Bright glasslike eyes landed on my face, and she smiled wildly, showing perfect white teeth. She was gorgeous!
“You must be Kairi,” she said, approaching me with a hand outstretched for me to shake.
“Yes, that’s me.”
We shook hands, and she led the way to the front door that was at the end of the hallway.
“Thank you for coming to see me. You came highly recommended as a hard worker,” she said, and I smiled.
Sparkle came through!
“Your name was brought up by someone a friend of mine knows, but it was my cousin Carlene who spoke so highly of you.”
“Carlene?”
That was my old manager. The lady nodded with a smile.
“Yes, she said she had to let you go because of an issue with the higher ups, but she was sad to lose you because you’re such a good person.”
The lady’s words brought me back to the night I helped Carlene when her ex-husband tried to attack her. Everyone else just watched, but I helped her get away from him. Since then, she always looked out for me. I guess this situation was out of her control, but she still found a way to help me in return.
“Oh,” I said with a smile.
“Listen, I’m not here to judge nor do I care what that issue was. I’ve been around The Society long enough to know that it’s not easy dealing with people like them.”
I felt a sense of relief to know that she understood where I was coming from.
“Still, thanks to your friend and my cousin. Us women in The Society have to stick together.”
She gave me another warm smile, putting my unease to rest.
“We must know which battles to fight and which ones to walk away from. Understand?” she said, giving me a warning tone. Her voice and words let me know that she’d had a run-in or two with someone in The Society and was speaking from experience.
“Yes, ma’am.”
The lady unlocked the door and pushed it open. My eyes weren’t ready for what it was beholding.
“All I need is for you to come in once a week, make sure it is clean and food is stocked,” she explained as she showed me around the luxurious condo. My favorite feature was the floor-to-ceiling windows in the living room that let in so much light. It overlooked the whole city and gave me a tranquil feeling I knew I was going to love.
There was a hint of citrusy smell in the air that I didn’t expect for her—it was more masculine than soft as she appeared.
The marble countertops in the kitchen were clutter free, almost looking unlived in, which also surprised me.
“My son is barely home, but I still think it would be nice for someone to keep on top of things and at the very least, make sure he has groceries.”
I stopped taking in the scene before me when I heard her say that.
“Sorry? Your son?”
The citrus scent and empty countertops made sense.
“Yes. This is his condo. I don’t live here.”
My eyes bounced around, knowing I was standing in a condo that belonged to a man and not a woman like I suspected.
For whatever reason, that hit differently. I tried my hardest to locate a photo of this man or anything to identify him, as if that would change anything. Maybe to me it would!
“That won’t be a problem, will it?” she asked, looking at me.
