Spreading The Word (Open)

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Phew....how did she look? Rosella stepped back from her full-length mirror and inspected herself. Did she look professional enough? But not too much, she needed to also seem casual enough to be approachable. It would do no good to scare people away when she was promoting the club. Rosella turned to the side, keeping her dark, decorated eyes on the mirror. The skirt looked...probably fine. The blazer would have been too much if she hadn't left her shirt collar open to show off a spectacle of gaudy accessories hanging from her neck. But did she really look fine? Approachable? Attractive? She sucked in her tummy, puffing her generous chest out even further, and held her hand against her belly. She relaxed again, letting her tummy expand outward. That wasn't terrible, was it? Rosella couldn't tell sometimes and while nothing ever seemed to be said - she was always praised for her fashionable wear, even for something simply casual - she couldn't help but be at least a little bit insecure. She turned again and straightened out her front, shaking her head at her own behavior. Of course it was fine, there was no reason to think otherwise, and once she got down there and talking to people, she was going to forget all about it anyway, as she usually did.

Rosella turned to the other side and posed. Yes, she was fine....maybe if she put her hair up instead? Then her draping earrings wouldn't become lost in her thick, dark hair. The woman pulled from her wrist one of many hair-elastics and started brushing her hair back into a high ponytail, securing it with the thin, black band. She pulled it tight then inspected herself again, turning her head from side to side to see her ponytail sway to and fro behind her. Yes, that looked much better. Rosella smiled and sent a kiss to her reflection.

Satisfied(not completely, but it was good enough for now), Rosella snatched her shoulder bag from the chair, tossing away the clothes that had dropped over it over the course of the morning, and grabbed her keys from the disarrayed kitchen table. She checked her bag...yes, she had the fliers. She gave one last glance out to the apartment, then, once confirming that she had everything, Rosella headed out the door.

It'd take her less than ten minutes to drive herself downtown where she parked on the side of the street and began her stroll down the semi-crowded sidewalk. She didn't want to do her promoting when the streets were too crowded, she wasn't some 'come one, come all' announcer, nor did she want to when it was essentially a ghost town. Working with people one-on-one was her strength(though she could just as easily work a crowd as well when she had to), and doing it like so made the interaction a bit more....personal. Intimate. In her experience, people responded better when you spoke with them rather than at them.

Fliers in hand, Rosella approached a person passing on the sidewalk. "Hello, I'm Rosella Carmichael," she greeted with a broad smile, first starting with her own name so that the person would know to whom they were speaking with. "I'm out here promoting for the grand opening of a new performance/show club and lounge that I'll be opening in the upcoming weeks. You are over 21, yes? Is this something that might interest you?" She held out a decorated flier to the person, gesturing down to it and the name printed stylishly upon it.

[Maxwell Esposito]

Maxwell wandered a lot. He had been wandering the streets of his hometown - Oak Park - since he was a kid. His family knew him to get lost for hours a time only to show up at the front door just before dinner was served (if they noticed he was gone in the first place). The habit carried over to Vermont when he was sent to Hammel. He practically never knew where he was going or what he would do when he got there. Sometimes he just kept walking until his legs got tired and he took a bus home. Other times he made 'friends' with some select locals...

Today consisted of the former, and Max had found himself somewhere downtown, sitting on the curb next to a bus stop sign, chewing on a toothpick because he couldn't find anyone willing to give him a cigarette. His ears were ringing slightly from all the activity around him. Sometimes it was hard to control his ability with so many people around. So when a woman came up beside him and introduced herself, offering Max a flyer, the boy winced slightly. She probably wasn't even all that loud, but at the moment, her voice was like rolling thunder to Max. With an almost alarmed look on his face, Max hesitantly took the flyer, glancing down at the professional advertisement.

The boy raised an eyebrow at the woman as she rambled about her business, internally sickened by her enthusiasm. He looked the nicely dressed woman up and down. It took everything in Max's power not to roll his eyes at the way the woman dressed. She clearly had money. If she was opening a business she must have some. The thought made Max dislike her more, but his mother taught him to respect women, and he wasn't about to dishonor her. "Ma'am, I know I'm tall but do I really look 21?" Max asked, actually somewhat curious. Maybe he could start getting himself into clubs if he shaved less often. Maybe the shaggy look he was donning added 5 years.

"Besides," Max said, looking away, "Even if I was, I a'int got money for that." The boy crumpled up the flyer, and tossed it to the side, leaning back on his palms, and gazing down the street, wondering when the hell his bus would show up.

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When she was done with her spiel, the boy responded and Rosella….she used all her professional experience to maintain her composure against her mistake. Well….that was too bad. Or maybe not? So the person Rosella tracked down was a little young. He might have older friends who were interested? One never knew. And maybe that was a good business plan anyway, to hold an underage night once a week….or every other week? Once a month, definitely.

