Текст книги "Misbehaving"

Автор книги: Abbi Glines

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Текущая страница: 11 (всего у книги 13 страниц)

“How’s he gonna get tickets this late?” Jason asked.

“We’re locals,” I replied with a grin. “We know who to call.”

Jason’s frown was verging on angry, and I couldn’t keep the grin off my face. Guess it didn’t feel too good to him, either.

He didn’t say anything else on our way down to the dining room, and I became more and more aware of the fact that I was way underdressed for breakfast with his mother the closer we got. I had been busy making sure Jason knew how it felt to be left on the sidelines that I hadn’t thought about my clothing.

“She’s not going to like what I’m wearing,” I said, pausing outside the door.

Jason touched my arm and gave me a reassuring squeeze. “You’re fine. I’ll handle this.”

The safe feeling was back, and I nodded and walked inside when he opened the door for me. His mother’s eyes were on me immediately, and the distaste on her face was obvious.

“I’m glad you could finally join me. I thought I was going to have to come back up there and remind you.” Her haughty voice was like ice.

“No, Mother. We remembered. We just aren’t working on your schedule. We have our own,” Jason replied, and held out a chair for me to sit down.

I was seriously considering running out of the room. This woman was scary as hell.

“Don’t talk to me with such little respect,” she said in a warning tone.

“Don’t provoke me,” he replied, taking the seat to my left and placing himself between me and her.

She set her cup down and fixed her now angry glare on me. “Could she not dress more appropriately?”

Jason’s hand was immediately on my leg, holding it firmly. “She wasn’t aware that she needed to bring clothing for eating breakfast with my mother. I didn’t know you were coming.”

“Johanna called me when she went to your apartment and you told her you were headed to Sea Breeze for the weekend. She wondered if it was a family gathering.”

We were back to Johanna again. I hadn’t realized she also went to Harvard. The sick knot in my stomach was back. My victory was short-lived.

“Johanna needs to mind her own business,” Jason replied.

“She was concerned because you were supposed to be at a special study group tomorrow that she said was mandatory.”

Jason’s grip on my thigh was the only thing giving away his mounting frustration. “It isn’t mandatory. She knows that,” he replied.

“Does she know that you have a … a thing with this girl?”

I winced at her tone and didn’t even attempt to acknowledge the food in front of me.

“Does she know I have a girlfriend? No. But she will as soon as I see her again. I wasn’t aware she and I were close enough to discuss my life outside of school.”

His mother cocked one of her perfectly shaped eyebrows. “Please tell me that comment was for your girlfriend’s benefit, because I’m the one who caught you and Johanna having sex last spring while we were vacationing in the Hamptons on your break.”

He’d had sex with Johanna. I was done. I couldn’t sit through any more of this. I was afraid of what else his mother would enlighten me about. I started to stand up, but Jason’s hand held me down.

“That’s enough, Mother. You managed to push me to my limit. You’ve not only made Jess feel unwelcome and uncomfortable, you’ve upset her. I don’t like her upset. Thank you for changing my mind. I won’t be attending the cotillion with Johanna. I’ll let her know today so she can find a replacement. Maybe you can help her with that.” Jason stood up and held his hand out to me. “Let’s go,” he said, fixing his gaze on me.

“You aren’t leaving. We aren’t done here,” his mother snapped, and I jumped up, grabbing his hand tightly.

“Yes, we are,” he replied, then turned and walked us out of the dining room and directly toward the front door.

“Bring the car around. We’re ready to leave,” Jason spoke into his phone, then slid it back into his pocket. He opened the front door and stepped back, letting me walk outside.

The limo I was accustomed to seeing pulled in front of the house, and Jason’s hand was on my back, leading me toward it. The driver had barely had time to park when Jason was opening the door himself and motioning for me to get inside.

After he crawled in, he looked toward the opening between the driver and us. “Just drive until I tell you otherwise,” he said, then pressed a button that raised the divider.

I was afraid to let him talk first. I didn’t know if the anger rolling off him was because of me or his mother or both. “You don’t have to cancel with Johanna,” I said, surprising myself. Especially after I now knew he had slept with her. That changed everything for me.

“No,” he said, picking me up and putting me in his lap. I straddled him and placed my hands on his chest, unsure of what he had planned for this position. I wasn’t feeling very affectionate at the moment. “Jo has turned into one of them. Just like my mother and hers. I have no desire to do anything for her.”

“But you wanted to,” I reminded him.

He put his hands on my thighs and stared up at me. “I promised her last spring I’d take her,” he said, as if that explained it. Must have been during the sex they were having. “Canceling on her now was mean. I didn’t want to leave her without an escort. But now I don’t give a shit.”

