07-02-2014, 02:44 PM
Volachov led him back through the office about a half an hour later, Amelie was working at inputting something into the computer, and the man with the bruises was gone. Volachov led Calvin through another door, leading out to the garage itself. A couple of mechanics walked by on their way to toolboxes and gave Calvin and Viktor a good morning as Viktor showed him around. Viktor responded back in kind and usually followed it up with a question such as "How is your son doing in college?" or "Has your daughter had her baby yet?" further reinforcing to Calvin that Viktor really cared about those who worked for him.
"Continuing on, back there is our parts room."
Viktor gestured to a door on the back wall and then to a toolbox that stood right next to it. "And this is the shop toolbox. These are shop owned tools that are available for any mechanic to use. Just make sure they are put back and are well maintained."
Another mechanic approached the duo, and Viktor waved him over. "Kristoff, I'd like you to meet someone. This is Calvin. Calvin, this is Kristoff - our shop foreman. He handles more of the day to day operations in the shop."
Calvin and Kristoff shook hands and exchanged pleasantries while Volachov continued. "Calvin will be joining our staff next week. That is, if he accepts the position."
The question caught Calvin off guard. He had thought the interview had gone well, but hadn't expected an answer today. His eyes turned to Viktor, who was smiling his usual smile. Calvin wouldn't have been surprised if the man started laughing with a "ho, ho, ho."
Calvin looked back and forth between the two men, noticing that Kristoff shared Volachov's smile and a good deal of his other features. The men were definitely father and son. "Mr. Volachov, Kristoff, I look forward to working with the both of you!"
Viktor took Calvin's hand and slapped him on the back cheerfully. They spent some more time filling out the necessary forms to get his employment in order. Viktor instructed Calvin to give his shirt and pant size to Amelie and she would see to getting his uniforms ordered. Calvin would have to report in at 8:00 AM on Monday morning to start working. Viktor also gave him his number and offered to help Calvin more his tools into the garage later that week. Calvin didn't have a car yet and willingly accepted the help. Feeling very proud of himself, Calvin left the garage and moved to catch the metro back to his apartment.
He caught the train a few minutes before it was going to disembark. There wasn't a lot of room left, so Calvin stood and grabbed one of the bars hanging from the ceiling to balance himself once the train took off. Another man entered the train after him, and Calvin hadn't gotten a look at him yet before the man spoke to him.
"How did your interview go?"
Calvin finally got a glimpse of the man's face. The same one he saw that morning at the garage. He also noticed the man's accent was American, but he couldn't place the region. Calvin nodded at him in greeting.
"Well, I'm no longer unemployed, so I think I did pretty well."
Calvin said chuckling and offering his hand. "Calvin Johnson."
The man took Calvin's hand and shook it, "Connor Kent. Congrats on the job man. Seems like a nice place to work. So...you're a mechanic huh? You been doing that long?"
Calvin had really met some nice and interesting people the last few days. Connor seemed friendly enough. He had approached a guy he didn't even know to ask how a job interview went and seemed genuinely interested. Calvin found himself liking Connor.
"Most of my life more or less. I grew up as a dairy farmer and being able to fix things is sort of a part of the job description. You can't always rely on someone to get out to you on time to get it done, so it's just easier to learn to do it yourself. What about you? You do things with computers?"
"That's cool. Good work there, being self-reliant. Yeah, I work with computers."
Connor responded putting his foot against one of the support poles in the train car. "Ive been doing that for maybe 15 years. Before that did all kinds of other things. Landscaping, construction, janitorial. Lot'sa other things.You know how it is."
Connor paused, So did you just get to Moscow or have you been here for a while?"
Calvin smiled and laughed. He did know how it was. "It sounds like you are a hard worker, Connor. Of course any job done well is a job to be proud of. I arrived in Moscow about a week ago. Originally from Wisconsin."
A small child's giggle caught Calvin's attention. It came from behind Connor, so Calvin moved to look around the other man, his eyes becoming focused on a young boy, perhaps two years old, giggling in his mother's lap. A memory invaded Calvin's mind of Mary tickling a two-year old Benji in his crib.
The image of the woman brought the memory to Calvin's mind. The facial features were similar, although this woman's hair and eyes were dark in contrast to Mary's dirty blonde hair and sparkling green eyes.
She looks just like her.
