It wasn't until the next day that she found it. In a hurry, because it had taken her forever to fall asleep and then she had slept through her first alarm, she was trying to pack her bag for the day when she saw it. The crumpled bill was there, where she had dumped it the night before, her hands too shaky to properly put it inside her wallet.

Slowly she smoothed it. That bill had been in his hand just hours before. Maybe she could keep it. It was just a regular one dollar, a part of her brain seemed to mock her, but she carefully folded it nonetheless. And that's when she saw it. Tiny numbers hand-written right under the real serial numbers. She couldn't be sure, the numbers looked too tidy, but this might very well be Jake's handwriting.

—

The day went by in a blur. Amy buried herself in paperwork just to avoid thinking about the night before, about Jake's voice, or his fingertips, or the bill that seemed to have the power to drill a hole through her bag. Mechanically she filled out forms and stacked files, and when she couldn't take it any longer, she went for a coffee break.

Just to be sure, she walked past two subway stations until she was sure it was almost impossible for somebody from her precinct to find her. Two of the three payphones were out of order but the third one seemed ok. With shaky fingers, she dialled the number she had now committed to memory and waited.

Two rings. Three. She was going to give up at four. She was-

"Yes?" His voice sounded harsh but it was such a relief to hear it nonetheless.

"Good afternoon," she said, cursing the fact that her voice sounded shaky. "This is Abigail from NutriBoom, could I interest you on a job offer that would-?"

Predictably, he interrupted her.

"What makes you think I want that?"

"This is a one in a lifetime opportunity-" she tried to speak over the sound of the incoming train.

"Wait, are you calling me from a payphone? Don't you even have the money to get a proper phone? What kind of crappy job is this? No, you know what? Get your shit together and then call me. Bye!"

For a moment Amy stared at the receiver, confused.

Why had he wanted her to have his phone number if he was to be so dismissive the moment she would contact him? True, she had chosen to call in the middle of the day, trying to avoid late night calls that would raise a lot of questions. Had she been wrong?

What was she supposed to do, now that she could contact him? Texting?

And then it finally dawned on her. "Don't you even have the money to get a proper phone?".

A proper phone.

Almost at a run, she climbed up the stairs and headed into the nearest electronic store she found. The phone she got was cheap, which suited her nicely. She would probably need to throw it away soon anyway.

Taking advantage of the fact that she wasn't near the precinct, where people could ask questions, she hurried on typing the message.

NutriBoom offers you a lifetime opportunity. Be your own boss, earn lots of cash.

His answer came in mere seconds later.

That's my girl.