The crinkled pages of the Seattle Times fell to the floor in a ball, completely missing the recycling can she was aiming for.
""Fuck," Bella cursed as she angrily pushed away from her small folding table, a sad excuse for a dining room table, and moved to clean up the papers from the floor. She knew full well that it will only annoy her to see them sitting there waiting to be picked up.
"It's been a rough few weeks, and Bella saw no change in her immediate future. Everything was off to a great start, or so it seemed, when she graduated from the University of Washington. It was like she had the world in front of her. After all, who wouldn't want to hire someone with their Bachelors in English to copywrite or write for their paper. Apparently, a lot of companies. In fact, they aren't hiring anyone at all. Bella's found herself in the same situation as most other graduates—lacking solid job prospects. A recession tends to do that, though, so jobs have been few and far between the past six months.
She had a small amount of savings thanks to some money from her dad and her grandparents as graduation gifts, but it's quickly being depleted thanks to bills and expenses. It's like she lives a fancy carefree life like some of her college friends, but the daily expenses of living in a city like Seattle make it hard to make ends meet. Being unemployed doesn't help, of course. Having a Caramel Macchiato would be awesome though; Bella hates instant coffee but can't live without the caffeine.
Bella knew things would turn around, they always do, but until then Bella is living at the bare minimum. Her sodium intake is through the roof thanks to her fondness for ramen noodles, and her only splurges are a subscription to the Seattle Times and Food Network Magazine, but even that could change soon. However, she loved the feel of having a newspaper in her hands and reading it with her cruddy instant coffee every morning in her tiny studio apartment.
Bella thought back briefly to the Facetime she had with her mother the night before. Renee had been traveling across the world with her latest conquest, Jean-Francois, using the funds left behind from her parents estate. Renee wasn't what one would have called the most stable of parents, but she loved her daughter and Bella loved her equally. However, she was always on the go.
Whether it was the minor league baseball playing husband when Bella was a teen, or the washed up soap opera actor she dated briefly in late 2018, Renee was never without a companion. She had been married 3 times - first to Charlie, Bella's Dad, then to Phil the baseball player. Her third husband, Peter Garrett, lasted for a total of 28 hours after a drunken Vegas wedding. Bella spent months referring to her mother as Britney Spears, though Renee never caught the reference because she had no idea who Britney was to begin with. Thankfully, Peter came to his senses and he filed for divorce the moment he realized what had happened. Renee ended up pleased with the situation anyways, as she turned up on the pages of People magazine. It appeared Peter was semi-famous having last been married to a supermodel and made his money as a financier. They were still on good terms, but Bella still thinks it's hilarious she never even met her mother's third husband.
This week though, Renee was living the life in an AirBnB in Brazil with Jean-Francois, trying to relax. She had no stresses in her life though, she's just always just trying to figure out what to do next, and Bella wishes she had that luxury. Bella does not wish for a Jean-Francois though. He's only 27, four years older than Bella, and has never held an actual job. He thinks he's a DJ, but he never has shows. Bella thinks he's delusional and is using her mother for her money, but try telling that to Renee Swan-Dwyer-Garrett. Yes, she uses all three last names because she's that pretentious.
"Have you been applying for jobs?" Renee questioned her, as Bella rolled her eyes.
"Oh my god, why didn't I think of that? Thanks, Mom!" Bella replied sarcastically, knowing full well her mother could see her through the phone and was looking at her in frustration. Hell, Renee still paid that cell phone bill for her, otherwise Bella's not sure she would still have the access thanks to her limited funds.
"Don't be like that, Bella. I'm just making sure…"
"Of course I'm applying for jobs, Mom. They just don't exist here in Seattle, or anywhere else for that matter," Bella interrupted. "I'm not stuck on the idea staying in Seattle, so I've been applying everywhere. It's not my qualifications; it's the economy. I've had so many phone and Zoom interviews, but it's not going anywhere." Bella even had a phone interview for the small Forks newspaper, but there was no way she could see herself living in that small town with her dad so close. He'd randomly show up and bring along some fish fry from the Clearwaters or the Blacks and Bella couldn't handle that. She would lose her privacy and she cherished it as much as she could.
"What's a Zoomie interview?" Renee ask,ed clearly perplexed. Bella explained the online meeting software to her briefly, knowing its not something her mother would ever need to use, and finally bit the bullet; the reason for her call and the cause of her anxiety for the past 2 hours.
"So, I was hoping I could borrow $1,500 from you to help cover my rent this month?" Bella hated that she even had to ask her mother for any help, let alone financial, but she knew Renee could afford it. She inherited just over $5 million dollars when her mother passed away two years ago and she made good money in the markets before the recession hit. Renee had been living off interest and dividend payments ever since and having a grand time doing it.
"Again, Bella? Is your dad being any help?" Bella didn't want to tell her mom that the only reason she had internet at the apartment was because Charlie was paying the bill until she found a job, his version of a birthday present which was in addition to the generous funds he gave her for her graduation. "I mean, you do have two parents."
"Yeah, but one parent is a semi-retired police chief in a small town with a limited income while the other one is a millionaire. It's not like this is much for you, right?" Bella offered, trying to make her voice sound as sweet as possible as she saw Renee roll her eyes on Facetime. God, she was so much like her mother sometimes it freaked Bella out. Jean-Francois appeared in the background of the screen, wandering aimlessly in a much too small speedo and Bella groaned loudly. "It's ok, I see you're busy, so we can discuss this later."
Their conversation ended shortly after as Renee was heading out to the pool anyways, but Bella found an e-transfer in her email not an hour later from her mother with a short note - "Apply for jobs."
Though Bella had breathed a sigh of relief after receiving the funds from her mother, she really did need those funds for rent and still had other bills to pay. At least she still had a roof over her head, Bella thought as she grabbed the paper from the floor and went to toss it into her recycling can.
However, an ad in the classified section caught her eye. Perhaps it was the big bold letters that said "no experience necessary", that appealed to her. After all, the jobs she had experience for were not hiring anyone at the moment.
No experience necessary. Full-time helper required for a home-bound client. Running errands, cleaning house and general office work. Rate at $20/hour. Email Alice at for more information.
Without a second thought, Bella drafted a quick email espousing her qualities and graduation information, and then deleted it. She wasn't applying for a job as an editor or copywriter, this was something to help her make ends meet, so she shouldn't be so obnoxious. She tried again, this time being more down to earth and focusing on the job, because $20 an hour would be great for her, at least to start. It was better than minimum wage too. Hell, maybe she could even save a bit of money. Bella just knew that she wanted an interview, even if it meant not getting a job in her field. After all, she could still apply for jobs in her field and when the economy turned around, Bella would be ready to go.
What could it hurt right?
**waves hello** take 2... I think i messed up the import. LOL. Hello again, good to see you again. Welcome, if you are new. This will be a multi-chapter, but short fic... about 20 chapters or so. Hoping to post on the regular. Thanks for checking it out. **waves goodbye**