CHAPTER5
1046 Words
Vera's POV:
Anxiety was an understatement when I received the phone call. I've been to dozens of interviews and countless verbal engagements in the past, and I always feel nervous speaking to someone who is purportedly superior to me.
"Yes. Yes." I make a bend toward the small cactus plant, which is in severe need of water. I hold the phone hard in both hands. "Yes. I'll be there." I try to keep the butterflies from fluttering inside my tummy.
Lilly was jotting down words in her notebook on the chair across from me. She took up a chip and tossed it into her mouth while resting her elbow against the counter.
"Thank you for the opportunity," I added before concluding the chat. When the call ended, I flung the phone down. "I got an interview."
Lilly comes to a halt in her writing, twisting the chair towards me in a perfect brow arch. "I thought I told you to rest."
"I did rest!" I exclaimed, pointing to my feet's fluffy bunny socks. I jiggle it a couple times to demonstrate my ease. In addition, I've been catching up on Korean dramas. I don't want to bring it up because Lilly will make fun of me again about my yellow fever.
"It's been five days." She taps her fingertips on the counter. "And you didn't sleep for five days. You essentially cleaned the entire apartment."
"I swear, you're the only person who complains when someone else does your laundry."
"Perhaps I want my underwear to be fond into rectangles rather than squares." Squares are for losers, and I'm not one!" Her tone of speaking was caustic.
"Then, what shape are you?"
"I'm a damn star!"
"Like Patrick Star?"
"Of course." She nudged her brows and gave me a sidelong, mocking look.
"Then that makes me Spongebob, eh?"
She rose to her feet. "Life is sweet; there are snacks we can eat," she sang as she spun the bowl of chips around.
I rose up and did my chicken dance to the fridge, where I took out a block of cheese. "We'll have more fun if we go out instead of sitting around doing nothing. "Let's go exploring; open every drawer," I sang along with her as I melted the cheese in the microwave.
She started whirling back toward me. "Hey, you found my long-lost cheese!" She pointed at the lights in the microwave.
"That's what friends are for!" Let's have some fun together...with-" the microwave dings as I push open the microwave, "cheese and-" "Chips!" she said, holding up the bowl and extending a single leg like the Lion King.
"You're going to be my best friend forever!" she screamed as we hoisted the two bowls in the air.
"Shut up!" A voice rang out from the ceiling. "Broadway doesn't want you, and I don't want you either!" Our wonderful upstairs neighbor yelled.
"This is hot!" Is it okay if I put it down?" I kept singing, ignoring the always-angry shout from upstairs. My hands were on fire, and I was cursing myself for being so dumb. I quickly threw down the bowl and turned on the sink water. I sigh with relief as I place my hands beneath the cold water.
I collapsed back onto the couch, face first, after wiping my hands. Lilly lifts herself up and approaches me, holding the dish of chips. "Are you sure you're up for this?"
Nobody wants to be rejected again.
"Yes." Liar.
Lilly sighs, a lengthy one that indicates I can't deal with your thick head anymore.
"I've been thinking, Li," I murmured, rubbing my thumbs together. "I...I think I'm going to go back to South America if this doesn't work out."
She appears to be taken aback by my remark. She had previously advised me to call my mother and father and inform them of my situation. She finally stopped after my embarrassing drunken night on the streets. That night, I wailed in her arms, begging her not to kick me out, despite the fact that she had no intention of doing so. I didn't want to go home and let my parents down.
"Vera, you can stay here as long-"
I shook my head, causing her to pause. A strand of curls is tucked behind my ear. "I've had enough of your kindness, Li. I should know where to draw the line and recognize when I'm talking advantage of a friend's help."
"Oh, Vera." She took a deep breath before embracing me hard. "Believe me, your parents will understand." They're decent people."
"I know they're good; that's why it hurts even more to disappoint them." I inhaled deeply through my congested nose. "They brought me up to be a refined lady, and look at me now, Li."
No job. No husband. I don't have a place to call my own. I have nothing but my silly pride, yet pride does not put food on the table or make the toilet flush smoothly.
"You held yourself together for a whole year without your family or that asshole of an ex-husband's support."
"Only to put my weight on my best friend."
She softly pushes me back, then brushes the dripping water from my face. "There's a reason I'm your bestie." I've been here through thick and thin."
I grin. "Can you marry me?"
Lilly pushed her fingers against her sternum. "Is this a proposal I hear, Miss Brown?"
"Depends. "Do you intend to say yes?"
"Under one condition."
"And that is?"
"You get the job, and...you let me cook for a month...alone."
I let out a sigh. "Don't you mean I should cook for a month?"
"No. You're always cooking." I'd like to-"
"I'll do my best on the first one." You may not, however, cook alone."
"Why not?"
"You ruined the curry last week!" You might as well retrieve the $5 note from under my pillow and burn it as well."
"Why do you have a five-dollar bill underneath your bed?"
"For emergencies."
"What in the goddamn world can you purchase with five dollars?"
We keep talking about the most odd topics until Lilly dashes into my bedroom to steal my five dollars. I had to fight her off with a plastic bat. "My five dollars!"
- Writer
