She watches them at least.
I spend the time memorizing the lines of her face. The sound of her voice. The smell of her skin. Tucking those memories away in case—
“Everything okay?” My mother’s eyes are on me, her expression worried.
“Fine.” I wave off her concern. “Just remembered I need to make a call once I get to work.” I blow her a kiss. “See you later.”
I hate leaving her. I worry the entire time I’m gone, and the first few steps through the door when I get home are agony since I’m never sure what I’ll be walking into.
The risk of her falling on her way to the bathroom is huge, and the possibility she could be unconscious is significant considering how little she eats and drinks.
It’s why I can’t do what Andre’s asking of me. I can’t leave my mother on her own any longer than I already have to.
I would do just about anything else he asked of me, though. Maybe not kidnap a kid, but the rest of the stuff he thought I would balk at?
I’d do them all in a heartbeat if it meant I would have enough money to make my mom better.
I grab my coat and shove my feet into the sensible shoes I wear at the job I work during the day, then I collect my purse and a few items from the kitchen, before heading out into the hall and down the stairs. I pause outside the front door and lean over the rail to make sure I’m not just dropping food into an empty corner.
Barney smiles up at me, a steaming cup of coffee in his hands, his dirty face warm and pleasant. “Morning.”
I lean over a little more, holding out the items I grabbed for my friend. “Catch.” He holds out his hands and I drop down a granola bar, a bottle of water, and a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. “I’d stay and chat but I’m running late.”
Barney clutches the food to his chest and gives me a wink. “You’re an angel.”
Considering my willingness to commit murder and filthy sex acts for money, I’m fairly confident that’s not true, but I don’t have time to argue about it right now. “I’ll see you later.”
I leave Barney to his breakfast and hurry down the steps, heading for the bus stop. The subway takes just as long and the walk to get to the station is twice as far, so I’ve always opted for the bus, even though the ride isn’t nearly as nice.
It takes me almost a full hour to make it to Platinum, but my ride to Nadine’s is only half that. My shifts at the small diner don’t earn me nearly as much money as my time at Platinum does, so I guess the longer trip is worth it.
I still love working at Nadine’s, even if it hasn’t earned me the bulk of the money I’ve managed to collect to buy my mother’s spot in the drug trial one of her doctors suggested. The tiny diner is an old Denny’s that my boss bought and revamped into a cute little spot with fresh coffee and some of the best pancakes I’ve ever had.
It’s also where I ran into Madison again. We were friends in school but drifted apart after our outlooks changed. One day she showed up for a stack of pancakes, looking glamorous and glittery. She tipped me a hundred bucks and told me I was serving in the wrong place.
That’s how I ended up working with her at Platinum, foolishly thinking I’d be able to earn enough money to save my mother’s life.
But then I got lucky again and ended up auctioning off something I’m beginning to realize might not have the same value to Andre as it seems to have to everyone else.
Which is unfortunate, because maybe if it did I’d already have all the money I need, instead of just most of it.
And I know I’m not going to get lucky a third time. Andre’s not going to change his mind on what he wants from me.
And I won’t change my mind on the fact that I can’t give it to him.
There’s no bargaining with the man, which means I will have to try to bargain with a different man. Hopefully he’s more reasonable.
The restaurant is already busy when I walk in. Booths and tables are packed full so I can’t make the phone call I’m dreading, and I immediately get to work, taking over my assigned area as the tables turn over.
The next four hours are a blur of food and drinks and fake smiles as I power through the exhaustion biting at my heels.
Unfortunately, just as the breakfast crowd starts to thin the lunch crowd shows up and I’m right back in the thick of it. Four more hours pass before I finally have a second to make my way to the phone sitting on the podium just beside the kitchen. I punch in the number and wait while it rings. I’ve never called Dr. Marshall from work before, and I’m worried he won’t pick up a number he doesn’t recognize, but just after the fourth ring I hear his smooth voice in my ear. “Hello?”
I smile, even though he’s not in front of me to see it, but maybe he can hear it in my voice. “Hello, Dr. Marshall. It’s Paisley Davis.”
“Paisley. I was beginning to think I wouldn’t hear from you.”
So was I, but I don’t tell him that. I need Dr. Marshall to have confidence in my ability to get him the money he needs. “I’m sorry I wasn’t able to call sooner. There was an issue with my bank account.” It’s not a complete lie. There was an issue, just not one that took three weeks. “But I wanted to let you know that I’m going to be able to get my mom into that trial.”