Job Vacancy - 3. JV Chapter 3

“I have no say in the matter, sir, my parents have been funding my higher education costs, and they have withdrawn any future funding as of the end of this semester, due to a conflict of interest.

I will not be homeless, however, as I have managed to secure a well-paying job, which includes accommodation, and once I have left this office, I will be commencing to pack my belongings and moving out, as the accommodation is available immediately, and I will complete my semester exams and defer any future studies to a later date” I explained.

“Well, I wish you the best of luck in the future, and by the way, I have not recorded any disciplinary action on your files, since it was a one-off thing and a minor infraction. Good luck Mr Walker” the manager said to me before I left and headed to my room.

With less than 1 hour to go, before my transport arrives, I quickly went and had a shower, and changed into casual clothes, before I began to pack my suitcases and the few boxes of belongings that I have. The luggage that had been delivered to my locker was still there, and I intended to pick them up on the way back to the apartment.

Because of my approaching exams, the work roster had been changed to allow me more time to study and to attend my exams for the next two weeks, so I would only be working on Friday and Saturday nights and Saturday lunchtime, during his time, so I now had the spare time to move into my new home and concentrate on my studying.

Mr Wright was kind enough to assist me with getting my belongings, from the Rolls Royce to the first-floor foyer, and once I had done that he suggested that I join him for dinner at 7.30 pm, which gave me a few hours to get settled into my new home and work out where everything is.

All boxes of belongings ended up in the spare room, while my three suitcases were placed in the wardrobe, to be sorted in the morning. My main priority was to get familiar with my new surroundings and start doing some more studying for my exams.

I was a little surprised when I discovered that the kitchen has a selection of top-notch cooking pots, pans and utensils, cutlery, crockery, a rice cooker, and a waffle maker, plus the pantry was stocked with some basic food supplies, including cereals, rice crackers, cans of various soups, rice, flour, pancake mix, and a few other snacks.

The fridge has a selection of fresh fruit, salads and vegetables, plus eggs, milk, bread, bacon, and a selection of cold meat cuts, and the freezer has a selection of gourmet microwave dinners, plus some frozen bread as a backup. In the linen cupboard, I found a good supply of bathroom soaps, toilet paper, room deodorisers, and cleaning supplies, that would last for over a month.

I was totally surprised that the apartment was fully stocked up and ready, and I was not sure if I should say anything about it, as I continued to explore the apartment in more detail. The living area has two large bookcases, that are full of novels, books on history, and different places around the world, plus a large selection of DVDs, which I doubted that I would get much time to watch any of them.

At 6.45 pm, I showered and changed into some semi-formal clothes, with no tie or jacket, just a woollen jumper, in case it gets cold later, and I was about to walk out my front door when there was a knock. “Ready to go?” my boss asked when I opened the door, and I smiled and nodded my head.

After an enjoyable dinner, I arrived home… wow, that was going to take a while to get used to and realised I still had to clear away the luggage off my bed, find my linen and make my bed, before I could get near to going to bed. Realising that I only had single bed sheets, I remembered the linen closet earlier, and there I found two sets of high-quality cotton sheets, including pillowcases, to fit my bed, along with 4 sets of large and thick bath towels.

The following morning was Sunday, so I decided to go for a long walk along the river, but I only got as far as two blocks, when I decided to go into the city and walk around there for a while, so I headed back to my apartment, to collect my wallet, before catching a taxi into Perth.

With it being usually quiet on Sundays, I asked to be dropped off at the west end of Terrace Road, where I began to walk eastwards along the footpath beside Terrace Road, and Langley Park, which appeared to be busy with some cricket matches.

Crossing over the road, I went to watch one of the matches for a while, since I had nothing better to do. No sooner had I crossed the road, did I realise that it was two private schools having an inter-school match, which explained why there were so many cars parked along the side of the street, and by the look of the colours, it was Trinity College versus Wesley College.

There was a large group of adults gathered to watch the match, which I presumed to be teachers and parents, of the schoolboys, and I stood a little way off from one of the groups, not sure who they were supporting at first. I was so focused on watching the match, that I didn’t realise that someone had walked up to me, and was standing just two feet to my left.

“Hello Davies, what a surprise to see you here,” the female voice said to me, and it took me a moment to realise that she had mentioned my name, then I realised that it was a familiar voice, as I turned to face her. “Mum! What are you doing here? Wait… is Aiden playing here?” I said in total shock.

“Yes son, he goes to Wesley College now. We moved him up here during the mid-year break” Mum replied, as I looked around to see if my father was around nearby. “No your father is not here today, he is working at his Perth office, so he won’t be coming along. Anyway, how are you, have you found a place to live, and how is your job at the restaurant going?” my mother asked me.

“Good, I have a new job starting as soon as I finish all of my exams, and the job comes with an apartment, which I moved into today. He is an awesome boss, and I sort of already know about him, he is a very famous gay author, and I have read all of his books. I will be his administrative assistant, so I will be travelling around a lot when he is doing book tours” I explained.

“I see, well I am pleased that you will not be homeless and without a job, I can rest easy that you are safe and well… oh crap, he is here, your father. You better go now, before he spots you. I love you, son, I will let Aiden know that you were here briefly to watch him play” Mum said as she gave me a quick hug then gently pushed me away.

Heading away from where Mum was looking, I just hoped that Dad had not seen me, as I crossed the road, and turned up the next street, heading towards Adelaide Terrace, to find a taxi to get back home to Dalkeith.

