2020-06-07 - A Less Than Typical Job Interview

It's a lively, late Spring morning, a little cool and watery from the rain that happened just before dawn. Branch & Bole is pretty active at the moment, customers coming and going with their Spring and Summer orders, and the Out on a Limb folks just back from the first round of appointments. Cy's around back getting the mulcher going, and August is in the office at the back of the shop, checking the schedule for the afternoon.

Up front Thomasina, a matronly woman in overalls and a bandanna keeping her wild, curly, auburn hair under control, is restocking the Summer planting guides.

The next person to stroll into the shop is no mere customer. He's a potential employee! Jefferson's got a look of determination on his face as he scans the interior or the Branch & Bole, looking to see if August is present in the shop area. Not finding him, he instead moves purposefully towards the cash register to see if there's someone present to help him out. Fortunately, he spots Thomasina along the way and heads in her direction, lifting a hand in a friendly gesture, "Hello. I'm Jefferson Jackson. Sorry to bother you, but I was wondering if Mr. Roen was in."

Thoma glances up from stocking, eyes Jefferson with open curiosity. "Jefferson Jackson. I remember you." She says this in the manner of a busy-body, which is to say 'I remember a lot of stories about you'. She doesn't look disapproving, despite this, just overwhelmingly interested in what brings him to her humble workplace.

She glances at the office, which has a window into the shop proper; August is seated at a big, scarred, oak desk. "He's in there. Feel free to knock on the door, if you're expected he'll wave you in." August is making faces at his tablet.

"You remember me?" Jefferson says with a nervous little smile. "I hope at least some of it is good," the fellow says before chuckling lightly in a clear attempt to be friendly. When Thomasina looks towards the window to the office Jefferson follows her gaze and spots August at his table. With a nod towards the helpful woman the ex-con says, "Thank you very much."

After taking a deep breath Jeff heads towards the back door, approaching it purposefully to give it a knock. After doing so he makes sure that he's visible to the office's occupant.

August glances up, beckons Jeff in. Inside it's a simple enough affair: an old, 50s chrome table in lemon yellow with mismatched chairs serving as a break table, a handful of filing cabinets festooned with indoor plants (spider plants, string of pearls, air plants, pebble plants, and more besides). The oak desk August is seated at is paired with an equally old and dark oak office chair. Behind him is a door leading into a small restroom, and next to that door is a minifridge, on top of which is a coffee and tea station.

He gets up and offers his hand. "I do indeed," he says. He's dressed or work: an old Led Zepplin concert tee, black and tie-dyed orange, faded but holding together; worn denim jeans with paint, dirt, and grass stains in equal measure; heavy hiking boots. It's a far cry from the rich plum suit he was in the other night. "Glad you could stop by."

As August offers his hand to shake Jefferson makes a bee line for him to grasp the extended appendage, giving it a firm shake. The ex-con cracks a smile and says, "Thank you. I've been wanting to get a chance to meet with you again." Jefferson isn't dressed too shabbily. He dressed up somewhat for the meeting, wearing a tucked in polo shirt, khakis and brown leather shoes and belt. "I hope I'm not interrupting anything too pressing."

August's grip is firm and friendly, his hands calloused and even scarred in a few places from a decent amount of physical labor. "Same here," he says with a slight smile. "And no," he flips his tablet down, "you are not. I'm jut fighting with one of my suppliers over what I ordered versus what I got." He makes a face. This is an on-going struggle, it would seem.

He gestures at the minifridge behind him. "I've got coffee and tea, if you'd like either. You're welcome to have a seat." He settles back in his chair, has a sip from a nearby mug of said tea. He eyes Jeff, somewhat curious, probably because of that trait they both share but which Thomasina out in the shop doesn't: Glimmer. The shine that catches the eye.

"That sounds like a pain," Jeff says agreeably. "I figured with so much stuff on computer nowadays it would be hard to mess up an order." He'll shrug then, "Never worked in a store though, so I don't have much of a frame of reference."

