Only In It For A Minute

“Thanks very much for coming in today and we’ll be in touch soon if you’ve been successful,” Mike said, shaking my hand.

“Thank you for having me,” I smiled.

I walked out of the building and to the nearest tube station, which was Piccadilly Circus. From there I caught the tube to Paddington and then the train home to Reading. In all it was less than a hour a journey. Once on the train, I let people know how the interview went.

“Hey, I’m just on the train,” I said into my phone.

“Oh right, how did it go?” Lucy asked.

“Yeah alright I think. I had to fill out some forms first of all, then they explained the ins and outs of the job to me before I then got to spend a bit of time in one of the offices shadowing someone who was doing a similar job as I would be doing. Then they started asking me questions, basically to see how much I’d listened and how suitable I would be for the job,” I told her. “So I hope it went well!”

“I’m sure it did. Did they say where they’d be sending you?”

“No, but they said they were sending a few of their current staff from here to help out over there and deciding who out of the people they’re interviewing would be suitable for each location.”

“When are they going to let you know?”

“By the end of the week apparently,” I told her. “Anyway, I’ll be home in about half a hour, I’ll tell you more then.”

“Alright, bye!”

Once home, I was grilled with questions from Lizzie as well. Then my phone buzzed with a BBM from John.

Have you had your interview yet? How did it go?

I looked at the time and saw it was 4.45pm, which meant it wasn’t even 9am where John was.

Me: Yeah I just got home. It went well, I think. You’re up early.

John: Just wanted to know how you did :)

Me: That’s very sweet, thank you. Are you free for iChat?

John: Give me 10 minutes babe.

I left the company of my friends and sat in my room, turning on my laptop and getting settled. By this time, I saw John’s name appear in my contacts and we started a chat.

“Well don’t you look smart,” he laughed as we appeared on each other’s screen.

“Oh I haven’t had a chance to change yet,” I said, looking down at my smart white blouse I had on.

“No, I like it, it’s kinda like a hot secretary fantasy,” he smiled. I raised my eyebrows through the screen. “You look good, what can I say? Are you going to dress like this all the time if you get the job?”

“Actually they were pretty smart casual in their offices. Apparently it’s only for the big meetings that they dress really smart for,” I told him.

“Aw, that sucks! I was looking forward to seeing that everyday.”

We talked for a while longer, as I found out more details about the UK tour The Maine were doing. They had been added as main support to Mayday Parade’s tour and were going to be getting their own tour bus while they were over here too. It was a nine date tour and they were going to be here for two weeks. I heard a phone vibrate and we both went to look at our phones and both laughed as we saw the other do it.

“It’s me, getting told to move my ass by Jared and not be late to Pat’s this morning,” he laughed.

“What time are you meant to be at Pat’s?|”

“11.”

“And what time is now?”

“Half 10.”

“Have we really been talking that long?” I asked. “I should probably go eat anyway.”

“Alright, well, this might be our last video chat for a while, depending on if I can find decent internet,” he said.

“Oh yeah, you start your US tour tomorrow,” I remembered. “Well, we can always message each other or call if we can’t do this,” I sighed.

“Let me know as soon as you hear anything about the job, baby,” he smiled. “Doesn’t matter what time it is.”

“Will do, and you enjoy the tour! Now go, before you get in trouble for being late!” I laughed. We ended the chat and I walked out into the living room. I found Lizzie, Lucy and a couple of our other friends sat around watching TV.

“What did John say?” Lucy asked, turning away from the TV.

“He was more worried about what I wearing,” I laughed. “No, he was really nice, saying he hope I’d get it and everything.”

I walked through to the kitchen and started looking for something to eat. I grabbed some pasta out of the cupboard and put some water on to boil.

“Have you guys all eaten?” I asked, sticking my head round the door.

“No we haven’t yet,” Lizzie answered.

“Well I’m going to do some pasta with some kinda sauce, if you all want that?” I suggested. After getting four yes’s, I returned to the kitchen and pour enough pasta in for five people and found a tomato sauce from the cupboard too. Once it was all cooked, everyone grabbed a plate and returned to the living room.

“So where’s this new job, Tash?” our friend Ben asked. All talk was of this job at the moment because it was going to be a huge change.

“Well, I’m not entirely sure yet. It’s either going to New York or LA,” I said between mouthfuls. “I’m hoping for LA, that way it’ll be closest to John.”

“What does he say about all this?” he asked.

“He’s really happy,” I told him. “Obviously it’ll be much easier if I was only in the next state.”

Two days later, I was in my room listening to some music and doing some online shopping when my phone began to ring. I looked down to see a number I didn’t recognise and answered it.

“Hello?”

“Hi, is this Natasha Barratt?” the voice said.

“Yes, it is.”

“Oh hi, Natasha, this is Mike King from Raw Power Management, we met on Tuesday,” he explained.

“Yes, hello,” I said, as my stomach dropped. My nerves suddenly took over.

“After reviewing your application and interview, we have decided to offer you the position we explained to you for our Los Angeles offices, if you would be interested?”

“Yes, I would love to, thank you,” I smiled.

“Perfect, would it be possible to get you to come into our office as soon as possible so we can begin the process of the appropriate paperwork to send you out there?”

“Of course. I can come in tomorrow if that’s OK?”

“Tomorrow would be fine, around 11.30?”

“Yes, thank you. See you then Mr King.”

“Goodbye, Miss Barratt.”

As I hung up the call, I threw my phone back down and stood up.

“YES!” I shouted loudly as I jumped around my room in excitement.

“What? What?” Lizzie asked, running into my room.

“I GOT THE JOB!” I screamed.

“YOU GOT THE JOB?” she screamed back hugging me.

“I GOT THE JOB!” I repeated as we both bounced around my room.

When I had finally calmed down, I began to take it all in. I was moving to America. Away from my friends, my family, my life. A few years ago, I had only dreamed of moving away, especially to somewhere in America. I never thought I’d be doing that and getting a boy.