Chapter Two
“You lost your job!” Kelly wasn’t surprised her mother had learned of her transgression before she had got home. Hoping she could get away with it was a big mistake.
“I couldn’t help it, mom,” she said, walking past her mother, who was blocking the doorway to the kitchen.
“You couldn’t help it!” her mother responded, walking right behind her as she headed to her room, “You have no space for error, Kelly. Having a job is the only way you’ll make it through this last stretch of school,”
“I’ll find another job,” Kelly replied, when she finally made it to her room at the back of the house.
“Who is going to hire you now, Kelly? You’ve been fired by everyone on the strip, and I’m sure word is going around about how irresponsible you are.”
Kelly looked at her mother, who seemed to be a lot more distressed than she was. She thought of how hard her mother had worked to give her a better life and in that moment she remembered her encounter with the multi-millionaire.
“I actually think I might have an interview,” she said.
“An interview?” her mother asked.
“Yes, I met someone today and he said I should call him. He gave me his card.”
This made her mother pause. Kelly could tell that what she had said had done nothing to put her mother at ease.
“You want to go and work for a strange man,” her mother said slowly and calmly. “Have we taught you nothing?”
“He’s not technically a strange man,” she replied. “We know him. We just don’t know him know him.”
Kelly felt as if she was a little girl all over again, trying to explain to her mother why she was eating peanut butter off the spoon.
“What are you trying to say?” her mother asked, in obvious confusion.
“I’m saying that we know this man, but we don’t know him like you know Mrs. Spence at the grocery store,” Kelly replied, sitting on her bed.
“Well, then tell me who this man is,” her mother replied, crossing her arms.
“He’s Oscar Moretti,” Kelly replied, under her breath.
“Oscar who?” her mother asked.
“Oscar Moretti,” Kelly replied, a bit louder this time.
“The Oscar Moretti who owns the hotel I work in?” her mother asked, a skeptical look on her face.
“Yes,” Kelly said, shrugging her shoulders.
“And how did you meet this Oscar Moretti?” her mother asked, seemingly amused.
“I met him today when I stopped his daughter from running into the street,” Kelly replied.
“And then he hired you?” her mother asked.
“Well, not really. He just told me to give him a call because he had a position for me. I was thinking I could call him and ask him if he needed someone to work at one of his hotels,” Kelly lied. She knew that saying ‘proposition’ to her mother would make her think something completely different.
Her mother was silent for a moment.
“If this works out, just make sure you don’t mess it up,” she said, before turning and sauntering back into the kitchen.
Kelly rolled over on her bed and let out a sigh of relief. She had got her mother off her back for now, but she had no idea whether or not this man would give her a job. All she could think about was the intensity in his eyes and the way she had been drawn to him on that sidewalk. She picked up her phone and decided it wasn’t too late to call. She was only asking for an entry level job, and he shouldn’t find that too hard to supply, seen as she had practically saved his daughter’s life. She took the card from her pocket and dialed the number.
“Hello,” she said, when he picked up.
“Hello,” he replied. “Who might I be speaking to?”
“Umm, it’s Kelly, the girl…”
“Oh yes, I met you on the sidewalk today,” he said, before she could finish her sentence.
“Oh yes, that’s me.” All the bravado she had mustered up before making the call had vanished.
“Is something wrong?” he asked.
“Well, not really,” she replied. “I actually wanted to call you to ask for a job.” She crossed her fingers and prayed he wouldn’t decline.
“A job?” he asked skeptically.
“Yes, I actually lost mine today. And since you gave me your card, I thought I may as well cash in that favor you offered.”
A chuckle came down the line. “Come into my office tomorrow bright and early,” he replied.
“Really?” she asked, a bit surprised.
“Yes, I think I have a job that would fit you well. And dress casually.”
“Thank you so much, Mr. Moretti,” she said, a bit too loudly.
“Please, I wish you would call me Oscar,” he replied.
“Oh sure, no problem. Oscar,” Kelly said, doing a little dance in her head.
“Well, if that’s all then, I must wish you a good day,” he said, before hanging up.
Kelly stared at the phone, thanking her lucky stars that she had managed to wrangle a possible job.