Chapter 1 - The candidates

Shane looked at his diary, trying to get an idea of the day he had ahead of him. Sighing, he remembered that he had interviews to conduct for the junior management role in one the patisseries he ran as the area manager. He loved his job, but this week had been a nightmare with endless deadlines and meetings.

Whilst he enjoyed the challenge, Shane hated it when his work schedule interfered with his personal life; especially when work over spilled into his gym evenings where he kept up his power-lifting to maintain his perfectly muscular physique. He had seen many times over what could happen if you didn't keep up an active exercise regime in this job.

'Bon Bon' patisserie was a rapidly expanding chain, selling sweet and savoury pastries as well as desserts; specialising in the most delicious and calorific treats on the market. Working for the company was a sweet number as well; excellent pay with great benefits. Shane was always flooded with applications every time a position came up. Unlike most jobs in catering, a job at Bon Bons was fast becoming a job for life for its employees; who all knew they were on to a good thing.

Shane felt guilty, remembering that he had just pulled out applications at random this time. He just hadn't had the time to read them all. The company demanded that he interviewed at least three people, so that was all he had chosen; the lucky candidates, lining up for their interview as he arrived at the store a couple of hours later.

All three candidates were in their early 20s, attractive and well groomed. However, only two of them were dressed appropriately for the interview. Rachael and Jamie wore smart clothes and stood up politely to greet and shake Shane's hand as he introduced himself. However, the third candidate, Jenna, was less prepared.

Dressed in low-cut jeans and a t-shirt, Jenna was attractive and slender, getting glances from the male customers in the store, lining up for their pastries. She had a beautiful face, shoulder length, dark rugged hair and a perfectly toned body under her snug-fitting t shirt, that emphasised her assets. She was clearly a girl who never really struggled for things in life. In fact, Jenna reminded Shane of himself, when he was about 8 years younger; before he realised that you actually had to care about things like work to get along in life.

Jenna wore a smug look on her face and slouched back, waving at Shane lazily from her chair instead of standing up like the others had done.

Shane looked down, unimpressed. But Jenna's attention was elsewhere, taking the opportunity to check out the only male candidates' rear as he stood up; clearly much more interested in that than the interview she was about to have.

Shane sighed, realising that he really should have taken more care in selecting the candidates.