gave me a sense of trust. I told him about my job and how much I hated it. Also, how I needed to figure out a way to make more money because we were barely making ends meet. I mentioned how frustrated I was because I couldn’t go to college and how it made me feel like I didn’t bring much value to the world.
“Well, you’re very beautiful,” he told me. “I believe there is a lot of value in that.”
I blushed when he said that. I had been called pretty before from the boys at school, but it was nice to hear it from a man.
My mom walked down the stairs looking as beautiful as ever.
“Hello, Ms. Landry,” Mr. Powers said.
Mom held out her hand and Mr. Powers took it and kissed the back of it. I watched in awe of him. Everything he did was with grace and power.
“Your daughter and I were just chatting while we were waiting for you. You did a good job with her. She’s as beautiful as you are,” Mr. Powers said, while looking at me.
There was something about him as I was drawn to. I couldn’t quite put my finger on it.
He then took my mom’s hand and headed out the door. Before the door closed behind them, he turned and said, “Oh, and Maddy. Don’t wait up for us.”
He gave me a wink and walked down to his car.
***
M om went on her date with Mr. Powers. When she got home she told me all about it. It turned out that he was a billionaire. He was born into a wealthy family and had also started many successful businesses over the years. I couldn’t believe it. Mom had never had any job better than a secretarial position or a bank job. What did he want with her?
I was so happy for her, though. There was something different about her after she started going on dates with him. She was hardly ever home and she also seemed to stop worrying about money. Mr. Powers started paying our rent and car payments.
Every couple of days he would come by the house when Mom wasn’t there, just to visit with me. One day he gave me a wrapped box. I opened it to find a beautiful pearl necklace. I had him help me put it around my neck. It didn’t really go very well with my t-shirt, but I was excited to try it on with some of my cute dresses.
“There’s a lot more where that came from,” John told me with a cute little smile.
I blushed a little bit and smiled back.
“You’re the best thing that’s happened to us,” I told him.
He smiled wide when I told him that.
Life just kept getting better. I was able to put in my two weeks at the fast food place. I only worked a few days after putting in my notice because it seemed so pointless to be there. John was helping us out so much financially, that my minimum wage meant virtually nothing. Plus, John encouraged me to quit. He said it was bad for my happiness to work a job that I didn’t like and that he would take care of us.
Then something even better happened. Mom came home one day and seemed even more happy than usual.
“Honey, pack your bags! We are moving in with John!” Mom sang to me as she strolled into my bedroom.
What? We’re moving in with him? She’s only known him for a couple of weeks, I thought to myself.
I had only ever seen pictures of John’s house, but it was beautiful. He lived somewhere outside of downtown L.A. on a giant golf course.
I was hesitant and excited at the same time. I knew that I needed to be supportive of my mom, though, regardless of how I felt about it.
“Mom, I can’t believe this is happening. I’m so happy for you. What did we do to get so lucky? Our whole lives have turned around over the past month.”
My mom smiled and said, “Well honey, John and I just really click. He started talking about getting us out of this apartment and maybe living together on our first date. Can you believe that? After the first time he met us, he was already considering having us live with him!”
I was a little bit nervous about the move. It wasn’t that I loved the apartment we lived in or anything, but it was still a comfort