3. The Vacancy

Amber Brown

It had been about a fortnight since Mom and I had moved into our new house in the Bronx. I was slowly beginning to feel familiar with the place, there wasn't much to see here, it was a very small house, one day was more than enough to see everything in it, I also took the opportunity to get to know part of the neighborhood.

I got to know the location of the markets closest to the house, Crotona Park which was relatively close by, I didn't go too far because if I did I'd get to the zoo, and it was a place I didn't want to return to, probably never again in my life, I mapped out all the bus stops and metro stations so that when I needed to get around cheaply I'd know exactly where to go, I got to know some of the bars and other stores that were around here, even if I didn't enjoy the services offered by them for the sake of the forced economy.

I tried to find a job in absolutely every shop in the vicinity since I needed to work, so I hoped to work somewhere close to home, but it was an impossible task, absolutely nobody gave me a job, not even those who had signs advertising vacancies, and to this day some signs are still displayed there, I kept watching every day to confirm this, which made me think that maybe I'm the problem, they don't want to give me a job.

I was heartbroken!

The truth is that living in that neighborhood was hell, no one there would look at me, everyone turned their faces away when I walked by, they didn't even answer me when I dared to try to approach them, my friends, the many I had when I was rich, one by one blocked me on W******p when they found out I had become poor, even my best friend Lyn, or the one I thought was the best, answered me any more, no one was willing to help me, I felt sad, depressed, and poor.

Poorer and poorer!

I heard knocks on the living room door, I took a deep breath anticipating what would happen, I was just finishing preparing my coffee to continue another tireless day of searching for a job that never came.

I tried to disguise my discouragement by opening the door, and there it was - what could I say now? Our savior! The man to whom we owe gratitude today for having a roof over our heads, I smiled at him and he came in, already settling himself on the kitchen worktop where some bread rolls and my coffee mug were, a luxury I had given myself when I went to the market to buy groceries.

"How's Amber? Adjusting well?" His voice was neutral, I couldn't tell if he was really worried or if he was pleased to see me in that inhospitable old place, but I had the impression that he was giving me a look of satisfaction, I just couldn't understand exactly why.

"I'm fine Bob, I'm gradually getting used to it, it's a lot smaller than the mansion, but I'm grateful to have a roof over my head" I responded by forcing a sympathy that I didn't have, it was humiliating to depend on him for this, but I couldn't irritate him and make him lose his benevolence towards me and my mother in the room above, so I opted for cordiality, it was a safer way.

"I'm glad! Your father asked me to come and see you and deliver some letters for both of you" He stopped and looked around before asking me "Where's your mother?" He frowned, trying uselessly to hide his interest in the answer to that question.

"She's in her room, she hasn't left it much since we came here, she's not knowing how to cope... Deal with all this..." I stopped talking when I felt I was about to start crying, I swallowed it down and stopped myself, he didn't need to see that.

'You'll make it! I'm your friend! I'm here to help you, Amber, in any way I can, you can count on me!" He spoke and nodded in agreement when I offered him coffee, he took it and stared at the cracked cup for a while before raising his eyes and asking me:

"Have you got a job yet?" And there was the question I'd been dreading, I knew it would come at some point, I was looking for work, I knew I'd have to pay him rent, but I still had a few months to go before the deadline he'd initially given us.

"Not yet, but I'm looking, every day I go out looking for work, I've been to every place in the neighborhood, but no one wants to employ me, today I'm going to Queens to look for something there, hopefully I'll get something this month" I replied, feeling pressured by something that wasn't even my fault.

"I see! I have a proposition for you!" My daughter works for a company in Manhattan, and she told me that her boss is hiring, I can ask her to talk to him about you, she's very well-liked in the company, and I'm sure that with her recommendation you'll be hired.

His proposal filled me with hope, Manhattan was a bit far away for me, but the possibility of having a job was much more tempting, people could work far away, come and go and everything else that involved this poor thing, well, I could too, more hopeful about the new possibilities I said what he wanted to hear.

"I'd thank you very much for that!" I saw a smile forming on his lips, he looked happy, too happy, but there was something suspicious there, something I couldn't understand at the moment, but the future would make me understand exactly what it meant.

