A Customer? - Riley Open Tags

[Riley Adams]

He was actually doing paper work. After so many years of being mostly hands on ever since Patching Adams came to fruition, Riley was actually behind his desk and doing his accounts. After Rina was promoted to full time field work, the office had been a little neglected and Riley finally figured that yes, he really does need office people to work for him. Because he was not the type to be barred to a desk. That was not why he graduated as a draftsman.

A call came in and Riley looked at the phone with a surprised glare before picking it up. "Patching Adams, this is Riley speaking. How may I help you?" The person over the line seemed to hesitate before answering. "You sound so weird on the phone, boss." Rina laughed and Riley released a breath he didn't know he was holding. "Rina, seriously."

Another laugh came before Rina finally came to the reason why she was calling. "I was actually just checking on you. I hope the staplers haven't done you in or something."

"Oh haha, you're so hilarious Rina. Is everything okay over there? Everyone working?"

"Yes sir. We're just running out of supplies." The door to the office set the bell overhead to tinkle and Riley looked up with a smile. "Rina, send me the supplies we need to my cell phone. Don't call the office phone anymore. Bye." Riley hung up and stood to welcome the newcomer. "Hi, how may I help you?"

[Ann Hudgins]

She'd said she needed a job. Quite a few times. The fact that Alex worked most afternoons rubbed salt into the wound. She needed a job.

Dressed as best she could with the clothes she had with her (she even attempted that make up thing again, she hoped she didn't look stupid, but Jean really wasn't the best person to give that sort of advice, and she was too embarrassed to take a picture to send to Alex while he was at work. So, whether or not she actually pulled a look off or not, she was going to try this.

Because no one was just going to walk up to her and give her a job.

Now, the discouraging thing about this entire trip, was that Ann was...well easily discouraged with this sort of thing. She walked into countless food joints and small retail stores, but just looking at the people made her palms sweat, and immediately exit the establishment. She knew she was making it worse than it actually was, but this involved talking to strangers. Sure, she supposed she could try to go talk to Kali, but she couldn't help but remember how the woman had acted like the last time she was around, and she didn't know if she wanted to face her again.

So here she was, walking down the street when this building caught her eye. Patching Adams, the sign said. That didn't really give away what it was, and looking around the establishment, she couldn't really discern what it was--but she figured she had passed up too many potential jobs to talk herself out of this one as well. She drew in a deep breath and walked inside. It was nice...and an office sorta place but she still didn't really know what the place was. Her luck, it would be some weird sort of nuclear corporate office--which didn't make any sense. But that would be her luck.

"Yes, hi," she tried to come across as sure of herself, but Ann only felt confident around a certain boy that was achingly not there. She tucked her hair behind her ear. "I was wondering if you had...an open position, or were accepting applications at the moment, sir?" That was proper office etiquette, right? She tried a smile at the man as she crossed the room with what she hoped was confident strides and settled in front of his desk. She could do this....

[Riley Adams]

She seemed a little too young to be a customer, Riley figured. Maybe her mother sent her? No, her mother could have easily called the office number; Riley had put up enough fliers in town for that sole purpose. So what could the girl be here for? Was she lost? Maybe she thought this was a clothing store. His office was a little unidentifiable. Maybe he should talk to Rina about redesigning the whole place. It needed some sprucing up indeed.

And then the girl started speaking and Riley thought, how fortuitous! Had he not just been thinking about finding someone to work the phones? "You've just answered my prayers. Come on in, have a seat! I'll get you something to drink. Soda or tea for you?" Riley asked with a gentle smile.

[Ann Hudgins]

Her heart palpitated as the moments ticked but, but once she had asked about a job, he told her she answered his prayers. No, actually, you answered my prayer. She certainly wasn't comfortable enough to actually say that, but she smiled graciously at him when he offered her a seat, and she sank into it and rubbed her palms on her knees. "Oh, tea is fine." It was a rare thing for Ann to drink soda of any sort--she just didn't like it.

She looked around the office for a moment, while he went about making the drinks. "So, what...position were you looking for?" She asked, because she would like to know what she was getting herself into. She folded her hands in her lap and then remembered her manners. "Oh, uhm, I'm Ann...Ann Hudgins. I got to Hammel...I'm a senior." That would suffice as introducing herself, right?

[Riley Adams]

"Tea it is," Riley nodded and proceeded to making a mug for the girl. He turned slightly so she wouldn't think he was ignoring her as she asked her question. "Oh mostly admin work. Someone who would keep the office running. Seeing as all of us are usually out of it. The office I mean." He paused for a moment as she introduced herself as Ann, a Hammel student.

He was surprised to hear that. So far, he hadn't interacted with that many Hammel students. Of course, he didn't make it a business to go up to that many Hammel students but it was nice to see them trying to assimilate into society like this. "Hi, Ann. I'm Riley. I'll have you meet the rest of the crew later but they're on a site job so everyone's gone." He explained the emptiness of the office as he handed her the steaming mug of English Breakfast tea. He went around the desk and sat at the side of the table.

"Have you done any admin jobs before? Filing, bookkeeping...things like that?"

[Ann Hudgins]

So it wasn't just an office place, the man had said that people were usually in it, but they weren't right now. That was interesting, and she was one step closer to figuring out exactly what they did here. She smiled as the smell of the tea started to circulate and nodded faintly as she mulled over the idea of her doing office work. Filing, answering phones (she was a little hung on this idea, but if she got paid...), straightening the pencil cup...it didn't sound hard at all.

