Elizaveta marched down the street, heading towards the small bookstore where she had spotted a hiring sign the other day. She had convinced Feliks and the twins to let her use some cash to get all cleaned up for job hunting, despite it possibly costing them a meal. The bare-boned resume she had put together wasn't likely to do her much good, since her only contacts in this country were all involved in Mikkel Kohler's gang.
She was born in Hungary and crossed the pond a few years ago, looking to succeed in the land of the free. However, when she got here and discovered there were hardly any fellow Hungarians to help her out, she was forced to live on the street and beg for change without knowing any English. She struggled intensely until Mikkel walked by her one night and dropped some change in her beret. When she thanked him in Hungarian, he stopped in his tracks and came back to her. He had her point out her flag on a webpage on his smartphone, and then used a translate app to offer her food and shelter. Elizaveta accepted, and Mikkel gave her a home, as well as English lessons, in exchange for her working for him.
Elizaveta turned the corner on the street, and was only a few doors away from the shop. As she reached the front window, she stopped in her tracks when she saw the manager pulling the sign from the window. She looked down to the ground as she continued walking solemnly past the door, realizing she had missed out on another opportunity to pull the quartet out of the gutter.
She and the boys had been living out of the van for a few months now, trying to find any extra cash they could get their hands on. They found ways to get through the coldest winter nights, with just enough food and supplies to survive. They were proud of making it to the end of February this way, but they knew that getting one of them into a regular job could help them get an apartment to live in instead of the cold van.
Oddly enough, despite being a tight fit in the van, it was strangely comfortable at night.
Feliks and Elizaveta had already been sleeping in the driver and passenger seats since October, so Lovino and Feliciano had to sleep on the floor in the back of the van. After a few nights, Feliciano complained about the floor being too hard, so he took the passenger seat while Elizaveta shared the floor with Lovino. The two of them kept from bumping each other for the first little while, and having their sleeping bags done up tight helped as well. However, one night in December, when the sleeping bags and van could not keep out the winter's strongest freeze, Lovino unzipped both their sleeping bags, laid them out on top of the two of them like blankets, and cuddled with Elizaveta to share body warmth. This proved to be quite cozy, and the pair continued to do this for every night after, despite the chuckles and teasing from Feliks and Feliciano.
Elizaveta reached the end of the block, looked across the street, and saw a potential new lead. The Phoenix Cafe had two new signs in the window that she hadn't seen before. Not only did they have new management running the place, but they were also hiring.
Where one door closes, another opens.
When the light turned green, Elizaveta crossed to the other side of the street, and went over to the diner. It was in a decent area of town, and even had a couple parking spots out front. She gazed up at the upper floors of the building, wondering if there might also be apartments for rent at an affordable price.
Elizaveta walked through the entrance into the cafe, seeing two blonde waitresses walking around between tables. The closest waitress was a curvier woman with ample bosom and short hair, she was approaching the closest occupied table with an urn of coffee.
"Hello, please take a seat wherever you like," the busty waitress greeted Elizaveta, "I'll be right with you!"
As the waitress spoke to the older couple at the table, Elizaveta sat down on a barstool at the counter, a couple seats down from the till. She glanced at the second waitress, who was pulling plates of food across through the window from the kitchen while speaking to whoever was on the other side. She was a bit skinnier than the other waitress, and her long straight blonde hair was tied up behind her.
The first waitress whipped around the counter past the till, and approached Elizaveta.
"Thanks for waiting, sweetie," she said, "Would you like some coffee?"
"I was actually hoping to speak to a manager," Elizaveta explained, noting the name tag on the waitress's blouse, "I saw the sign in the window that you are hiring."
"That would be me," Katerina answered, "I'm looking for a couple more waitresses and kitchen hands. Do you have a resume?
Elizaveta pulled out her resume, and handed it to the manager who then closely read it over.
"Hm, you really don't have much here, Elizaveta," Katerina criticized, "What kind of work experience do you have?
"Well, I came over from Hungary a couple years ago, and was working for a friend who is out of the picture now," Elizaveta elaborated as vaguely as possible, hoping to cover the lack of details, "I can say that I am a very fast learner, and very dedicated to what I do."
