Page 14 of Ensnared
Her phone buzzed at her side. Looking down, Eve groaned at the flashing picture of her grandmother's caller ID. Taking a deep breath, Eve picked up the phone.
"Hello, sweet girl," her grandmother chimed.
Eve tried to answer with the same chipper tone. "Hilola, how is the new place?"
"It's beautiful. You should come back over so we can have dinner."
Eve grimaced. She was there yesterday and she hated herself every minute of it. No matter what she did she could not seem to escape the bitter feeling in her heart, which only made her hate herself more.
"No, I have to go to work a little early today," she lied. The last thing she wanted to do was burden them with her issues, especially while they were so happy.
"Okay, I understand," herlolareplied, the disappointment clear in her voice. "Your grandfather says the investment company called and told them they will close officially in two and a half weeks and once it’s done you can come move into the spare bedroom."
The spare bedroom to their new dream home which was currently housing Ricky's boxes full of his packed-up room. Yeah, that sounded ideal, she thought sourly.
Deciding not to argue, Eve forced a smile into her voice. "Yeah, that sounds like it will work."
After a few more minutes of talking, Eve was finally able to hang up the phone. She let the phone drop to the counter just as a tiny gray figure shuffled into the room. The frown on her face immediately disappeared at the sight of her cat.
"Mochi!" she squealed and hopped off the stool.
With a languid stretch and an expectant face, Mochi looked up at her.
Complying with the silent demand, she went over and picked up the stubby-legged cat. With its natural deformity, the munchkin cat was not able to jump up on the counter like most cats, relying on her to pick her up.
Eve nuzzled her face. "How was your nap? Was it good?" she cooed, kissing the sweet cat between her glossy gray eyes. "Do you need more beauty sleep?" she laughed.
Keeping Mochi in her arms, Eve walked over to the pantry and stopped in front of the box of cat food. It was empty.
"Dammit," she cursed under her breath.
Setting Mochi back down on the ground, she swiped her phone off the counter and grabbed her purse still hanging by the door. She would run by the store and pick up some cat food and maybe even a bottle of cheap wine for herself and come back and apply for more jobs. Maybe she would increase her search to California. If she could find a decent job then she could just rent somewhere cheap, she mused. The idea intrigued her as she walked outside across the hot pavement to her old Honda Civic. Even if she had to live in some skeevy studio apartment or a share-house, living back in California closer to her college friends and closer to the life she left behind felt like a sudden ray of hope in the storm clouds that were hovering over her life at present.
Sliding onto the hot leather seat, Eve turned the key in the ignition but nothing happened. Eve's stomach dropped and a cold feeling spread through her arms and legs despite the scorching heat inside the car.
No. No. This couldn't be happening. Please, God.
Taking a deep breath, she ignored the sweat beading on her forehead and calmly turned the ignition once more.
Nothing.
The muscles in her throat tightened painfully and tears formed in her eyes. "This…this can't be happening."
She absolutely needed her car. How would she do job interviews? How would she move the rest of her things out of the house without money for a mover? And that brief shimmering dream of moving back to California? Well, that was completely obliterated like a soap bubble bursting inches from her face.
Slumping back into the seat, Eve covered her face with her hand and let the tears fall freely. It was too much. Everything was too much. It felt like the world was weighing down on her and her life was unraveling down to its last thread. The breakup, Ricky going missing, her childhood home being sold, losing her job, and now this! It was all just too much.
Out of tears and suddenly very tired, she slowly got out of the car and went back inside. Using a spare can of tuna, she apologized to Mochi and filled up her food dish. Taking her laptop to her room, she changed out of her jeans and shirt and put on an old t-shirt. Tired, she laid down on the bed and opened her laptop next to her.
Maybe she could look for some mechanics to give her a diagnosis on her car. Her eyes stung just thinking about it. That was money she didn’t have. It made no sense; it was working just fine yesterday. Annoyed and honestly not sure where to begin on her search, Eve hovered her cursor over her favorite bookmark. All she really wanted to do was lay there and read some smutty boys-love webtoons. There was a particularly sexy R-rated one about a college sculptor who falls in love with a cold enigmatic mobster. It was filled with tense drama and really hot guys having steamy sex.
Eve let out a pitiful whine. Dammit all, she couldn't enjoy herself jobless and carless. At the very least she should apply for more jobs. Resolute in her decision, she unwillingly plunged herself back onto the job board.
Thirty minutes later she was ready to throw her laptop against the wall. She just finished filling out the world's most detailed and invasive application just for a librarian's aid position at a school that was an hour away.
"I better get a call back," she grumbled.
Closing out the window, she paused at the image on the right side of the screen. It was another gold and black ad. This time it was an image of a sexy woman wearing an ornate black mask.
