“I need a deposit, and I don’t get paid until the end of the month.”
His eyes go wide. “Oh my God! That’s the issue?” His face breaks into another grin, and he claps his hands. “I love problems I can actually solve!You wouldn’t believe how fucking rare that is. We can pay you early, like today. I’ll get on that now.” He grabs his phone and taps some stuff into it.
“Bella’s on it.”
My jaw drops. “What? Just like that?”
He leans over and squeezes my hand. “Of course! I’ll get her to pay the whole thing over to you now.”
Shit. My paycheck goes into a joint account with Mom and Jake. “Can you pay it into another account?”
“No problem. Just send Bella the details.”
A whole paycheck upfront! I’m paid $65,000 a year by Williams Security. It’s an insane amount of money. They said it was at the low end for a programmer in New York because I had no experience or references, but as I’d passed the tests, they were happy to take a chance on me, and that it would go up fast if I did well. I couldn’t tell them I’d have been delighted to do it for minimum wage. A professional job! My mom cried when I told her; she said she’d always known I was smart, ever since I learned all my multiplication tables by heart. She was always delusional where I was concerned. I had to learn everything by rote because I was crap at reading and writing.
Des is still tapping away furiously on his phone. “If we can do it, we’ll help. Don’t worry about coming to me with stuff like this. It happens all the time.”
Hot water is rushing through my veins. When was anyone kind to me like this? “Thank you so much.”
His fingers still and he reaches out and squeezes my hand again. “We take care of people here. The world’s too harsh and objectionable most of the time. When James and I started working with Jo, we all swore we’d make this company a kinder place.”
And I nod and nod and nod.
“Any problems, come to me or James, yeah?” he adds.
James. Right. That’s hilarious. I can’t even look him in the eye.
“And you can talk to me when I’m in Korea, too. Message me. I mean it. I hate to think of people being unhappy.”
“I’m staying in a hostel in Jersey City at the moment,” I blurt out.Shut up, Sadie!Why the hell did I say that?
Des’s head snaps up, and he frowns. “Really?”
Oh shit, what do I say?
But he must catch something in my face because he shakes his head. “Sometimes when you’ve got to go, you’ve got to go. I have all these sisters who are a pain in my ass, and don’t get me started on their boyfriends. I’ve never been happier when I moved out of my mom’s house. You wouldn’t believe the number of times I’ve had to intervene in some bullshit drama …”
Des stops in mid-flow and stares out the glass walls of the office over the rows of bent heads. Then he taps the table and narrows his eyes. “Actually …”
He springs up, wrenches open the door to the conference room, and weaves across the floor toward James, bending his head and saying something to him. Oh God, is he telling James about this? About the tears and the money … I tip my head back.Fuck, this is a disaster.
When I straighten up again, Des is coming back through the door, and James is right behind him.
Oh no.
No. No. No.
Des drops into his seat, and James pulls out the chair next to him and sits down, head bent as he studies his hands.
He’s not meeting my eyes.
This is bad, like really, epically bad.
“James had to move out of his place, and he’s agreed to stay in my apartment and look after it while I’m away …” Des starts.
That makes a lot of sense. James and Jane live in Brooklyn. That means they can move downtown, and Des has friends keeping an eye on everything. Des has a beautiful apartment just up the road, or so I’ve heard.
“… But get this,” Des squeaks, “there are two bedrooms! My sister was in the spare room, but she’s moved out, soyoucould have that room.”
