Chapter 8: April

“Yes, I’ve told her. She just wants to know what time to start?” Elisa gave me a thumbs up. “Yes, she’ll be there at eight. Good. I’ll give her the details…. Yes, and you too,” she said before hanging up.

I stood next to her, close enough to know that it was good news, but not close enough to hear what he was saying on the other end.

“He said you should be there at eight. Okay?”

I did hear that part of the conversation, but I was too excited to tell her I knew I had to be there at eight.

Between eating the croissant, having two espressos, and looking for somewhere to live, Elisa told me the good news. Luke had agreed to me working as his PA temporarily. She didn’t know the details, and I didn’t care. I was just grateful.

“Don’t be late. And whatever you do, don’t let me down. Got it?”

I nodded like a bobbing doll.

“I have a good feeling about this. I think it’ll work out for him, and you too. I just need to leave now. I don’t normally work on the weekend, and I have to see my family. You can just leave by the elevator when you’re ready.”

I smiled as I reassured her, “Yes, and I’ll leave the Mac and iPhone on the table.

She shook her head. “No. That’s for you.”

“What?”

“It’s yours. He keeps some in the office for new staff, so he got Craig to go and get them for you.”

I nodded, feeling like the luckiest woman in the world.

“Just don’t let me down.”

“I won’t. You don’t have to worry about that.”

“Take care, April. We’ll be in touch.”

Again, I nodded as she grabbed her coat and then headed to the elevator. I was alone in the kitchen, still homeless, but I had something I hadn’t had in a long time. Hope.

I just had a little problem, one which didn’t concern her. I needed some clothes without breaking the budget.

I had one task to do before going to look at some of the rooms, to call my parents. The one thing I dreaded. Every time, I picked up the phone to call them because they never called me. Elisa gave me a sim card, so I had a new number, which wasn’t really a bad thing. No one really called me. I just had to quit my old jobs, and I could easily find their numbers online.

“Mom, is Dad there?” I asked as soon as she picked up the phone. Calling her was much easier since she knew how to use the video function, which was more than could be said about Dad.

“Yeah, he’s here. Do you have good news?”

“Brilliant news. Fantastic news. I have a job!”

Dad laughed, and Mom switched the video to focus on him. “But you have three. Now you have four?”

“No.” I laughed, thinking he was right—this would be my fourth job. I had to give up the others, and I couldn’t do that without notice. I could babysit still, but the other two I would definitely have to give up. I had to give one hundred and ten percent of my focus to get Luke to hear my proposal, and there was no way I was going to fuck it up. Never in a million years.

“I’ll have the one job in education, like I’ve always dreamed of having, at Tech Winters. You know, they’re…”

“The top IT education firm in the world! Yes, we’ve heard you tell us a thousand times. We know all about it.”

Mom quickly took the phone away from him when it was clear he was getting bored. “Dear, we’re so happy for you. Very happy. This is so exciting!”

“Yeah” I said. “And my boss, well, he’s the CEO, so he’s really important, and this means I’ll get the chance I’ve dreamed of.”

“I know dear, we’re so proud of you.”

Mom and Dad owned a diner, and I knew they were disappointed when I made it clear I didn’t want to take over the family business. I loved hanging out there as a kid, but as I got older, the idea of staying in the small town, of not doing anything but working and owning a diner, didn’t appeal to me. My sister Dawn settled in the business like a duck to water, and once she was married, it was clear she and Greg were a perfect match to take over the family business. Dad and Mom should be retired, but as soon as Dawn became pregnant with their first grandchild, Mom opted to help Dawn around the house and to take over Dawn’s shifts. They were still healthy and active, but the problem was they had no outside interests apart from work.

Mom didn’t know much about phone apps, but when I showed her the leading education apps on the market, she was happy to listen and try to learn about them, which was more than could be said for the rest of my family. But she thought they were all good and couldn’t see their deficiencies. If anything, she would say, “There was none of this when I was a kid.”

She was right—a lot of what was on the market today wasn’t available in my time, let alone hers. It was a market which I’d been studying and loved as I got older.

“April, you don’t know happy I am right now,” Mom said.

“Me too, kid,” Dad chipped in as I tried my best not to join Mom, who couldn’t hide her feelings anymore.

I didn’t even have the contract, I didn’t even know the terms or anything, but for once, I couldn’t wait to tell my parents some good news. It felt like every time I called and they asked how things were going, I would make out there was some hope, even if there wasn’t. This time, I didn’t need to lie. I could simply tell them the truth.

