Page 25 of Dylan
“Ya know the answer to that. When do I turn down food? Especially when I don’t have to pay.”
CHAPTER 11
Please Reschedule
Ciara
A year and two months later …
Vega has done so muchfor us in the last year. The apartment she set us up in is so over the top. I had a hard time accepting everything at first. It was all too much.
I thought we were going to have a normal three-bedroom apartment in a normal building. Not a luxury apartment in a high-rise building with a doorman, amenities, and all. I truly wake up each morning feeling like I’ve been dropped in the middle of a fairy tale.
It was only after we became friends that it became easier to be okay with everything. After having Theo offer me so much only to make me and Ciarán feel like we owed our existence to him, I refuse to be in debt to anyone like that ever again. It was hard to accept all of Daliah’s help when we arrived in San Diego.
If not for having my little brother with me, I wouldn’t have accepted so much. I didn’t want to push my luck to believe I’ve yet again run into a fairy godfamily who would turn everything into roses and diamonds.
However, Vega has been just that. She’s a boss in her own right and takes care of those she calls family. I didn’t know she would be so involved, but she hangs out at the apartment all the time. I do believe Ciarán has a crush on her.
I’ve been working at a club as a bottle girl for the last fourteen months. It’s good money and I get paid under the table, but the place was shut down last week. The owner hasn’t said if or when they’re going to open back up.
I have Ciarán’s tuition, and his birthday is coming. He’s going to be twelve this year and the kid has big wishes. Wishes that my jobless ass needs some money coming in to make come true.
I refuse to go to Vega again. I will find something on my own. I already have her to thank for getting me documents in the name Ariel Norwood. She was also able to get Ciarán legit-looking documents for school too.
I didn’t need them for my old job, but I’m grateful to have them now. That has led me here for this job interview. I’m nervous as hell.
I need to get this job to pay this month’s tuition. I could enroll him in public school, but he won’t have the same opportunities. The whole point was to bring him here to give him better. He already loves his new school and the classes they offer.
He did so well last year. I was proud of him for making new friends so fast. I can’t fail him now. I take a deep breath to calm my nerves.
I can do this. It’s for Ciarán.
“Ariel Norwood?”
I look up at the receptionist who just called my name. She’s looking at me expectantly. Right as I stand from my seat, my phone rings.
I can’t ignore it. It could be about my little brother. As I look down at my phone, I find a number I don’t know. I hold up a hand to the receptionist, causing her to roll her eyes at me.
I bite my lip and move quickly to the corner to answer the call. This couldn’t be worse timing. I feel like I’ve already lost the job.
“Hello?”
“Hi. I have a young lad here who says yer his sister. He came in with a group of kids, but they left him, and it seems they took his money, and he doesn’t know how to get back home,” a woman with an Irish accent says.
“Oh my God. Where are you? Where is he?”
“We’re in Brooklyn. I’m calling from the Roaring Irish gym. My name is Taegan. I’ll keep the lad with me until ya arrive to collect him.”
“Can I speak to him?”
“Hey, love. Yer sister wants to talk to ya.”
“Hello,” Ciarán nearly whispers.
“What the hell, Ciarán. What’s going on?”
“I wanted to check this place out. A few of the guys from school said they knew how to get here. We had a substitute during third period.
