The rest of the week was uneventful. I went back to being the antisocial kid from high school. Not talking to anyone in my class. Praying for it all to be over.

  Joss and Tess talked me into staying with them over the summer break instead of going home. They made the point that I couldn't get loan paperwork off quick enough in nowhere Virginia as quick as I could if I just stayed.

  So on the last day for students to get their things from the dorms, both girls helped me pack my things and move them into a small storage for the time being.

  Tess, Joss, and I got along great. They helped keep me out of the black hole I wanted to crawl and lose myself in. They were happy to go through job listings every day for me, while I applied for every financial aid out there.

  I had three interviews lined up during the week for personal assistant jobs and secretary jobs at different companies in the city. I wouldn't have nearly enough to pay my entire year's worth of tuition by the beginning of fall semester, but every little bit helps. 

  The first interview was for a big law firm in the financial district of New York who was looking for a personal secretary. Mr. Bloom was an over 50's pot-belly man who couldn't look away from my cleavage.

  When he was escorting me to my chair, his hand drifted to the top of my ass in my tight pencil skirt. I almost said, "Fuck it." and left. The old man obviously had a problem keeping his hands to himself.

  I let it go and put a smile on my face ready to sell it for this job. Everything was going great. Mr. Bloom and my tits had a nice conversation about the mundane task the job would require. When he finished, he excused himself to the other room.

  When he came back into the room moments later, he was furious.

  "That will be all, Ms. Black. Don't ever come back to this building again! You will never work for this firm!"

  I had absolutely no idea what happened. Everything was going fine, then I was being escorted out of the building by security. You would think it was strange and a bit of an overreaction.

  But the same damn thing happened at the next two interviews. I had a different one that was coming during the week and I pinned all my hopes on the fourth time being the charm.

  This time, the job was for a personal assistant to a Mrs. Ellen George. With this being a woman, things had to go differently. The interview went fine, and all was great, but when she came back into the room, I knew this one was about to end the same way.

  I held my hand up to stop her. "This is my fourth interview in a week I'm being escorted out of. What have I done? Can you tell me that?"

  Mrs. George gave me a small sympathetic smile. "Mr. Devon Davis is a rich and powerful man here in New York City. He has politely let everyone know if they hire you, Ms. Abbie Black, said company will lose all current and future business with Davis Holdings and all its subsidiaries. I'm sorry, Ms. Black, there's nothing I can do."

  I felt like I was sucker punched in the gut. Trevor's dad had me blackballed from working in the city. What the fuck kind of job could I get now? I thanked Mrs. George for her time, then walked out of there with my head held high.

  I stopped by the liquor store on my way home. Jim, Jack, and Jose were the only company I was fit to keep. The three best men in the world because they don't talk back.

  When I got to the apartment Tess and Joss were sitting on the couch watching Grey's Anatomy reruns. I set my bags on the kitchen counter, grabbed the first glass I could find, and poured a shot of the three inside. I swallowed the whiskey in one gulp.

  The girls were off the couch in seconds demanding to know what was wrong. I poured two more drinks downing them straight away. Fuck my life right now, I'm getting fucked up! Before I could take my next drink, Joss put her hand over the top and both girls gave me they're best death stare.

  "Trevor's dad, Devon Davis, some big shot here in New York, has blackballed me from getting a reputable job from anyone in the city. Now, will you remove your hand please?"

  I didn't feel like playing games and I guess they didn't either. Joss moved the glass closer to my lips before moving to the stool beside me.

  Tess went around the counter and grabbed two more glasses before pulling a stool up on the other side of us. Tess started pouring the drinks, while I told them about getting escorted out of every interview and exactly what Mrs. George told me.

  We kept drinking shot after shot. Thinking of jobs I could do to get cash. Tess and Joss were admitting I could be a stripper. I had the body for it, and at just 19 would drive the old pervs crazy. Or so Tess said.

  The girls wrote a list of all the high-end strip clubs for me to apply to. When the bottles were empty, Joss broke out her stash of Moonshine. They started teaching me how to dance like a stripper. I've never laughed so much in my life!

  The next morning, I woke up in my bra and panties on the living room floor. Joss was in a lace bra and panty set with a matching garter belt and stockings laid out on the kitchen bar. Tess was spread out with her naked ass in the air across the kitchen table.

  Empty bottles and glasses were covering the floor. The entertainment center still had the music we were stripping to playing on repeat. Clothes lined every inch of the apartment. Someone's stocking was hanging from the end of the ceiling fan.

  I rolled over, searching for my phone before going to the bathroom. I didn't even look in the mirror, it was too early to be frightened. After trying in vain to bring myself back to life, I sat down for a moment of peace.

  I grabbed my phone to check my email hoping another job interview came. No luck, instead, I had an unread text message.

  When I pulled it up, it was from my uncle Joe. I told Joss a lot about my family over the year we were roommates. I vaguely remember telling Tess about him last night.

  It's not like I knew much about him myself. Just that he lives in New York and owns his own business.

  One of them must have taken my phone and texted him last night. All the message said was to meet him tomorrow at 3 pm at an address near the docks of the Hudson.

  I checked to see what time it was on my phone. 11:30a.m. I threw my phone on the counter and jumped in the shower. It's going to take at least two hours to bring me back to life.