Rosella kept up her slim smile. “Well…are you?” she asked for clarification. “It’s good to know my demographic around here anyway. I might decide to make changes to my business plan if there’s enough interest for an under 21 establishment.” That was a test, to see if maybe he would be interested in that instead.

But then he was completely shooting her down and throwing away the flier. Rosella eyed the crumpled up piece of stock paper. “Pick that up and throw it in the trash like a good boy then,” she said steadily, looking up at the boy with an icy smile. “If you’re uninterested, all you have to do is hand it back to me and say so, and I’d be on my way. But for what reason do you need to be purposefully rude and wasteful?” Rosella was only mildly irritated, but irritated just the same. She was tempted to give this disrespectful boy a nice dose of something that might make him more compliant, but….ah, no. She had to try words first. There was no reason why Rosella couldn’t get through to the young man that way, correct? At least not presently.

[Maxwell Esposito]

"I'm sixteen, ma'am. And like I said, even if I could I don't got no money," Max stated again. He wasn't even entirely sure what kind of business the woman was trying to get him to attend, but in Max's eyes it didn't matter. If it wasn't free, it wasn't for him. "And any money I get goes right out to ma."

Now normally, Max would have responded in a much more polite manner, as his mother would have scolded him for the way he threw away the paper so rudely as well. The way the woman scolded him nearly chilled Max to the bone at how much it reminded him of his own mother. For a moment it must have looked like the fear of god was instilled in Max. It was like the woman's face momentarily morphed into that of his mother. Max stared at the woman momentarily, before hesitantly leaning over and picking the paper back up. He sighed, and stood up, trudging over the waste bin a few steps away, and tossing it in. "There," he said, still a tiny hint of attitude in his voice, "all clean."

"I apologize for wastin' your flyer," Max noted, somehow equal parts sarcastic and sincere. While Max still didn't like the fact that he had been scolded by a random woman on the street, he hated that she had called him wasteful. That was one thing Max never wanted to be, and he hoped that he hadn't somehow put the woman out by crumpling one of her papers. He doubted it, but hated the thought all the same. The boy stepped back over to the bus stop, and leaned against the pole of the sign, looking both ways for any sign of the bus so he could get the hell out of there.

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The age mistake was simply that. A mistake and an honest one. Rosella would have to be more careful of that in her future promotions. Though that honest mistake still had her brain buzzing with the idea of somehow making her establishment open for underage patrons. It’d be a hassle to arrange, considering all the things she’d have to put in place to make it work, but it was doable. The question was, was it profitable?

There was nothing she could do, however, if the customer was broke. Unfortunately, that wasn’t something that could be determined by simply looking at someone. Yes, one might argue that if one wore nice, expensive looking clothes, then they would have money, or conversely, if one wore raggedy clothing, then they were poor and homeless…but Rosella wasn’t one to judge based solely on appearance. Or rather, she did, but went out of her way to not make that presumption, because it might just be wrong and a missed opportunity. This was not one of those times, and actually left Rosella feeling somewhat sorry for the young man. “I see,” she said with a slight nod of understanding. “You have my sympathies.”

The loss of the flyer really was nothing, she had plenty left to spare. But the boy’s attitude was not something that should be expressed to his elders. Nor was his attitude about simply tossing things aside mindlessly. Rosella had spent the last 20 years being a mother, so the look which chilled him was one which she had long since mastered and used on her own children. It was a look that only a mother could give. His grudging response to it was reminiscent of her own children’s acquiescence when she scolded them for similar bouts of disrespect. But now that it was past, there was no further reason to hold it.

Rosella watched the young man as he stepped away to the bus stop, considering something. With a tilt of her head, she offered another smile, though this one was several times warmer than the one she gave previously. “Would you be interested in a job, young man?” She wouldn’t have called him that if she could avoid it. As in, if she had a name to use instead. But she wanted to get to the point quickly.

[Maxwell Esposito]

Max bit the inside of his cheek to keep himself quiet after the interaction with the woman. There was something about her that was intimidating to Max, and he actually felt it beneficial to let things go, for once. He figured the woman would just forget about it and walk away, like everyone else who crossed paths with Max normally did. But when he heard her voice again, his head turned slightly. He winced at first... she was loud... at least to Max. That wasn't her fault of course, but rather the boys sensitive hearing.

Max gave the woman a quixotic look at first, but when he realized the woman was serious, he chuckled dryly and looked back out to the street. "You don't want to hire me," Max said, saving the woman the time and energy. Normally Max may have jumped at the opportunity for a job, but he didn't think he'd be able to get away with much with this woman. Like being a 16 year old smoker, or his poor school records. The boy was certain as soon as she got a hold of them, he would be overlooked. His resume wasn't anything to brag about, for sure.

