The Beauty Behind the Damage

chapter 4

Selena's POV

As the pretty lady walked me out of the airport, all I could think about was where I was going to go. I don't have a family, so maybe I could just stay at a hotel until I find a job.

I noticed we were getting closer to the taxis. I wanted to ask her what her name was, but I was too shy to talk to her. I decided to just be quiet and thankful that she walked me this far. As a taxi car pulled up, she watched me get inside and waved at me as the driver took off.

When I got settled in the seat, I told the driver to take me to a hotel in a good part of New York. I had no phone, so I had nothing to occupy myself with. When I got bored, I tried to try and have a conversation with the driver.

"Hey," I said to him, hoping that he would reply to me.

A couple of seconds later, he said, "What do you want, kid?"

"Nothing, I was just bored and wanted to talk just to pass time," I replied, shrinking a little at the way he talked to me. "Look kid, I'm not here to talk to you, so sit your little ass back until we get to your destination," he said back to me, which made me want to cry, but I sucked it up and sat back.

As we made it to the hotel, he told me the price for my ride here. When I gave him the money, he snatched it out of my hand. He didn't even wait until I got all the way out of the car to pull off.

I didn't know what his problem was. I was just trying to be nice and talk, but I guess you can't just talk to anyone. I made my way inside the hotel. It was so nice inside. The chandelier was so big and shiny, but I was a little too scared that it would fall on me.

I made my way to the check-in desk, and I looked at the workers' name tag, which read Julie. " H-hello there Miss Julie, how much would it be per night?" I asked, hoping it was at least close to what I had left. "$189.93 per night, ma'am," she replied.

My whole face dropped. It was more than what I had left. I only had $100 dollars left in my bag. I knew I could not get a room, so I just said thank you and walked out. When I got outside, I had no clue where I was heading, but I kept walking. As I was walking, I noticed a park up ahead.

The sign read New York Grand Park. As I was making my way over to one of the benches, a man bumped into me and made me drop my bag. With all the bad luck I've been having, everything came out. "Hey! watch where you're going," I said to him. I picked my stuff up, and the man helped, but when everything was back in my bag, he left. When I was checking to see if everything was in the bag I noticed my money was gone.

I was mad because I didn't see him take it and I can't get it back because he's nowhere in sight. I sat down thinking about how bad my day has been. The only thing that made me feel safe today was the lady on the plane.

I wish I had her name or at least talked to her. Hopefully, I get to see her again. With that thought, I unwillingly drifted off to sleep.

Santa's POV

It was around five in the evening when I took Earth on a walk to the park so he could kill some of his energy because he was in little space. When little Earth appears, he's so hyper and energetic. Like now, he is hopping and skipping in front of me. "Daddy?" I hear him say. "Yes Pumpkin?" I asked him. "Me get doggy? '' he asked me. We've already had this talk. I told him maybe in the future, but not right now. " What did I tell you earlier?" I asked him. "Me have to wait til later," he said with a pout.

He just kept walking until he saw something up ahead and took off running. He knows he can't run off when we are outside. It is very dangerous, especially for him. When I got closer to him, I noticed what he ran to. It was the smallest little girl sleeping on the bench.

Earth took it upon himself to shake her, but before I could say anything, she screamed and tried to move away from us. You can see the tears trying to leave her eyes. I had to act fast so that I could calm her down. "Hey, Hey it's okay, we're not going to hurt you. He didn't mean to scare you, he was just trying to wake you up," I told her, hoping it would calm her down, which it did just a little.

I gave Earth that you better apologize. " I Sowwy no mean it," he said, still in little space. Her eyes got big. Maybe she was wondering why he was talking like that. "Its otay me just got scawed. no like it hewe sceawy men take Selena's money." I peeped the way she was talking back to him. Maybe she's a little too, I thought.

"You little too?" Earth asked her, which made her freeze up. Telling from the face she was making, I don't think that she noticed  she slipped. It took her a minute to give him a little shy nod back.

I asked the most important question that seems to have an answer. "Hey Selena? That's what you said your name was, right? Are you here alone?" I asked. "Wes me lone. Just moved hewe. I no have money to sleep, '' she replied.

I noticed Earth was getting a little sleepy, so I  asked her if she wanted to come back to our place because it's not safe for a little to be out by themselves at not. At first she said she was okay with staying where she was, but Earth wasn't letting her say no.

She ended up saying yes. We waited for her to grab her bag and made our way back to the apartment. When we made it inside, I noticed Earth had fallen asleep and that Selena was about to go to sleep standing up. I took them both to Earth's little room, which has two beds in it. We had a spare bed just in case another little sleep over.

I put Earth in his bed. I made sure he had his favorite teddy and a kiss on the head before going to check on Selena. When I went to her, she was just standing by the bed looking at it. "Are you okay, sweetheart?'' I asked her. She shook her head, and I asked her why not. "I sceawd of dark?" she replied, surprisingly still in little space. "Hey it's okay. We have a dazzling night light that lights the room up really well," I replied.

I had a feeling it was more to her than just fearing the dark. "I'll be right down the hallway in the living room. If you get scared, just come straight in there, okay?" She nodded her head and finally got in the bed. When she was finally tucked in, I turned on the night light .I walked towards the door. Before I closed it, I heard a real low thank you before a set of soft snores followed behind it.

As I made it to the living room, I sat down and started thinking about Selena. Why was she by herself? Why didn't she have shoes on? Was she running away from someone? So much was going through my head, but none of the answers were clear.

Even though Earth found her, I hope he doesn't think I forgot about him running off just because I haven't mentioned it to him. When he wakes up, his punishment will be waiting for him. Until then, I'll take a little nap until both of the little ones wake up.