No Matter What

2 | crushes

Alexandra

The first official day at work had been a success. I managed to make it through the day without completely exposing my true identity, and although it was a struggle, I even managed to make a friend while doing so. In fact, a few friends.

It was a thirty-minute walk home from work, seeing as I didn't have a car, and a bus fare was just too much of a bother to come by. Though, the long walk gave me a lot of time to think and reflect upon the day. I learned a lot. I learned how to use an elevator, a computer, and what an office is really like.

I walked down the sidewalk where all the tents were laid out. There were a few of us living on this street of Los Angeles. Maybe 50, maybe more. But there were tens of thousands of homeless people in Los Angeles alone. The public would be surprised.

My tent was right beside Merla's. I finally got to the tent I've called home for years, lying down inside, ready to sleep, despite the fact that I had had a coffee for dinner.

I jumped slightly at the sound of my tent being opened as Merla slid in to sit beside me. I shuffled over to give her room.

"How did it go?" Merla asked me, a warm smile on her face, excited to hear about my day.

I sat up, returning the same smile, excited to tell her everything. "It went so amazing! My coworkers were so nice, and I even made a few friends. I think I can finally live a normal life here."

The skin around Merla's eyes wrinkled as her smile grew, her hands covering her mouth in excitement. Throwing her arms around me, she said, "I'm so glad, Alexandra. I really am."

I hugged her back, my heart warming. As I closed my eyes, I remembered what Merla had done for me. Ever since I was just a young girl, the woman holding me had been the perfect mother figure. She gave me a place to stay, although it was just a small tent on the side of the street. Although we didn't have much, I had everything I had ever needed and wanted thanks to Merla. And now, thanks to her, I had acquired a real job to earn money rather than begging on the street.

Merla was the one that found the job offer, after all. She was the one that made my resume, got me clean work clothes, did my hair before work. She was my very own fairy god mother to my boring little fairytale. Without Merla, I don't know where I'd be at this point. Perhaps a prostitute, or even dead. All I knew was that Merla was my saving light. And I vowed to repay her by doing well in this job.

---

The next morning, I woke up bright and early, excited to get on with my day. Merla had neatly folded my work clothes while I was asleep, which helped them look nice and clean although we didn't do laundry often. To work, I wore a knitted cardigan over a white dress shirt, which was meant for men but it worked anyway. A navy blue plaid skirt covered my legs down to my knees and my feet were clad in clumpy shoes. Merla also did my hair. Sometimes she'd just brush it out for me or give me a ponytail, but this time she put my chest-length brown hair in a simple braid.

When I arrived at work, Piper wasn't there waiting in the lobby for me. I had to resort to figuring out how to use the elevator myself.

I quizzically stared at the buttons before me, hoping no one would notice me.

Out of nowhere, a hand popped into my field of view and hit the button that pointed up. My head flicked to whom the hand belonged to, and it belonged to the one and only Declan Wilshire. My heart stopped for a brief moment, dumbfounded by his good looks. He simply smiled at me before stepping into the elevator. Clearing my throat, I stepped in after him, silently thanking him in my head for indirectly showing me how to use the elevator.