Page 2 of A Wonderland Wish on Ever After Street
‘Oh yes, very good.’ He brushes crumbs from the desk. ‘You’re very talented.’
I blush at the compliment, even though it’s notmethey’re complimenting.
Mr Hastings picks off a piece of the cupcake and deposits it into his mouth. He looks like he’s intending to be unimpressed, but as he chews thoughtfully like some kind of professional cake taster, his face softens.
‘I wish more interviewees tried to bribe us with cake.’ Mrs Willetts takes another one.
‘Oh, I wasn’t?—’
She laughs. ‘I know, Miss Jordan, I was just joking.I must admit that the cakes have swung it for me. You’re our best candidate so far, and notjustbecause none of the others thought to bring us treats.’
Hope races through my body, and then quickly fizzles out again when Mr Hastings speaks and the unimpressed look is firmly back on his face.
‘You are very late, however. The deadline for applicants passed two hours before your application was received. How do you explain that tardiness and why it should inspire confidence in you, given that you cannot follow simple guidelines?’
I don’t know how to answer that. The honest answer is that I went back and forth with myself so much.
This is aterribleidea.
This is the best idea you’ve ever had.
You can’t do this.
You’vegotthis.
It was like Rapunzel inTangledwhen she first leaves her tower. I didn’t know which way to turn. I filled in the application form and pitched my idea, but when it came to actually pressing send… I doubted myself. Applications closed at 12p.m. on Monday, so I continued doubting myself while watching the clock, waiting for 12p.m. to tick by, and then when it did, I was filled with regret and mentally kicked myself for not just getting on with it.
And then Marnie came by to make sure I’d sent it, and she yelled at me for not doing it and made me send it anyway, even though the deadline had passed. She persuaded me that I had nothing to lose and the worst they could say was that it was too late.
‘I lost track of time. I was helping my friend Marnie out at the Tale As Old As Time bookshop and we had a lunchtime rush and the deadline passed without me realising it.’ It’s not exactly a lie, it’s just leaving out the bit about crippling self-doubt. No job interviewer needs to hear that.
I was more surprised than anyone to receive an email invitingme for this interview. And I realised this had to be a ‘go big or go home’ moment. I had to do something that would get their attention and make me stand out from the crowd, which is where the Alice-inspired outfit and cakes came in. The kind of thing that could go very, very right, or hideously, awfully wrong. Metaphorically blow their socks off. I give the lighter a wary glance. Maybe literally blow their socks off, and a few other bits too, if that had gone awry.
‘Well, that shows a dedication to work, doesn’t it?’ Mrs Willetts says kindly. She’s eyeing-up another cupcake. It’s possible those cupcakes are loaded with genuine magical powers.
‘The only reason you’re here at all, Miss Jordan, is because I waspersuadedto look over your application, despite the fact that rules are rules and, contrary to popular belief, they arenotmade to be broken, not even by those who already work for us.’ Mr Hastings’ sternness obliterates all my positive thoughts. If there’s magic in those cupcakes, it’s definitely notthatstrong.
‘Ah, yes, you do have experience of Ever After Street itself, don’t you? You already work there on a casual basis?’ The nameless man also helps himself to another cupcake.
‘I’ve been helping Marnie on and off since the autumn. When I heard about Lilith retiring from the tearoom, I knew it was what I wanted to do straight away. I grew up with family who owned a tearoom and, a couple of years ago, I was going to?—’
‘And yet you still couldn’t get your application in on time,’ Mr Hastings mutters, cutting me off from further oversharing, which is probably just as well.
‘Oh, stop grousing, it was close enough,’ Mrs Willetts says as she goes for another cupcake and I wonder if it was her who persuaded him to begrudgingly look at my application. ‘We’re not going to split hairs over an hour or two when this is clearly the best application we’ve had. Lilith has been in that spot formany decades and leaves big shoes to fill, and you, Miss Jordan…’ She nods down to my Alice-style black Mary Janes, which are pinching a bit, if I’m honest. ‘I think you’re just the bright spark we need. Anyone who can make cakes like this definitely belongs on Ever After Street. It’s a good job the council offices aren’t nearer or I’d be popping by every day for one or two of these!’
Oh dear. Those cupcakes have gone a bit far now. I mean, Icanmake cupcakes. I used to be able to make cupcakes. Just because no baking has gone right for me lately, doesn’t mean I can’t do it. It doesn’t mean that every attempt will turn out like my last attempt – flat, semi-burnt buttons with curdled butter icing, and not exactly the soft and fluffy vanilla flavour of these beauties, with lashings of delicate icing perfectly piped in a rosebud shape, but I try not to think about it because it sounds like I might be winning them over. Well, the cupcakes are winning them over. The nameless man has got a smile on his face now too, although Mr Hastings is still glaring at me.
‘And you’d dress up like this every day, would you?’ he demands.
‘I think it could be fun. I’d give the tearoom a makeover to make it as much like entering Wonderland as possible, so why shouldn’t customers be served by someone dressed as Alice? It would add to the fantastical feeling and surrealism of all things Wonderland. An immersive experience for every visitor. Tea and Alice go hand in hand, don’t they? The books are much-loved classics, and children everywhere connect to Wonderland and the characters encountered there, and…’ I lose the train of thought on where I was trying to go. ‘It would be a perfect fit for Ever After Street. Every shop is themed after one fairy tale or another. Until now, the tearoom has been the only establishment that’s not themed. It would be nice to tie it in with the rest of the street, don’t you think?’
‘Hmm.’ They all make varying noises of agreement and MrHastings spins the cake stand around, admiring the few remaining cupcakes left on it.
‘You’re in luck, Miss Jordan. It just so happens that my daughter is a huge fan ofAlice in Wonderland, and in her younger years, I was subjected to watching the Disney film hundreds of times and reading the books for her bedtime story on many, many nights. I must admit this is quite an inspired idea.’
‘Yes,’ Mrs Willetts chimes in. ‘Alice in Wonderlandis something that’s sorely missing from Ever After Street. I can’t think of anything being a better fit for an Alice-inspired business than a tearoom. Especially with these delicious cakes.’
Maybe it’s a sugar high. Maybe this is where I’ve gone wrong in job interviews before – bynotgetting the interviewers so hopped up on sugar that they can’t think straight, and offer me the job in a haze of cake-related endorphins.
