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Seven whole days. That’s all I get to figure this out before they rent my apartment to someone else. And I guess that was their plan all along, to give us long-term tenants the boot so they can bring in new tenants they can charge twice as much as they’re increasing.
I push myself. At least the physical pain becomes louder to drown out my inner turmoil. I turn my music up to match. I make it to the edge of the sidewalk, looking both ways before crossing the street.
I picked this apartment complex, not for its amenities, but for the safety and proximity to nice, quiet neighborhoods. That’s where I went wrong, thinking I deserved to feel safe in my own community.
To say I’m bitter is an understatement. Never in a million years did I think I would be worried about paying my bills with a master’s degree in education. The great millennial myth we were all fed growing up.
I suppose I could always move back in with my parents. The thought sours the moment it crosses my mind. I think I would start bartending on weekends again before I resorted to that.
In fact, I would do anything to avoid that.
Anything.
CHAPTER 2
ASTRID
Heather has invited me to lunch, so I wrap my ankle and pick out a comfortable pair of shoes. It’s definitely not broken, and I don’t think that it’s sprained. Either way, I’m not about to go to the doctor and spend my last little bit of rent money.
Just as I consider texting her, Heather walks into the cafe, dressed in a new ready-to-wear jacket that I’m pretty sure I saw in a Bergdorf’s ad. This, and the fact that she offered to pay for lunch, makes me suspicious.
“You didn’t find a new job, did you?” I ask as I stand to hug her.
Heather squeezes me tight. “No,” she laughs. “You like my jacket, huh?”
“Like it?” I stare at her, trying to decide if she’s come into money or picked up shoplifting as a hobby. “I love it. But how did you get it?”
Heather is a part-time assistant for the high school athletic director, part-time substitute teacher. There is no permanent teaching position just yet, but it is nice to have her around the building. We’ve been best friends since college. I actually can’t imagine not seeing her around work. I’ll be so pissed if she got a new job and didn’t take me with her.
“You’ll never believe this,” she starts, sliding into the booth. Her crimson curls bounce as she moves.
“Oh, god, what did you do now?”
“So you know my friend Lisa, right?”
“Lisa?” I can’t picture her.
“Yeah, you met her the other week at my place. Anyways, she nannies for this family a few times a month, and get this, she makes fifty dollars an hour.”
“What?” I nearly choke on my own saliva. That’s… I don’t know, double what I make an hour. More than that, maybe.
Enough that I would be able to afford rent and a doctor’s appointment.
“That’s what I said. So,” she takes a deep breath, continuing on in a huff. When Heather gets excited, she forgets to breathe in between sentences. “She nannied for them full time last month, since school hasn’t started, right? And she made five grand. Five grand! In one month.”
I start to question my life choices. Five grand. What I could do with that much money. Every month. I could pay off my debt. I could go to the grocery store without looking at prices. I could afford to stay in my apartment and not have to worry.
But a job that pays that well, I imagine there aren’t a bunch of opportunities like that. I’d probably have to kill Lisa to get it.
“Wait,” I say, realizing what she’s said. “You’re doing this too? Part-time? Is it the same family or….”
“No, but she hooked me up with her boss’s friend. I’m watching the kid of a professional hockey player.”
“What?” Since when does Heather know professional hockey players?
“Yeah. You know hockey, right? Well, I guess you don’t. But their season is about to start, so practices, away games, all that means if the players have kids, they need help.”
“Oh, that’s cool.” I’ll admit, I am surprised that’s all that she has to do. Watching a kid part-time...that doesn’t sound too bad. I suppose that’s even something I could do. Two hours here, three hours there. If I did it long enough, that could add up. But I’m a long way from designer shopping.
