DOLLAR BILLS

He grunted loudly. I thought this free time to turn and finish her off but when I did - Emilia was gone, that little coward ran away. How iconic.

"Look what you've done!" I said as I pointed to the ground frustratedly.

"Look what I have done?" He matched my tone as I held his jaw, his steel-blue eyes piercing my skin in what seemed to be a stern manner "I just stopped you from committing homicide and probably spending the rest of your life behind bars or six feet under"

I ran my hands through my hair, this dude was dumber than he looked "oh really?" I gasped in fake shock "thank you so much! Thank you so much for saving my life!" I exclaimed as I glanced around and then locked eyes "but what fake shrink convinced you that I needed saving? did it not cross your mind that you could have just held her down and let me finish her off?" I spat and looked in the direction Emiliana ran in.

"I am not a murderer" the man deadpanned. I rolled my eyes and turned to face him

"Thanks to you, I am not one either" I gritted out

"Aren't you happy that you didn't end up killing someone? Come on?" he responded

"I'm not happy but I'm sure you are; you ruined my life even more than it had been and shouldn't you be on your way now? Don't you have better things to do?" I snapped as I stared down at his blue tuxedo. He looked like some businessman that was thrown out from a Disney movie.

He sucked in a deep breath and was about to walk away when he suddenly stopped.

I turned away, engrossed in my current predicament because I was sure anytime from now the new owners of this apartment would show up and I would get kicked out – not like it would make a difference since I was already out on the streets.

"What are you waiting for?" I finally asked when the silence became overbearing. I had decided to busy myself with picking up my stuff – which was, unfortunately, taking ages when I noticed this tall, handsome freak – who had stopped me from killing Emiliana and whose name I didn't know – kept stealing glances from me.

"Nothing." The dark-haired man replied as he began to walk away, his fringe bouncing as he walked, I felt a part of me sign in relief as I watched him walk away. Over the years, I still haven't brought myself to be comfortable around his gender, childhood trauma hit hard? Eh?

I ran my hands over my face as I grabbed my stuff and walked in the opposite direction, I had no clue where I was going, but I sure hoped it wasn't into some lion's den

___________

"Well, there goes the life I had" I mumbled as I dragged my traveling bag across the ground and dragged my feet along with it, it was getting late now and I hadn't found anywhere to stay, I had um, initially assumed that I would spend the night in some alley but who knew alleys could be so hard to find, the moon is almost up and I haven't found a place to sit, the streets have never looked so deserted as they did tonight.

"Why me though?" I muttered under my breath as I kept moving, my limbs were getting tired and cars sped down the street as I continued to stroll on the sidewalk. "I should have gotten a second job..." I mumbled to myself "Or at least, you know, had a plan B…”

I immediately stopped and resorted to pretending I was singing when I saw an old lady staring at me like I was crazy, I wonder if she never spoke to herself while growing up, Did she miss the adulthood phase too, or what?

I decided to murmur essence under my breath, it was an afro-pop Ep that had caught my attention for the past few weeks and it has constantly been on repeat and yes, I am a sucker for music, I use "am" cause I'm pretty sure I'll die loving music. That would not matter though.

I'll be dying broke either way.

I was about to um, cross on the next junction when the woman finally called out to me. I say finally cause she's been staring at me for a while now, I mean what's this with people staring at me huh? I know I'm pretty, I've got decent features, I've got curves, prominent dimples, I have um deep blue eyes and long blonde hair, that doesn't mean it's okay for people to gawk at me, right?

"Are you okay?" She asked as she wrapped her arms around herself. She was dressed in a coat even though I was pretty sure winter wasn't that harsh yet. All I was wearing was a brown turtle neck shirt with some black jeans.

"I'm fine" I replied. My voice came out forced. The woman smiled. She was a brunet with um, pretty green eyes, her hair rested just below her shoulders and she looked like she could pass off as one of those moms from the 90's movies Derek loved to watch.

"You sure?" she asked as she took a step forward

"Yeah," I replied. "Are you from around here?" I asked casually to make conversation.

"Nah, I was sent here,to um,take care of a guest but I lost my way,"

"Eh? Is that so? Sorry 'bout that" I said as I continued walking. She was walking beside me now and was constantly looking around, probably trying to remember her destination.

"So you? You seem like you are from here?" she half asked. I spared her a glance and then looked away.

"Yeah, I'm from here, moved here months ago," I informed her, she smiled a bit.

"So you are moving?" she indirectly asked and we locked eyes, she looked like she was in her mid-forties and I finally noticed the glasses that sat on her nose, today's ordeal may or may not be messing with my eyesight.

"No, I got kicked out of my rented apartment" I deadpanned. Her smile turned upside though and I could see a glint of pity in her eyes – something I hated.

The last thing I needed was for someone to pity me. I didn't need pity or anyone's sympathy. I have never needed it and I never will. I survived on the streets a year ago after I was kicked out of my home, I'm pretty sure I will be just fine now.

"I'm going to lodge in a hotel soon..." she suddenly spoke after a while, "You could spend the night there, it isn't safe out here" she pointed out, and just at that moment, the street lights turned on. I smiled

"I'll be just fine, thanks for the offer but I'd rather be alone," I replied.

"Are you sure? It's really cold out here" As if to emphasize that she let out a shuddered breath. I ran my hands through my hair and replied; "Affirmative"

She seemed to let it go after that and we just continued walking. She was looking around —probably for hotels and I was searching for the nearest alley which I hoped would not get haunted by robbers. You are probably wondering - who would steal from the homeless, believe me when I say – you don't want to find out.

"Let me at least get you dinner" I was about to object but then I realized that I had found an alley and just when I was going to do a little dance of joy – I noticed something. It wasn't huge. Was probably not the most noticeable thing in the entire world either.

The poster looked worn out like it had been that one wrinkled piece in the whole bunch, the edges looked rumbled and overall it seemed like the person who posted it there was either a frustrated fellow or the person just could not care less. I bit back the urge to fix it up and curled my fingers into my palm as I tried to focus on what had initially drawn my attention.

It wasn't the perfectly lightened background of the poster, nor the gorgeous models who were dressed in workout outfits, no, that was the least of my worries, it was the numbers written boldly and the letters that followed

Five thousand Dollars UP FOR MASKED DANCER REPLACEMENT

My breath caught, my eyes went wide and I completely forgot who and where I was at that moment as I yanked the flyer from the wall, I couldn't even careless if the woman was staring at me awkwardly – which I was sure she was, I didn't care though. After all she wasn't going to pay my bills.

I frantically looked over the paper and read the lines, from what I had read, I realized – the company – whose name I hadn't bothered to read – was looking for a replacement in the lead dance category and was willing to pay the dancer for five thousand dollars

Five thousand FREAKING DOLLAR BILLS.

That amount would pay all my bills and get me a better apartment, I wouldn't have to work for months and I could even start up my own business and pay people to work for me! This was just too good to be true! But I could make it work though! This was like the light at the end of the tunnel I had been waiting for!

There was just one problem though: I had no clue how to dance.