Deirdre felt drowsy the more she thought about it and shut her eyes as she drifted to sleep. All of a sudden, she felt her calf being touched by someone’s hands. She was jolted awake and opened her eyes to pitch blackness. She heard Tobey’s even breathing sound next to her. Could it be that Tobey touched her in his drunken state?She relaxed her racing heart and was preparing to shut her eyes again when the pair of hands touched her once again and crept upward to her thighs in a chaotic manner. “Who’s there!?” Deirdre was scared out of her wits and struggled in an attempt to get up. In the next moment, a man lay directly on top of her and breathed heavily. Deirdre became fully awake when she smelled the alcoholic stench on the man’s breath. “What are you doing!? Mr. Walker!”She was deeply terrified. ‘How did Henry get into the room? I didn’t hear the sound of the door being unlocked at all!’Henry caressed Deirdre with his hands eagerly and greedily smelled the scent of h
They could not stay here anymore. After tonight, perhaps Henry would send someone to punish Tobey, so they had to seize the opportunity to leave quickly when Henry was still alone. “Hold on.” Tobey pulled his phone out of his pocket and said to Deirdre, “You should go outside first. I shall come to see you when I’m done packing.”Deirdre kept quiet for a moment before she turned around and left. At the very moment the door was shut, Henry’s terrified voice was heard coming from the room.“Tobey… Tobey… I won’t do it again! Please spare me this time and consider that nothing has happened today. I promise that I won’t tell others… What are you doing!? Tobey Russell!”Afterward, Tobey got out of the house with his packed clothes. He held Deirdre’s wrist and said, “Let’s go.”Deirdre walked after him and asked, “Will Henry report us to the police?”“He won’t.” Tobey spoke through his gritted teeth. “What he did isn’t anything glamorous. In addition, I took some photos of him. If he
The manager’s interest was piqued upon hearing Deirdre’s final sentence. “Leave your number, and I’ll see if there’s anything up your alley.”Deirdre did not have a phone, so she left Tobey’s phone number. A few days passed, but there was no response. Just as Deirdre thought that she would not be able to land a job, Tobey returned from work at night and told Deirdre, “A woman called me today wanting to talk to you. Her name is Ms. Reed, and she is a manager somewhere.”Deirdre perked up. “What did she say?”Tobey said, “She did not explain in detail after learning that I’m not you. She told me to let you call her back when I’m home.”Deirdre hastily instructed Tobey to call the manager.The manager picked up the call after a while and said before Deirdre could speak, “Is this Miss McKinnon?”“Yes, it’s me!”The manager chuckled and said, “You hit the jackpot. I chatted with a highly-respectable professor with whom I have a rather close relationship, and he wanted to commis
“Piano teacher?” Julia Ward was dumbfounded. She pointed at Deirdre and only found her voice after a while to say, “My grandfather is so old that he became demented, right? He’s pretty desperate, isn’t he? It’s fine if he’s hiring a piano teacher, but he has actually hired a blind one!?”The girl spoke in an uncourteous tone, but Deirdre did not pay attention to that at all. Shauna said, “You may call Prof. Ward to verify.”Julia refused to believe these people, so she walked inside to make a call in her slippers. After a while, her voice was heard coming from the room. “What the h*ck, grandfather!?”“She can’t even see! Am I going to learn from the teacher or learn to trouble myself?“Yes! You’re kind, magnanimous, and ready to help others, but don’t you try to implicate your granddaughter!“I really… Forget it!”After a while, Julia walked out, slamming the door in a rage, and said to Deirdre, “Come in. I’m just going to put this out there. I won’t be bothered to care for you
Julia was especially displeased. “Why are you smiling?”“Nothing. There’s something that I need you to know. Professor Ward hired me, so it ought to be Professor Ward who speaks to me in person if he wants to fire me. Only then I’ll leave. Even if you have the courage to infuriate me, I will not leave here either.”Julia narrowed her eyes. “Why? Do you love this job so much that you will put up with a person like me?”Deirdre said honestly, “It’s because I need money and need to make a living to support myself. If you were to pay me a full 40,000 dollars, perhaps I might consider not working as your piano teacher and tender my resignation on my own accord.”Julia was stunned for a moment before she said angrily, “You wish!”Then, the lesson lasted until night.Deirdre could tell that Julia was rather interested in playing the piano because she stopped being so cynical when she was engrossed in the lesson.Deirdre met Professor Ward at night, and he sounded like a kind, easygoing
“Uh, what did you use to wash it? Seriously, can you stop bringing all sorts of weird sh*t from your place to our house? My grandfather’s health is at stake here! Even a single germ on that thing you called a bag might hurt him, and you bet your *as you’re not gonna be able to foot his hospital bill!”Helplessly, Deirdre took the food out of the bag while Julia—not so much holding it but pinching it between her fingers—dropped the bag into the garbage bin. “What’s that supposed to be?” she asked, her eyes set on Deirdre’s hands. “My dinner,” she answered.Julia snorted. “Well, guess I can’t fault you for thinking ahead. Your food isn’t included in our agreement,” she remarked. “You can put your food inside our fridge and then microwave it in the evening. Go.”“But my food’s still steaming. It’s not good to store it in the fridge when it’s still hot.” Deirdre hesitated for a moment and pulled the lid open. “I should cool it first.”It should take the food only half an hour to co
“Huh? What’s that about your dinner?”Deirdre told Tobey how everything had gone down, and the young man chuckled. “Ha, I knew you’ve got the magic, Dee,” he remarked.A cool evening wind billowed, and he smoothed her hair. “Too bad that cost you your dinner, though. But you’re in luck. There is a pretty good grill stall in town, and according to rumors, they have less oily and flavorful options. Wanna give that a try?”“Sounds great! I happen to think today’s progress calls for a celebration.”Tobey clapped the cushion of a share-bike. “Get into my sweet ride for the evening, miss. I am but your humble chauffeur.”Deirdre got onto the backseat and tightly held the edge of Tobey’s shirt. He started to pedal, and the two set sail into the wind.During a few seemingly trivial seconds, an Audi brushed past them. “Sir, Professor Ward’s residence is right ahead,” Sam reported as he scanned the neighborhood. “Do you want to visit him now that you’re in Surstate?”The man he was addr
Julia held her chin with the thick of her palm. “I got bored of takeout, ugh! Sure, my grandfather hired a cook, but I bet she wishes she could be as good as you are. There’s no joy in eating what she makes! She still has her job because my grandfather explicitly forbids me from firing people out of my preferences!”Then, suddenly, her eyes glinted. She cast a very meaningful stare in Deirdre’s direction. “Wait a sec. Why don’t… you become our new cook!? Name your price! I bet it’ll pay you way more than being my piano teacher.”The prospect quite tempted Deirdre, but she remembered her pregnancy and dismissed the idea with a smile. “I’ll pass.”“You’ll pass? Oh, h*ll no. Are you just holding a grudge against me for being a little bit nasty to you when we first started? Huh! Who knew you could be this grudgeful, huh? Okay, I formally apologize for being a brat and a pain in your *ss! I promise I won’t ever say something nasty to you again!” she declared. “But if that’s not enough fo