6

She looks at Alec and inspects him. In addition to the impeccable beauty; the recently shaved face; the blue and serene eyes; the straight hair and hairstyle back, Alec appeared to be a good listener. And just for that reason, she decided to open her heart.

"I’m going to be a violinist and the biggest dream of my life, is to live it. Where I study, you’ll have a recital and it’s worth a good amount of money. But even though I have a scholarship, the recital gets paid. If it wasn’t for the fucked"up mom I have, I wouldn’t have to be here tonight.”

"Let me guess. She took your money?" Evangeline just nods. "How much was it?”

"I had a little over two hundred dollars. And if I hadn’t been sneaking around and breaking into that room, I would have made three hundred for working that night.”

That amount was nothing to Alec. With two hundred dollar bills, he would wipe dog poop out of his shoes. While Evangeline was busy cleaning under his eyes, Alec took his wallet out of his pocket and from there withdrew five hundred dollar bills. He stretched those notes towards Evangeline, who blinked a few times.

"What...”

"Your payment for that night’s services.” 

"But there’s much more there. I can’t...”

"You can." Alec holds Evie’s hand and puts the notes there. "It’s for your dream.”

On a whim, Evangeline attacked Alec in a hug. He was so surprised by it, it took a few seconds to reciprocate.

"I do not know how to thank for it." she murmurs, turning away from him and staring at the notes.

"You don’t have to thank me. You worked for it.”

"I snooped more than I worked..." Evie whispers, staring at her feet.

"What?”

"Oh... nothing... I think I’m leaving. I just need to go get my clothes.”

"And how will you get home?”

"Two buses and a subway." she laughs and Alec does not accompany him. He twists his nose and grimaces.

"At a time like this?” 

"I’m used to it. Well... I’m gonna change and go. Thanks for the help you gave me. You’re a good man, Alec.”

Evie deposits a quick kiss on Alec’s face and rushes into the house. While she was busy searching for her clothes to get out of there, Alec thought about what had just happened to her. The simple touch of Evangeline’s lips, on her cold cheeks, made an extremely unique warmth run through her body. He did not understand that feeling, since it was the first time that it occurred.

Alec got up and went to Howard, his private driver. He was about to speak, when Evangeline emerged as a hurricane, still wearing the maid’s clothes.

"Hey, all right?" he asks, before she could leave his territory. 

"Did I say I hate my mother? Arg!”

"What happened?”

Evangeline hesitated. She wasn’t sure if telling her that she saw her mother doing oral sex on one of the guests in the bathroom was exactly what Alec expected to hear.

"Nothing." she speaks, with a sigh then. "I go home.”

"Wait... Howard will take you.” 

"No..." Evie intersperses her gaze between Alec and the silent driver. "No need.”

"Of course you do. I won’t let you walk out of here this time of night and alone. Howard!”

The driver without saying a word, opens the rear door of the car and waits for Evangeline to climb. She was still hesitant, not knowing if she should get into a stranger’s car.

Finally, after much thought, she went in. Evie gave Alec one last grateful smile before the driver could close the door and take her home.

Alec in turn waited for the car to leave the property and then return to his home. The party was still unaware of the new sensations he had experienced. He climbs the stairs and returns to the meeting room, finding his father shaking hands with one of the guests.

"Alec! I’m so glad you decided to join us again. We just finished our union." Blake smiles at the tall, frowny man who was there. "All the clubs in Staten Island and Queens now respond to the Castello family. Or rather, to you.”

"Great. What about the guns?”

Blake laughs at the man next to him and gives him a pat on the arm. That guy didn’t like it and Blake didn’t care.

"Look at this kid! Until yesterday I didn’t want to be linked to the mafia and now I want more information. Oh, Alec! One thing at a time.”

Alec suppresses his urge to roll his eyes and waits for those strange men to finally leave the room. Before he could do the same, his father calls him.

"What about the girl?”

"What’s wrong with her?”

"What did you do with it?”

"I solved it. I sent her home." Blake raises an eyebrow. "What?”

"She saw what she shouldn’t have, Alec. And you send her home? What’s your problem?”

Blake was sitting at the head of the table and lit a cigar while waiting for his son’s answer. Alec takes a deep breath and puts both hands in his pants pockets.

"You said that I had to create more responsibilities and that because of that, I would have to run the mafia here. So when I say I sent her home and fixed everything, that’s all that matters.”

Evangeline’s day was rushed. In the morning she was almost dragging herself to college and attended some classes. The afternoon when she went to occupy her shift in the small market where she worked, she found that the owner did not like the change of employees she had the day before and ended up firing her. She left the establishment sad, but with a check for two hundred dollars. 

Determined not to let it shake her, Evie decided to go buy the clothes she would wear at the recital. She walked all afternoon and entered several stores, without finding anything she could say to be THE CLOTHES.