12002
"What is the world," Max mutters to while taking in her surroundings. It was dark and she found herself surrounded by trees and the greenest grass she has ever seen. Extra alert in her new surroundings Max sets out to find some food. She hadn't really eaten anything in the mess hall that night so she was a little hungry. As if agreeing her stomach chooses that moment to growl. She walks for ten minutes before entering a gas station. The clerk's attention was on two of the other customers. Walking to the back she grabs a drink when the door opens and a female walks in. The woman was a 5'10" European America with jet black hair that stopped in the middle of her back. Max had moved over to the junk food aisle and grabbed some stuff. The woman walks up Max's aisle heading to the cooler to get a drink. Max pauses what she's doing as the woman passes. The woman then proceeds down the aisle across from Max to the front register. Max uses this time to exit the store. The next thing Max hears is a shout. Looking back she sees the clerk looking at her and the woman handing him money. Walking away from the gas station Max pulls out the drink. She looked at the date and noticed that the year says 2002. Drinking it Max concludes that she must have been sent back in time because the drink didn't have an expired taste to it. Now that she had food Max decided to look for a place to spend the rest of the night.
The next few weeks were hard for Max because she couldn't find a place to stay since nobody wanted to rent to someone without a job. She couldn't find a job because no one wanted to give work to someone who had no home. Max thought about going back to the life of crime that she was familiar with in Seattle but decided against it for two reasons. One, she didn't want to draw unneeded attention to herself in this new place and two; she didn't have any contacts to fence her stolen goods to. Max was about to give up all hope and turn back to the life of crime when she saw a sign hanging in the window of a nightclub called "The Hangout." The job was advertising for bartenders. She had once read a book about making all types of drinks and her photographic memory insured that she would never forget. It was around 5pm in the afternoon and the club had not opened yet.
"Hi," Max says walking up to the man lifting the box and carrying it inside. He was a tall light skinned African American and stood at 6'0". She follows him inside and waits until he sits the box down. "I'm here to apply for the bartenders' position." Up close she could see that his eyes were a hazel brown color and even though his hair was cut short you could still tell that it was curly.
"Hey Bobby," the man calls over his shoulder.
"What Rick," another man comes from a room behind the bar looking identical to Bobby.
"She applying for the bartender's position," Bobby says looking down at Max.
"Really," Rick replies to Bobby. "Well Helaina isn't in right now."
"Do you know when she'll be available," Max asks getting annoyed. She really hated when people toyed with her.
"She should be back in a few minutes," Rick informs Max. "You can wait if you want."
"Fine with me," Max replies taking a seat in one of the booths.
Less than ten minutes later a tall female walks into the room. Barely glancing in Max's direction she continues to the back. The woman returns five minutes later and sits across from Max. Turning her attention to her new booth mate Max barely holds in the gasp that tries to escape her mouth. Sitting across from her is the same woman from the gas station. From this distance Max could see that the woman's eyes were a gray.
"Rick tells me you want to apply for the bartenders' job," the woman begins.
"Yeah," Max answers.
"I'm Helaina what's your name," Helaina offers her hand.
"Max," Max replies shaking Helaina's hand. "Max Guevera."
"Have you ever worked the bar before?" Helaina asks getting the interview started.
"No… but I'm a quick learner," Max replies quickly.
"Do you have a bartenders' license," Helaina continues.
"No," Max answers feeling like she just lost another job. During her few weeks of job searching Max discovered that most people preferred to hire individuals with work experience or even references. Max didn't have the latter and she couldn't use the job experience she acquired from delivering packages at jam pony because the company didn't exist yet.
"You have to have a bartender's license to work the bar," Helaina informs Max.
"Thanks for you time," Max replies mechanically before getting up.
"I have a friend who can help you get your license though," Helaina responds to Max's back. "He usually works the bar when I'm not here."
"I already know how to make the drinks," Max informs her. "I just need to take the test."
"Okay," Helaina says getting up. "Let me know when you have your license then we can get you started."
"Thanks," Max replies walking towards the door.
"Max," Helaina calls.
"Yes," Max replies looking at Helaina.
"Visit any gas stations lately," she asks. Max froze expression on her face was that of sheer terror. She thought she had stopped before Helaina had gotten to close.
"Just don't steal from me," Helaina replies before heading to the back. Max could only nod her head in agreement. Realizing that she still had the job once she passed the test Max smiled for the first time since landing in Angel Grove.