Many days had passed and I still hadn't been able to find a job in this small town of Noble Creek. So, I'm officially in panic mode. Not that I wasn't unofficially.

Mom has been giving me suspicious glances here and there and each time she does that, I just want to blurt out, 'I lost my job, I'm sorry!'. I don't think I can hold it in any longer so, I have to find a job soon.

I've been searching for jobs on the internet but the hirers were only looking for full-timers. How are people like me going to survive if no one wants part-timers?! So, that is why I'm currently walking around town aimlessly, hoping that one of the stores or cafes would take walk-in interviews.

But my hope keeps getting reduced each time I walk past a store or a cafe because they're not hiring. What if I can't get a job? What am I going to do? Mom will struggle even further and I'll just become a useless family member. My eyes turned watery at the thought of me being unable to get a job.

Just as my hope was about to be crumbled into tiny little pieces, I saw a poster that says 'Hiring for Part-time! Walk-ins are encouraged!' My eyes instantly sparkled as hope developed fully in my chest. Thank you oh so kind heavens!

I looked up to find a sign with the words, 'Nighty Night Books & Co.'. I shifted my gaze to the see-through door of the store and saw many bookshelves worth of books. That's when it hit me. It was a bookstore! This can't be a coincidence. This must be fate's way of telling me that I'm destined to love reading.

With a happy smile, I walked inside the bookstore. The walls were purely white and the color of the bookshelves was a mix of blue and green giving off ocean vibes. The warm white colored chandelier on the ceiling shined brightly enough for the whole room to feel elegant yet cozy. This was such a beautiful store and so different from the ones I've seen.

After admiring the beauty of the store, I made a move to go to the cashier where I could enquire about the job. I saw a man—who was probably in his fifties—in a navy blue bib apron which had the words 'Nighty Night' sewn on the front in cursive. He was serving a customer with a friendly smile so, after the customer left, I approached him.

"Hi, I saw that you were hiring and I was wondering if I could interview for the part-time job?"

The man instantly smiled and raised his hand towards me to which I accepted by shaking his hand.

"Hi, I'm Rayson, but you can call me Ray. I'm the owner of the store."

"Oh, I'm Hera."

"Well, Hera. Usually, I would conduct the interview but I'm a little busy right now so my nephew will do it instead. Let me bring you to our break room and you just wait there for him, okay?" He said with a kind smile.

I nodded and followed behind him. Ray opened a door near the cashier counter and let me step in first. There were two couches facing each other with a table in between them. There was also a small kitchen on the other side of the room where there were a coffee machine and some assortments of snacks laying on the tabletop.

"Make yourself comfortable, he'll be right in," Ray said and closed the door.

I took a seat on the couch and gave myself a pep talk just to calm my nerves. It's been a while since I've gone for a job interview so there was a lot of pressure. Especially since I can't afford to fail.

Just then, the door opened revealing a guy probably in his twenties. I was shocked and confused at how similar he and Ray looked. He is Ray's nephew? I quickly stood up and shook his hands politely.

"Hi, you must be Hera." He asked as he took a seat in front of me.

I nodded and sat back down. "Yeah. Sorry but you're Ray's nephew?" I asked curiously.

"Oh, no. I'm his son, Rudeth. But you can call me Rudy."

"Oh."

"Well, let's get this interview started, shall we?" He said and got ready to write on the paper that was on his clipboard. "Your full name?"

"Hera Heaven Hawkins."

He raised his eyebrow. "Heaven?"

I looked down feeling embarrassed as I nodded. I then heard Rudy laugh making me look at him quizzically.

"That's interesting." He said looking amused. "What are you doing currently?"

"I'm a high school student. Sophomore year."

He nodded and jotted it down. "Any job experiences?"

"I was a barista at a cafe before this."

"Why'd you quit?" He asked curiously.

"I didn't quit actually. They retrenched me." I said with a tinge of bitterness.

He crinkled his nose. "Ouch"

"Yeah." I laughed awkwardly.

"So, I'm guessing you need a job because of financial issues?"

"Yes," I said truthfully.

"Okay. Usually, we hire people after seeing how they do in a day. My dad has a talent for discovering the right people for the job when he sees how they work. So, if you do well, you'll get the job. Does that sound okay to you?"

