Page 12 of Power Plays & Proposals

"You promised I'd have until to end of the week to pay it." I argued. I'd counted every dollar I had to make sure I could pay rent for January. Between all the holiday closures at the salon, I hadn't had enough money to go home for Christmas or mail any presents home to my parents.

He shrugged. "That was before I found out you were fired. You didn't pay and that means you're out."

"Come on Benny, give me a chance." I pleaded.

"Be out by the date on the notice, or whatever is in the apartment will go towards the balance." He slammed the door in my face.

My phone started ringing and I looked down to see the florist calling. A small spark of hope bubbled. Maybe they needed me to cover a shift.

I took a big gulp of air, and in my most cheerful voice answered with, "Hi Emma."

"Lia...." Emma paused. "I wasn't expecting you to answer. This is awkward."

"Do you need me to come in?" I asked.

"No!" She sounded panicked. "There's no easy way to say this Lia. You've been so wonderful to work with, but someone tagged the shop in an unflattering video of you. We don't have a choice."

"Please, Emma. I'll do anything."

"I'm sorry Lia. Maybe if this has all died down we can talk about you helping with the Valentine's Day rush. But there's no way we can have you working here with everyone being so upset."

This couldn't be happening. I tried to think of a way to pay rent, but without the paycheck from the salon and florist, there was no way. I reached my apartment and found Mrs. Jex standing there with a plate of chocolate chip cookies and a glass of milk.

"I hear you've had a bad day."

I simply nodded and picked up a cookie.

Mrs. Jex nodded towards her open door. "Come now, let's sit."

On autopilot I followed her into her place, and took a seat on the floral print couch. She set the cookies and milk on the glass coffee table before sitting in the matching chair across from me.

"Now dear, why don't you tell me all about it."

"I got fired twice today, I can't pay my rent. I'm going to be homeless."

She pointed to the cookie in my hand. "Take a bite."

Doing as she directed I took a bite and the warm gooey chocolate hit my tongue in all its delicious glory. If Mrs. Jex ever wanted to apply for a job at La Petite, she'd simply need to give Maria one of these cookies. I should call Maria and see if she needed to fire me too. I took another bite, appreciating that the cookie wasn't hard or chewy but the spot in between. After I'd taken my last bite, Mrs. Jex handed me the cold glass of milk.

"Was it the Hockey Housewife's video?" She asked.

I lifted my brow, "Hockey Housewife?"

Picking up her TV remote, she pulled up one of her saved shows. Season one of Hockey Housewife had a cast of gorgeous women in heels standing on the ice. And there on the end was a younger-looking Erin with a hand on her belly and a smile that suggested she had it all.

"That was her first season. I still remember the episode when Nate found out she was pregnant and he bought her the biggest pink diamond I've ever seen. But when they broke up he was absolutely devastated and dropped off the news. I couldn't believe it when they said he was going to be playing hockey for Glacier Bay."

Two cookies later she was talking me through his stats and how he was the highest-scoring player on the team so far this season.

"Oh it's time for my show!"

I spent the rest of the afternoon, and the next morning, watching soaps with her and forgetting about rent, and everything awful.

Chapter 6

The next morning, after getting up late I got Penelope settled with her favorite show on the TV and pulled out the identical artist kit I'd bought for my place. I'd learned long ago that Erin didn't like to let things leave her house even if they belonged to our daughter.

Penelope was smiling by the time I got into my office to make another call to my lawyer. Between all the drama at the salon and the game last night, I hadn’t had time to do more than text him.

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