"Katie, your kid’s on line two!" one of the cooks shouted back to her.
She looked from the computer screen to the phone with the flashing red light. She sat in the general manager's office of the fast food joint where she'd worked for a couple of months six months. The office was small but clean and smelled of fried food. The general manager was on maternity leave, and Katie rifled through several drawers before locating a bottle of painkillers. She was hungover and tired, with a roiling stomach and headache, yet she managed to make it to work before the breakfast rush. Only after she tossed back a couple of painkillers did she pick up the phone.
"What’s up, Toby?"
"Hi! I didn’t want to go to school today and stayed home but we’re out of marshmallows and Gabriel doesn’t have any money so I told him that we could ask you to pick up more marshmallows because we both really like them."
"You need anything else from the store?" she asked, her head hurting more.
"Nope. Oh, but you might want to get some…Gabriel, what does he like?"
She heard a mumbled response.
"Oh, never mind. Kris will send a car for you."
"Kris? Why?" she asked suspiciously.
"He wants to talk to you."
"Tell him I kinda have a life and don’t really care what he wants."
There was a moment of silence, then a child’s gleeful laugh. "Can I really tell him that?" Toby asked.
"Please do."
"Awesome!"
"Listen, I’ve got work to do,” she said. “I’ll bring you marshmallows. Text me if you need anything else."
"Okay! G’bye, Mama!"
"Don’t call me that. We both know better," she grumbled.
He laughed again, and she hung up, pressing the heels of her palms to her eyes. She’d fallen asleep in Kris’s library after half a bottle of whiskey and awoken in her own bed with a throbbing headache and dry mouth.
She’d dared to hope again that everything was a hallucination brought on by too much alcohol, until Toby burst in chasing a cat she didn’t remember owning. The boy had clambered across her bed, shrieked happily, and chased the cat under the bed.
"Katie! Visitor!" one of the cashier girls said with a jarring knock.
Katie sighed and sat up straight a second before the door was pushed open to reveal someone she didn’t know. The stranger was well dressed, tall, and handsome with eyes too dark and still for her comfort.
"Ms. Young, I’m David Kingsly, from Kingsly Enterprises."
Surprised, she rose and shook his hand. His multimillionaire father's picture was on the wall, and he owned two dozen restaurants in the Annapolis area, including this one.
"It’s a pleasure, sir. I apologize for the mess. I wasn’t expecting you. Are you here for the GM?" she asked, flustered the GM hadn’t warned her about his visit. “I can call her.”
"No, no. I drop by on occasion to check on my father’s restaurants," he said with a quick glance around. "The GM said your team came up with the latest marketing campaign. I wanted to thank you in person. It's increased profits about seven percent over last quarter."
"Thanks," she said, smiling. "We have a good group here."
"A good leader makes a good team the best, as my father says."
Despite the honor of his visit, she couldn’t help but feel a trickle of familiar coldness at his still gaze. He smiled but his eyes did not. He resembled his father in height and narrow face, though there was warmth in his father’s face she didn’t see in his. For a moment, she thought she saw tattoos blaze across his neck and then disappear.
"We intended to invite the GM to our fundraiser tomorrow night, before I was told she’s on maternity leave. My father feels it’s important to recognize all those who support our family’s success. We’d be happy if you attended our gala in her place." He reached into his jacket and produced an embossed invitation in peach and brown.
"I’d be honored," she said, accepting it. "Thank you, Mr. Kingsly."
"David," he said with another smile that didn’t reach his eyes. "I look forward to seeing you there."
He rose and left, and she stared after him, excited for the first good day in months. She dialed her sister immediately.
"Sis, I need some help," she said as soon as Hannah answered.
"Oh. Another issue?"
"No. I was invited to some Kingsly gala. I need something to wear."
"Some Kingsly gala or the biggest event of the fall?" her sister asked with a laugh.
The sound of Hannah’s voice made Katie long for something more familiar than her world had become.
"Hey--you mind if I come over after work?” she asked. “Toby’s…going to a friend’s house for the night, and I’m sick of my apartment."
"Yeah, sure. You were supposed to come for brunch tomorrow anyway. I’d planned a spa day tomorrow before the gala. We can add shopping to that; I know you don’t have anything nice to wear."
Katie rolled her eyes. A day and a half with her sister was as much as she could tolerate; faced with the alternative of returning to her creepy apartment with its creepy occupants, she’d tough it out.
She survived the day of bitching customers and employees alike and arrived late in the evening to Hannah's, a mansion in the outskirts of Annapolis where her sister lived with her fiancé, Giovanni.
Hannah opened the front door before Katie reached it, took one look at her and frowned fiercely.
"You couldn’t change before showing up?" she asked, looking past her out at the street.
"It's not like you have neighbors, sis," Katie replied impatiently. "Afraid I'll make you look bad in front of the 'hood?"
"With the money Gio paid for you to go to Georgetown, you'd think you could last a full semester or at least get a better job than this!" Hannah started.
Katie sighed. Hannah stood aside as she entered the large foyer, lecturing her as they ascended to the second floor. Katie knew the mansion well enough after living with Hannah and Giovanni for a year before the fight that made Hannah force Gio to rush out to get Katie an apartment, for fear she’d run away to Europe like she swore.
"…how expensive Georgetown is, Katherine!" Hannah continued.
"I know, Hannah."
"You're eighteen, a single mom, and you've got a shitty job and frankly, a shitty attitude about your future. Why do you smell like alcohol?"
Katie pushed the door to her designated guest room and stripped out of the grease-stained, French fry scented clothing. Hannah continued on the same speech Katie heard every time they were together.
"You know I'm just concerned," Hannah finished. "Toby--"
"He'll be fine," Katie bit off. "I came here for a break, Hannah."
"Gio and I are worried. Everywhere you work, you're recognized for being the brilliant person I know you are. Why can't you pick an office job or at least try to go to school?"
"I don't know, Hannah. I'm not sure what I want to do with my life," Katie said. “And with Toby in the picture …”
"Well, do something! You owe your child to keep him off welfare."
Katie flung herself on the bed. Despite Hannah’s criticisms, she would still rather be here than at her apartment, even knowing Hannah would never believe her story about Toby and the death dealer.
"I'm assuming you already ate," Hannah said, nose crinkling. "Take a shower and come down to say hello to Gio. He's letting me buy your gown for tomorrow, so you might as well be nice to him."
With a sigh, Katie pushed herself off the bed and obeyed.