Which was scary as hell when he thought about it. Ildaria was an immortal, and G.G. was a mortal who had no intention of turning. This could not end well.
Pushing that worry aside, he finished what he’d been saying by pointing out, “Many companies pay for upgrading skills or degrees of their employees. I’m happy to pay your full tuition.”
Ildaria bit her lip briefly, obviously considering the offer. But in the end she said, “Thank you, but no. I probably will continue to work for you after I get my degree. So far, it seems like a great working environment, but no. I’ll pay for my own education. All of it.” She hesitated and then added almost apologetically, “It’s something I have to do myself. A pride thing. I hope you understand.”
G.G. nodded slowly, getting it. It had been important to him to pay his parents back for the Night Club in England. He’d wanted to succeed on his own and suspected she felt much the same way. “Yeah. I understand.”
She relaxed and smiled as she added, “But I will take this apartment and not the one-bedroom. With what you’re paying me, I can afford it. In fact, it is much less than I expected to have to pay for an apartment. Less even than I thought I’d have to pay to share an apartment with someone. And it would be nice to be able to invite Jess and Raffaele here to visit.”
He noticed that she didn’t mention Vasco, and wondered about it, but before he could ponder it too hard, Ildaria said, “Well then, it looks like I don’t have to search for an apartment after all.” Grinning, she asked, “When can I move in?”
“Whenever you want. Here are the keys,” he said, unhooking this apartment’s key ring from the larger ring and offering them to her. “Bring some stuff back with you tonight, or hire a truck when you can to bring it all.”
“Thank you,” she said sincerely as she took the keys. “I’ll bring a cashier’s check for first and last months’ rent when I return tonight.”
G.G. shook his head. “Use that to buy furniture or anything else you might need. I’ll take first and last out of your first paycheck. Payday is every two weeks, by the way.”
“Oh.” She beamed and then frowned by turn, and headed for the door, muttering, “I need to go shopping.”
G.G. smiled to himself and then glanced to where H.D. was nosing his way around the room. He whistled for the dog to come, and then followed Ildaria out of the apartment, the little fur ball chasing after him.
“You cannot sleep on a sleeping bag,” Marguerite said with exasperation. “Take your bed. It can be my housewarming gift to you.”
“That’s so sweet, Marguerite. But I bought a new bed on my way home,” Ildaria assured her. After hitting the furniture store for a new bed . . . well, really just a mattress and box spring, Ildaria had hit the dollar store as well as JYSK and Walmart to pick up a set of dishes, silverware, glasses, and cooking utensils. Everything she’d bought was on sale or pretty cheap to begin with and it would all do her just fine. Ildaria had also purchased towels, sheets, pillows, and a comforter, as well as toilet paper, and various kitchen items. Cheap as each item had been, in the end she’d spent a lot of money. It was amazing how quickly you went through money when having to furnish an apartment. She’d had nothing of her own to take except for her clothes and the small thirty-two-inch television she’d bought while in Montana. She’d purchased it for her bedroom there so that Jess and Raffaele could have the living room to themselves some nights. She’d brought it with her when she’d moved to Canada.
Ildaria still needed a couch, chairs, a dining room set, etc. But she’d get all that as she could. Sleep was the most important thing. She needed to be well rested for working with numbers. And really, she could sit and relax in bed until she had everything else, Ildaria thought and then noticed the concentration on Marguerite’s face, and realized the older woman was reading her mind. Marguerite obviously didn’t believe she’d bought a bed. Probably because she’d asked to borrow the sleeping bag, foolishly mentioning she planned to sleep on it.
“I did buy a bed,” she assured her, deciding to save her the trouble of reading her. “But it won’t be delivered until next week. The sleeping bag is just a temporary solution until it arrives.”
“Or you could stay here until it arrives,” Marguerite suggested at once. “We are more than happy to have you stay, Ildaria. In fact, I have enjoyed your company and will be sorry to see you go.”
Ildaria had spent her life on the run, keeping barriers between herself and others by necessity. Both to keep herself safe, and to keep others safe as well. But her situation had changed, and at those sweet words from Marguerite, a woman she liked and respected, Ildaria felt some of those shields collapse and her heart go a little mushy. It made her smile, and she instinctively hugged the woman as she said, “And I’ve enjoyed being here. You and Julius and furry Julius are wonderful.” Releasing Marguerite, she stepped back and added, “But I’ll feel better in my own place. I—I’m not used to leaning on others.”