When offered a drink he shakes his head, "No thanks. Had a fancy latte with my breakfast today, trying not to get hooked on caffeine." Sitting down, Jefferson nods to August, "Thank you." He sits up rather straight, keeping his posture erect. Jeff doesn't have a huge glow of glimmer about him, but it's present. He looks at August, seemingly unsure about what to say. Out of his element.

"Eh, it helps in some ways, but it made a whole bunch of new issues." August shrugs; what can they do? Technology marches on. Not that he minds; he can run his whole store from one little tablet.

If Jeff is out of his element, August seems in it; at ease, uncritical, mostly just curious. Of course 'Glimmer' is the easy answer to why he was willing to consider Jeff for a job right off the bat. Hell, it got him two of his most recent hires, didn't it? But of course, there's still things to ask.

Around another drink of his tea, he says, "So, you're from the Harbor, you said? Out of town but came back?"

"Yeah, born and raised," Jefferson replies with a nod, resting his hands in his lap before he catches himself gesticulating or anything. "I..." There's a deep breath to steady his nerves, "I was recently released from prison. Did a stint for possession with intent to distribute." He frowns a little bit, then says, "I just thought it best to be honest and up front about that. Don't want to lead you on if you're not interested in hiring an ex-con, you know?" There's a chance he may start rambling, "But when I was locked up I found that I really liked the time I got to spend in the prison garden, planting stuff and making it look good."

August makes a low sound and nods. His expression says he'd been assuming there was something like that afoot. "I appreciate your candor," he says, tone frank. "But we're an EOE, or at least I try to be. So what came before only matters if it happens again." He shrugs. "As long as nothing like that comes around the shop, it's not my business. Your personal life is your personal life." He raises his eyebrows, waiting to see if Jefferson follows. (Somewhere Ignacio is shouting 'okay but!!!!' and August is ignoring him.)

He doesn't wait for a response to the implied question, just moves on. "I won't lie, it's a lot of physical labor. The arboriculture side means climbing trees and operating bucket trucks, being on call during bad weather. The shop side is a lot of digging, helping people with their allotments, and heavy lifting."

"I don't want to mess around with anything illegal again," says Jefferson seriously. "I did a lot of time and I don't want to go back. I stayed away from the prison gangs and stuff and had to spend a long time watching my back and that's not something I plan on having to do again." When he gets a run down on some of the stuff involved in working for the businesses Jeff nods his head a couple of times. "I think I can handle physical activity. I might be getting older but I'm still in pretty good shape, if I say so myself. I would definitely like the opportunity to prove to you that I could do whichever job you need me for the most. I can handle being outside in bad weather and lifting heavy stuff and I'm looking forward to learning a trade and earning money from an honest trade."

August studies Jeff a bit, weighing what he says. Eventually he nods. "Got a friend of mine you should meet, once he's back in town." He says that like he's making a mental note, leans over to pull a small packet of stapled papers out of the oak desk. "Here's the employment application--it includes all the specifics. Go ahead and give it a look and think it over, and if you're still interested, fill it out and drop it off the first day you can start."

He pushes it across to Jeff, settles back in his chair. "It's fine if the tree climbing winds up not being your thing. Horticulture work I've got plenty of space for too. But we're happy to get someone else trained for Out On A Limb if we can."

"I look forward to meeting him," Jefferson says with a solid nod. He looks at the stack of papers, picking them up when they get slid his way to give them another quick glance. "Thank you. I think it'll be good to work for you." He then nods once again, "I'd like the opportunity to see if I can hack it. I'm a pretty athletic guy, I'm betting I can get up a tree if I need to."

Then he grins and extends his right hand for a shake, "Thank you very much. I'll drop this off after I read everything and fill it out. I'm really happy about this opportunity."

August leans forward to accept the handshake, nods and gives Jeff a wry grin. "Oh a lot of people do better climbing a tree than they realize, when they need to." He hesitates, getting a look like he wants to ask something but isn't sure how to approach it. Finally, he settles on, "You're aware that the Harbor's a little..." He lifts a hand, wobbles it. "Weird. Right?" His eyebrows go up.

