DIRTY MONEY

| 19

Come On Up...

"Look at me. Don't I look like a princess?" Sofia asked as she twirled around in her new dress. She had her iPad propped up on the floor, showing her sister the new dress Dorinda had brought her.

Bianca smiled into the camera and said, "you do. Think I could borrow it?"

"Of course!" Sophie exclaims, "we could have a tea party, too, when you're ready to come over," she squealed in excitement at the thought came about, "it's going to be so fun!"

Bianca giggled, watching her sister dance around the room. Bianca was currently walking through a beauty supply store with her phone in her hand, searching for a new bonnet since she lost hers.

It's been a few days since she dropped off that pouch for Alvaro, and there was no need to wait as she was paid pretty quickly. The only thing she was waiting for was to see Alvaro himself. She hasn't seen him since, and she wondered why.

He clearly didn't forget about her because he had Vito give her what she was owed, but Bianca couldn't help but to feel disappointment as she opened her door and let her eyes fall on his best friend. She figured that maybe Alvaro was too busy to give her the money himself, so she was anticipating one of their run-ins to happen.

It was becoming crippling to experience the days without seeing him as day four and five passed, Bianca regretting not getting his number ahead of time.

She had grown accustomed to seeing his face, and now it was just nothing. At first, she tried not to think too much into it, spinning the narrative that he could be busy and that he didn't owe her a call or a visit. Yet, that didn't mean it was affecting her already.

When the sixth day rolled around, she gave up on trying to look for him in every space she entered in hopes he was there. She started to leave work, not waiting for him to show up. She stopped looking around the places she ate lunch at for him, seeing that it was a fail over and over.

It was devastating, and even though she said she wouldn't sleep with him, that didn't mean she didn't want to learn more about him.

Bianca thought they were getting somewhere, and even though it wasn't as fast as she's had in the past, the slowness was something she looked forward to. This meant she couldn't predict what was next, and she liked the sweet arrivals that appeared when she least expected them.

She was bummed out.

"How was dance practice?" Bianca asks as she browses the items on the shelves. 

"It was good, but I'm having trouble learning this one move because I keep mixing up the steps," Sophie responded, starting to show her sister the move and stumbling like she's been since the new dance was taught.

Bianca saw the mistake and said, "keep practicing. You're gonna get it."

Sophie smiles as she rushes to sit back in front of the iPad and says, "thank you."

Bianca let her eyes roam the glosses and picked up a sparkly one. She lifted her hand to show the bottle, "want this one?"

"Please!" Sophie shouted, "it's so glittery," heart eyes thumping out of her head.

"Maybe you could give me back my gloss now that you have your own," Bianca said, staring into the camera.

Sophie searched around, avoiding her gaze, "I don't know what you're talking about," Bianca hummed and Sophie laughed because she knew she did steal her sister's gloss, "what did you do today?"

"What did I do today?" Bianca repeats the question, her mind recalculating her steps: "well, I went to work, and that was pretty much it."

She couldn't add on and tell her sister that she was also handling a job for Alvaro. Although he didn't tell her himself, Francis relayed the message to her with a call. She had to pick up a package again, and while on the line with her, Bianca desperately wanted to change the conversation and ask where Alvaro was.