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Chapter Three: She Works Hard for the Money

A few weeks later: The alarm jolted Casey out of bed and she reached over and smashed down the OFF button. God, she hated mornings sometimes. Groaning, she sat up and swung her legs off the bed, the bare wood floors cold on her feet. She stood up and stretched, feeling something pop in her back. Aaaah, that's better, she thought as she threw a glance at Lizzie, who was snoring softly in her sleep. Casey grabbed her work uniform and headed toward the bathroom for a quick shower before she would make her sister breakfast and wake her up for school.

A half hour later, she was back in her room, trying in vain to wake Lizzie up. "Lizzie! Time for school! I made breakfast!" Nothing. "Get up, dammit!" Casey yelled.

That did it and Lizzie finally cracked open her eyes. "Geez, what? Can't you give me five more minutes?" she whined, turning over and covering her head with her pillow.

Casey reached over and snatched the pillow away. "Liz, if you don't get up right this instant, I'm gonna jump on the bed and tickle you until you pee your pants."

"You wouldn't," Lizzie said unbelievingly.

"Oh, I would," Casey retorted, a sly smile on her face.

Lizzie's eyes were wide open now, and they searched her sister's face for any signs of kidding. Finding none, she reluctantly got out of bed, grumbling all the way.

"Come on, come on," Casey said as she led Lizzie by the arm to the kitchen, where a plate of scrambled eggs and toast was waiting for her. "Breakfast is the most important meal of the day," she continued, making Lizzie snort sarcastically.

"Yeah, yeah," she said before stuffing her mouth full of food. Even though she grumbled about it, Lizzie wouldn't pass up her sister's cooking. Casey was simply brilliant in the kitchen.

"So, I'm trusting you got your homework done last night like I told you?" Casey asked while pouring herself some orange juice.

"Yes, mom," Lizzie said before thinking. Casey closed her eyes in pain. Lizzie had no memory of their mother, but Casey did – barely.

She shook her head slightly and said, "Liz, I'm just doing what I think mom would want me to do. Because as much as you think you're an adult, you're not. You need looking after and so help me god, I'm going to be the one who does it, got it?" she said forcefully before sitting down opposite her sister.

Her eyes suddenly filled with tears, and Lizzie quickly brushed them away before answering. "Case, I'm sorry I give you so much trouble sometimes. I don't know why I do the things I do . . . but I want you to know, I really do appreciate everything you do for me. And I know the reason you're never here is because you're always working to support me," she choked back a sob before getting up and coming around the table toward Casey. "I love you Casey," Lizzie said hugging her tightly.

Casey's eyes, too, filled with tears, but she didn't bother to brush them away. Instead, she hugged her sister back with all the love she could convey and found her eyes wandering over to the clock on the wall. "Shit!" she said before thinking, making Lizzie jump back.

"What?" Lizzie asked quizzically.

"We're gonna be late if we don't get going! Quick! Throw some clothes on and I'll walk you to the bus stop, OK?" Casey said, grabbing the dishes and placing them in the sink.

"Kay," Lizzie said before racing down the hall to their bedroom.

Later that day, Casey was already at her second job and it was only 2 p.m. Her feet hurt and she felt a cold coming on. Idly, she glanced outside from her spot behind the podium of the restaurant where she worked four times a week as hostess. The sky was threatening rain – again – and the wind was howling, blowing the leaves off the trees and sending them down the street. Casey thought of how another holiday season was fast approaching. She desperately wanted to give Lizzie a good Christmas this year, considering last year she hadn't been able to get her anything, her money going instead to court costs in the custody battle she had with their father, who had insisted he was cleaned up enough to be a good parent to Lizzie. Casey knew better and fought him tooth and nail, eventually helping her sister gain emancipation from their father, who was furious and soon disappeared again into his own world of partying and women.

Casey jumped when she heard the door open and felt a gust of cold wind hit her skin. She focused on the group of guys who had just entered and put a smile on her face. "Hello, how many today?" she asked politely.

"Four, but we're expecting one more," one of the guys answered, smiling at her while openly checking her out.

Casey refrained from openly punching him in the face. "Smoking or non?"

"Non," the guy answered, trying to catch her eye.

She ignored him and said, "Follow me," before turning and leading them further into the restaurant, seating them at a corner booth. "Your server will be with you in a moment. Can I get you some drinks while you wait?" Be polite, Casey. Just ignore their perverted eyes checking out your tits and ass. Dickheads.

