I shook my head. “Not after I call Jorge. His jewelry store commercial can wait.”
She smiled. “That makes me happy.”
I smiled. “Youmake me happy.”
And as my daughter fell asleep, gripping my pointer and ring finger together, I wondered what the hell I was going to do.
Who the hell was capable enough to take care of my daughter while I was away? Because it was evident that my ex-wife didn’t possess that capability, not even during the designated weeks as per our custody agreement.
2
Eva
“Shit, shit, shit. What am I going to do?”
I paced around my apartment at one in the morning with my hands clasped behind my back. I chewed on the inside of my cheek, wishing that my shift at the restaurant tonight had been nothing but a dream. No, it wasn’t possible. I had worked for this restaurant for almost five years. I was slated for a promotion. They couldn’t fire me!
And yet, they had.
“Fuck!” I exclaimed.
I kicked the wall and groaned at the pain that shot up the back of my calf. I hopped around before I landed on the couch, prying off my shoe to massage my toes. I sighed as I stared up at the ceiling, my mind turning itself inside out as I tried to figure out what the hell I was going to do.
I had been let go from the only job that kept me afloat, and they didn’t even give me a severance package like they usually did.
“Who did I piss off?” I whined.
I sighed as my foot fell to the couch. My arms flopped out, lying against cushions and hovering in midair over the floor as I closed my eyes. I needed to sleep. I wouldn’t be able to solve any of my issues tonight. And yet, I had so much nervous energy coursing through my veins that I couldn’t sleep no matter how hard I tried.
I couldn’t sleep, my foot hurt, and I had no idea what my financial future looked like.
“Great,” I murmured.
I mean, sure, waiting tables at that restaurant had only been a part-time gig. But, now I needed something full-time. I needed something to pick up the slack for the job I had just lost, and I needed it to be something other than waiting tables. I’d been a waitress ever since college, and I didn’t want that life anymore. I obtained my degree three years ago, so it was time for me to start establishing myself as an adult.
And yet, come next month, I wouldn’t even be able to make ends meet.
“Why don’t you have a savings account?” I groaned.
Oh, that’s right. You can’t find a part-time job. Your degree requires higher education first, which requires more money that you don’t have.
I grabbed a pillow and put it over my face before I started screaming into it. I screamed, and I screamed until I lost my voice, then I screamed some more for good measure. I’d never felt this helpless in all my life. I’d never felt so lost and so alone, despite the connections I had made for myself mostly, at the spa where I worked part-time, too.
At least I still have them.
I drew in a deep breath and let the pillow flop onto the floor. I turned onto my side toward the television. I grabbed the remote, turning on the first slab of trashy television I could find. Trashy reality TV was the secret love of my life. I loved watching it, if only because it always served as a reminder that no matter how bad my life got, it would never be quitethatbad.
And before I knew it, my cell phone alarm went off in my bedroom and jolted me upright.
“Ugh, I would’ve been better off not sleeping,” I hissed.
I pushed my tired ass off the couch and limped on my bruised foot into the kitchen. I pulled the pot of coffee out of my fridge and poured a tall glass before chugging it back. Dousing myself in coffee always worked wonders, but today I was more sluggish than usual.
But, I knew going in for my morning shift at the spa would take my mind off things.
I sloshed around and got ready, trying to make do with what I had. My hair went up into a messy bun, and I counteracted the shaggy look with a nice pair of earrings and some muted makeup. I put on a lovely, sleek outfit that was fitting for a daytime manager, even if the part-time position didn’t even provide me with enough to pay my bills, much less pay my student loans off.
“Jesus Christ, help me,” I whispered.
