Page 10 of Chasing Sarah

“Tell you what,” he says after a tense moment of silence.

Excitement rises in me as I wait for his answer. I try to mask it, but I really need this job to help get me and Paige out of the shelter.

“Come in tomorrow morning at ten and clean this place up real good before we open at four, and the job is yours.”

I squeal and do a happy dance before I freeze and meet his unamused stare.

“Sorry,” I say, sheepishly. “I really appreciate this. See you tomorrow!” I shout over my shoulder before spinning on my heels and dashing out the door.

* * *

“You’re going to work at the school?” I ask Paige as soon as I finish telling her about the bar.

“Yeah.” She smiles shyly, tucking her hair behind her ear.

I study her for a moment, taking in her timid appearance.

“I mean this in the nicest way possible, but how do you plan to interact with people in the office? You can barely talk to me and we’re best friends.”

She side-eyes me. “We’ve known each other for like a week, Sarah.”

I sling my arm over her shoulder and pull her into my side. “Exactly. We’re two peas in a pod at this point.” I beam.

She snorts and pushes away from me. “I think it’ll be nice.”

I knock my shoulder into hers and smile softly when she meets my eyes. “I think you’ll do great.”

“Thanks,” she whispers, her light-green eyes full of warmth.

“Are you hungry? I found twenty bucks on the subway. Let’s go get some food.”

I don’t bother giving her a chance to reply before I’m taking her hand in mine and pulling her toward the building’s exit.

We walk along the sidewalk until we find Frankie – the hotdog stand owner – on the corner. I swear he serves the best hotdogs in Brooklyn.

“Hey, Frankie!” I greet with a wide smile which he returns.

“Sarah! Paige! I was wondering why I haven’t seen you ladies in a few days.” He starts preparing our hotdogs.

I shrug before replying, “You know us, Frankie. People to see, things to do.”

He chuckles because he knows I’m full of shit.

“Well, it’s good to see you.” He hands us our food as I hand him the twenty. After grabbing each of us a can of soda, he retrieves my change and places it in my palm. “Don’t be strangers.”

“We’ll try not to.” I wink.

Paige remains quiet, as usual, during the entire exchange aside from a quiet ‘thank you’ when she took the hotdog from him.

Stepping away, we turn and make our way back to the shelter with our meal.

* * *

I knock on the door of the bar before sliding my hands into the pockets of my hoodie and rock back and forth on my heels.

I step back when the door swings open revealing the bartender from yesterday. He jerks his chin motioning for me to enter.

I discreetly scrunch my nose when I take in the place. It looks worse than it did last night and smells of stale alcohol and something I’m scared to name.

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