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Anthony makes a considering sound. “All right. We can work with this. You look young, but not young enough to make people ask questions. What’s your name?”
The boy swallows, his Adam’s apple bobbing in his thin neck. “Bennie.”
“Alright, Bennie, I’m Anthony, and I worked at this company for over a decade.” He reaches into his pocket, pulling out his wallet and a cream card from the inner pocket. He holds it out toward Bennie. “Show up here tomorrow at ten a.m. I’ll put in a call to be sure they’re expecting you. Report to Carrie in Human Resources. She’ll get you set up with a uniform and show you the ropes. Executive runners start at twenty dollars an hour, but if you work hard, you can earn a raise in as little as three months.”
Bennie’s eyes go wide. “R-really?”
“Really. One of my cousins worked there last summer and really enjoyed it.” Anthony extends the card a little farther. “Go ahead. Take it. This isn’t a trick. It’s a life preserver. Show up at the office tomorrow and take advantage. If you do, there will also be an envelope waiting for you. I’ll make sure there’s enough money inside to cover the rent and a little extra for you to put aside in case of another emergency.”
“You’re lying,” he says, his words sending a flash of pain through my chest. “The rent is eight hundred. There’s no way you’re giving a kid who tried to rob your girlfriend eight hundred dollars and a job. Shit like that doesn’t happen in real life.”
“He is a liar sometimes,” I say, making Anthony stiffen beside me as I move out from behind his arm. “But not aboutthis. This is real, and you should jump on the opportunity and do everything you can to make the most of it. Because you’re right. Stuff like this doesn’t usually happen in real life. But every once and a while…it does.” I search his still uncertain gaze, hoping I can get through to him. He’s too young to give up on a shot at something better than what he’s known so far. “That’s why we have to hold onto hope. If we stop hoping, then we stop believing our lives can get better. And then, when luck finally swings our way, we’re so jaded and beaten down that we let our chance slip through our fingers. It’s understandable when that happens, obviously—it’s hard to keep hoping when life gives you so many reasons to give up—but it’s also so sad. We lose so much when we stop hoping, and other people do, too. No doubt in my mind, our society would be a better, happier, healthier place for everyone if we all had more hope.”
Anthony grunts softly. I look up to see him watching me with a tender appreciation that looks so real it sends another ache of bittersweet longing through my chest. “You should listen to her,” he murmurs to Bennie, his eyes never leaving mine. “She’s a wise woman.”
I frown. “I don’t know about that, but I do know you can take Anthony at his word.” Fixing my focus on Bennie once more, I add, “And you can trust the money will be there tomorrow. I’ll make sure of it. I have enough to cover it if he doesn’t, and I’d like to do that for you. My way of helping keep hope alive.”
Bennie swipes tears from his cheeks, but his voice is steady as he whispers, “Thank you. Both of you. I know I don’t deserve this after I tried to rob you, but I’m not going to mess this up.” He stands up straighter, rolling his shoulders back as he lifts the card into the air. “I’ll be here tomorrow, and I’ll work harder than anyone else. I know how to work hard. I’ll show you. You won’t be sorry you gave me a chance.”
Anthony nods. “I don’t think I will. Good luck, Bennie. Hope the new year is good to you and your family.”
“You, too.” Bennie glances between us, his mouth softening in a crooked smile that makes me think his hope isn’t dead, after all. “I’ll see you around maybe. Get home safe.” Glancing my way as he backs toward the end of the street, he adds, “And stick to the main streets when you’re alone after dark. There are way worse guys than me around here.”
I nod. “Thanks. I’ll keep that in mind.”
Anthony and I watch him run off, clutching the card like a lifeline, and suddenly I’m very conscious of the fact that I climbed out a restroom window to get away from the man standing beside me, patiently waiting for me to make the first move.
Maybe he can sense that I need to feel in control right now.
Or maybe healsohas no idea what to say.
I’ve never climbed out a window and ghosted a date before. But then I’ve never gotten a voicemail like the one Sydney left me tonight.
Pulling in a bracing breath, I turn to him, ignoring the way my heart lurches at the sight of the worry in his eyes. Until I know what’s going on, I can’t even think about forgiving him.
Hell, I still have no idea exactly what I’d be forgiving him for.
“My friend Sydney left a voice message while we were chatting with your friends,” I finally whisper. “She said you’re not who you’ve been pretending to be. She said Clark isn’t even your real last name.”
A pained expression flashes across his face, but he doesn’t look surprised.
And he doesn’t refute the information.
“Well, shit,” I choke out, my throat tight. “Then it’s true?” I shake my head. “I mean, of course, it’s true. Sydney’s not thekind who gets things wrong. I guess I just…” I finish in a soft, shamed voice, “I hoped there was some mistake.”
“Maya, please,” he says, sounding as miserable as I feel. “I’m so sorry. I was going to tell you tonight. I swear it. That’s why I had my friends come to meet us at the club. I wanted you to hear from people who know me that I’m not some kind of?—”
“Some kind of lying creep?” I finish for him, my stomach churning.
He winces. “Something like that, I guess. But I promise, I never meant to hurt you.” He searches my face, his gaze burning into mine as he adds in a whisper, “I never meant to fall in love with you, either. But I did. And the thought of losing you because I waited too long to come clean makes me physically ill. Please, just give me the chance to explain.”
I chew my bottom lip, torn between the part of me that just watched him go out of his way to help a kid in trouble and the part screaming that liars never change. Once a liar, always a liar, and I can’t build a future with someone like that.
I learned that from watching my sister nearly ruin her life before she wised up and kicked her liar to the curb. That’s not a lesson I want or need to learn firsthand.
But still…
There’s so much good between us, too much to run without giving him the chance to explain. That was never my plan.