I couldn't sleep that night. Every time I closed my eyes, I saw Aren's face and his body sketched by my imagination. I had been living a sexless life for three years, but seriously? I wasn't some starving cavewoman, and most of all, I had my dignity. I would never let some arrogant rich boy touch me in real life like that.
The next day, I showed up at work looking as if I had died and resurrected twice. I used half of the concealer I had to cover the enormous dark circles under my eyes. It helped just enough so I could stop resembling a panda. I managed to fix my face, but it was harder to fix the mess inside me. I was anxious. I didn't know how I would react if I saw Aren Lan again, especially after dreaming of his... Well, I needed to start acting like a sane person, which was hard considering that I jumped nervously each time I heard a bell ringing and customers walking in.
Luckily, he didn't show up that day. The same happened the next day and the day after. My life went back to normal. Aren Lan's face faded in my memory, which helped stabilize my emotions. I was almost certain that our paths would never cross again. We might have been living in the same city, but, considering his wealth, he inhabited a different universe.
That day, my shift was shorter. I took off my apron and rushed to leave Manhattan for my other, computer-related job. Our workshop was in the basement of an old tenement house in Brooklyn. The building was neglected and almost completely abandoned, with only an old lady and the owner living there. Nonetheless, Norton, Alan, and I couldn't even dream of a better place. Of course, we had put a lot of work into adapting this place, but no one bothered us, and the rent was low. We couldn't have asked for more.
The three of us met online a few years ago. Two issues brought us close: the fact that we were from New York and that we loved computers. After some time, we learned to have another thing in common... None of us had a diploma, although we all had mad skills.
Alan Harada was a genius hacker. He could win against any type of security. Unfortunately, he was once convicted after drunk hacking one of the banks to impress a girl. After it had happened, he was disinherited by his conservative Japanese family. Well, at least he got laid the other night... Like me, Norton Edavane could have been an amazing programmer, but he didn't have money to study. Certainly, he could have gotten a scholarship, but his social skills were far worse than mine, and his agoraphobia hadn't been helpful either. Now we were working together, fixing computers, and providing online advice. We were able to make some nice profit from time to time, but it was a freelance job while the bills came steadily every month. Nevertheless, we all loved our work in the workshop. It was our safe haven, our home, the only place where we could all breathe...
"We're getting evicted." Alan waved a piece of paper in front of my eyes as soon as I walked in.
I stepped back, blinking in shock. "What do you mean by evicted?" I laughed nervously, still hoping it was a joke.
"Mr. Welsh sold the whole building," Norton explained in his usual, emotionless way. "Those who bought it plan to renovate it and turn it into a hotel."
I leaned my back against the wall. My knees turned weak, and my head began to spin. I wouldn't bat an eye if something had happened to Café Dorado. It would be bothersome to look for another job, and I would miss working with Monique and Marco, but it wouldn't be the end of the world. THIS was the end of the world. Where else in New York would we find a place to rent for five hundred dollars a month?!
"This cannot be happening..." I mumbled.
"Oh, but it is." Alan nodded agitatedly, looking at me with his narrowed brown eyes.
"But where would Mr. Welsh live now?" My mind was desperate to prove that his choice was absurd.
"He is moving to New Jersey. He's buying an apartment next to where his son lives," Norton informed, and I could see anger flashing through his composed stare.
It sounded like a logical move, but I was determined to find flaws in Mr. Welsh's choice. "But what about poor Mrs. Gordon? She doesn't have a family, and she's like 90 years old or something. Isn't it too cruel to evict a lonely old lady like her?"
Alan gave me a wry smile. "She died two days ago."
"Oh," I breathed out along with the last ounce of hope I had.
I swayed my way to the couch before collapsing. Norton and Alan joined me there, sitting on my left and right sides.
"The new owner gives us time until the end of the month. Then we have to move out or pay twenty times the rent we paid." Alan gritted his teeth.
"We won't earn a cent if we pay ten thousand dollars a month for the rent! Not to mention that this place looks like a den!" I snapped.
Let's face it, it was a basement that we filled with computers and cables and other equipment. We were able to work there, but there were no customers allowed for a reason. It was our restricted area. We were meeting with clients outside the workshop, taking their things to fix them at the workshop, and then bringing them back to our clients again. It was convenient for us, especially for Norton, who had a hard time dealing with other people. I couldn't believe that it was going to change, and we would have to move out.
"No." I clenched my hand and frowned. "I refuse to give up like that. We should at least find those new owners and talk to them."
"The documents say that the building now belongs to Golden Estate Investments, whoever they are." Norton shrugged restlessly.
"Then I suggest we find them. We need to force them to give us more time at least," I said decisively.
A wicked grin painted Alan's face. "I'm on it," he said and rushed to his laptop.