The guys ordered sodas and she turned to get them. She was carrying a tray full of drinks back to the table when she heard the guys yell and noticed them start to wave their arms. "Hey D! Over here!" one of the guys yelled loudly, drawing dirty looks from the other customers.

Instinctively, she turned and came face-to-face with the guy – her rescuer – from a few weeks ago. "Whoa!" he said, his hands coming up to brace himself. "I'm so sorry. I almost made you drop your drinks . . ." he said, his voice fading as he looked up and recognized her. "Casey?" he asked his voice full of wonder.

"Uh, yeah, hi," she said shyly before setting the tray down and handing out the drinks to his friends. "Can I get you something to drink?" she asked, all business.

He shimmied out of his jacket – the same leather jacket – and scooted in next to his friends. "Yeah, I'll have a Coke," he said, his eyes on her face.

"OK," she said before turning to leave. Why she was so nervous, she didn't know. Maybe it was the way he – her knight in shining armor – was peering at her so intently, as if trying to get inside her head or something. An involuntary shudder passed through her body as she stood at the soda machine filling his drink order. Bracing herself to face him again, she returned to the table and gave him the Coke. "There you go," she said, "Stacy will be right out." Not waiting for a reaction, she quickly made her exit and headed back to the podium, which thankfully, was out of sight of the table where he was sitting. She didn't need him staring at her any more. It was making her feel weird.

She had almost forgotten – almost – that he was there when suddenly he appeared next to her. "Hi," he said, his hands behind his back. Casey resisted the urge to smirk when she noticed he was rocking back and forth on his heels like a little kid.

"Hello," she said noncommittally before returning to her work, which currently was assigning sections to the waitresses on the next shift, which started at 4 p.m.

She could feel his eyes on her as he continued to stand there and say nothing. Finally she couldn't take it anymore. "Is there something you need?" she asked raising her head to look at him.

His face flushed slightly but his voice was calm as he answered. "Yeah, I was wondering if I could take you to dinner sometime - Cassandra." The way he said her whole name made the hair on the back of her neck stand up.

"Oh, uh, thanks for the offer, but I'm going to have to pass," she said, her eyes returning to the paper she was writing on.

Casey could literally feel the disappointment coming off him in waves. It almost made her reconsider, but she strengthened her resolve and stayed resolute. The last thing she needed in her life right now was a man.

He didn't move, though, continuing to hover there and shuffle his feet. Finally he spoke. "OK, then. I'm not gonna push." He took a card out of his pocket and said, "May I borrow your pen?" before grabbing it and scribbling something down. Handing it to her, he said, "Here's my number if you change your mind."

Casey glanced at it. George Venturi, Attorney At Law, it read. "You're a lawyer?" she asked, her eyebrows raised.

He laughed. "No, that's my dad. Turn the card around."

She did. Derek, 555-3498. "Derek," she said, testing it out on her tongue. "Do you always carry around your dad's business cards?"

He smirked. "No, I just keep them around for occasions such as this." Noticing her frown, he sobered up. "Anyway," he continued in a more serious tone, "I'm glad to see you all healed up. You look great, actually," Derek said softly.

Casey couldn't stop herself from blushing and absentmindedly tucked a piece of hair behind her ear, a sure sign of her nervousness. "All thanks to you," she said shyly. Not liking the way he was making her feel, she added, "Well, I need to get back to work. It was nice seeing you again."

Derek stood there looking at her for a moment before nodding slowly. "Yeah, you too, Casey. Hopefully we'll talk again soon," he said before returning to his friends.

Casey stared after him before tucking the card into her pants pocket. Why she didn't just throw it away, she didn't know. You know, her inner voice chided before she pushed it away and got back to work.

"Dude!" His friend Cory said in his ear.

Derek turned to face him. "What?"

"I've been talking to you for like five minutes! What is your deal?"

He knew what his deal was. He couldn't stop thinking about her. Ever since that night, he couldn't get the vision of her face out of his mind. The wounded look in her eyes, the way she carried herself, like she had the weight of the world on her shoulders . . .

"Alright. It's obvious you got something on your mind, so I'll just catch ya later, OK?" Cory said before getting up to leave.