Over the next few weeks, I dealt with the stresses of end-of-year exams, as well as working part-time in the restaurant, and spending three afternoons a week working for Mr Wright, getting settled into my new position.

When my final exams were over, it was also the end of my job at the restaurant, and my boss there was sad to see me go, but he understood and wished me the best of luck in the future, and not to forget us, and call in for a meal now and then, which I said I would do.

I had not heard from Mum since seeing her at Langley Park, so I presumed that everything was alright, I just wished that I was able to spend more time with her, and watch my younger brother Aiden playing in the cricket match. With just days to go, before Mr Wright and I are due to fly out of Perth, for Sydney to start the book promotion tour when I received an unexpected text message.

“Aiden playing cricket versus Scotch College at Creswell Park, Sanbourne, starting at 9 am tomorrow, I hope you can come and watch, love Mum.” Tomorrow was a Saturday, and I had free to finalise all of my things before we head off on Monday, so I was very pleased that I would have the chance to go.

This time I had my work vehicle, so I didn’t need to rely on taxis, as I looked up the park online, and saw that it was a public park, owned by the Claremont Town Council, as I looked it up on Google Maps, and saw that it is alongside the sporting fields of Scotch College.

I studied the map carefully, to see where it best for me to watch the match from, and eventually, I decided that I would park the car at nearby Swanbourne Primary School, and walk the one block through Ballaruk Bushland to the park, where I can sit on the edge of the bushland under the trees and watch the match from a distance from everyone else.

I informed Mr Wright that I would be out watching a cricket match for half of the day, and he said that he was glad to see me getting out and doing something enjoyable, before we tackle the next few weeks of travel, staying in hotels and book promotions in book stores and libraries.

The following day, with the loan of a picnic rug, a fold-up chair, and a picnic basket full of goodies, thanks to my kind employer, I set off for Swanbourne, to watch the cricket. I was setting up my little spot under the gum trees on the North end, just as the coin toss was being done, and it was Wesley who elected to field.

It didn’t take me long to find my brother Aiden, amongst the fielders, for the first half of their innings he was always in the infield or bowling medium fastballs, and he managed to get one wicket. Once he had done his round of bowling he was sent to the outfield, right in front of me.

Although he had not recognised me, he did look at me briefly, before facing in towards the game. Shortly after my phone buzzed with a message and it was from Mum. “Hello son, I am glad you came to watch, did Aiden recognise you just now?” the message read.

“No, he just noticed some guy sitting under a gum tree away from the rest of the spectators, but that is fine, I am just happy to see him playing,” I responded. “LOL, you are probably right there. I didn’t get a chance to tell him that you were at his other match in the city, as your Dad was suspicious about the guy walking away from me, and he did ask who it was, I just said you were some stranger, asking who the two cricket teams are”.

As the game broke for lunch, I watched as Aiden walked towards the grandstand, located on the western side of the oval, chatting happily with his teammates, as they disappeared inside. I unfolded the rug and laid it out on the ground, on this beautiful early summer afternoon, before retrieving my lunch from the basket.

Two plastic tubs, one containing coleslaw and potato salads, and the other a mix of cold meats, cheeses and gherkins, which I love to eat. Also, there was cutlery, napkins, a cup, and a thermos, which contained tea in it, with no milk, which I didn’t mind. After setting out my lunch, I looked out onto the oval, and suddenly I saw a schoolboy racing at full speed in my direction, and I soon realised that it was Aiden.

I closed the containers and stood up, took a few steps out of the shade of the trees, and waited on the edge of the oval, where Aiden came rushing into my arms, and he immediately burst into tears. “Now, now little bro, none of those tears. It is good to see you again, how are you enjoying attending Wesley?” I said to my brother, who was almost as tall as me, and he was 5 years younger than me, now aged 14.

“It is just good to see you again big brother, I miss you so much, and I don’t care that you are gay, I just want to spend time with my brother,” Aiden said to me, between tears, as I spotted Mum walking along the side of the oval, carrying her picnic basket of lunch. “You better wipe away those tears, Mum is on her way over,” I said to my brother, and he used the sleeve of his cricket shirt to clear his eyes as I walked back to the rug and sat down, with Aiden soon joining me, as did Mum.

The lunch break was over a lot faster than we had hoped, and Aiden had to rejoin his teammates again, but before leaving he turned to Mum. “Do you have my mobile Mum? Can you get Davies to enter his phone number, and list it under his middle name, that way we can keep in touch, without Dad knowing,” Aiden called out as he walked off, and Mum did as Aiden asked, and listed my number as Quinn, my awful middle name.

Mum stayed with me for half of the match, before heading back to the grandstand, and I decided that it was a good time to pack up and head back to my new home, after having a very enjoyable day and great family reunion.

For the next few weeks, I was so busy with visits to 8 cities in just over 3 weeks, with book promotions happening 6 days a week. I was exhausted by the time we arrived back in Perth. The only thing that I managed to do while away, was to buy postcards and send them to Aiden via his school, which I signed as Quinn.

Mum had texted me when we were in Melbourne, asking for my postal address, so she could send me a Christmas present, so I gave her the office address since I deal with all incoming mail as part of my job. After three days of resting from the long tour, I headed to the post office, to collect all the snail mail, that had been building up, while we were away, and sure enough, there was a package addressed to me.

“To my dearest firstborn, with all my love this Christmas year, we will miss you dearly. Aiden has received all of your postcards. Love Mum, Aiden and Michaela.”