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Max wouldn’t be the first person to find Rosella intimidating. Her kids had always said she had that spark about her that made even them hesitant to approach sometimes. But they were also some of the people who knew her best, and knew that she was just as warm as well. At least, Rosella tried to be. She wanted people to feel like they could approach her, but having been the one in charge of two kids for some 20+ year, and now the manager of her own establishment, she supposed it wasn’t unusual for her to emit an aura of authority. If she’d known about his hearing problem, she might have been a little softer in her tone, though. She liked to think she was considerate like that.

Of course she was serious. Rosella was a serious woman. She knew how to laugh and have enjoyable conversation, of course, but she was 95% serious and sincere in most everything she said. The boy didn’t know that, of course. Again, she gave the boy a steely smile. “I think I’ll be the judge of who I want and don’t want to hire,” she said. Rosella closed her eyes a moment and continued. “And you…you should take a good opportunity when you see it. And at least hear a person out before making assumptions.” She had no doubt that with his attitude there would be some issues, but….everyone had to start somewhere at getting their shit together.

[Maxwell Esposito]

Max's expressions didn't falter when the woman continued on about being able to make those types of decisions herself. Granted, it was not an expressions of extreme confidence. Some may have even said they sensed fear in his eyes. For a moment he didn't say a word, and just gazed at the woman, half expecting her to turn on her heels and walk away. But when she didn't, Max finally decided to open his mouth.

"Why... do you care so much?" Max asked in a tone that was oddly sensitive and emotional for the usually stone cold teen. "I'm just trying to save you the struggle, you know. You seem nice and I'm sure your business will do great... I'm not so sure I would," Max explained honestly, an almost begging tone in his voice. This woman reminded him so much of his mother in her tone an mannerisms that it almost hurt. It almost made it as if Max HAD to do what she said.

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Why did she care so much? Rosella smiled and chuckled softly to herself when he posed that question. The answer was incredibly simple. “I don’t,” she said coldly. “About you and whether you have the balls to take up a good opportunity when it’s presented to you? You’re in charge of whether you want to take it or not. I’m only making the offer.” She couldn’t make him do anything, after all. She couldn’t make her own kids do anything either. But she sure as hell could tell them how stupid they were for making the decisions they did.

“I need workers, regardless of what you decide. The next person I approach may have years more experience than the next, who may be a mere fledgling in the workforce. It doesn’t matter to me so long as i find someone to do the job.” She was a businesswoman, after all. She just needed bodies to do the work she gave them. Rosella had little interest in the personal lives of her employees, so long as they didn’t interfere with the job. “Struggles will always be present in business, regardless of whom I hire.”

Rosella upturned her gaze to Max’s and sent him a challenging smile. “And…I never said I would give you the job. I asked you if you were interested. It’s a yes or no question.” Either he was, or he wasn’t. He seemed stuck on convincing her(or maybe himself?) that he wasn’t suited for work…that didn’t mean he was disinterested.

[Maxwell Esposito]

Max's gaze didn't stray from the woman as she spoke. She didn't care about him... well she was honest. That was definitely a point in her favor. Max half expected the woman to spew some bullshit about how she cares about anyone and everyone needs to be given a chance before being judged. But he was pleasantly surprised that wasn't the case. His face didn't show this reaction though. He kept as straight as he had since the woman started talking.

And she didn't say she would give him the job. Max turned his head thinking back... and surprised to see that. Max was so used to being offered handouts... he'd just pretty much assumed that was the case. He turned his head to see if the bus was coming again, but still nothing, before turning back to the woman with a sigh. "What kind of job?" he asked, somewhat reluctantly after a moments more of thought.

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Call Rosella ruthless, but one had to be when in business. Risks had to be taken. Making decisions based on emotions wasn’t smart and would only lead to failure. Strange thing for a pheromone manipulator to believe. Though, sometimes people were surprisingly lucky, they went off a gut feeling and somehow things turned out all right. Those lucky bastards gained millions off a hunch. The rest of them, those without that intuition, struggled. They went over numbers and angles and actuaries all to make a decision that could still end them in the red.

Maybe approaching this boy was a bad business plan. Maybe hiring him would be even worse. But she didn’t know if that’s how things would turn out. She didn’t know this boy from anyone else. The only way she would know if he’d do the job well was to ‘try him out’, so to speak. Give him an ‘audition’. And if he sucked, he was gone, simple as that. She smiled when he finally gave in and asked about the job. “I can’t have you serving, since you’re underage, but there are other jobs available.” Rosella held up her hand and raised three fingers, one-by-one, as she listed them off. “Barback, porter, security. Take your pick, if you have a preference.”