Of Diamonds and Dreams

Chapter 1

Quiet. Too damned quiet. So quiet that you could hear a pin drop. But I knew that the sounds of people stirring, coming out of their cozy homes to get their newspapers, some walking their dogs, and yet others leaving for work would soon fill the void. I stared out of the kitchen window of the modest two bedroom cottage that Patty and I were renting on the outskirts of Los Angeles and sighed heavily. The early morning sun was trying its best to peek through the almost constant shroud of smog that blanketed everything here but was having scant luck for all its trouble. Stirring my coffee idly, I frowned as I mused ruefully that I knew what the sun must feel like. No matter how much you try to get ahead in this God-forsaken city, something or someone was always ready to steal your shine.

The phone wasn't ringing. Nobody was beating down my door, begging me to come work for them even though I had put in my application at every company that I thought could even remotely use my talents. I really don't know what I expected following my graduation from college with a degree in business management and consulting, but staring into space and twiddling my thumbs certainly hadn't been a part of that vision. I was ready to conquer the world or at the very least, make my mark on it and then....nothing. I mentally smacked myself and muttered under my breath the very thing that I knew my sweet mom would have said if she was here watching me brood. "Stop grumbling and being so down in the mouth, Cassie. Something will come through. Think positive! Nothing good ever came to those who sit around feeling sorry for themselves." Even as I said it, my mind smirked back, "Loser."

I didn't even have a boyfriend since breaking up with Jake "the scumbag" almost four months ago. I hate a cheater worse than almost anything. Why can't guys just break up with you before they pursue others if that's what they want? Unfortunately, I already knew the answer to that age-old question: They want their cake and eat it, too. That certainly fit Jake. He had chased me relentlessly and totally convinced me that he was in love. Yeah, he was in love alright....in love with himself! Apparently all the while, he had been hitting on all my girlfriends behind my back. What had made matters worse is not one of those so-called friends had had the guts to tell me about it. That is, no one but my best friend Patty. At least she knew the importance of loyalty.

Jake had moved on quickly after I confronted him. He was currently dating another "friend" of mine, Aimee. I tried to warn her about him, but she refused to listen, preferring instead to be totally beguiled by his good looks and deceptively easy-going charm. Such a snake! Oh well, I guess the poor girl would have to find out for herself the hard way just like I did. And anyway, why was I even thinking about boyfriends and him in particular? The only thing that a guy could do for me at that point was complicate my life and I certainly didn't need or want that!

What I needed to be doing was enjoying my little bit of freedom because God knows in the past four years, I'd had precious little of it. I had been employed at a nice family-owned Italian restaurant called Mama Mia's, working my way up from hostess to waitress then manager in the space of time that it took to get through school and as a result, I had managed to put a little savings aside to see me through. But, it certainly hadn't been easy. Day after day of long, hard hours on my feet followed by even longer, coffee-fueled hours of studying, getting a couple of hours of "dead time" as we roommates had appropriately dubbed it, then trying my best not to fall asleep in class while the professors lectured on and on.

I had mistakenly thought that I would have a job at Mama Mia's for as long as I wanted, having been taken into the family and lovingly called the adopted child and the chosen one. But I learned a very bitter, although valuable lesson in "family business 101". When you're not born into the family, you're subject to be pushed aside when the wayward, drug addicted, and generally good-for-nothing son decides to straighten his act up just long enough to talk his way back into the family business. Yes, that's right. The idiot had been allowed to come in and take over, making my life a living hell in the process. Oh well. I reasoned that it would give me more of an opportunity to search for a better job. Preferably one more suited to my hard-earned degree.