Love amidst pain and luxury

Rin I turned over and slammed my hand on the blaring alarm clock by my bedside. Grudgingly, I raised my head to check the time—7:00 a.m. “s**t!” I jumped up immediately, all remnants of sleep disappearing from my eyes. It’d been a while since I overslept. The twins and I had to be out of the house by 8 a.m., and here I was, waking up at seven. Without wasting any more time, I slipped on my flip-flops, the ones I always kept lying in front of my bed, and made my way toward the twins’ bedroom. Their door was closed, which meant they were still asleep. I considered barging in but thought better of it. They were growing boys and needed their privacy. Instead, I knocked loudly. “Wake up, sleepyheads! The school bus isn't going to wait for latecomers,” I called. I heard grumbling, followed by the unmistakable sound of sheets ruffling, and I smiled, quietly making my way into the kitchen. I pulled open the kitchen blinds and windows, letting in fresh air and nature's light. We’d been out of power for about two weeks because I couldn’t pay the light bills, but who needs electricity when you’ve got sunlight, right? Sigh. Grabbing the leftover vegetables from the fridge—spinach, onions, carrots, tomatoes—I brought them to the sink and washed them thoroughly. After slicing them into clean pieces, I dumped them into a bowl. I was about to put the frying pan on the gas when I heard a loud banging on the front door. “Please let it be someone else,” I prayed silently, wiping my hands on my pajamas. I walked into the living room, which was right after the kitchen, and unlocked the latch. I took a deep breath and made a quick sign of the cross before pulling the door open with a smile. A non-smiling, short, plump woman was standing there, hand poised like she was about to knock again. “Buenos días, señora María. ¿Cómo estás?” I said, trying my best spanish accent. She gave me a skeptical look, her eyes running from my head to my feet and back. “It’s ‘¿Cómo está?’ Why don’t you stick to speaking the language you know,” she replied flatly. “Sorry. I just thought it’d be fun to hear someone speak in your home dialect once in a while.” I widened my smile, stepping out onto the porch. “You know what’s fun for me, Miss Sawyer? Paying me my house rent. It’s been over a month now and still no feedback from you.” I nodded quickly, reaching to close the door behind me so the twins wouldn’t overhear. “I know, señora María, but things are hard for me right now. I normally pay the rent on time, don’t I? Please, just be a bit more considerate and give me a little more time. You know the bills for my mom’s cancer meds keep sucking all my money,” I pleaded. “Ay Dios mío, things are hard for me and my husband too. One would think someone working at a multi-billion-dollar company, especially with your friend as the boss, wouldn’t have financial problems. Maybe you should try asking him for help, hmm?” I tried to hide the rising anger in my chest. Just because my boss was a friend didn’t mean I was entitled to his money. Why do people always abuse the idea of connections? I forced myself to keep smiling. “It’s not as easy as you think, señora María. Please, give me one more month. I promise I’ll get back to you.” She gave me another hesitant look. I knew señora María wasn’t heartless. She just loved getting her rent on time so she wouldn’t have to argue with tenants year-round when she had other things to worry about. After a moment of silence, she rested one hand on her hip and pointed her finger close to my face. “You have two weeks, girl. I’ve been generous enough—two weeks or you’re out.” “Thank you, señora María,” I beamed, gently clasping her finger in gratitude. “I’ll do my best, señora.” “You’d better. It’d be a shame to lose such a nice tenant,” she said, stepping down from the porch. “And tell your mom I said hi when you visit her at the hospital.” “I will!” I shouted, waving until she disappeared down the road. As soon as she was out of sight, I bent my head into my palms and muttered a long, desperate prayer. Wiping the stress from my face, I forced myself to stay composed and walked back into the house. The twins were lying lazily on the couch, tossing a ball to each other. I raised an eyebrow. “Excuse me, young lads. Aren’t you supposed to be getting ready for school?” “We can’t. We’re not allowed to,” said the one by the door, shifting his position to face me. “Why?” I asked, hands on my hips. “Umm, ‘cause you haven’t paid our fees, duh?” the other one replied, rolling his eyes. “Ohh,” I dropped my hands, remembering yet another bill I hadn’t paid. I quickly pulled myself together, choosing to focus on his attitude instead. “Nathan, I’ve told you to watch your tone when talking to me.” “Whatever.” He threw the ball to the ground, stood up, and headed to his room. “Nathan!” “Um, I don’t think you have time to be yelling, sis. You’re already late for work—it’s past eight,” Ethan interjected. He was always the one saving his twin from a serious ass whooping. Compared to Nathan, Ethan was calmer and more respectful. “What the—? How many minutes?” I asked, rushing toward my room. “I don’t know, like five,” he called after me. “Thanks!” I yelled back. In less than thirty minutes, I’d brushed my teeth and taken a quick shower. I threw on a fitted mid-thigh black mini skirt with a small slit in the front and a plain white cropped tube top. I layered it with a matching cropped blazer to complete the look. Not having time to admire myself in the mirror, I let down my shoulder-length mahogany curls and tied them into a lazy ponytail. A few short strands refused to go back, so I let them frame my face. I applied the only makeup I owned—red lip gloss—then grabbed my white Montague bag, my only designer bag, and rushed out. I was putting on my watch, which I usually left on the living room table, when Ethan walked up to me holding my leather loafers. “Aren’t you planning on wearing these?” I took them from him and kissed his forehead. “Lifesaver.” He smiled and wiped his forehead like I’d just cursed him, making me laugh. “Okay, I think I’m good to go. I was about to make some vegetable sauce for rice, but got interrupted. I’ve already washed and sliced everything. You’ve got the rest, right?” Ethan nodded. I gave him a quick hug. “What would I do without you?” “Nothing,” he chuckled. I shook my head playfully, grabbed the keys to my old silver Honda Civic LX, and was about to step out when the landline rang. I closed the door and ran back to it, resting against the wall between the living room and kitchen. “Morning, Rin speaking,” I said, glancing at Nathan, who stared curiously at the phone. “Are you Rinna Sawyer?” “Yes. Who’s speaking, please?” “Don’t worry, you don’t know me. I’m just a passerby who witnessed your friend get into an accident. The first number on his phone was yours, so that’s why I called.” I could feel my pulse rise, my brain already scrolling through the short list of friends I had, praying it wasn’t serious. “Um, sorry—you said a friend of mine? Could you tell me the name of the person, please?” “Hold on one second.” The man muttered something to someone in the background. I smiled weakly at Ethan, absentmindedly pinching the heart pendant on my necklace—the one I never took off—trying to hold off the growing panic. “Hello? You there?” “Mm, yeah.” “His name is Ash Montague.” “Oh my God!” I dropped the phone instantly.