A second later, his long fingers began to tap the keyboard at a furious speed. I was about to join him when I received a message from Doctor William Crawford, the one taking care of my Grandma.
"We've got the results. Please meet me at the clinic when you're able to," the text said.
I jumped up to my feet before I knew it. My hands were shaking. My heart started to pound anxiously.
"Guys…" I barely let out a sound as it squeezed through my throat.
They looked at me and already knew. I registered a faint, compassionate smile on Norton's face while Alan got up, and walked to me to give me a hug.
"Gambatte!" he cheered for me with a warm grin. Then he pushed me out of the workshop, urging me not to waste any time.
I hated leaving them alone when we had a crisis to deal with, but I had to know everything about my Grandma's condition as soon as possible. I took the bus and texted Doctor Crawford, informing him that I was on my way. Half an hour later, I was running to his office on the fifth floor of Crawford's Neurological Clinic, a place founded by Doctor William's father. I knocked on the door, heavily panting. He opened it and invited me in.
"Ms. Bell, have a seat please." He greeted me with a smile and gestured to a chair in front of his desk.
As I sat down, he went back behind his desk. Doctor William was a kind and brilliant man. His hair was mostly grey, although he was only in his fifties. I guess that his work was taking a toll on him, no matter how much he loved it. He was dedicated, a doctor by vocation, and I would be forever grateful to him for taking care of my Grandmother and ignoring the fact that I paid for her treatment irregularly. He knew how to handle patients and how to talk to their loved ones. Somehow, he always found the right words to say, no matter how hard their meaning was. I would have been completely broken if it weren't for him.
When my Grandmother's brain aneurysm ruptured and she fell into a coma half a year ago, I was an absolute mess. I couldn't eat or sleep. I kept sitting in her room, hopelessly waiting for her to wake up. It was Doctor Crawford who forced me out of her room and brought me back to the land of the living. He used some harsh but logical arguments, letting me know that I would never save my Grandma by sitting by her bed… especially when someone needed to work to pay for her stay in the clinic. Now, I visited Grandma three times a week, plus in special circumstances such as to hear about the results of her tests…
"I have some good news and... bad news, unfortunately," the doctor said.
I pulled in a shaky breath. "I want the bad news first."
"We cannot operate using the method we have discussed before. It's because of the location of the aneurysm…" He grimaced apologetically.
My eyes became watery in a second. I put high hopes in that method. It sounded like a chance for Grandma to wake up.
"But the good news is that her results show that we might have a chance if we use a different experimental method. The procedure has been performed only once, by a friend of mine, a Chinese doctor, Lu Wei Chen. Nonetheless, the method looks promising. Doctor Chen is going to visit New York in a few months, and I think I might talk him into performing his method on your Grandma," he explained.
I gasped. "Can you do that?"
"I cannot give you one hundred percent, but I will do my best." The doctor smiled, but then his expression turned serious. "And… there's another problem that comes with it…"
I gulped, having a feeling about what he was about to say.
"Even with your Grandma's insurance… the operation would cost you more than a hundred thousand dollars."
I exhaled in a rush, as if someone had just hit my guts. I had already used all the money I had from the inheritance my Grandpa left me. How was I supposed to get more than a hundred thousand dollars in a few months?!
I was in Grandma's room, sitting by her bed, and holding her hand. She was plugged into all sorts of equipment that helped her breathe and monitored her. She looked as if she was peacefully asleep. I only hoped that she couldn't feel any pain while being in her motionless state. I talked to her often, hoping that she could hear me, or at least know that I loved her, and I wanted her back. I had never complained about anything, especially not in her presence. I didn't want her to think that she could have been some kind of a burden to me because she wasn't. She was the only family I had left, the only person I loved in this world, and the anchor that kept me going. But I wished she could tell me what to do because I was tired of being on my own, constantly dealing with all kinds of problems. I was angry and frustrated, and all kinds of "if only" swirled inside my head. If only I had more money... If only I had the diploma... If only I could have a well-paid job... "Help me, Grandma..."