That question provokes a look of curiosity from Jefferson, who thinks about it for a moment before he nods, "Yeah. I couldn't ever put my finger on it, but I... have a kind of intuition about stuff sometimes." He seems cautious about what he has to say, but once he opens his mouth there's little reluctance, "You get the same thing, I'm guessing. It's a lot stronger in town than it was when I was locked up, it's weird coming back to it, honestly."

August relaxes, nods. "Yeah. We can see it," he gestures between the two of them, "between us. But people who don't have it?" He glances out into the shop, where Thoma--Glimmerless and hard at work--is helping a customer pick out some house plants. "Their minds just...ignore it. A few folks who work here are like us--Ignacio, Finch. When we get a call for a job that sounds like it might be...weird? We try to make sure one of us who knows what's up is on it. Keep the normal folks safe." Which sounds ridiculous, because Cy and Jen are some of the finest arborists out there, but they don't have a shred of the Art between them.

"I'm not saying that happens a lot," he adds. "But it does. Just life in the Harbor." Another of those helpless shrugs.

"So we help keep people safe if there's some kind of weirdness going on?" Jefferson asks, seeming to weigh the idea in his mind. He nods, "I can get behind that. It would be nice to help people, I guess, make sure there's nothing going to mess with them if I can help it." With an upnod he asks, "What kind of weirdness have you seen? Most of mine has been like little glimpses. Running drugs and prison sentences never left me a lot of time to explore it, if I'm being honest."

August gets a look on his face which Jeff can no doubt recognize: the look of a man who's seen a lot. "Some pretty heinous and crazy shit," he admits. Then, "But, not usually when working. When we're working, it's typically minor stuff. You know, the hedge pulls itself up out of the ground and wanders the yard. The Ficus attacks the dog. There's a wisteria tearing down the chimney. Joey Kelly," he jerks a thumb in the direction of Kelly's gym, "had a thing where his trees were getting real ornery."

He clears his throat. Well, this isn't the usual kind of job interview and offer, but Gray Harbor's not your usual town and August is far from the usual employer. "Anyways. Happy to chat more about the, ah, weird stuff, once you're more settled and have seen some more of it."

"Ornery trees? Well, I'm guessing I'll have to figure out how to handle that sooner or later, since I might be able to do something about it the regular Joe can't," Jefferson says with a nod. "But yeah, once I've seen some stuff I'll be sure to hit you up about it." Then he begins to rise to his feet, taking the packet of papers in hand. "I appreciate you taking a chance on me. I'm really excited about working for you, even if we might have to mess with some evil shrubs from time to time." There's a little smile at the joke, but it fades quickly enough. "If something serious goes down, though, hit me up. I don't want to see anybody get hurt that doesn't have it coming, you know?"

August gets up when Jefferson does, nodding. "Don't worry, Finch and I can get you trained up." Another of those small, wry smiles. "And, will do. When you come in for your first day we'll get you all sorted." He moves to show him to the door. "And if it doesn't work out, or you get a better offer, no sweat. I know this isn't glamorous work."

Jefferson follows August's lead towards the door, nodding his head as the other guy talks, "Well, if it doesn't work out, it doesn't work out, but I think it will. The chance to spend all day outside after spending years behind a fence sounds real nice, even if it's tough work." When he reaches the door Jeff says, "Thanks again. Unless I get a better offer in the next day or so I'll come by with the paperwork all filled out. I'm pretty excited to start working."

August coughs a small laugh about the chance to work outside. "Yeah. I can relate." Of course, not the same way Jeff can, yet there it is. "And you're welcome. Look forward to seeing you then. Take care, yeah?"

Out in the shop, Thoma eyes Jeff as he comes back out of the shop with that packet in hand. She's at the register ringing up a customer, though, so she can't ply Jeff for details. That'll just have to wait for his first day. Sorry, the town busy body is going to be one of your co-workers.