Chapter 4


    I couldn’t sleep that night. Every time I closed my eyes, I saw Aren’s face and his body sketched by my


    imagination. I had been living a sexless life for three years, but seriously? I wasn’t some starving


    cavewoman, and most of all, I had my dignity. I would never let some arrogant rich boy touch me in real


    life like that.


    The next day, I showed up at work looking as if I had died and resurrected twice. I used half of the


    concealer I had to cover the enormous dark circles under my eyes. It helped just enough so I could


    stop resembling a panda. I managed to fix my face, but it was harder to fix the mess inside me. I was


    anxious. I didn’t know how I would react if I saw Aren Lan again, especially after dreaming of his…


    Well, I needed to start acting like a sane person, which was hard considering that I jumped nervously


    each time I heard a bell ringing and customers walking in.


    Luckily, he didn’t show up that day. The same happened the next day and the day after. My life went


    back to normal. Aren Lan’s face faded in my memory, which helped stabilize my emotions. I was almost


    certain that our paths would never cross again. We might have been living in the same city, but,


    considering his wealth, he inhabited a different universe.


    That day, my shift was shorter. I took off my apron and rushed to leave Manhattan for my other,


    computer-rted job. Our workshop was in the basement of an old tenement house in Brooklyn. The


    building was neglected and almostpletely abandoned, with only an olddy and the owner living


    there. Nheless, Norton, n, and I couldn’t even dream of a better ce. Of course, we had put a


    lot of work into adapting this ce, but no one bothered us, and the rent was low. We couldn’t have


    asked for more.


    The three of us met online a few years ago. Two issues brought us close: the fact that we were from


    New York and that we lovedputers. After some time, we learned to have another thing in


    common… None of us had a diploma, although we all had mad skills.


    n Harada was a genius hacker. He could win against any type of security. Unfortunately, he was


    once convicted after drunk hacking one of the banks to impress a girl. After it had happened, he was


    disinherited by his conservative Japanese family. Well, at least he gotid the other night… Like me,


    Norton Edavane could have been an amazing programmer, but he didn’t have money to study.


    Certainly, he could have gotten a schrship, but his social skills were far worse than mine, and his


    agoraphobia hadn’t been helpful either. Now we were working together, fixingputers, and providing


    online advice. We were able to make some nice profit from time to time, but it was a frence job while


    the bills came steadily every month. Nevertheless, we all loved our work in the workshop. It was our


    safe haven, our home, the only ce where we could all breathe…


    “We’re getting evicted.” n waved a piece of paper in front of my eyes as soon as I walked in.


    I stepped back, blinking in shock. “What do you mean by evicted?” Iughed nervously, still hoping it


    was a joke.


    “Mr. Welsh sold the whole building,” Norton exined in his usual, emotionless way. “Those who


    bought it n to renovate it and turn it into a hotel.”


    I leaned my back against the wall. My knees turned weak, and my head began to spin. I wouldn’t bat


    an eye if something had happened to Café Dorado. It would be bothersome to look for another job, and


    I would miss working with Monique and Marco, but it wouldn’t be the end of the world. THIS was the


    end of the world. Where else in New York would we find a ce to rent for five hundred dors a


    month?!


    Property ? of N?velDrama.Org.


    “This cannot be happening…” I mumbled.


    “Oh, but it is.” n nodded agitatedly, looking at me with his narrowed brown eyes.


    “But where would Mr. Welsh live now?” My mind was desperate to prove that his choice was absurd.


    “He is moving to New Jersey. He’s buying an apartment next to where his son lives,” Norton informed,


    and I could see anger shing through hisposed stare.


    It sounded like a logical move, but I was determined to find ws in Mr. Welsh’s choice. “But what


    about poor Mrs. Gordon? She doesn’t have a family, and she’s like 90 years old or something. Isn’t it


    too cruel to evict a lonely olddy like her?”


    n gave me a wry smile. “She died two days ago.”


    “Oh,” I breathed out along with thest ounce of hope I had.


    I swayed my way to the couch before copsing. Norton and n joined me there, sitting on my left


    and right sides.


    “The new owner gives us time until the end of the month. Then we have to move out or pay twenty


    times the rent we paid.” n gritted his teeth.


    “We won’t earn a cent if we pay ten thousand dors a month for the rent! Not to mention that this


    ce looks like a den!” I snapped.


