Page 1 of Landon (In Safe Hands)
ChapterOne
Zoe
Thebus is late, but with the stellar day I’m having, I’m not surprised. By thetime I meet Frannie at our favorite downtown café I’m sweating like a whore inchurch. It must be nearly one hundred degrees outside, and if it were any morehumid, I’d be drinking the air instead of breathing it.
“Sorry,Fran, bus was moving at the speed of sloth. Have you been waiting long?”
“ZoePage, you need to get your car fixed,” Frannie replies, pushing a lock of redhair behind her ear. Frannie has been my best friend since we met four yearsago. It was my first day of work at a crappy fast food restaurant, and Franniewas my trainer.
Herfirst words to me were, “Welcome to hell. Flip those burgers.”
“Actually,I need a job,” I sigh, unfolding today’s newspaper.
“Oh,girl, what happened? That asshole still harassing you?”
“Hewon’t be harassing anyone for a while. I’m pretty sure his balls ended uplodged in his throat, courtesy of my foot.”
Franchokes on her drink. “You kicked him?”
“Heshoved me into a room and tried to stick his hand down my pants.”
“Didyou tell your boss?”
“Myboss is his mother,” I reply dryly.
“Damn.So, you can’t go back.”
“Mydays of cleaning at the Stay-a Nite Hotel are over. I’ll just have to deal withthe disappointment.” My eyes scan the help wanted page of the paper. “I need anew job fast. I’ve just saved enough to fix my car, but I need a steadypaycheck first.”
Franniegrins at me. “Let’s go out tonight. My treat. We’ll hit the club, drink anddance until we don’t give a shit about anything.”
“Idon’t know. I really need to figure out what I’m going to do.”
“It’sSaturday. You can’t job hunt until Monday. You need to have some fun.” Frannieblinks her bright blue eyes at me. She’s gorgeous and men always drool all overher. In addition to beautiful red hair and stunning eyes, she’s got a figurethat would make a Victoria’s Secret model jealous. Not that I’m jealous…much.I’m no great beauty, but I don’t exactly scare children on the street.
“Allright, but just a couple of drinks.”
“Whateveryou say, girl. I’m getting trashed and finding me a man to climb.” Our waitresslaughs as she places our usual order in front of us and retreats.
“Hey,look at this. What do you think?” I point to an ad in the paper.Housekeeperneeded. Must be willing to work evenings and nights. Serious inquiries only.Aphone number and address are listed below.
“Nights?”Frannie asks, looking dubious.
“Maybeit’s cleaning offices after hours or something. I can’t be picky. Besides,nights work for me. My classes end at two.” I dig a pen out of my purse andcircle the ad with a sigh. I can’t believe I’m job hunting again.
* * * *
“Ethan!”I call, trying to get through the front door of our apartment while balancingthree grocery bags.
“Damn,Zo, you should’ve let me go with you,” my brother Ethan scolds, taking two ofthe bags.
“Ijust decided on the way home we need nachos for dinner.”
Ethangrins at me and starts putting away the groceries. He’s such a good kid andsure doesn’t deserve the shitty hand he’s been dealt. He moved in with me alittle over a year ago when our parents kicked him out.
Atonly fifteen years old, I couldn’t let him go into foster care. I told him we’dwork it out, find a way to make it. Thanks to the help of a local charity forhomeless gay youth, we were able to put a deposit on this two bedroom apartmentwithout blowing all my student loan money. I only allow him to work in thesummer when it won’t affect his schoolwork. He’s set to become valedictorian ifhe keeps on the way he’s going.
“Whatare you doing tonight?” I ask.