I had overstayed my welcome, and I had to leave the penthouse and either move to one of the two hotels I’d found or find a room to crash in. I didn’t have much to carry apart from the case Elisa had given me. I could easily put the things she’d bought me inside and try and do things the old-fashioned way, just knocking on doors to find out if someone knows someone who is looking for a roommate. I could do this for another two weeks until payday.

Everything that seemed impossible yesterday had just become possible, and I didn’t need to listen to Mandela this morning to know that things were moving in the right direction.

“Mom, Dad, I need to go. I’ve got so much to do this weekend. I need to go shopping.”

“Don’t overspend! You haven’t been paid yet.”

I nodded. “I know. Love you both. Bye.”

I cut the conversation short, and then Elisa walked back into the kitchen. I thought she had left. That was what she said earlier, at least. From the way she hesitated when I was on the phone, I had a feeling she wanted to talk to me about something.

“You didn’t need to cut the conversation short on my account, I could have waited until you finished talking.”

I shook my head and moved toward her. “No, it’s fine. It’s my parents, I’ll call them back later. Besides, I thought you had left already?”

She closed her eyes as if getting ready to say something that would make my world come crashing down.

She opened one eye as I drew nervously toward her. “I’m not going to regret this, am I?”

I shook my head.

“Mr. Winters has agreed, but we don’t know each other, you and I.” She held her hand on her chest as if the realization of what she had done had just hit her.

“I know.”

“And I don’t know, I just felt sorry for you. You guys went on a date, and then you were homeless. So I just did the one thing I felt I could do for you, and now…”

“What?” I asked, feeling as if my heart had skipped a beat.

“I don’t know if it was a good idea. I don’t know if I should have done it.”

I said, “Your gut feeling, the one which told you to get the job for me… trust it. Elisa, we don’t know each other, but I’m forever grateful.”

She sighed. “It’s just you’re single, and I know he doesn’t hire women who are single. Even though he shouldn’t discriminate, he does, and I know I’ve made him… well, not quite made him… but asked him to do something he would never do. He would never hire a young, attractive, and single woman. I forgot about it, but it just dawned on me, and I had to come and speak to you about it.”

I laughed, but it was met with a hard stare.

“I am serious. His first PA retired three years ago, and his new one was married. There’s a reason for it, and it doesn’t take a genius to figure out why he’s hired only two secretaries in his whole life.”

“They were reliable?”

She shook her head. “No. They were unavailable. If things go wrong between you two, then I don’t want it on my conscience.”

“He may be tall, dark, and hot with those piercing hazel eyes of his and his athletic body, but it doesn’t mean I’m interested.”

She laughed as I summed him up in one sentence, and I was getting hot by the end of it. Luke was the dream man, the type every girl would love to have ride in on his white stallion for her. Every woman would love for him to take them to his playroom (and I wasn’t talking PS4 or even 5) and spank them until the sunrise. Luke was every woman’s fantasy, and I would be lying if I didn’t say his photos didn’t give him enough justice. Sometimes when he spoke, I wondered if he was so hot that smoke would come out of his mouth.

“No matter what, I’m putting my faith in you, comprendes?”

I nodded. “Understood.” I hugged the perfect stranger who had turned my life upside down and gave her a big kiss on the cheek. “You will not regret this. I promise you.”

She smiled as she let go of my hand, and I knew I had to get my things and leave. I picked up my bag and left the laptop even though it was a little tough because it was all shiny and new. I put it back in its box, and I did the same thing with the iPhone too.

“Take it with you. The phone too.”

I shook my head. “No. I can get myself a new phone, and as for the laptop, I just wanted one to borrow. I’m not going to take it.”

“You have nowhere to live, and you’re going to be working for him. Take the job. Otherwise he will see it as an insult, and he’s not a man who takes insults well, believe me.”

She shoved them into my hands, and I stood, shocked, with my mouth wide open. I didn’t come from a wealthy family. We worked for things—every single thing—especially ones as expensive as these. The idea of him giving them to me after our disastrous blind date just felt like too much.

“Here’s the address for Monday morning. Be on time. At least by seven-thirty to make a good impression. He doesn’t like tardiness. Now, I’d like to spend some of my weekend relaxing, and I’m sure you have things to sort out before Monday.”

She was asking if I had a place to stay, and there was no way I was going to tell her I planned on going door-to-door to find somewhere, or to a motel.

I smiled. “Yes. Thanks so much, Elisa.”

We left the penthouse together. I wished I could stay here, but I had a feeling I would come back some day, even if was just to say hello to Elisa. I owed her more than that, and I needed to come back to see her.

If it wasn’t for her, none of this would be happening. None of it.