Charity//BILLIE EILISH

Chapter 5

Gabriella shakes her hand, "I'm Gabriella, nice to meet you. You may take a seat in this chair here."

Billie smiles at her and takes a seat, giving me an overly-excited smile.

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I blush and look away from her, trying to maintain some kind of decorum around Gabriella.

She starts poking into my hair again, and describes the methods she would use to remove the rock.

"This is totally doable, but unfortunately, I can't dedicate this amount of time to an appointment without any compensation. I'll keep the price as low as I can."

My heart sinks, "What is, 'as low as you can'?"

She pulls her hands out of my hair, "For normal clients, I charge $100 per hour, but I can get that down to $55 for you."

I swallow hard, "And how many hours could it take?"

"I'm sorry, I don't know. At least 5 or 6, but it could take much longer."

I pull my hood back up and hold back tears, "Thank you so much. I'll contact you about an appointment if I can put the money together."

Gabriella leads Billie and I out of the salon, wishing us safe travels. As soon as we step out of the door, I look up at Billie, tears brimming my eyes.

She makes a 'tsk' sound, and pulls my in for a hug. I cry into her, squeezing her tight as she softly strokes the back of my head through my hood.

I calm down after a couple minutes, and shakily lean away from Billie, "S-sorry."

"No, I'm sorry," she rubs my shoulder with her thumb, "I'm sorry, but I can't let you live like this. I know you want to do this on your own, and I know you don't want my help, but I'm sorry; I can't sit back and watch this."

"W-what are you saying?"

"It's a tough job, being a part of a celebrity's production team. It's hard work, and I won't settle for less than great service."

I nod my head.

"You would have to be by my side at all times and always be attentive to my requests."

I nod again, "What are you telling me?"

She continues, not addressing my words, "I'm sorry, but it is a job requirement that my employees have proper housing. I will provide housing to any employees who need it, though the monthly rent will be taken out of their paycheck."

"Billie.."

"Do you understand the parameters of the position, Jemma?"

I gulp, "Yes, Billie."

"Do you accept the position?"

"Uhm," my voice breaks, "yes?"

"Good. My car is over there," she points to a matte black dodge challenger down the street, letting a small smile creep onto her lips.

We start walking towards it, and I question Billie, "Why aren't your guards here?"

She strokes my back, "This is a safer neighborhood."