Two hours had passed since I sat on the sofa in the reception hall of Golden Estate Investments. The red-head sitting by her desk kept flashing me displeased glances. She must have found my presence uniquely bothersome, to say the least. I didn't care. I was on my mission, and I wasn't going to back off… although I was tired, and my growling stomach reminded me that my last meal was twelve hours ago, and that meal was coffee. I quickly decided to temporarily fill my stomach with water. I grabbed one of the bottles prepared for the guests, standing on the table, even though the receptionist didn't bother to ask if I wanted something to drink. I clicked my tongue, looking at her before taking a sip of water. I could see her jaw clench. I knew that she found me annoying, but I couldn't understand why she looked so nervous. As I began to observe her more closely, I registered her glimpsing at the door at the end of the corridor, and realized something else... Every corridor was empty, as
A brief, hysteric chuckle flew out of my lips. My move was risky. I was practically admitting that I went through the company's files, violating their confidentiality. No one in their right mind would ever admit to committing something like that! The more annoying fact was that I couldn't play dumb while trying to prove I was smart enough to fix their problem. Aren Lan went back to the middle of the corridor where I stood. Mr. Errington followed his boss, although his reluctance couldn't possibly be marked on his face more clearly. Aren looked around. There were plenty of other people gaping at the three of us in that corridor. "Lend me your office," Lan said, his words sounding like an unmistakable order. Mr. Errington twitched his lips but didn't dare to say a word. After a quick nod, he started walking through the corridor and stopped as he reached the corner. "This way." He pointed at the door before opening it for the big boss to walk in. "Miss Cora, after you," Aren Lan tosse
By Aren Lan's order, Mr. Errington organized a room for me... and a group of babysitters in the form of IT specialists who were supposed to check if I wasn't a secret spy who merely pretended to help. I expected that to happen. After all, I was given access to their sensitive information, like their tenders and bidding offers. Aren Lan didn't engage in the process. He only instructed Mr. Errington to inform him of the results. I took it as a good thing. I didn't think I could stand him as one of my babysitters, leaning over my head and constantly looking at the screen.I quickly established that the infection hadn't missed a single computer in their company. It couldn't be a coincidence. It looked like a planned, precise attack aimed at stealing intel, and the bug must have infected their system no more than a few days ago.Supervised by steadily frowning IT specialists, I called Alan and Norton and told them about the problem. Fortunately, we had already found the best way to fight t
A week has passed since I solved our workshop problem. Alan and Norton called my achievement a victory, but that didn't mean that everything in our lives went back to so-called normal. We didn't have to move out of our basement, but it didn't change much in Golden Estate Investments' plans. The renovation work that was supposed to turn the old tenement into a hotel began two days after I had signed our rental agreement. In a flash, the whole area became a construction site. They might have skipped the basement for now, but even so, they turned our quiet place of work into a freaking madhouse... It took the greatest toll on Norton, whose antisocial nature had been challenged like never before. Fortunately, soundproofing headphones saved us from going insane... or committing mass murder.Certainly, my work at the coffee shop stayed as it was. There were days when Monique, Marco, and I had some fun, but mainly it was energy-draining. Thankfully, the tips made up for the stress, yet it la
I stared at Liam for a few seconds, partially glad that he didn't want me to pretend his new girlfriend. Nonetheless, hacking into anything seemed like an even worse idea."Liam… I can imagine that you're hurting, but don't you think that messing up your ex's engagement party seems a little low?" I gave him a dry smile.He narrowed his eyes at me. "You don't understand, but don't worry. You'll change your mind once you know the whole story," he said, gesturing to the waiter.A minute later, we were both holding glasses of scotch in our hands. It wasn't my usual choice of alcohol, but Liam insisted that it was essential to drink something stronger before I'd hear what he was about to say. I didn't get it, but the drinks were on him anyway. I shrugged and took a sip from the glass, letting the liquid bring the heat down my throat.Once Liam confirmed that I had drank one-third of my glass, he started to speak, "Her name is Nicole Saxon, a beautiful brunette with the body of a goddess. I
It was the worst hangover I'd ever had, and it wasn't even about the toxic level of alcohol I'd consumed the night before. Sure, ten thousand dollars sounded great. It would have been my first real step to gathering the amount of money I needed, but at the same time, I felt as if I was getting myself involved in a bank robbery!I trusted my abilities, but I felt much safer when I used them from my computer at home or in our workshop. I had never had to sneak anywhere and plug into some other, off-line system to take control of it. I couldn't believe that I had agreed to something like this!I felt like we were engaging in a top-secret operation that required perfect planning, high precision, and an incredible amount of luck. Our mission had been divided into two stages. The first stage had to take place two days before the engagement party, and it was meant to get access to the hotel's computers connected to the ballroom, while the second stage was about the actual engagement party ev
Aren Lan looked absolutely striking in a navy blue suit and a black shirt and tie. I wouldn't miss the way his perfectly tailored jacket emphasized his broad shoulders, nor how the well-defined curves of his biceps pressured the fabric with each slight bend of his arm. Why did this arrogant douche have to look so mouth-watering? He made my mind go blank again! I should ignore him, walk past him, say that he confused me with someone else… anything aside from greeting him! Instead, I was now standing before him like a schoolgirl in front of a teacher while trying to find a logical way to explain my sudden brain malfunction. "I didn't know you were working in my hotel," he said, his eyes carefully scanning my tight uniform. A wave of heat rushed through me. Of course, he owned the hotel! He owned nearly half of Manhattan, and with my luck, I should have assumed from the beginning that the Blue Crystal Hotel was his. Nonetheless, I proved to be stupid enough to never consider checking wh