"Nice to meet you, Riley," she replied politely. Her brows furrowed for a moment in thought when he mentioned the others were on a site job. That made it sound like these guys were archeologists or something, and were out digging for bones and other ancient treasures. She was pretty sure that wasn't it, but she couldn't think of any other jobs that would use that specific term. "Thank you," she murmured when he handed her the cup of tea. She carefully took the mug without touching--she wasn't sucked in with touch as she used to, but she never knew if all her training and blocking would work. Not to mention; old habits die hard.

"Well I haven't actually been employed before, but for this past school year, I was on the Newspaper for the school and helped keep all that sorted. I mean, I'm a fast learner." Once someone showed her how to do something, she rarely needed to see it performed again.

[Riley Adams]

"Pleasure is all mine, Ann." Riley smiled warmly. If there was anything Riley was, it was that. Riley could not be intimidating even if he tried. Janice had told him countless of times that his being nice was not getting him anywhere to which he completely disagree to. He got the job done much faster because he was nice. His employees knew not to take advantage of him because they would feel like a complete jackass for being so spiteful towards someone as sweet as him.

And it also helped especially in these kinds of situations. Future employees need to know what environment they were coming into and especially since Ann was a teenager and a shy one at that, what better way than to be welcomed by a warm smile?

He nodded at her verbal gratitude and listened as she explained her situation. He nodded silently before smiling once more. "That's a good thing. I'm sure you won't really have to do anything that hard. For the moment, the office isn't actually receiving walk in customers. Most of the business is done over the phone or email so you won't have to deal with customers directly. But even when you do, I'll be sure to send Rina over right away. You'll love her." Riley nodded with a smile.

"You don't mind greeting customers and whatnot do you?" Riley asked, not knowing Ann's affliction just yet.

[Ann Hudgins]

She decided she liked Riley. Not because she was only getting good emotions from him, but from how nice he had been so far. He hadn't chased her out of his office when she admitted to being meta (Ann was well aware of the part of society that threw language and fists at metas) by going to Hammel, and he hadn't denied her outright when she'd asked for a job. All that aside, he also felt like a very nice guy thanks to her empathy.

While she was glad he said the job wouldn't really be hard, Ann felt she worked best when she was forced to work hard. If something was easy...well it was easy, but if she really had to put her mind to it, then she could really focus on it and it really woke her competitive side. "That sounds good," she said with a smile when he mentioned a Rina woman. She knew herself and having to immediately start helping customers would be too much. She needed to get first acquainted with how things were run...what exactly the business was...

"No, I don't mind." She took a sip of tea before she looked back up at him. "I'm," come on Ann, you can do it," an Empath. I can feel people's emotions when their in the same room as me. I think that could really help, when dealing with customers...Well in person. It wouldn't work over the phone." She was pretty sure that while trying to land a job, you needed to establish how awesome you were from the rest of the unemployed world. She figured this might be her only advantage against someone else. Her shyness aside, it probably would actually help.

[Riley Adams]

And Riley decided he liked Ann too. Not only was she polite and looked to be a good addition to the office; someone to probably spruce the office up a bit, she was also confident and comfortable in her own skin enough to imply that she was a meta to a stranger. He was proud of that fact. He hadn't been that confident of himself or his powers after he graduated from Hammel. It took awhile for him to be comfortable saying it out loud to himself.

"Oh, good. Then I think you will do absolutely fine..." his voice trailed when Ann revealed her power. "Oh...oh then you...you will do swimmingly won't you?" Riley gave the girl a smile. "I'm a biological manipulator. But just restricted to animals. And maybe plants." He smiled, happy to discuss powers.

"Ann, you will be a wonderful addition to the Patching Adams family. Yes that sounds ridiculous but really, welcome." Riley extended a hand towards Ann, fully aware that hugs might not have been appropriate.

[Ann Hudgins]

Since they were in Pilot Ridge, and Hammel was there, Ann believed most the population knew that the school was for metas--even if that wasn't necessarily true--she felt more comfortable saying it here than she would in other cities. Ann wasn't the most confident person out there--by any means--but she wasn't a terribly frightened person who hated who she was and didn't accept what she was. She was a meta, and her power was potent and strong, and it took a lot of work to control. But she didn't have anything to be ashamed about because of that.

She was admittedly a little surprised when he revealed that he was a meta as well--with biological manipulation--but it explained why he had responded to her being a meta so well. He was probably a Hammel alumni (because he didn't have some foreign accent), she smiled. "That's awesome," she said about his power with a smile. Something like that had probably taken a while to master, but Ann generally liked any power more than her own. She wasn't so vocal about her dislike of her power now that she could control it, but it was still there.

"R--really?" She could hardly believe what she was hearing, but he offered his hand out in a hand shake. She got the job. Ann got a job. She stumbled to go shake his hand and held her breath while she did (touching was still something she avoided but she could block herself for short periods of contact, like a hand shake). She let out a breath after she took her hand back and smiled up at him. "Thank you, so much! I won't let you down."

[Riley Adams]

Riley couldn't help but be amused at the surprise Ann showed at her obtaining the job. He was more than glad to have her on board and he said so to her. The girl seemed to not have much self-confidence and for someone like him to be subjected to that, well...he won't have any of it. Not in such a young, promising girl like her.

"I won't let you down." Riley heard Ann promise and with a smile, he replied. "I know you won't."

[OOC: Wrapped for Riley! ^^]