"Yeah, sure," Derek said absentmindedly as he sat by himself in the booth. The friends he was with all had places to go, but today was Derek's day off. No work or school, and he was glad of it. He craned his head around trying to catch another glimpse of Casey, but he didn't see her. The woman was in his head now and he was having a hell of a time moving on. He wanted, no, needed, to find out more about this girl who was so elusive and so . . . unaffected by his charms. Usually he had girls all over him, but not her. It was refreshing. The sound of his phone ringing snapped Derek back to the present and he grabbed it off the table and glanced at the display. It was Kendra, the girl he had been casually seeing for a few months. Derek was starting to cool things off, however, due to her whininess and constant discussion about the future and how many kids they were going to have. He was only 19 for crying out loud! He wasn't ready to settle down, especially with her. He opened his phone and pressed TALK. "Yeah?"

"Hi Derek. Where are you?" Kendra wasted no time with pleasantries. The woman wanted to know where he was at all times. One strike against her.

"Finishing lunch, why?" he asked annoyed.

"Lunch? It's past three o'clock in the afternoon, Derry!"

Another strike. "I didn't know there was a time when I couldn't have lunch," he shot back, his eyes still scanning the restaurant for her.

He heard Kendra sigh on the other end. "Oh Derek, I was just kidding. But I guess that means you won't be hungry for dinner with me later," she said forlornly.

Derek could imagine her face now: she was probably sticking out her bottom lip in her classic pout expression. In person, he could never say no, but over the phone? Well, that was a different story.

"No, I probably won't, Ken, sorry," he said, not particularly sorry. I really need to break up with her.

"Do you want to hang out tonight?" she asked in a hopeful voice.

Derek thought about it. Well, I could use the opportunity to break it off with her . . .

"Sure. Do you want me to come over, or do you want to come to my place?"

"Yay!" she screamed into the phone, making Derek wince. "I'll come to your place. I haven't seen your family in awhile," Kendra said happily.

He scrubbed a hand over his face. "What time should I expect you?"

"Um, how about 7?"

"Cool. I'll see you then," he said before closing his phone, effectively ending the call.

"Bye, Der-" Yeah, he probably should have waited for her to say goodbye before hanging up on her. Oh well.

"See ya later, Case!" a voice from the back yelled, making Derek's head snap up. He quickly grabbed his jacket and put it on before throwing a few bills on the table to cover his check. Heading to the exit, he looked around hoping to catch a glimpse of Casey. Not seeing her, he went out the front door and hung out for awhile before getting the idea to go around to the back. She probably left through the employees' exit, he thought to himself as he circled the building.

A few minutes later, he found what he thought was the door she would probably leave out of and scanned the area, trying to think where she would be. Lost her again! He thought as his eyes frantically darted around. When another employee came out with a bag of trash, Derek questioned him about Casey, trying to get more information, but the guy was having none of it. "Dude, why should I give you any information about Casey? You could be some sort of stalker or something. In fact, I'm thinking you are since you're hanging around back here by the dumpsters. Why don't you get lost before I call the cops?" he said before going back in.

Derek did feel like a stalker, actually, and he didn't like it. Lifting his wrist, he glanced at his watch before giving up and heading home. He wasn't giving up for good, though. Now he knew where she worked.

Casey was at the bus stop waiting for Lizzie. She was pacing, antsy that she would be late for her third job, which was cleaning the warehouse on 5th Street. She still had to get home, make sure Liz did her homework and chores, whip up something for them to eat and change before walking a mile to the bus stop and heading uptown to the warehouse. She glanced at her watch again. What was taking so long?

Just then, she heard the rumble of the bus's engine as it rounded the corner. As soon as it came to a complete stop, the doors opened and Lizzie bounded down the steps. "Hey Case! What are you doing here?" Lizzie asked, not used to having her big sister wait for her.

Casey smiled and threw her arm around her little sister's shoulder. "Can't I walk my little sis home from the bus stop?" Casey asked playfully before ruffling Lizzie's hair.

"Yeah, but you also walked me to the bus stop this morning," Lizzie said, glancing sideways at Casey.

"I just miss you, Liz. I want to spend as much time with you as I can," she answered, taking in the beautiful fall day. It had cleared up considerably in the last few hours, and was now bright and sunny, although still pretty breezy.

Lizzie laughed. "Are you sure you're not just checking to see if I'm actually getting on the bus?"

Casey turned to face her sister. "Liz, I'm going to be honest. I don't fully trust you nowadays due to . . . recent events." Seeing Lizzie's scowl, Casey quickly added, "But I'm going to give you the benefit of the doubt. Don't make me regret it, OK?"

"Sure thing, sis," Lizzie said as they walked down the street with their arms around each other.

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