“Because she called your mom,” I said, trying to figure out what exactly had made him mad.

Jason laid his head back on the seat and closed his eyes. “No. That just gave me an excuse. I’m glad she gave me a reason, because I was going to cancel on her before we walked into that dining room.” He lifted his head back up and looked at me. “I wasn’t letting you go anywhere with Dewayne or anyone else. The thought of you dressed sexy, drinking and dancing on the beach where anyone could see you and think you were available, was more than I could handle. I’m taking you to that damn festival. Me. They all need to know you’re taken.”

Oh. My heart did that flutter thing again, and my hands on his chest turned into fists to keep from pawing at him in appreciation. It had taken me fighting back, but he had put me first in the end. That was almost as good as being picked first. It would have been better if he’d chosen my wishes over hers without my having to threaten him with another guy.

The fluttering stopped. When I realized how I had won this battle, it took away all the joy. He had originally chosen her. He hadn’t wanted to hurt her, but he’d been okay hurting me.

“I won’t go with Dewayne. Take her to the cotillion. It’s what you originally wanted to do. I played dirty, and I shouldn’t have,” I said, shifting to move off his lap. I needed some space.

Jason grabbed my waist and held me there. “It’s not what I wanted to do,” he said. “It’s what was right. She didn’t deserve to be ditched at the last minute.”

He still didn’t get it. I nodded. “Take her. You don’t want to hurt her.”

I could feel him studying me, but I wouldn’t look at him. I just wanted to go home and lock myself in my room. I could cry then and no one would see me. “I don’t like hurting people in general,” he said slowly, as if he was trying to figure out the meaning behind my words.

“I know. You’re a better person than I am. Actually, than most people I know. You’re thoughtful and kind. It’s one of the things that I find so insanely attractive about you.”

Jason moved his thumbs so that they brushed my stomach in a gentle caress. “Then why won’t you look at me?” he asked.

Because you didn’t choose me first. Those words sounded shallow, yet they kept repeating in my head. I wish it wasn’t important to me. I wish my self-esteem was better and that kind of thing wasn’t a weakness of mine.

“This morning has been intense, and I just want to go back to sleep,” I told him, forcing myself to look at him so he wouldn’t push that issue.

Jason reached up and took my chin between his thumb and forefinger so I couldn’t look away. “You aren’t telling me something.” He sounded frustrated.

“I don’t want to talk about it. I’ll be okay. Just give me some time to deal with my own insecurities. I’m working on them,” I explained, trying to sound flippant.

“I never want to make you feel insecure. If I have to dedicate my life to making sure you know where you stand with me, I will. So don’t give me that shit. If you have something to deal with, tell me. I’ll fix it.”

He couldn’t fix this. He didn’t realize that it had already been done. His immediate impulse was to protect Johanna. Not me.

I wondered if he had loved her. If he had ever told her he loved her. I loved him, but he hadn’t told me he loved me. Maybe that was it. He didn’t love me but he had loved her. She had that hold on him. I started to move again, wanting to get away from him, but he continued to hold me still.

“Talk to me, Jess. Please,” he begged.

“You had to choose, and you chose her. When pressed for an answer, you chose her feelings over mine. Nothing that happened after that matters. Because it was after I manipulated you.” I stopped and looked out the window because I couldn’t stand looking at him while I admitted this. “I wanted to be your fist choice, so I forced you to pick me. It was wrong. I don’t want you to put me first because I use your jealousy against you. I want you to think of me first because it’s the way you feel. I’m tired of trying to be someone’s first choice. I’ve done that, and I’m exhausted. I won’t do it anymore. I just won’t.” Jason’s grip on me loosened, and I used that opportunity to get off his lap and put some space between us. I didn’t look back at him, and I didn’t say anything else.

He had wanted me to talk, and now that I had he had nothing to say. I wished I could reach the button so I could let the driver know to take me home. I wanted out of this car. I wanted to run until I couldn’t run anymore.

“I didn’t realize it hurt you. You acted like it wasn’t a big deal,” he said in a pained voice.

“Really? That’s what you’re going with?” I asked angrily. “If I were to go to a dance with a guy friend because I had promised him I would and you knew his hands would be touching me while we danced, just how would you feel? Would you be okay with that?”

He didn’t reply. I knew he couldn’t honestly tell me he would be fine with it. When I had thrown it back in his face, he had cracked. So how could he say that he didn’t think it would bother me?

“You’re right. I didn’t think,” he said. “My first thought should have been to protect you and your feelings. I’m so sorry, Jess. I’m not good at this. I don’t do relationships, and I obviously suck at it.” He sounded so defeated.

