Rika gave a little laugh. “And now you’ve met our head of the Staff Childcare Center. Our employees are eligible to leave their kids there whenever they’re on the premises, even if they’re not working. It’s a huge perk that we offer. The Terror Twins are the five year old kids of one of our Staff Caff employees.”
“Staff Caff?”
“Another benefit. Full-timers have access to free meals and snacks. The owner of the Faire is extremely progressive, and honestly interested in making sure that employees are happy.”
Lily was running out of reasons to go. There had to be a down side.
“But I do have to warn you.” And there it was. Rika’s voice was still calm, as Lily’s stomach plummeted. “Part of the reason why TraceyAnn is so much in need of staffing is because there’s a high turnover among those that work for her. You can probably tell already that she can be….difficult, especially if you get on her bad side. And she doesn’t seem to have a side that isn’t bad. If you do want to work here, you don’t have to work in the Staff Childcare Center.”
Lily didn’t hesitate. “It’s synchronicity. I do need a job, and working with kids isn’t only what I’m qualified to do, but what I want to do if I can. Everything else so far sounds ideal.”
Rika smiled. “It gets even better. We’re one of the largest Medieval Festivals in the country, maybe even the biggest one, so if you wear the re-enactment clothing like you saw TraceyAnn wearing, we can have you listed as a temporary employee and entertainer. Those can work as many hours as needed and get paid in cash. We can provide the housing on the premises as I had talked about, you’d just get paid at a lower rate than if you didn’t take that option. It’s still a better deal than any of the motels nearby, if there are any rooms available since summer is the busiest time for us. Do you want to take a minute to think about it?”
Lily didn’t need a minute. It was an automatic yes, to all of the above. Wearing the costumes was a bonus, it would be one more layer of camouflage. Staying on site was a no-brainer, with her current lack of working wheels. As if she even had the money to pay for a motel longer than one night. And even food was included. All that was missing was a fresh stack of Jana DeLeon paperbacks, and for all she knew, Rika probably was about to pull that out from behind the piles of paperwork on her desk.
“Yes, of course! To the job, I mean. And everything. Thank you so much!” Lily’s babbling made Rika laugh.
The door opened as someone dressed as a knight in chainmail walked in. Rika nodded to him, and asked Lily, “You mentioned that you had a Certification Letter?”
“Yes—I’ll go get it right now.” Lily looked at the knight, and then back at Rika. “About the name on it — ”
“We’ll talk about that when you come back with the letter,” Rika said, tilting her chin at the man.
“Yes, of course.” Lily appreciated the discretion. As she rushed out, the knight started complaining loudly about there not being enough vegan options in the Staff Cafe. She couldn’t grin any wider. To end up in a place where people were complaining that the free food they got wasn’t to their exact preference—she couldn’t believe the huge turnaround in how her day, herlife, was going.
She unzipped the go-bag, and for a second she freaked, thinking that she had grabbed the wrong one. But no, it was hers, with the reassuring heft of the photographs inside a paper envelope, and the larger plastic sleeve that held her Certification Letter.
The one with her real name.
She zipped the go-bag shut, and tossed it over her shoulder and reached for the small duffel bag, smiling at the lumpy shape of Mr. Calabash pushing against the thin canvas. She might as well carry both bags in, and hope that Rika made good on a place to stay.
As she approached the office, the knight who had been inside was walking out, looking decidedly calmer than he had before. He gave a courtly bow to Lily, and she smiled back before entering.
Rika was waiting for her.
“A lot of our staff are called by the names of their Medieval characters, but I’m going to need to have a copy of your ID on file, as well as verification of your credentials. All this will be kept confidential, of course.”
“Of course.” Lily pulled out her driver’s license, knowing that the fact that she had two hadn’t escaped the HR Director’s notice. She had a feeling that Rika didn’t miss much.
She handed it over, along with the Certification Letter.
“Trade you for these forms you have to fill out. Standard items, including medical conditions we need to be aware of. It all gets digitized, and only myself, the head of Operations and the Owner have access as needed.” Lily took the clipboard of forms that Rika handed her. Rika was aware of her looking at the stacks of papers on her desk.
“I usually have staff members help with the scanning, but I process confidential forms personally. Paper’s on my desk of materials that go to other staff members, like our accounting and purchasing directors.”
Lily nodded, and started filling out the top sheet as Rika scanned in the driver’s license and letter.
As Lily signed the last page, Rika handed the materials back to her. “I’ll still have to run a background check, of course, especially since you’ll be working with kids. I have to let you know that for a childcare position I’m obligated to report any irregularities I find.” Her warm brown eyes held Lily’s. “Do you still want to work in the Staff Childcare Center?”
Lily swallowed. “You won’t find any irregularities. If you found out that I was a risk—or if you found any risk to kids at all —I’dwantyou to report it.”
Rika nodded with approval.
“I gather you don’t want to be called by your real name, do you still want to go by ‘Lucie Swanson’?”
Lily opened her mouth to say yes, and then her eyes fell on the documents still in her hand. The Certification Letter, and driver’s license, that spelled out her full name.
Lily Katherine Cooper.
