The interview had been going so well up until now. One minute, Kenya was asking him questions; the next, he was showing her his prosthetic eye. Cedric’s face fell at her bug eyed expression. He had seen that look so many times. It was the reason why he kept it covered in the first place.

  Ever since he got the upgrades, people often stared at him like they had just seen a ghost. Although there were others who had the same type of prosthetics, they were few and far between. Not everybody could afford them so they opted to stick with normal ones instead.

  Right now, he wished he still had his regular ones. At least people stared less when Cedric had a glass eye and-

  Stop.

  If he kept thinking like this, there was no chance of him walking out of this interview with dignity. After a good while, Cedric released his bangs letting them fall back over his eye.

  “I didn’t want to scare the kids if they saw,” It sounded like an excuse, but what else could he say? “That’s why I kept it covered. I’m sorry.” He glanced down apologetically. This wasn’t how he had hoped things would turn out. But a small part hoped that Kenya would at least somewhat understand.

  When Cedric had first applied for Carl’s Cuisine, Mr. Radford berated him for having prosthetics during the interview; worried it would seriously damage the business if customers saw them exposed. Since the restaurant was short staffed at the time and with Cedric being one of the few candidates that qualified, the manager had begrudgingly allowed him to work provided he covered up the prosthetics. It limited what he was allowed to do at work but it was a job at the end of the day.

  Before long, Kenya had snapped out of her bemused state. Her head shook a little as she recomposed herself.

  “Right…” she said, clearing her throat afterward. “I understand.” The lioness wrote some things down on a sheet of paper, making Cedric a bit nervous. Did he not qualify after all?

  “One last thing…”

  Cedric gulped a bit. What else was there? “Y-Yeah?”

  Kenya raised her eyes until they locked with his, staring intently as she said, “Do you have any first aid training?”

  The question, quite frankly, put him off guard for a moment. It was a standard question and a very important one at that, but still after having to show his prosthetic he expected much worse. But even so, he complied with the question.

  He did have first aid training, but most of it was taught to him by a friend of his family, who had former military experience. He knew CPR techniques, the proper steps for the Heimlich maneuver, and even the standard knowledge on how to treat wounds. All of this, Kenya had written down.

  The lioness looked up from the paper to look directly at him, then back to the paper. She let out a sigh, “Okay… I’m not going to lie. I really need the help.” Kenya raised a finger. “But I also have several other candidates to look over as well.”

  Cedric blinked, unsure of where this was going.

  “So, I’ll tell you what,” Kenya then smirked upon looking back up at him. “For today, I’ll give you a trial run of the job. Do well and the job’s all yours.”

  “R-Really?” Was it that easy? Even though this was going to be a trial period, the thought that Cedric might have a chance to earn it excited him. “Are you serious?”

  Kenya’s smile never faltered as she held out her hand.

  This was his chance. The opportunity he needed to stay afloat. Without hesitation, Cedric smiled, holding out his hand to shake hers back.

  “Thank you! I won’t let you down, I promise!”

  Kenya nodded approvingly at his response. “Glad to hear it!” She then stood up, making her way towards the door. “Now come on, I’ll introduce you to the kids and we can get started.”

  In that moment, as he followed the lioness, Cedric felt hopeful. Well and truly hopeful that everything was falling right in place. Despite his recent eviction and the stress from his other job, he was still able to smile.

  Everything was going to be okay after all.