"Yeah, that's good for me."

"Can you work today? We are kind of short-staffed and it'll be perfect if you could help out. You'll get paid, of course."

"Yeah, okay. I'll be more than happy to help." I said with a big smile.

He smiled right back. "Okay, I do have one last question. Do you like to read?"

Damn. This was a trick question. If I said yes, he might think I'm here for the discount. If I said no, he might think I won't work well because I have no passion for reading or anything related to the store. Shit, what do I say?

"I'm getting there," I said with full honesty.

He seemed taken aback at my reply but covered it up with a chuckle. "I was not expecting that. But a good answer nonetheless." He said and stood up which made me stand up as well.

"That will be all from me, Hera. I'll hand you over to Ray and he'll tell you what to do. It was nice meeting you and I surely hope you get the job." He said with a genuine smile.

"It was nice meeting you too." I smiled.

He led me out of the break room and brought me back to the cashier counter where Ray was counting the cash.

"I interviewed her already. She's able to work today," said Rudy to his dad.

"Oh, that's wonderful. Thanks, Rudy. Hunter finally finished getting the stocks from the delivery guy so he'll mentor her. You can go back to your office."

Hunter? Surely it can't be that Hunter, right?

"Oh, there he comes. Hera, meet your mentor for the day, Hunter, my nephew." He said pointing towards someone behind me.

I slowly turned around to look at my supposed mentor who had the same name as the boy I couldn't seem to forget. The moment my eyes landed on him, it widened. He didn't just have the same name as Hunter Knight, he was Hunter Knight.

Suddenly, Nighty Night made a little more sense.

"Hera?"

"You?"

We asked simultaneously as we were both shocked and surprised at the sight of each other.

"I'm assuming you guys know each other?" Ray asked looking at us back and forth.

"I had a feeling they would know each other since they're the same age and they would probably go to the same school," Rudy told his dad.

"That's good then. They would work well together since they know each other." Ray said with a smile. "Hunter, get her started on shelving and teach her the basics, okay?"

Hunter seemed to finally regain his composure as he put on a stoic expression. "Okay." He said to Ray and then looked at me. "Follow me."

Without saying anything, I did as he told. As we were walking, that's when I realized that he was wearing the same navy blue bib apron Ray had on. If I'm being honest, it didn't quite suit him as it just made him look funny. I wonder if he likes the apron or not.

He walked to the back of the store and stood in front of a door that was labeled 'Staff Only'. He then took out a card and tapped it on the digital lock which opened the door to the room automatically. Hunter stepped in and I followed him right after. The room was filled with books that looked new and fresh and I instantly recognized it as the stockroom.

"Did you get the job already?" He asked finally speaking to me.

"No, not yet."

"That's what I thought." He took a deep breath and gave me a fiery gaze. "What are you doing here?"

"To work...?"

"No, I mean why here? Why not other places?" Before I could even reply, he decided to continue. "Did you know beforehand that Ray owns this place and was related to me? Is that why you're trying to get a job here?"

I looked at him puzzled at his assumptions. "What? I didn't even know that he was your uncle until I saw you here. What do you think I am? Your stalker?"

"I don't know, you might as well be."

My jaw dropped at his blatant accusation. Soon, irritation swelled in my chest. "Look Mr. I'm-a-big-hot-shot, I'm here for a job so that I can earn and feed myself. Don't go thinking so highly of yourself because you're not. Now, could you just tell me what to do so that I can focus on getting this job?"

I've never been this rude to a person I've barely spoken to before but it had to be done. I can't let him jeopardize my chance of getting a job here just because of his stupidity.

So much for thinking he was nice.

Hunter seemed to get the message that I wasn't here to joke around because he ignored what I said and started telling me about shelving and what I was supposed to do. I quickly took out my notebook and jotted down whatever he was telling me.

He suddenly stopped and looked at my notebook. "What are you doing?"

"Taking down notes...?"

He frowned. "Why?"

"Just in case. If I forget something, I can always refer back to my notes."

He scoffed. "There's something called mental notes."

I almost rolled my eyes at his aggravating behavior but I controlled myself because he was my mentor and he was unfortunately related to the owner. So, I decided to keep my mouth shut because I didn't trust myself to reply in a nice way.