I couldn’t stay mad at him. It wasn’t his fault that he didn’t love me. He cared, and that was all I would ever get from him. I knew that already. I was expecting him to react the way a man in love would. He couldn’t.

“It’s okay,” I said, turning to look at him. “I was expecting too much. I’m sorry.”

Jason’s frown only deepened. “Don’t apologize. This is all me. You deserve better than the way I treated you this morning. But if there is any way you can forgive me, I swear I’ll be better. I’ll figure this relationship thing out and get it right.”

He was willing to try, which counted for something. He still didn’t get that his first instinct should have been to choose me. But then, he wasn’t in love, so that wouldn’t be what he first thought of. I wasn’t looking for someone who would put me first, I was looking for someone to love me.

The realization was sad and pathetic. I had let this thing with Jason mean too much. I didn’t want to lose what little time I had with him until a Johanna came into his life and he fell head over heels in love with her and I was forgotten.

“Okay,” I said, fighting back the emotions that the thought of losing him stirred up.

“Okay?” he repeated. “I’m forgiven, okay? Or you’ll think about it, okay?” he asked.

“You’re forgiven,” I replied.

He let out a sigh of relief and bent his head to capture my mouth with his. I closed off all other thoughts and enjoyed him. Enjoyed this thing we had that I had let myself believe could be more. I accepted what was real and kissed him back, knowing I was going to need every memory I could make with him to keep me warm one day.

JASON

When her body melted against mine, I felt like I could take a deep breath again. I had been so damn scared. The hurt look in her eyes was going to haunt me for fucking weeks. I had to come up with a way to prove to her how important she was to me. Until then, I needed to reassure myself that she wasn’t about to walk out of my life in search of that guy who puts her first.

The unknown guy only made me more desperate. I lay her back on the seat, pushed my shirt that she was wearing up, and slid my hands under her tank top until her breast filled my hand. Her soft moan was so damn sweet. “I want you naked,” I told her, and she leaned up so I could pull the shirt and tank off of her.

“I swear, Jess, your tits get more perfect every damn time I see them.”

Her nipples hardened from my praise. “Those things you were thinking of to wake me this morning,” she said, smiling up at me. “Why don’t you show me?”

I pulled a nipple into my mouth and sucked hard until she grabbed my head and cried out. When I let it go, she was panting and her cheeks were flushed. “I’ll have to take these sweats off in order to show you, because when I was talking about how you tasted I had a specific area in mind.”

Her mouth formed a small O and she trembled underneath me. I was about to show her just how important her happiness was to me. Over and over again.

Chapter Twenty-Three

JESS

Mondays had never been my favorite day of the week, but now I hated them. After spending my weekends with Jason, facing Monday was hard. Especially knowing he had gone back to a world with Johanna in it. I didn’t want to be jealous of her, but I couldn’t help it. Jason Stone had me tied up in knots.

After my morning class, I had time to come home and eat lunch and then work on the things I didn’t get a chance to finish this weekend for the shop. I needed that job, but I hadn’t wanted to give up any of my time with Jason to work. Not when I had an entire week without him to work on it.

Sitting down at the sewing machine, I pushed all thoughts of Jason from my head and tried to concentrate on other things. It was short-lived, however, because the doorbell rang. Momma had gone to run some errands that she had been evasive about, which led me to believe she was messing around with a man and didn’t want me to know about it.

I went to the door and opened it. The cold, hateful glare that I was sure Mrs. Stone only reserved for me met my gaze, and I wished I had looked out the window first. I really needed to start doing that before I opened the door.

“Can I come in?” she asked, raising that one eyebrow as if she was daring me.

I wanted to say no and slam the door in her face. But she was Jason’s mom. I couldn’t exactly do that. Besides, I needed to win this woman over. If that was even possible. “Um, okay, yes.” I stumbled over my words and stepped back to let her inside.

You could see the living room, my bedroom, my momma’s bedroom, and the bathroom from the entrance. The only room you couldn’t see the door to was the kitchen, and that was because you had to walk through the living room to get to it. Thanks to my momma’s smoking habit the place smelled like stale smoke, but it was clean. Momma wasn’t one for filth.

Mrs. Stone’s nose visibly scrunched, like she was smelling something bad. I didn’t notice the smell much since I’d lived with it, but I knew that to those not around it, it smelled bad. I was suddenly wishing I had made her stay outside and just walked out there to talk to her.