  By the time I finish showering, do my hair and makeup, and am ready to find something to wear, both girls are awake. When I walk into the living room, they both look like zombies from The Walking Dead.

  I grabbed my cutest outfit, blue polka dot 50's style shorts with a white sheer top that stopped below my boobs. The sleeves of the shirt are my favorite, how they billow out at the end, almost like a princess dress. I paired it with my white peep-toe wedges.

  After checking myself in the mirror a few times, I went back and asked the girls how everything looked. Tess just gave me a thumbs up while she drank her coffee.

  Joss gave me a wolf whistle. "You look seriously hot! Where are you going?"

  "Well, since one of you were nice enough to text my uncle that I've only met once in my life last night, I have you to thank for this. My uncle Joe wants to see me. Hopefully, he has a job for me. Wish me luck! I gotta go."

  "Good luck!" They called as I ran out the door. It didn't take me long to get a cab, surprisingly, but it was still 45 minutes before we pulled up to the warehouse my uncle told me to meet him at.

  The warehouse was a two-story brownstone building, not too big compared to the others around it. The windows on both floors were blacked out on the inside so that you couldn't see anything from the outside. There was a set of double doors in the center of the building. I went up to the doors and whispered a silent prayer before opening them and walking inside.

  There was a small reception area as soon as I walked in. A man built like a giant sat behind the desk with two doors on the wall behind him. I smiled and turned on the charm as I walked up to him.

  "Hello, I'm Abbie. I'm here to see Joe Black."

  The mountain of a man didn't pay me any attention, just pointed me towards the door near to the exit behind me. I went through and up the stairs to a hallway. There were three doors, but at the end of the hall had Joe Black, Owner, etched into the glass in the top half of the door.

  I stood outside and took a deep breath, collecting myself before I knocked on the door. When the door opened, there was a replica of the man from downstairs standing there. He waved me in then shut the door.

  The room was big with a large wood desk taking up most of it. There were two chairs in front of the desk with a couch and two high chairs off to the side in a sitting area.

  Uncle Joe was behind the desk on the phone when I walked in. He motioned for me to sit down, then held up the sign for one minute. It gave me time to study the man I'd only met once before in my life. I was a baby at the time, so I don't remember any of it.

  He is four years older than my mom, which would make uncle Joe 40 years old. He had brown hair slicked back over his head and the same clear blue eyes as me and mom. He was tall, I could tell that much even though he was seated. Just from the way his entire frame dominated the oversized chair. His facial hair was perfectly lined and trimmed. While I'd bet my last dollar the Rolex on his wrist was real. The suit he had on looked like it cost more than my car.

  Joe hung up the phone and sat back in his chair studying me just like I did him. "Abbie, you look just like your mother the last time I saw her. How is Jenny?"

  "She's good. She's been dating this guy she met online for a few months now. She seems happy."

  "Good."

  We both seemed to lapse into an awkward silence, not knowing what to say now that our mutual topic was out of the way. Finally, Joe broke the uncomfortable silence.

  "So. Your text said something happened at school, and now you need a job to pay for school. What happened? Last I was told, you were doing fine and your scholarship was secure for another year."

  I was speechless. I had no idea uncle Joe kept tabs on me, let alone knew about my school or what was going on with it. I didn't question how he knew what he did. Instead, I spilled everything to him.

  I had wanted to call my mom and tell her everything so many times since everything went down. I caught myself several times pulling her number up on my phone and just staring at her number to chicken out. I couldn't hear the disappointment I knew would be in her voice.

  Uncle Joe could be my surrogate for now. He looked so much like mom, I could almost imagine it was her I was spilling my guts to. As long as he didn't breathe a word of this to mom. Not until I was ready, if ever.

  By the time I finished, uncle Joe was at the bar in the corner with a glass of whiskey in his hand. The hand around the glass was squeezed so tight his knuckles were turning white.

  "Devon Davis. I know him and his prick son. I'm sorry you got messed up in one of his games, Abbie. I promise I'll take care of it."

  "Thank you, uncle Joe, but you don't have to do anything. I just really need a job where I can hopefully get a loan to help pay for next semester. If you could help me out with that, I'd be grateful."

  "There is an opening here at the club. Three days a month. Nothing too hard, and the pay is way above average. You can keep that for whatever you need and I'll make sure your tuition is paid every month."

  I was floored. "That's way too much! I can't accept that, uncle Joe."

  "Of course you can. Do you know how proud your mom is that you made it out of that small town, and are making something of yourself? I can't let two douchebags ruin my niece's career before it's even begun."

  I didn't care that I didn't know the man. I threw myself at him and wrapped him in a bear hug. "Thank you so much!" He used his hand that wasn't holding the glass to return the hug.

  "I won't tell your mom, and I promise everything is going to be okay Abbie. I've been looking out for you and your mom for this long, I'm not stopping anytime soon."

  I released him and stepped back giving him a nod.

  "I'll have somebody text you with the information about the job in the next few days. You should be getting home before it gets dark. Call me if you need me anytime, Abbie. I promise I'll be there."

  I left my uncle's office, feeling like there was finally a light at the end of this tunnel.

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Edited By: CrystalTheMatron

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