The Millionaire's Mistress [2015 Original Draft]

The Millionaire's Mistress: Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Mary sat in the cab's backseat and stared at her folded hands.

"Didn't last long, huh?" Otie grumbled, looking at a face that matched the color of her eyes in his rearview mirror.

She let out air through her nose before looking up to the apartment complex she left just days ago. There was regret in staring at that gated door, and she had to fight the desire to stay inside the cab.

Otie curiously said his goodbye, and she was pressing the code of the door back into the old building. Slowly, she trudged up the beaten, graffiti covered steps all the way to the fourth floor.

There it was again- Apartment 405.

"Mary?" her sister questioned after opening the door, but Mary sadly rushed inside.

"Wh... what are you doing here? I thought-" but Mary dropped her bags and angrily signed what had just happened to her.

"But we need the money, Mary!" Nellie shouted back, ignoring her hurt sister.

Mary looked down in confusion before asking, "Why can't you understand?"

Infuriated, her sister signed back to her, while saying, "Because the bills won't pay for themselves! We're struggling, Mary! That's the reason when I heard about the job, through one of the big patrons, I knew it would be a break for us!"

"Mommy?" a little blonde-haired boy whimpered as he appeared out of the small hallway. Nellie sighed at her sister before softly cooing to her son to go back to sleep. But before his mother could block his view, he exclaimed, "Auntie Mary!"

He swirled around his mother and was lifted by his smiling aunt. He concentrated intently as he signed, "I love you" and she gave him a kiss on his freckled nose.

"What are we going to do now?" Nellie asked, interrupting their moment.

Mary's eyes were avoiding both the little boy's and her sister's. Nellie pushed on. "We need the money, Mary. I know it's not fair what happened, but- "

Mary put down her small nephew and immediately began, "It's not fair. I didn't choose to be this way! I want to be happy too, so I will find somewhere else to work!"

"Where?!" her sister shrilled. "You're getting one grand a week, Mary! What other job are you going to find that can pay this much?! An Art History degree won't even scratch something like this, and it even gave you loan that I've been helping you pay off! You have a degree that won't be able to provide anything to anyone!"

Mary's lips trembled, and she took a step back. Her sister huffed and placed her hand over her forehead with regret. "Mary... I'm sorry. I didn't mean to say that."

"But you did," Mary said tearfully, before picking up her bags and pushing past her guilty sister.

Ever since they were younger, Nellie, being the oldest, had to look out for Mary and their mother. Though things had always been hard, when time came for college, Nellie encouraged Mary to go– to do something that she, as an older sister, hadn't been able to.

Mary pushed into her room and sat down on her bed, that she sorely missed. Running her fingers over her tender cheeks, she realized she wasn't sure what she was doing. Nellie was right. They needed the money for their mother's hospital care. Everything was fine until a few weeks ago, when their sixty-two-year-old mother slipped down the steps and broke her pelvic bone. With their mother not being able to work at the restaurant in the Hilton, there was even less income.

Mary and Nellie had been working longer shifts in place of their mom, but it wasn't enough to cover the apartment and hospital bills. With a small child, Nellie could only beg the neighbors so much to look after him late into the night. Eventually, Nellie couldn't deny that she had to stop working late shifts.