    Let’s face it, it was a basement that we filled withputers and cables and other equipment. We were


    able to work there, but there were no customers allowed for a reason. It was our restricted area. We


    were meeting with clients outside the workshop, taking their things to fix them at the workshop, and


    then bringing them back to our clients again. It was convenient for us, especially for Norton, who had a


    hard time dealing with other people. I couldn’t believe that it was going to change, and we would have


    to move out.


    “No.” I clenched my hand and frowned. “I refuse to give up like that. We should at least find those new


    owners and talk to them.”


    “The documents say that the building now belongs to Golden Estate Investments, whoever they are.”


    Norton shrugged restlessly.


    “Then I suggest we find them. We need to force them to give us more time at least,” I said decisively.


    A wicked grin painted n’s face. “I’m on it,” he said and rushed to hisptop.


    A secondter, his long fingers began to tap the keyboard at a furious speed. I was about to join him


    when I received a message from Doctor William Crawford, the one taking care of my Grandma.


    “We’ve got the results. Please meet me at the clinic when you’re able to,” the text said.


    I jumped up to my feet before I knew it. My hands were shaking. My heart started to pound anxiously.


    “Guys…” I barely let out a sound as it squeezed through my throat.


    They looked at me and already knew. I registered a faint,passionate smile on Norton’s face while


    n got up, and walked to me to give me a hug.


    “Gambatte!” he cheered for me with a warm grin. Then he pushed me out of the workshop, urging me


    not to waste any time.


    I hated leaving them alone when we had a crisis to deal with, but I had to know everything about my


    Grandma’s condition as soon as possible. I took the bus and texted Doctor Crawford, informing him


    that I was on my way. Half an hourter, I was running to his office on the fifth floor of Crawford’s


    Neurological Clinic, a ce founded by Doctor William’s father. I knocked on the door, heavily panting.


    He opened it and invited me in.


    “Ms. Bell, have a seat please.” He greeted me with a smile and gestured to a chair in front of his desk.


    As I sat down, he went back behind his desk. Doctor William was a kind and brilliant man. His hair was


    mostly grey, although he was only in his fifties. I guess that his work was taking a toll on him, no matter


    how much he loved it. He was dedicated, a doctor by vocation, and I would be forever grateful to him


    for taking care of my Grandmother and ignoring the fact that I paid for her treatment irregrly. He


    knew how to handle patients and how to talk to their loved ones. Somehow, he always found the right


    words to say, no matter how hard their meaning was. I would have beenpletely broken if it weren’t


    for him.


    When my Grandmother’s brain aneurysm ruptured and she fell into aa half a year ago, I was an


    absolute mess. I couldn’t eat or sleep. I kept sitting in her room, hopelessly waiting for her to wake up.


    It was Doctor Crawford who forced me out of her room and brought me back to thend of the living.


    He used some harsh but logical arguments, letting me know that I would never save my Grandma by


    sitting by her bed… especially when someone needed to work to pay for her stay in the clinic. Now, I


    visited Grandma three times a week, plus in special circumstances such as to hear about the results of


    her tests…


    “I have some good news and… bad news, unfortunately,” the doctor said.


    I pulled in a shaky breath. “I want the bad news first.”


    “We cannot operate using the method we have discussed before. It’s because of the location of the


    aneurysm…” He grimaced apologetically.


    My eyes became watery in a second. I put high hopes in that method. It sounded like a chance for


    Grandma to wake up.


    “But the good news is that her results show that we might have a chance if we use a different


    experimental method. The procedure has been performed only once, by a friend of mine, a Chinese


    doctor, Lu Wei Chen. Nheless, the method looks promising. Doctor Chen is going to visit New York


    in a few months, and I think I might talk him into performing his method on your Grandma,” he


    exined.


    I gasped. “Can you do that?”


    “I cannot give you one hundred percent, but I will do my best.” The doctor smiled, but then his


    expression turned serious. “And… there’s another problem thates with it…”


    I gulped, having a feeling about what he was about to say.


    “Even with your Grandma’s insurance… the operation would cost you more than a hundred thousand


    dors.”


    I exhaled in a rush, as if someone had just hit my guts. I had already used all the money I had from the


    inheritance my Grandpa left me. How was I supposed to get more than a hundred thousand dors in a


    few months?!