Chapter 6

"You know him?" Faith asked with surprise. She looked over at Adele who was also gaping at her.

"Who doesn't know him?" Sheila shook her head at Faith. "Girl, have you been living under a rock?"

"No, just living under a lot of work."

Sheila rolled her eyes but didn't make any comment about that. "He is one of the richest, most successful people in the country."

"It's true. He owns a tech company." Adele chipped in. "I can't believe you don't know him. He's always in magazines. He was voted most eligible bachelor by the Star Magazine last year."

"So he's like a big deal?"

"The biggest deal. I can't believe that he's schooling here and no one knew till now. They really worked hard to keep it out of the media." Sheila shook her head.

"You seem to know him quite well."

"More like I know of him. My father does some business with him so I've met him a few times. Nothing deep."

Faith gulped. If her super-rich friends were acting so wonderstruck, just how important was this Devlin character.

Oblivious to Faith's thoughts, Adele gave a loud happy sigh and flopped down onto the sofa. "Oh my gosh," she sang, "I can't believe you just met the most eligible bachelor in the country in the most fairy tale way possible!"

Sheila rolled her eyes at the girl. "Everything is a fairy tale to you, Adele. Don't even go there. He is a notorious Playboy. He has no interest in a serious relationship."

"Oh, that makes it even better! Faith can be the girl who tamed the CEO! It'll make a wonderful love story for sure!"

Sheila shook her head. "Don't even think about it. And you, don't get your hopes up. Devlin has not had a serious relationship in all the years I've known him."

"Hey, I don't even like the guy. He's much too arrogant for me. There's no danger of that happening "

"Good." Sheila spun on her heel and walked away, leaving them.

Adele tiptoed over to Faith and whispered, "Don't mind her. If you put your mind to it, you can do it!"

Faith matched her whisper. "I don't even want to do it." She left the romantic girl and walked off to her own room.

"Don't write it off too soon," she called after her.

Faith only shook her head. Her friend loved to manufacture love stories about other people's lives and force them to live it while she sat inside all day and night reading.

If she wanted to see love so badly, she should go out and meet someone herself.

The thought of her and Devlin ever being anything was just laughable. She saw herself as a pretty affable person.

She got along fine with most people but she could already tell that this man was the type to get on her last nerves.

If not that she absolutely needed the money, she would elect to never have the misfortune of meeting him again.

At least, she would get to see that eye candy of a man, Cassius. It was the one saving grace in this situation. That, and the money of course.

Faith laid down on her bed, face up, as she considered the events of the day. The day had started out so dismal but ended on such a good note.

"Thank you, God," she whispered.

Tomorrow, she would go to her jobs and tell them she was quitting. Well, except for the one at the library. She had decided to keep that one. It couldn't hurt.

She couldn't believe things were turning out so well. She should call her parents and tell them the good news.

She rummaged through her bag for her phone and dialled the number. It rang a few times before someone picked it up.

"Hello?" Her dad's voice filled the receiver. Faith felt tension she hadn't even known was in her body, release at the sound of her father's voice.

"Dad, it's Faith."

"Oh, my favourite daughter," he mock whispered, "How are you?"

"I'm fine, Dad. How are you? And everyone?"

"We're all good--surviving. You know how it is. What about you? How is school?"

"School is great, Dad. Actually, today I got a job. It's a good one with good pay. I can quit some of my jobs."

"That's great, Faith. I'm happy for you."

"With this, I can even afford to send home some money to assist you." Faith heard her father sigh into the phone.

"You don't have to do that. We'll be fine. Just worry about taking care of yourself. That's all that matters."

"Taking care of myself is taking care of you guys. I'll just continue being worried about you. That's not good for me either."

"We're doing okay. We're making it work," he assured her.

"Please Dad, let me do this. Let me help out a little."

There was a few beats of silence while her father considered her offer. Eventually, he answered. "Alright, do what you can. I appreciate it."

Faith breathed a sigh of relief too. "Thank you, Dad. Where's mom? Can I talk to her?"

"Your mother is off at work. She got a new cleaning job at one of the houses in town. She's there right now."

"I didn't know she started cleaning too. How many jobs does that make?"

"Five jobs," her father answered.

"When I send home the money, tell her to quit one job, okay?"

"I'll do that."

Faith pressed the phone closer to her ear as though she could somehow feel him through it. "Good. Make sure you take care of yourself too, Dad. Don't work too many jobs."

"Yes, dear. I won't."

"Goodnight Dad." After they'd exchanged goodbyes, Faith dropped the phone on the bed beside her and laid back down.

She supposed it was hypocritical of her to tell her parents not to work too much when she was doing the same thing just a day ago.

But what could she do? She didn't want them breaking down. By the time she sent them some money, they'd be able to augment whatever they made.

Grmm, Grmm. Faith's phone buzzed. She stretched out her hand and grabbed it, holding it up over her face to see the screen.

A message notification was displayed on the screen. It was from an unknown message. She tapped on it.

A short text popped open on the screen. Faith read through it quickly.

"Oh sh*t, it's starting," she said.