3. Greek God?

Elisa Campbell tried to shake off the annoyance she felt after talking to that jerk wearing expensive clothes. She threw his business card in the trash as soon as he left the café.

"Do you know him?" Annie asked while wiping down a table. She was supposed to be the one taking care of Mr. GQ's table, but Elisa was the one who got stuck doing it. What a nuisance that was!

She recalled the first time she met the guy at her old job. He was so arrogant and obnoxious just because she accidentally bumped into him. Elisa had always been the most temperamental out of all five of her siblings, so she couldn't control herself and went off on him then quit her job before her manager could say something to her. She regretted it as soon as she walked out and realized what she had done. She was now unemployed. She wished she kept her anger in check.

"No. I don't know that self-preening asshole," Elisa shook her head.

"Looks like someone rubbed you the wrong way," Annie laughed. "I couldn't help but overhear him asking you out. You should go out with him!"

"I would rather stick my hand in a garbage disposal," Elisa said nonchalantly.

Annie's eyes turned wide. "He doesn't seem that bad. what did he do to make you so angry?"

"I can't stand these corporate assholes who walk around acting like they own everything. I have no tolerance for that bullshit," Elisa said.

"I don't know. He seemed nice enough, and it didn't hurt that he looks like a Greek god," Annie was swooning, which annoyed Elisa even more.

"Greek god? More like the knock-off version of Ian Somerhalder," Elisa scoffed.

"And that's a bad thing?" Annie narrowed her eyes.

It's true. Elisa couldn't help but agree with Annie. The man was attractive. Elisa would be blind not to notice those intense and gorgeous grey eyes and dimples on his cheeks. She could see the outlines of his muscles through his shirt. He was lean and muscular without an ounce of fat. He must work out almost every day.

That didn't mean she would fall all over his feet.

She couldn't imagine why a clean-cut corporate snob type of guy would be interested in her. All she did was humiliated him in public. Was he some type of masochist who got off on being verbally abused?

She simply did not have time to entertain his fetishes. She had to worry about how to make ends meet.

After her shift, she went straight home. She was exhausted from working a 10-hour shift and needed to lie down.

"Mommy!"

Her six-year-old daughter Audre screamed from the top of her lungs and lunged at her as soon as she entered her apartment. "I missed you," Audre pouted and wrapped her little arms around her neck.

Elisa smiled. No matter how hard her day was, Audre always made it better. Her perfect little angel.

"Thank you for looking after her, Esmeralda," Elisa looked at the babysitter with gratitude.

"Oh, you're welcome, Miss Campbell. Audre and I had a lot of fun together, didn't we?" Esmeralda looked at the little girl fondly.

"YES!" Audrey chirped.

Elisa felt uncomfortable as Esmeralda stood there and waited for the payment. Elisa put Audre down and took her wallet out.

"I am really sorry, but I don't have the full amount because I didn't make enough money on tips today. Is it okay if I only pay you half for now?" Elisa said.

Esmeralda looked disappointed, but she didn't protest. She took the money from Elisa and left without arguing. Elisa let out a sigh of relief. She felt terrible, but there was nothing she could do. The little money she had left, she needed for food.

"Let's get you to bed, little one," Elisa picked up Audre again.

"No, mommy! I wanna play!" Audre whined.

"No honey. Mommy is tired. We can play tomorrow. As much as you want," Elisa cooed.

Audre pouted but allowed Elisa to carry her to the bedroom. Elisa's apartment was small with one bedroom, so she had to let Elisa sleep in her room. God knows she could never afford to have a baby room with her paycheck!

Elisa read Audre her favorite bedtime story. It was the same story she had read a hundred times before, but Audre insisted she couldn't fall asleep without it. Elisa sat on the bed and watched her daughter fall asleep, which made her envious. She could never fall asleep this fast.

After Audre fell asleep completely, Elisa got out of bed carefully and went into the kitchen. She called her father, who lived a few miles down from her. He was old and alone after her mother died. She knew none of her siblings bothered to check on him, so she wanted to make up for them.

"Dad, how are you," Elisa asked gently after he picked up the phone.

"I am glad you called. I need money," her dad said. "I'm one month behind on my mortgage payment. Your brother stop sending me money, so I got nothing," he complained.

"Dad, I can't..."

"The bank keeps calling me. They want me to pay them, or else they'd take the house away," her dad sounded desperate.

Elisa sighed as she barely had any money to spend on her rent. In fact, she was a month late on that too. "Why don't you ask Kaelan to get a job?"

Kaelan was one of her younger brothers who did nothing but sit around at home even though he was over eighteen.

"That kid is never home, and he had been hanging out with those thugs in my neighborhood," her dad sounded annoyed.

Shit, this wasn't good. She needed money, and she needed it fast. She tried to find a second job many times, but it was hard for her since she dropped out of high school. She didn't have a choice as her mother got sick and she was expected to take care of her.

She said goodbye to her dad as she heard a knock on her door. Her heart sank when she opened the door and saw who it was.

Her landlord Albert Mulligan stood in front of her with a grim expression on his face.

"Mr. Mulligan, I wasn't expecting you," Elisa said, forcing herself to smile.

"You're way past due on your rent, Missy," Albert frowned.

"I...I know. I'm sorry. Is there any way I can get an extension? My waitress job didn't pay me as much this month, and I ran out of my savings," Elisa pleaded.

"A pretty lady like you shouldn't have a problem making money," Albert looked her up and down. Elisa fidgeted uncomfortably as his gaze lingered on her chest a little too long.

"I'll come up with the money soon," Elisa insisted even though she had no idea how or from where.

"You know, if you can't pay me, just come over to my apartment, and we can discuss other plans. I'm sure we can come up with some other options for payment," Albert rested his hand on her shoulder.

Elisa carefully removed his hands and stared into his eyes. "I will come up with the money." Albert shrugged and left the room.

Elisa tried to pretend like she didn't understand her landlord's nasty advancement, but it was impossible to ignore. She went to the bathroom and took a long shower as talking to Albert made her feel dirty.