"Give me the address!" Lizzy insisted, after 20 minutes of, Thank God you're alright's and several, what happened's, "I'm coming to get you!"
"Liz, no it's okay. I'm going to get this figured out and then I'll call you."
"To come get you?"
Billie laughed, "No, to tell you the plan. If I need a ride I'll get a cab."
Lizzy sounded hurt, "Just because I don't think we should live together anymore doesn't mean I'm not still willing to help when you need it." She said.
"No," Billie cried, "That's not what I meant at all. It's just, last night kind of woke me up. I'm 25 years old and I've been relying on other people for almost everything for far too long. Before you it was Trevor, before him it was my parents, I mean I lived with them until I was 22! I've been mooching off people my entire adult life! Well no more. Today I'm going to sit down, figure out a plan, get a crappy job and a bunch of roommates who are also broke and live like a responsible human being!"
The door opened and Dori poked her head in, "Just so you know honey, there are doughnuts in the kitchen. You want me to make you an omelet or something instead?"
"Oh, no thank you." Billie said, she could practically hear Lizzy rolling her eyes as Dori went back down the stairs.
"Yeah, you're doing great at the whole independence thing."
"I said I had to figure out a plan." Billie reminded her.
Lizzy sighed, "Alright, well, call me when you know what you're gonna do. I'll feel a lot better if I know you aren't living in a crack den or something, so wherever you are I'm coming over after work."
"Okay, I'll see you then. Love you."
Lizzy sighed again, "Love you too. Don't disappear on me this time okay?"
(And then….)
A chocolate iced missile flew past Billie's head as she came into the kitchen. Dori was sitting calmly sipping tea as Kili pelted his brother with old fashioned glazed and springtime sprinkled doughnuts. Fili kept trying to get in a shot and missing.
"Morning Billie!" Kili shouted, "I saved you a jelly-filled!"
"Should you be doing that?" Billie asked.
"He's promised to clean the whole kitchen and vacuum the stairs if I let him teach Fili a lesson. Apparently he can no longer stand his holier than thou attitude," Dori said, she pulled out the chair besides her, "Sit down dear. Would you like a cup of tea?"
"Yes, please." Dori reached for an actual teapot in the middle of the table and poured the steaming liquid into the cup in front of Billie.
"Wow!" Billie took a sip, raspberry, strawberry, blood orange and honey, "Wow!"
"Nothing wow about it, I just mixed all the tea bags we had left in the cupboard and this is what happened." A crème-filled exploded on the wall. Dori looked at it and took another sip. "Not half-bad."
"Where is Dr. Oakenshield?"
"He had to go to the hospital for a while but he told me to tell you to stay here until he gets back, he has a proposition for you."
"He does?"
"Mmmmmhmm," Dori nodded, folding up the paper she had been reading.
"Do you mind if borrow that?" Billie asked.
"Be my guest, I'm going out to the yard to do some gardening. Balin left early for Post, but he's usually back for lunch in about," she looked at her watch, "45 minutes. So remind Kili that he'd better make good on his promise or he'll have him to answer to." She handed the folded up paper to Billie and humming to herself, sashayed away.
Billie dodged sticky bullets and retrieved her jelly-filled from the top of the microwave, she sat back at the table and opened the paper to the classified ads. Someone had to need a roommate.
(And then…)
Billie was trying unsuccessfully to fix her hair when Thorin and Balin came back. The newspaper was besides her on the counter covered in circled ads, turned out there were a lot of people looking for roommates, as well as apartments for rent. Not that she could actually afford any. Not unless she worked three jobs. Staring at the paper and realizing this fact over and over again had gotten depressing, so she had decided to take a break and do something productive.
She looked in the mirror, she had styled herself a mullet….fantastic.
"Hey business in the front, party in the back, "Kili said approvingly, coming to stand in the doorway. Billie gave him a withering look and he laughed, "Uncle Thorin wants to talk to you outside when you get a chance."
"Why is there a doughnut on the ceiling?!" Balin thundered.
"Crap! I missed one!" Kili turned to run back to the kitchen.
Billie sighed and took out the bobby pins holding her hair up, it fell back into its original mess. And she trooped down the stairs. Thorin was waiting for her out by the mysterious, yard boat. She really had to remember to ask about that.
"Dr. Oakenshield?" Thorin turned, his hands were behind his back like a gentleman in Pride and Prejudice, he smiled when he saw her.
"Just Thorin, please. I have a proposition for you."
Billie leaned against the boat, "So, I've heard."
"There is a job opening at the hospital, working behind the front desk, essentially you'd be a secretary, but the pay is good." Billie stood up straight.
"You found me a well-paying job?" she asked, in surprise.
"I did; they don't usually take people who aren't in the medical profession but they said since I knew you they'd be willing to make an exception." Billie opened her mouth to say thank you but Thorin wasn't done yet, "And-" he continued, "There's something else, come with me." He walked down the driveway and paused at a car, it was nothing special but he presented it to her with a flourish.
"This was going to be the boy's car once school started, they're seniors this year so I wasn't going to make them take the bus, but until then, I thought you could use it while you save up for one of your own."
Billie pressed her hands to her trembling mouth, fighting the urge to start crying again. "Why are you doing all this?" she managed to ask, "Offering me a place to live, finding me work." She looked at the vehicle in front of her and choked up, "loaning me one of your cars. You barely know me."
"Because you look like you've had a rough time lately," Thorin said, "And believe it or not I know how that is. I wouldn't have gotten where I am now if someone hadn't offered me help when I needed it."
"Help," Billie thought, "Right, the independence thing." She swiped at the corner of her eyes.
"Okay," she said, "I'll take your help on one condition, you have to let me pay you back for this, somehow. We have to make a contract or something."
Thorin grinned, "I'd already thought of that. Come with me." They walked back to driveway and he held the passenger side door of his truck open for her. Bewildered she climbed inside.
15 minutes later found them at a much more remote section of town. The houses grew steadily bigger, and more elaborate, the pastures with horses running more frequent. There was one blip in this picturesque landscape and that was the house they stopped in front of. It's acreage was overgrown with weeds, it's eaves covered in moss and it's barn falling apart, but it must have been something back in the day.
"This is the house I bought," Thorin said, "As you can see it needs a lot of work. The boys are going to be out here all summer fixing it up and I'm going to be out here whenever I'm not on shift, but we could sure use an extra pair of hands. That is my offer, Dori and Balin say we can stay with them until we get the plumbing up and running, but in exchange for using the car, you come out here when you aren't at work and help us."
"That's it?" Billie asked, "You don't want money or I don't know, me to pay Dori and Balin rent, you just want me to help you fix up your house?"
"Yes," Thorin said, he stuck out his hand, "Do we have a deal?"
Billie grabbed his hand and shook it vigorously, "Hell yeah we do."
"Good," Thorin pulled out of the rundown houses driveway and back onto the main road. "Now let's go see what Dori made for lunch. I'm starving."
After lunch, when Thorin and Balin had gone back to their respective jobs and Fili and Kili were cleaning the garage in penance for the doughnut on the ceiling thing, Billie met up with Lizzy, outside the private school where she taught riding lessons.
"Where did you get a car?" her friend exclaimed, once they had finished hugging. "Did you miraculously find a job and an apartment too?"
Billie grinned, "You're not going to believe this."