Without much delay, Bob made a call and spoke to his daughter, and within a few minutes, I had an interview scheduled for today. This gave rise to a pang of hope that I wasn't prepared for: with a job, things would be a little better, the risk of being out on the street in a short time was starting to become distant, and the possibility that I might be able to go back to school, retake my college exams and thus improve my chances at some point was starting to appear in my mind as something that could be achieved.

I sucked in a deep breath as I heard Bob say that he would be going into town today, and if I wanted, he would give me a lift to the company where his daughter worked. I nodded happily, I hadn't driven a car since I came here, only on foot, or by bus or subway. I was happy to be able to ride in a car again. I went up to my room to change, a pair of clothes I'd bought at a thrift store so I could look for a job folded on top of the desk, ready to be put on, I put them on and ran downstairs, feeling more and more hopeful.

Bob explained to me on the way about the company his daughter worked for, and this made me very excited. It was a very famous cosmetics company, Make-Pró. It was a new brand, about five years old, but it was highly promising, many bloggers were talking about it, and I had her entire collection of lipsticks in my purse, which was cowardly stolen as soon as we arrived at the house Bob had given us in the Bronx.

I felt more and more excited, it was a great chance that I was getting from life, even more so to work for a company that sold simply the thing that I love most in life, which is make-up. I couldn't ask for more, maybe I could try for a job as a make-up artist, I was good at it, I could show what I could do, or I could work in a store selling make-up, I was feeling so excited about the possibilities.

We arrived at the glossy building, it was right in the center of Manhattan, two streets away from the New York Public Library, as we entered the building we went up to the top floor, Bob told me that his daughter praised the boss a lot, that he was the kind of boss who liked to meet all the employees personally before hiring them, and as I was her recommendation, the position would already be mine, so I didn't have to go through the interviews with human resources, I would just talk to him, and I would probably start to work the next day.

We got to an anteroom where there was a secretary, and Bob introduced me to Clara, his daughter, who had been responsible for helping me get the job, so I smiled really nicely at her, who was a bit dry in return, but I didn't mind, maybe it was her way.

She soon went in to announce my arrival to her boss, after which Clara returned to inform him that he was in a virtual meeting, after which she would see me, I nodded and sat down on the comfortable sofa, enjoying the soft feel of it, it was a luxurious sofa, the kind I was used to, not the crap I had in that cubicle I was forced to live in at the moment.

I looked at the clock on the wall and noticed that it was ten o'clock in the morning. I had a couple of cereal bars with me, just in case I didn't have time to eat lunch. I stood there, waiting to be interviewed. I picked up some magazines that were on the coffee table and stared at them, looking at the latest fashions, missing my old, comfortable life as a millionaire.

I looked again at the clock on the wall and was startled to see that it was already fourteen o'clock at that moment, I'd been there for four hours and the meeting still hadn't finished? I got up, stretched my body, and went over to Clara's desk, I didn't want to be intransigent, the girl had guaranteed me a job, but I needed to know if it was going to take any longer.

She looked at me and informed me that the boss was still in a meeting, that when he left he would call me, I returned to the sofa, feeling slightly irritated by this, I was attentive now, I saw several people arrive, enter and leave one, two, three, I got tired of counting when the ninth person arrived and entered, and I had already been there since ten in the morning.

"I don't want to bother you, but could you look again to see if it's still occupied? I've been here for five hours and he hasn't seen me" I hoped she could understand my distress, it wasn't her fault, but this was bordering on abuse.

"I'll check for you!" Clara replied grudgingly, I ignored it, maybe I was getting in her way, but to my satisfaction, she got up from her chair and went into the boss's office, a few minutes later Clara returned and asked what made my blood boil "He's in a meeting, when he's finished he'll call you." That announcement was the last straw for me, I didn't have to accept it, so I smiled wryly at her and said.

"So tell your boss I'm leaving, I'm sorry you took the trouble to refer me, I want you to know I'm very grateful for your willingness to help me, but tell him he can hire someone else!" I turned to leave, completely annoyed at the lack of respect for me, when I heard her phone ring and then her voice saying what I had been waiting five hours for.