a fuss.

"I'm trying to interview a potential new recruit at the moment," she hisses, more for the benefit of being discreet than aggressive. "I'll sort this issue out once the interview is over. Okay?"

"Fine." The first woman walks back into the kitchen, satisfied that her concerns have been listened to.

The second woman glances over at Michael, needing to double-take to make sure her eyes aren't deceiving her. "Michael?"

Michael glances up, searching for the source of the sound. "Oh! Hello, Laurie. I didn't know you worked here."

"I didn't know you were going for a job here." Her frustrated demeanour from the disagreement in the kitchen shifts immediately to one of enthusiasm. "Sean never mentioned it."

"Yeah, well ... here I am," Michael chuckles. "He's offered to take care of Casey on his days off while I work, provided I get the job."

"That's brilliant, mate!" Laurie ventures closer to him, hovering over the table he's sat at to converse further. "Well, I hope you get the job. Are there any other candidates?"

"Uh ... I'm not sure," Michael admits. "Hopefully not many."

"There was one other young lady who applied," Allie explains. "She had her interview yesterday, and she seemed like a nice girl, but not particularly what we were looking for."

"So, you're going to give the job to Michael, right?" Laurie asks. "Trust me, Allie — he's a great guy. I met him the night he moved here from America. And his son is adorable. They deserve a shot at happiness, and this job would be the first step for him to get back on track with his life."

Michael looks to Laurie, smiling in appreciation at her kindness. She sneaks a wink at him, indicating how purposeful her persuasive words are. The pair of them then avert their eyes back to Allie, anticipating what her response will be.

"Well ... " Allie hesitates, not out of uncertainty — but rather to build some suspense. "I don't see why not. Michael, you've got the job."

Michael grins, an expression of excitement and surprise settling on his face as he celebrates with Laurie. "Oh my gosh. Thank you so much, Allie. I can't tell you how much this means to me."

"All I need to do is sort out your legal documents, and then I'll call you and give you a start date. It shouldn't take too long," Allie explains. "I'm very much looking forward to having you on the team, Michael. I'm sure you'll be a great fit once we've trained you up."

"I'm very excited," Michael answers. "Should I expect a call in the next few days?"

"Absolutely," Allie says. "Like I say — it'll be a few weeks of probation first, and then we'll take it from there."

"Thank you so much." Michael grabs his satchel, slipping it on his shoulder ready to transport home again. "I'm going to go and tell my friend and my son the good news. I look forward to hearing from you again soon, Allie."

"And you too. Thank you for coming in today. See you soon, Michael."

Michael exits the premises, so full of spirit and energy that he almost considers running home. He decides, however, that the best course of action is to avoid unnecessary over-exercise, so that he can walk home at a leisurely pace to give himself time to think over everything.

"I did it," he murmurs to himself. "I actually did it. I'm really doing this."

It's a small step, but it's essential in his journey to starting his new life, and he doesn't take it for granted. All that lingers on his mind is the potential reactions of Sean and Casey when they hear the news.

And he sure cannot wait for that.

• • •

Chapter five! Hope you're enjoying. xx