"Sorry, sweetie, but your information here doesn't really give me enough to work with," the manager declined, handing back the resume, "I'm sure you would be good, but I'd be much more assured by a more specific resume and references."
"Hang on a second, Katya, I want to speak to her for a moment."
Elizaveta turned to see the second waitress approaching Katerina. As she came closer, Elizaveta noticed that she looked a lot like the manager.
She also seemed awfully familiar for some reason.
"Do you know her, Natalya?" the manager asked.
"I think I do, actually," the waitress replied, taking the resume from the manager' hand and glancing at it momentarily, "Tell me, Elizaveta, have you ever worked for Mikkel Kohler?"
"How do you know that?" Elizaveta stuttered in surprise and alarm, prepared to jump off her barstool and run for her life. The last thing she needed was having potential employers calling the cops on her.
"Relax, we have no reason to call the cops on you," Katerina assured, "We already have enough trouble with them on our own accounts."
"So then, how do you know who I am?" Elizaveta asked warily, glancing between the two women.
"Katerina wasn't at that meeting in October, but I was," Natalya explained, "The meeting Madeline hosted to have the Vargas and Kohler mobs negotiate some terms of cooperation."
At the description of the meeting, the memory came back to Elizaveta's mind. She remembered looking around at the meeting from her seat beside Ivan, and seeing a blonde woman sitting with the Triad.
"You worked for Im Yong Soo," Elizaveta realized, "You're one of the Dragons!"
"We were Dragons, until the Triad was dissolved," Katerina corrected.
"What happened to you guys?" Elizaveta asked, "Where is Im Yong Soo?"
"Yong Soo returned to Asia as soon as we heard about the Kohler and Vargas bases getting busted," Katerina explained, "We feared the worst when it happened, and the others chose to run."
"Due to extenuating family circumstances, Katerina and I can't leave the country," Nataya continued, "We stayed behind, and found work and shelter here. Yao also stayed behind to be with Katerina, he's in the kitchen behind us right now."
"We were trying to find you guys after the busts," Elizaveta said, "We were hoping to ask Yong Soo for refuge."
"How did you escape?" Natalya asked.
"Mikkel had sent Feliks on a mission just a while before, and I tagged along," Elizaveta disclosed, "When we returned to the base later, the police already had it surrounded."
"And what have you been doing since then?" Katerina asked, "It can't be that great if you're hunting for jobs with a skeletal resume."
"Feliks and I have been living out of our van, getting food and supplies with whatever cash we can get our hands on," Elizaveta revealed, "Lovino and Feliciano Vargas are with us, we crossed paths with them back in November."
"You have the Vargas twins with you?" Natalya checked, "The four of you have been living in a van all this time?"
"Yeah, it's been tough," Elizaveta confirmed, "That's why I'm looking for a job, to help us get towards at least an apartment to share."
"I think I can top that arrangement," Katerina countered, "What would you say to employment and shelter for all four of you?"
"I'd ask how you can pull that off." Elizaveta replied.
"Yao and I bought this business with some of the Dragon Triad money," Katerina explained, "We own both the cafe and the apartments upstairs, and we need both employees and tenants. If you four agree to work for us, we could deduct rent from your pay."
"Oh my god, that would be amazing!" Elizaveta accepted eagerly, "Thank you so much!"
"Not a problem, sweetie," Elizaveta said, before grabbing the coffee pot, "Now, I have customers waiting for me. Natalya, can you have the boys whip up a proper meal for Elizaveta?"
"Sure thing, Katya," Natalya said, before handing Elizaveta a menu, "You want something to drink?"
"I've love some coffee, please," Elizaveta said, grabbing her phone from her pocket as Natalya went to get her drink. She quickly dialled Feliks's new number, and listened to it ring before it was picked up.
"Well, how did it go at the bookstore?" Feliks asked upon answering.
"The bookstore was a bust, but I found something better," Elizaveta replied, "You boys need to get over to the Phoenix Cafe, the remaining members of the Dragon Triad have agreed to help us!"