A sadness grew in Calvin's eyes and his smile faded into a frown. His shoulders slumped and his grip tightened on the bar above. All of this happening within seconds, Calvin caught himself and painted a smile he didn't feel on his face while turning to face Connor again.
"So where do you hail from?"
((Dialogue done with Connor))
Edited by Calvin, Jul 2 2014, 07:42 PM.
"Continuing on, back there is our parts room."
Viktor gestured to a door on the back wall and then to a toolbox that stood right next to it. "And this is the shop toolbox. These are shop owned tools that are available for any mechanic to use. Just make sure they are put back and are well maintained."
Another mechanic approached the duo, and Viktor waved him over. "Kristoff, I'd like you to meet someone. This is Calvin. Calvin, this is Kristoff - our shop foreman. He handles more of the day to day operations in the shop."
Calvin and Kristoff shook hands and exchanged pleasantries while Volachov continued. "Calvin will be joining our staff next week. That is, if he accepts the position."
The question caught Calvin off guard. He had thought the interview had gone well, but hadn't expected an answer today. His eyes turned to Viktor, who was smiling his usual smile. Calvin wouldn't have been surprised if the man started laughing with a "ho, ho, ho."
Calvin looked back and forth between the two men, noticing that Kristoff shared Volachov's smile and a good deal of his other features. The men were definitely father and son. "Mr. Volachov, Kristoff, I look forward to working with the both of you!"
Viktor took Calvin's hand and slapped him on the back cheerfully. They spent some more time filling out the necessary forms to get his employment in order. Viktor instructed Calvin to give his shirt and pant size to Amelie and she would see to getting his uniforms ordered. Calvin would have to report in at 8:00 AM on Monday morning to start working. Viktor also gave him his number and offered to help Calvin more his tools into the garage later that week. Calvin didn't have a car yet and willingly accepted the help. Feeling very proud of himself, Calvin left the garage and moved to catch the metro back to his apartment.
He caught the train a few minutes before it was going to disembark. There wasn't a lot of room left, so Calvin stood and grabbed one of the bars hanging from the ceiling to balance himself once the train took off. Another man entered the train after him, and Calvin hadn't gotten a look at him yet before the man spoke to him.
"How did your interview go?"
Calvin finally got a glimpse of the man's face. The same one he saw that morning at the garage. He also noticed the man's accent was American, but he couldn't place the region. Calvin nodded at him in greeting.
"Well, I'm no longer unemployed, so I think I did pretty well."
Calvin said chuckling and offering his hand. "Calvin Johnson."
The man took Calvin's hand and shook it, "Connor Kent. Congrats on the job man. Seems like a nice place to work. So...you're a mechanic huh? You been doing that long?"
Calvin had really met some nice and interesting people the last few days. Connor seemed friendly enough. He had approached a guy he didn't even know to ask how a job interview went and seemed genuinely interested. Calvin found himself liking Connor.
"Most of my life more or less. I grew up as a dairy farmer and being able to fix things is sort of a part of the job description. You can't always rely on someone to get out to you on time to get it done, so it's just easier to learn to do it yourself. What about you? You do things with computers?"
"That's cool. Good work there, being self-reliant. Yeah, I work with computers."
Connor responded putting his foot against one of the support poles in the train car. "Ive been doing that for maybe 15 years. Before that did all kinds of other things. Landscaping, construction, janitorial. Lot'sa other things.You know how it is."
Connor paused, So did you just get to Moscow or have you been here for a while?"
Calvin smiled and laughed. He did know how it was. "It sounds like you are a hard worker, Connor. Of course any job done well is a job to be proud of. I arrived in Moscow about a week ago. Originally from Wisconsin."
A small child's giggle caught Calvin's attention. It came from behind Connor, so Calvin moved to look around the other man, his eyes becoming focused on a young boy, perhaps two years old, giggling in his mother's lap. A memory invaded Calvin's mind of Mary tickling a two-year old Benji in his crib.
The image of the woman brought the memory to Calvin's mind. The facial features were similar, although this woman's hair and eyes were dark in contrast to Mary's dirty blonde hair and sparkling green eyes.
She looks just like her.
A sadness grew in Calvin's eyes and his smile faded into a frown. His shoulders slumped and his grip tightened on the bar above. All of this happening within seconds, Calvin caught himself and painted a smile he didn't feel on his face while turning to face Connor again.
"So where do you hail from?"
((Dialogue done with Connor))
Edited by Calvin, Jul 2 2014, 07:42 PM.