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Moments pass, and there’s no answer. I knock again, louder this time, hoping Elle is inside and simply didn’t hear me the first time. My cardigan clings to my drenched skin, and I start to shiver uncontrollably.
A sense of vulnerability overtakes me, amplified by the growing conviction that I’m not alone. I glance over my shoulder once more, casting anxious glances around the dimly lit street, but the misty rain obscures my vision. There’s no one in sight, but the creeping sensation of being watched won’t leave.
Finally, Elle opens the door. She takes one look at me, drenched and trembling, and, biting back a laugh, ushers me inside. I step over the threshold and exhale a sigh of relief, leaving the cold and the unsettling sensation behind, if only temporarily.
Elle takes one look at me dripping all over the polished hardwood reception area and sends me straight upstairs to her apartment to take a shower. I’d much rather have a long hot bath, but I guess beggars can’t be choosers. It’s been months since I had access to real hot water, and Elle’s power shower pummels me better than any masseuse could. Not that I’ve hadmany massages in my life, but the scalding hot constant stream of water does wonders for my stress-wound muscles.
“Better?” Elle smirks when I reappear wrapped in a huge fluffy towel. I swear she must get her towels from posh boutique hotels or something. I never found a towel that is this fluffy in any shop I’ve been to, even when just browsing.
“Much. Thank you. I feel human.”
“You almost look it. When I opened the door I thought you were going to gut me, going by the look on your face.”
I grimace and she chuckles. “Is the street brat back in her box?”
I nod. Yes,Candyhas been put away for the night. I feel like myself again, justGrace.
“Good. I was going to order takeout, but then I wondered when was the last time you ate actual home-cooked food? So I decided on pasta. It’s quick and easy and will help with the copious amounts of alcohol I plan for us to consume tonight.”
I grin at her because that sounds like a hell of a good idea, and Elle is an amazingly good cook.
“Right, it’ll be ready in ten. I’ve put some stuff out for you in the spare room, go sort yourself out.”
“Thanks,” I say weakly before traipsing off like a sad little charity case.
I pull on the yoga pants and cashmere sweater Elle left out for me. It’s absolutely ridiculous that when I literally have nothing, I’m dressed better than I have been in my entire life. Everything Elle owns is soft, luxurious and expensive. I never really saw the point before, but right now I feel like I’m getting the warmest hug, so I could get on board with her spending habits. You know, if I had any money to spend.
Our friendship is an unlikely one, but I think that just makes it more solid and real.
Elle was a vision in white fur, gliding past me on a dark night when I was on the streets. I’d been there a while, but was about to face down my first bitter winter out there. Nothing could have prepared me for that, but it was still better than the alternative – staying in the foster home where the biological son was way too handsyandgood with his fists. I didn’t particularly like either of his approaches, but not knowing which I would be facing each day somehow made it worse.
I’d run away one night when he came home drunk again, and wasn’t willing to take no for an answer. I barely managed to fight him off. Thankfully he was too drunk and horny to consider using his fists, but I didn’t wait for daybreak. Once he was sober, I knew he’d come hunting for me. I got the hell out of there, fast. But an orphan with literally no friends and family, or money, doesn’t have many places to go. And when you’re fourteen, you have even fewer options. My priority was getting out and staying hidden, which meant attending school was a big no-no. The authorities would be looking for me, no doubt because the foster home was missing their cheques, and the school would have no choice but to hand me over. So I disappeared onto the streets of the city, keeping my head down and using my small size to become invisible.
Didn’t always work, but sometimes I could use that to my advantage. It turns out that the best thing to ever happen to me was being seen – by Elle.
The city streets were unforgiving, especially as the temperature began its relentless plummet into winter’s icy grip. It had been a few months since I found myself living out here. What hadstarted as a desperate escape from a troubled home had now become my daily struggle for survival.
Night after night, I’d huddle in the cold corners of abandoned buildings or recessed shop doorways, cursing my misfortune and praying for the sun to rise once more. I was just another faceless figure among the countless homeless souls who roamed the city’s dark alleys and forgotten corners.
Then, one fateful evening, as the city’s bitter wind cut through my ragged clothes, I sought refuge in the narrow doorway of a closed-down shop close to the theatre. The lights from the foyer across the road shone bright in the night sky, chasing away some of the more sinister shadows I would encounter tonight. I wrapped my arms around my shivering body, trying to retain any heat I could find. My stomach ached with hunger, my breath visible in the frigid air.
That’s when I saw her – a vision in white fur, like a guardian angel descending from the heavens. Elle, she’d later introduced herself as. She stopped in her tracks, her gaze filled with a mix of concern and sadness, as if she could see the pain etched into my young face.
I’d seen plenty of people pass me by on those unforgiving streets, but Elle was different. She was around my age, but from a different world to mine, and it was the first time someone had ever taken a genuine interest in my well-being. Her fur coat seemed like a barrier between her and the cold world, a stark contrast to my tattered layers.
“Hey, are you okay?” Elle’s voice was soft, carrying a warmth that transcended the biting cold. She crouched down beside me, and her eyes met mine with a kindness that made my heart ache.
I couldn’t find the words to answer her, but I could feel her empathy, her understanding of the struggles I faced. It was at that moment that Elle insisted on taking me home, offering mea glimpse of hope in a world that had grown overwhelmingly bleak.
She reached out a hand, and I hesitated for just a moment.
I’d been taken advantage of before. Too many times. On the streets you learn the hard way that you can only rely on yourself, and you better learn fast. Otherwise you don’t survive.
But something inside me told me to trust this stranger, to accept the lifeline she was offering. I took her hand, and together, we embarked on a journey that would change my life in ways I could never have imagined.
From that moment I became forever indebted to Elle, and later her family, knowing that I would never be able to repay their kindness.
DASH
