Disclaimer: With the exception of original characters, the characters in this story belong to Janet Evanovich
At thirty..something Stephanie felt she was far too old to be in the same position she was in during college,broke, jobless and living in an apartment with all the luxuries of a dorm room and the same stains. But following her divorce with Dickie, or 'Dickbreath' as she had been accustomed to calling him since the second she caught him with Joyce Barnyard..ahem..Bernhardt, she was refused alimony and only had her wages to count on, her non-existent wages following her redundancy from EE Martin, a lingerie company that fell victim to a bad economy. But the economy was better and she was still jobless and facing the worst possible solution to her problems- Move back in with her parents. A situation Stephanie refused to accept and would do anything to avoid.
With Saint Val currently living the idyllic life in California with her children, her husband, her bleach blonde hair and her lifetime membership to Pilates class, Stephanie refused to become the poster child for youngest child disappointment. Which lead her to her current position, walking down Stark Street heading for the loan sharks. Her last option before her family but still just as scary. She had seen enough mob movies to know what loan sharks were capable of, and she had lived in Trenton all her life -long enough to know that when it comes to anything remotely mob-like, sometimes the movies got it spot on.
Every step she walked took her deeper into Stark Street and the Trenton underbelly, and further away from the normality of the Burg, there was a lump in her throat and her heart was pounding so much she couldn't hear her busy surroundings, she was scared, but she had no choice. She had a current account balance of $12, she was facing eviction, the furniture she took from her house with Dickie after the divorce had all been cashed in and only a ratty couch, table, chair and her bed remained in the apartment, her water and electricity has been switched off yesterday and her rusting yellowed fridge held only a half full jar of peanut butter. It was this far from comfortable existence that had forced her to consider loan shark, the bank unwilling to listen to an unemployed, thirty...something, divorcee.
Shaking her head and coming out of her mental reflections she noticed she had travelled far into Stark Street and was approaching the dirty office windows of the various Loan Sharks the Street had to offer. Squaring her shoulders and lifting her chin ever so slightly, Stephanie prepared herself to enter the Office closest to her. She had not prepared herself for the hand that clamped onto her upper arm, nor the man attached to it that dragged her into the alley next to the office.
Her entire body froze and the mental image of herself being raped and murdered flicked through her mind until she could couldn't see the bricks of the wall in front of her and she was no longer paying attention to the large man still gripping onto her arm...except he wasn't at her arm anymore he was standing in front of her. The light blue dress shirt he was wearing was all she could see of him, but as his hands moved to the side of her face and calmly moved her head upwards she followed the blue shirt up to the knot of the black tie he was wearing and further still to a handsome face. Blue eyes and blonde hair, the all-American look ruined only by a tight-white scar that ran the length of his left cheek.
''Stephanie Plum? Sweetheart, is that you? Christ, what are you doing here?''
Matt Jenkins, an old college friend. They had been study partners that quickly turned into drinking partners and although they never slept together they had shared a few fumbling kisses. Right now Steph had never been happier to see him, she quickly got over that.
''Matt, what the hell! I was seconds away from keeling over with fear. At what point did you think dragging me into an alley on Stark Street was a good idea.''
Matt was looking past her, only just hearing her as his attention was drawn to some of the other residents of Stark Street.
''Trust me Stephie, it was only a matter of time before someone was going to drag you into an alley, you should thank your lucky stars it was me and not some hopped-up mugger, and you still haven't answered my 'What the hell are you doing here?' question.''
Steph was suddenly embarrassed, how can you tell a man you haven't seen in over a decade, a man who looking at the clean crisp shirt, and the silk tie was obviously putting his college education to good work, that you were so poor you had resorted to the volatile, black money of a loan shark.
''Um..nothing, I wasn't paying attention, I guess I wandered of course.'' There, a perfectly acceptable answer, and almost true, she wasn't paying attention for most of the walk over here, to busy thinking about how she got to this point in life in the first place.
Matt just looked at her, ''Oh sorry, did you want me to believe that?''
Oh yeah, Steph realised, Matt was the friend that could tell when she was lying.
''Look Stephie, I've some free time, if you want we'll go get lunch, and you can tell me why you were all but inside the office of Billy 'the worm' Marks.''
Billy 'the worm' Marks, maybe she did have time for lunch.
Crap! She had the time but not the money.
''Actually, Matt, I think I need to be heading back.''
Matt took one look at her and grabbed her hand, dragging her back out of the alley, '' You know what Steph seen as I haven't seen you in so long, lunch is on me,'' he looked at her again, before softly carrying on, ''you can't say no to that.''
With her stomach roaring at the thought of finally having proper food, Steph shook her head, ''You're right, lead the way.''
Oh well, if she couldn't get a loan, then she might as well have one last decent meal before she starved to death.
Her last meal was exactly what she wanted, greasy burger and fries and a sugary strawberry milkshake, Steph also had her eye on a piece of homemade apple pie as well, but she had a feeling she couldn't needle Matt into getting her a slice until he had her talking, so far though there had been little conversation.
Finishing off her meal with a sigh, Steph sat back and waited, she didn't do so for long.
''So, what's going on?'' Matt asked around a mouthful of sandwich, accustomed to regular meals throughout the day, he was eating much slower and still had half a sandwich and some fries.
Avoiding his eyes, Steph replied ''What! Nothing.''
''Steph, you look like shit. Your dress needs a wash, your hair needs more than just a brush run through it, and your make-up should be taken off before you put on another layer. If I didn't know that it was against your very basic of morals I would assume that you have been making a living on the corners.'' His tone was harsh, not mean, just...truthful.
But Jesus Christ, if it didn't hurt. She had tried so hard to not let anybody realise and now to have a man, who in all fairness after a decade apart was only slightly more than a stranger, point out the physical effects of her poverty, it was too much. Her eyes filled with tears and her hands covered her face as she began to cry. Not so much out of shame of her physical appearance, but from the knowledge that if Matt could tell than so could everybody else..and they hadn't offered to help her, not her neighbours, not the friends who stuck with her after the divorce and worst of all not her parents.
If they hadn't offered her any help at this point, why would they in the future, her absolute last resort, though completely unwanted had vanished, she couldn't move home, her last chance really did lay with men like 'The Worm'.
Steph's sobbing receded as she realised she was currently being gently rocked in Matt's arms, as he whispered into her hair.
''Shh, sweetheart, everything will get better, I promise, everything will get fixed.''
His words were, she was sure, meant to reassure her, but they were the same sentiments she had been telling herself since she had been made redundant. Despite his gentle tone, his actions only made Steph angry.
Lifting her head from his chest, her own watery eyes looked into his.
''Oh, it's alright for you to say that, you have a job, you've managed to make it past thirty without looking like a complete failure. It's easy to say things will get better when you're wearing a fucking silk tie!''
Matt hadn't let go, but he was no longer rocking her, just steadily looking her in the eye.
Steph's latest epiphany hit her again and in a low whisper, she finished ''I bet your parents are proud of you.''
Matt lowered his head until he was imitating her whisper into her ear.
''There's not much to be proud of when your only child is a mob-bosses hit man.''
Stephanie froze.
