Charlie

Olivia.

Her name is Olivia. I grin. I wouldn't have expected a fiery red head to be named Olivia. But the name fits her.

I take a bit out of the Cherry Chocolate. I close my eyes and savor the taste of the bitter cherries balancing out with the chocolate. I can see why this is her favorite fudge. It also fits her.

Now I have to find a job that fits her.

I pull out my phone and shoot dad a text.

You still at the office?

It doesn't take long before he responds with a simple yes.

I package the fudge backup and continue heading down Main Street. I was surprised to find that my dad's office and the fudge bakery were so close to each other. I'd never even seen the bakery before and I used to pass it almost every day when I was younger.

Shortly I end up at my dad's office. It's this simple brownish red brick building with a modern slick black door. The words etched into the glass above reads Career Paths.

I walk into the building. The first thing I'm greeted by is an oval desk with an older lady sitting behind it.

"Charlie." She grins, showing me her gums and false teeth. "Good to see you, hon."

I grin. "Hi Ms Wankle. How are you?"

"So polite." She giggles. "I'm doing fine. Here to see your father?"

I nod. I stick my hands into my pockets.

"He's just down in his office."

"Thank you." I wave and head down the maze of a hallway to my dad's office.

I know this place like the back of my hand. So it only takes me three left turns and two right turns to reach the oak door with my dads name on the door. I give three quick knocks before peeking my head in.

My dad sits behind his desk, he's bent over typing furiously on his computer. Each time his brown curls fall into his face he pauses in typing and blows them out of his face.

"Dad?" I question.

He jumps in his chair. His blue eyes wide as he turns toward the door.

"Charlie!" he exclaims. "Don't scare me like that."

"I knocked."

He runs a hand over his face. "I guess I didn't hear you."

"Working hard?"

He nods. "I've taken on a few too many clients and now they're all trying to schedule for the same time."

I walk farther into the room and sit down in one of his chairs across from him. "What are you going to do?" I lean back in the chair.

"I have to try and find different times. I first have to honor the one who asked first and now all the other ones are arguing with me about it."

"Can't you just drop them if they aren't cooperating?" I don't know why I bother asking this question when I already know what he's going to say.

He smiles softly. "You know I can't do that. I made a commitment to them to help them find a stable job that they'll like."

I nod. "I know." That's one of the reasons I love my dad. No matter how hard it gets or how stressed he gets, he'll always stick with you and never leave you to drown. "I actually have a question for you. Regarding helping people find jobs."

This gets his full attention. He stops typing and turns to me. "Oh? What is it?"

I lean forward and place my elbows on my knees. "So there's this girl-"

"Another one? I thought you would have moped about Eva for a bit."

My face heats up. I cough and try to get rid of the lodge in my throat. "It's not like that!" I choke out.

He raises an eyebrow.

"I swear!"

He sighs. "Alright. If it's not like that then what is it like?"

"Do you know the fudge bakery a few blocks down from here?"

He thinks about it before slowly nodding. "Fudge For Life?"

I nod. "There's this girl who works there. I overheard a conversation between her and her mom about her working there. The girl said she didn't want to and that she didn't know what she wanted to do. So I offered to help her find a job, or, well, a career that she might end up liking."

My dad has the biggest grin on his face. I don't think I've seen it that big since I rode a bike all on my own. "So this is your first step into the job?" he asks. "Does that mean you're ready?"

I shrug. We've talked about this enough already. I want to start working here eventually. I know this is what I want to do. I just haven't been ready to yet. "I think this'll be a good starting place," I tell him.

His grin grows wider. "You don't know how glad I am to hear that."

I chuckle. "I'm pretty sure I do know."

He turns away from his computer, turning all the way towards me. "So, what do you need?"

I rub the back of my neck. "I just need some tips on how to start right now."

He nods. "Well, the first thing you'll want to do is have a meeting with the client. It'll help you get to know them and see what might work for them and what won't." He spins around. "I actually have a folder you can use to help keep you organized." He opens up one of the filing cabinets behind him and starts to dig through all his paper.

"I don't think I really need that."

He freezes and turns to me with the deadliest look on his face. "You'll need it."

I gulp. "Yeah- uh I'll take it then."

The dark look is wiped from his face and the wide grin is back. "Great! In the folder you'll be able to keep all her information. Like what she likes to do, her dislikes and likes, previous jobs..." He continues to list all of the items I can store in the folder while he continues to look for one. He scratches his head. "I'm sure I had one in here."

I wave him off. "It's fine dad. If you can't find it I'll just work without it."

He shakes his head. His curly hair bouncing around him as he does. "No no. You must have one. It'll help you when you actually start doing this for real."

I sigh.

"Found it!" He exclaims.

I sit up in the chair. My excitement returning again.

He spins around and hands me the folder. I take it and flip through it. All the papers look like some version of a personality quiz. It's question after question about boring life routines and things about what you like to do and what you don't. After those pages the next ones look like character sheets someone would use to make characters for DnD. "Do I have to feel all of these out?"

Dad shakes his head. "Not necessarily. But it would be helpful to have as much as possible filled out. The more you know the better and easier it can be to find a fitting job."

I nod. "So just get her to fill this out?"

He shakes his head. "Get her to do the quiz pages. And then during the meeting ask her about herself and fill in the one sheet with as much information as you can gather about her. It would even be helpful to sit down together and have you ask the questions and record her answers."

I bite my lip. "This seems like a lot of work."

He raises his eyebrow. "This is what it's like to be working here, and I'm giving you way less paperwork then we have to do. So if this is a lot for you then you're not cut out for the job."

"Way to sugarcoat it," I chuckle.

He rubs his eyes. "Charlie. This isn't an easy job. You have to be willing to put the effort in so that others can have a good happy life."

I shrink into the chair. "Okay, sorry," I mumble.

His hard gaze softens. "You know I'm just trying to help you, right?"

I nod.

We both jolt as the phone on his desk starts to ring. Dad checks his watch. "That's my client. You can come ask me any questions any time if you need help, okay?"

"Okay."

"I'll see you at home?"

I nod.

"Chinese food?"

A smile takes place on my face. "Please. And dad?"

His hand hovers over the phone as he waits to pick it up. "Yes?"

"Thank you."

He nods. "You're welcome." He doesn't wait for me to leave the room before he's picking the phone up and carrying a conversation that sounds like a losing battle for the client.

I stand up from the chair, the file in hand and leave the room.