Help Desperately Wanted

A Last Word story

Photo by Eric Prouzet on Unsplash

“I hope to God these interviews pan out,” Sal Terranova says as he sorts through a box of books at The Last Word Bookstore early one morning. “We’ve got to have some help around here before Julia quits and leaves us alone with Jacob.”

“I just hope we have a lot of good applicants to choose from,” Camden Templeton, his cousin and business partner replies, a tad too optimistically in Sal’s opinion.

“At this point I’d hire a chimp if he could sort books and not crap on the floor.”

Later in the morning they are seated in the small break room, Sal looking over a resume and Camden chatting amiably with a professionally dressed female applicant. Sal glances up at the wall clock, which reads 9:15 a.m.

“I’m very good at spreadsheets,” the woman says. “Formulas, pivot tables, you name it. I can handle any spreadsheet you might need.”

“Well, we’re a bookstore,” Camden replies. “We don’t have much need for spreadsheets here.”

“Everyone needs spreadsheets, dear.”

Sal looks from the woman to Camden and forces a smile. He turns the woman’s resume over, face-down, on the table.

A few minutes later, Sal is looking at another application. He asks a question of the next job seeker, a woman…