Realizing that I wasn't going to answer, he continued with his explanation of how shelving works. After the theory lesson, he put me to test by making me shelve twenty books.

But Hunter didn't let me go easy because he made me carry the damn twenty books in my hand. I asked him why I couldn't use the book trolley and he replied saying that trainees don't deserve trolleys. I took a deep breath to calm myself down because I was itching to punch him in the nose.

Obviously, I couldn't carry all twenty books so I went with seven-seven-six. But Hunter nagged at me constantly because I went back and forth from the room to shelves thrice. Sue me if I don't have super strength. But I wish I had it because then I could have kicked him where the sun doesn't shine.

The more time passed, the more tasks there were, the more he tortured me, and the more I understood that he really didn't want me to get the job. At a certain point, I wanted to just scream all the vulgarities I knew of to his face and tell him that I didn't need this stupid job. But I held myself back and bit my tongue because I had no damn choice.

Finally, it was closing time and that meant I no longer needed to work with this irritating idiot. But that also meant that it was time to hear Ray's decision about me. Feeling a little nervous, I took my things and walked over to the cashier counter where Ray, Rudy, and Hunter were waiting for me.

"So, what's the verdict?" I asked looking at Ray.

Ray looked at Hunter. "What's your opinion, Hunter? Should Hera get the job?"

Of course, he'll ask him. I sighed as I knew what the verdict was.

"She shouldn't get the job. She sucks." Hunter smirked while looking at me to which I avoided his gaze.

Rudy slapped the back of Hunter's head making him yelp in pain. "Stop lying, idiot. You did a good job, Hera. Hunter is just jealous."

Hunter was going to retaliate when Ray gave a stern glare to the both of them making them stop immediately. I smiled at this cute trio.

"Rudy's right, Hera. You were great and I think you could do really well here. So, congrats kid, you got the job." Ray said with a smile.

I instantly jolted with ecstasy as I took in the good news. "Thank you! Thank you so much! You don't how much this means to me! I'll work hard and I won't disappoint you."

"That's good to hear, kid. Give Hunter your number and we'll contact you once Rudy and I get the schedule figured out, okay? Hunter, see her out while we close up here."

"Oh, no, that's okay. I can-"

"Let's go," Hunter said and started walking towards the entrance, cutting me off.

I sighed and said my goodbyes to Rudy and Ray. Then, I walked out of the store where Hunter was standing at with his hands in his pockets.

When he saw me, he handed his phone over to me. "Add your contact."

I did as he told me and gave his phone back to him. "You can go back in now," I said and started to walk away.

"You're walking home?" He asked making me turn to look at him.

"Yeah, I don't have a car."

He looked at me like I was crazy. "Are you crazy? It's like 11 p.m. You're going to walk home when it's this late? Alone?"

"Yeah...?"

His jaw clenched as he looked away. I was about to walk away again when he got my attention.

"I'll drive you home."

I gaped at him. "What? Why? You don't have to. I'm fine."

He walked over to me and grabbed my wrist. "I'm driving you home. End of discussion." He said and started dragging me.

I was about to argue further when I saw that he was walking towards a black Prius. "I thought you owned a motorcycle?" I asked before I could stop myself.

He raised an eyebrow at me. "And where did you get that thought?"

I looked away feeling a little embarrassed. "You're always leaning on a motorcycle like it's yours so I thought..."

He unlocked his car and opened the passenger seat door for me while staring right at me. "Leaning on it doesn't mean I own it. It's one of the guys' motorcycle. Not mine."

"Oh." I managed to let out as I got in the car.

He got in right after and asked for my address which I hesitantly gave. He then drove away and we were engulfed in comfortable silence. Neither of us talked and that was perfectly okay.

Hunter arrived at my house in fifteen minutes and I was glad that it didn't take any longer. I opened the door and was about to get out when I halted.

"Thank you," I said and quickly got out.

I took about three steps towards my house when I heard Hunter call out my name.

"Yeah?"

"Next time, call someone to pick you up. Maybe even that boyfriend of yours."

And then he zoomed out of my driveway. Leaving me completely bewildered and dumbfounded.

What the hell was he talking about?