“I understand.” Marguerite patted her shoulder gently. “But that is what family is for, Ildaria, and I now consider you family. Please remember that in the future, especially if you need anything. Anything at all,” she added firmly.
Ildaria swallowed a sudden lump in her throat, and nodded before managing to get out a husky “I will.”
“Good.” Marguerite nodded. “Then I shall go search for the sleeping bag and—”
“You don’t have to do that,” Ildaria interrupted, not wanting to put her out. “Just tell me where to look and I’ll—”
“You,” Marguerite interrupted firmly, “will go ahead and drive over to the Night Club. You have a lot of stuff to unpack and put away before work. I’ll find the sleeping bag and follow. I should like to see this apartment anyway. We can have tea.”
“Oh. Si, of course.” Ildaria smiled crookedly and nodded, but she was thinking she would have to stop at the grocery store on the way. Food was something she’d neglected during her shopping spree. Fortunately, she still had a little money left, certainly enough to buy tea, sugar, and milk. Maybe some cookies too. Maybe, she’d even have enough left over for bread and peanut butter to eat until her first paycheck, Ildaria thought as she gave Marguerite a distracted parting wave and headed out to her car.
Thinking of her first paycheck from the Night Club had her recalling that it was almost Friday, which was payday at the part-time waitressing job she’d managed to get and the only reason she had the money she’d just spent. Which, in turn, made her realize that she hadn’t yet given her notice there and she was scheduled for an afternoon shift the next day.
That wasn’t so bad, Ildaria decided. She could manage the shift and still make it to her job at the Night Club on time. But she’d have to give them notice . . . and spend her break switching any evening shifts they’d scheduled her for with someone who had day shifts so that she could finish out the standard two weeks. The manager there was a good person, she didn’t want to just leave her high and dry with no time to hire a replacement. Unfortunately, that would mean a lot of hours working between the two places for the next two weeks, but she could handle it. Besides, it would give her more money for food. Something she was much more interested in now that she’d met G.G. Her flagging appetite had returned. If she was lucky, she might even make enough in tips to buy a chair or something to sit on besides the bed.
That had her smiling faintly as she got in her old silver Ford Fusion. It had belonged to Jess’s deceased parents. Jess had let her use it to get to school and her job and such when she’d first moved in with her, and then had sold it to her cheap when Ildaria had scraped enough money together to buy it.
Ildaria loved her car.
It was old, at least ten years, but it was in great shape, and worked well. Judging by the mileage on it, Jess’s parents hadn’t had it long before they’d died. She suspected it had been left to sit in the garage between then and when Jess had given it to her to use. Whatever the case, it hadn’t given her a lick of trouble since she’d bought it, and it gave her the freedom to go where she needed to go.
Right now her car was stuffed with her television and the shopping bags holding all the things she’d bought today. The front passenger seat was the only available space for the groceries she planned to get on the way to her new apartment.
Her new apartment.
Just thinking the words made Ildaria smile. She knew she was rushing it moving in this quickly and with absolutely no furniture. Certainly, continuing to stay with Marguerite and Julius would have been more comfortable.
But she was desperate for a home of her own. A place where she wasn’t beholden to others. Ildaria hated that feeling. It was probably her worst flaw. She’d rather go hungry and sleep on a cold, hard floor than accept charity, and kind and sweet as Marguerite and Julius had been to her, she was still very conscious of the fact that she was residing in their home, a charity case. At least to her mind.
Pulling on her seat belt, Ildaria started the engine, and headed off, mentally working out how much money she had left and what she could afford to buy with it. In the end, she was able to buy tea, cream, sugar, bread, peanut butter, and even some bakery cookies to serve with the tea. She still had no idea where she and Marguerite would sit while they had it, but was hoping G.G. would let her borrow a couple of the high-backed bar stools from the Night Club if she promised to bring them back down before the club opened at sunset. If so, they could sit at her island to enjoy their tea and cookies.
Before seeing her off that morning, G.G. had shown her the back door to the Night Club and apartments, and told her how to access it through an alley of sorts behind the building. He’d also given her a spot in the small parking lot behind the building. Ildaria parked, gathered several bags and headed for the door to the back of the building. She didn’t have any problem with the lock, and didn’t run into anyone on her first two trips up to her apartment. Ildaria wasn’t surprised. G.G. was mortal. Unlike immortals he couldn’t make up for a short sleep by taking in extra blood. He’d need the full eight hours and since it was after eight by the time he’d seen her off that morning, and it was only 2:30 in the afternoon now, she suspected he’d sleep a couple more hours.