I need a new job

Amani POV

"I need a new job."

Sade looked up from the menu slowly. "That was fast."

We sat at the small cafe across from the hospital. Cars passed outside. Nurses walked in and out with coffee cups in their hands while soft music played somewhere above us.

I rubbed both palms against my jeans under the table.

"What happened to the old one?" she asked.

I stared at her.

"Sade."

"What?"

"You know that job barely pays anything."

She opened her mouth again but I cut in before she could speak.

"My mother is upstairs fighting for her life right now. Every hour she stays in that hospital costs money. The medications cost money. The tests cost money. Everything costs money."

"Amani."

"I cannot even breathe without somebody asking for payment."

The waitress stopped beside our table. "Can I get you ladies anything?"

"Tea," Sade said quietly.

"Nothing for me, thank you."

The waitress nodded and walked away.

Sade reached across the table and touched my hand gently. "You have not slept."

"I do not have time to sleep."

"You are shaking."

I pulled my hand away and leaned back in the chair.

"So do you know any job openings or not?"

She bit the inside of her cheek before shaking her head slowly. "Not really."

I looked down at the table immediately.

The noise inside the cafe suddenly sounded louder, like the whole room had turned up a volume I could not control. Plates clinked against each other. People laughed at tables around me. 

A blender ran somewhere behind the counter and refused to stop.

I pressed my lips together hard and grabbed my bag.

"Mani."

"It is fine."

"Amani, sit down."

"What is the point?" I asked quietly. "I thought maybe you knew something."

Sade watched me for a second before quickly saying, "Wait."

I stopped moving.

"I heard some nurses talking yesterday," she said carefully.

I looked back at her.

"One of the hospital sponsors is searching for a new housekeeper."

"A housekeeper?"

She nodded quickly. "The Bennett family."

I blinked once.

"The Bennett family?" I repeated.

"Yes."

"The rich Bennett family?"

"There is only one Bennett family everybody talks about," she muttered.

I sat back down slowly.

"They are looking for a staff?"

"That is what I heard."

"Why would rich people suddenly need a housekeeper?"

Sade shrugged. "Maybe the old one quit. Maybe she got fired. I do not know."

"Do they pay well?"

Sade laughed softly. "Amani, those people probably spend more money feeding their dogs than we spend in a month."

I grabbed her hands instantly. "Please get me the information."

She smiled finally. "I will ask around."

"You are a lifesaver."

"You always say that."

"And I mean it."

The waitress returned with tea.

Sade pushed the cup toward me instead.

"Drink before you pass out."

"I am not passing out."

"You almost fell asleep while crying earlier."

I grabbed the cup quietly.

Three days later, I stood outside the Bennett mansion holding my bag so tightly my fingers hurt.

The gate alone looked bigger than my entire apartment building.

A black car drove past me and disappeared around the fountain in front of the house.

I looked down at myself one more time. A black fitted gown, small heels, simple makeup, and the only decent purse I owned.

"You can do this," I whispered.

The security guard by the gate glanced at me briefly before opening the door after checking my name.

I walked up the stairs carefully.

Every step made my stomach twist harder.

I knocked twice.

Nobody answered.

Then footsteps approached from inside.

"Who is it?" a woman's voice called out.

"The applicant for the housekeeper position."

The door opened seconds later.

A tall woman stood there staring at me from head to toe. Long hair, perfect makeup, silk dress, and eyes that cut straight through me.

"Yes?"

"Good afternoon, ma," I said quickly. "I am Amani Lewis. I came for the interview."

One eyebrow lifted slowly.

"You are the interview?"

"Yes, ma."

She stayed quiet long enough for my palms to grow sweaty again.

Then she stepped aside finally. "Come in."

"Thank you."

The moment I entered the house, I nearly stopped walking.

The chandelier above the entrance looked bigger than my entire bedroom.

The floors shined so brightly I could almost see my reflection.

My heels clicked softly while I followed her deeper into the mansion.

Then I saw him.

A man sat on the long couch near the fireplace scrolling through something on his phone. Dark shirt, rolled sleeves, one hand resting against his jaw.

He looked up briefly.

And my brain completely stopped working.

"Close your mouth before spit falls out," Sade's voice echoed inside my head suddenly.

I blinked quickly and looked away.

"Well," the woman beside me said, "I am Isabella Bennett."

I nodded immediately. "Yes, ma."

"And that is my husband, Elijah Bennett."

Mr Bennett barely looked up again.

"Sit," Isabella said.

I sat carefully on the edge of the chair across from them.

My hands stayed folded tightly in my lap.

Isabella crossed one leg over the other. "How old are you?"

"Twenty four."

"Previous work experience?"

"I worked at a restaurant for two years and I also cleaned apartments during weekends."

"Why did you leave?"

"I still work there."

She looked up from the papers in front of her.

"Then why are you applying here?"

Because my mother is dying. Because hospital bills are eating me alive. Because I am desperate.

"I need something more stable," I answered quietly.

She hummed softly.

"What about live in arrangements?" she asked.

"I can manage."

"You can manage or you are comfortable with it?"

"I am comfortable with it."

Mr Bennett finally spoke without looking up from his phone.

"She is lying."

My head snapped toward him instantly.

He looked up slowly this time. Dark eyes, cold face, calm voice, like someone who had never once been surprised by anything in his life.

"You are not comfortable with it," he said again. "You need the money."

The room went completely still around us.

I swallowed hard before answering. "Yes."

His eyes stayed on me for another second, long enough that I felt it in my chest, before dropping back to his phone.

Isabella sighed softly. "Can you cook?"

"Yes, ma."

"Clean?"

"Yes, ma."

"Laundry?"

"Yes, ma."

"Can you handle pressure?"

I almost laughed.

Instead I nodded.

"Yes, ma."

Her eyes narrowed slightly. "What is funny?"

"Nothing."

"You smiled."

"I did not mean to."

She leaned back slowly while studying me again.

I sat straighter in my chair.

From the corner of my eye, I noticed Mr Bennett glance at me again. Then once more after that. Each time his eyes moved away a little slower than the last, like he kept finding a reason to look back and could not quite explain it to himself. I told myself it meant nothing and focused on keeping my hands still in my lap.

Isabella tapped her nails against the folder while the silence stretched between us. I could hear the ticking clock hanging somewhere behind the couch. Mr Bennett picked up his cup of coffee slowly. My fingers tightened around my purse underneath the chair.

Then she exchanged a look with her husband, he did not look back at her.

His eyes were already on me.

Isabella's jaw tightened slightly before she turned back and opened her mouth to speak.

"Well, I'm sorry but I won't be offering you this job."