“Oh, please!” He waved a hand at her. “Honey, you don’t even look your age, much less two years older.”
She turned to him disheartened. “Really?”
“That’s a good thing. Why would you wanna look older?”
“Because so far every stupid restaurant I’ve applied to, has taken one look at me and dismissed me, like there’s no way I could know what I’m doing. If I could just get my foot in the door and show them what I can do, I know they’ll give me a chance.” She pulled her long hair up in a bun and put the glasses back on. “How’s this?”
He smiled. “Adorable—but twenty-three—no way.”
Her shoulders dropped. “Well, I don’t care. I think I can do this.” She lifted her chin. “I’ll walk in there with confidence. All I need is one chance to prove myself. Then I can tell them the truth about my age and it won’t matter.”
Joey shook his head and started writing in his notebook. “Where are you applying now?”
She leaned over and whispered, “Moreno’s, in La Jolla.”
“Why are you whispering?” he whispered back without even looking at her.
Grace glanced at the girls in the front row of the class and continued to whisper, “Because,” she gestured to the girls with her pen. “they’re always going on and on about the guys that run the place.” She rolled her eyes. “The three dreamy brothers. I don’t want them to hear, and think that’s the reason I’m applying there.”
Joey turned to her. “Why are you applying there? That’s like thirty minutes away by a car. Even longer for you, since you’ll be taking the bus.”
“Are you kidding me? Do you know what working at a restaurant like that would do for my résumé? It’s totally worth the time it’ll take me to get there.”
Joey smirked. “Are you sure the dreamy Moreno brothers are not why you’re going all the way out there?”
She rolled her eyes again and immediately regretted it. With the glasses on it gave her a headache. She pulled them off, squeezing the bridge of her nose. “Trust me, I’m not looking to get swept up by some Mr. Suave. The way they talk about them, that’s what they sound like. With only one left on the market I’m sure he’s quite full of himself, probably loving all the attention, too. No thanks.”
“Sounds like you’ve been doing a lot of listening.”
“No,” she said, too quickly, then smiled at him and admitted, “Well, yeah, but only since I heard them mention how young the brothers are and how they run the show now—not their parents. I figured maybe they’ll be more open-minded than some of these older, unbending jerks I’ve interviewed with.”
Joey raised his eyebrows. “Good point.”
Grace smiled. Maybe she actually had a chance this time. She could only pray. Time was running out. She needed a job now, but she refused to settle for the only ones she could get.
After class, Joey insisted on taking her backpack home so she wouldn’t have to walk into her interview with it. He said he’d drop it off at her apartment later. He felt bad about not being able to offer her a ride but he had another class he just couldn’t miss. He squeezed her tight as he always did, wishing her good luck and she made her way to the bus stop.
~*~
Sal sat in the back room of the restaurant, skimming through the applications from the past week. All of the interviews had been such a waste of time. Alex walked in and dropped a file on the desk.
“Stop being such a hard ass and hire someone already. We need the help.”
Sal picked up the file and pulled out the papers. “I’m not hiring just anyone, Alex. They don’t have to be the best, but we do have standards.”
Ever since they made extensive renovations to their family’s Mexican restaurant, including adding a second floor and expanding the bar area, business had been booming. They could barely keep up. In the restaurant business, customer service was crucial. It could make or break you. Sal knew this but everyone he’d interviewed that week was grossly unqualified.
Word was already getting out that the second generation was taking over the restaurant. They had a reputation to keep up.
“I thought you had school today?”
“I do.” Alex rushed by him, digging through one of the drawers in the desk. “I left a book I need here last night.”
Technically, his younger brother Alex had taken over the restaurant. But ever since Alex had gone back to school, Sal had offered to help out. Sal had plans of opening up a few more restaurants. His youngest brother Angel and his wife ran the second restaurant over on the marina. Sal was more of an overseer of both. He’d finally gotten his master’s in business management and had big plans for the family restaurant. For now, those plans were temporarily on hold. That was just until Alex could finish school. In the meantime, he was meeting with potential investors and looking into any and all possible options.
As big and threatening as Alex looked on the outside, he was soft when it came to his employees. Sal knew better. They had to hire quality. In a way, he was glad Alex was too busy to do the interviewing himself.
Alex grabbed the book and rushed out of the office. “I’m out, Sal. I’m late. Hire some cooks already. You’re killing me.”
Sal nodded, waving him away. His next interview was probably out front waiting for him. He stood up and walked out the office. He read her application and frowned when he saw the age. Graciela Zendejas, twenty-three. Great. And she was applying for the head chef position. Yeah, that was going to happen.