“I’m not here to waste my time. I have the jet waiting at the airport, so let me get to the point,” she said, turning to level her haughty glare at me. “You won’t do for Jason. I realize Jax will end up marrying beneath him, but he is a celebrity and will be a legend. He can make as many mistakes as he wants, and his success is intact. However, Jason is different. He can’t get involved with someone like you.” She let her gaze flicker to the blue sofa that I knew was worn and old—but again, it was clean.

“Jason has a bright future. He’s brilliant and he has connections. In the world of politics, Jason can’t have skeletons like you in his closet. You won’t help him reach his goal. You’ll only bring him down. He’s been in love with Johanna since he was a child. Johanna was groomed to be the wife of a senator. She has grown up in the home of one of the best. I know she will be willing to overlook Jason’s baser urges that led him to you. But it has to stop before you affect his life any more. His grades can’t suffer, and he will attend that cotillion this weekend as her escort. It’s too important for him. If you hold him back, he will hate you for it later. I’ve dealt with your kind before, and I know you don’t go away easily. I’ll have one hundred thousand dollars wired to your account within the day. In return, you need to end it with him and disappear from his life. Do whatever you need to do to send him away if he comes back.”

I had seen this in a movie once. But having it actually happen to you was different. The dirty way it made you feel was indescribable. To think someone expected you to take the money and agree to something like this was like a slap in the face. Several slaps in the face.

She had seen my home and assumed I was in this for the money, because someone like her couldn’t fathom that I would have the ability to love someone more than money. Being poor didn’t mean I was soulless. I managed to shake my head no. Words had left me as I stared in horror at this woman who had given birth to the most beautiful, kind, giving, selfless person I knew. How was that possible?

“You’ll change your mind.” She handed me a small card. “Call me when you realize the stupidity of your decision. Unless he’s tired of you by then. I may not have to give you a dime. Now that Johanna knows she has competition, she’ll be working extra hard to make him happy,” Mrs. Stone said with an evil smirk.

She turned and walked out the door without another word. I stared at her back until she climbed into the limo and drove away. Reaching for the handle, I closed the door, then looked down at the card in my hand. She had left me her contact information. I wanted to burn it, but I didn’t. As much as I didn’t want to tell Jason about this, I feared that I needed to. I didn’t trust her. I wanted him to know that I had never accepted this from her, if it got back to him.

Needing to hear his voice, I walked to my room and dropped the card to my desk before picking up my phone. I wasn’t sure if he would be in class right now, but I could at least hear his voice mail.

It rang three times, and then a female answered. She was giggling and telling someone no. I just sat there and listened to her. She said hello again, but I was still too confused to speak.

“Jason is indisposed at the moment. You’ll need to call back later,” she said before hanging up.

I didn’t need someone to tell me who that had been. I just needed Jason to explain it to me. Apparently, Johanna was more than he had admitted to. There had to be some truth to his mother’s words. I knew that already. He had feelings for Johanna. I’d already come to terms with it.

Was he in love with her? Was that it? He couldn’t love me, because he loved her, and he was sewing his wild oats first. The idea of being his wild oats made me want to curl up in a ball and die.

JASON

“Give me the damn phone, Jo,” I demanded, snatching it out of her hands and shoving it in my pocket. I needed another study group. Seeing Jo pissed me off after her duplicity with my mother. She had known calling my mom would send my nosy mother to Alabama looking for me.

“Stop being so nasty to me.” She pouted and batted her eyelashes. Jo and I had grown up together, and last spring after I’d had to much to drink she’d gotten naked and crawled on top of me and I’d made the mistake of screwing her. Ever since, she’d been acting different. I never liked the Hamptons. Like Jax, I had always preferred the Sea Breeze house. But the place in the Hamptons had been handed down to us from my grandfather. It would actually become mine in a couple of years. It was the vacation home Mother used when she wanted to be seen. Sea Breeze was where we always went when Jax needed to be hidden for a while.

Johanna was a part of the Hamptons life we had always known. The fact that she had ended up at the same university as me was my bad luck. She was hard to get rid of. At least nicely.

It was obvious Johanna had grown fond of this idea that we should get married and I should be a politician. It wasn’t happening. For starters, she annoyed me. Her giggling got on my nerves. She kissed like a fish and she was spoiled rotten.

I grabbed my books and headed for the door.

“Wait, what about Saturday night? When are you picking me up?” she asked, slipping her arm in mine.

“I already told you I couldn’t do it. Stop acting like you didn’t hear me,” I said.

She shrugged. “I know you’ll come. You won’t stand me up.” The cheeriness in her voice made her sound as crazy as the giggling did.

When I stepped outside the library, a voice called out from across the lawn. “Jason.”

I shook Johanna’s hold on my arm loose and walked away toward Morris.

“Where did you find the girl with you in the picture that you tweeted this weekend, and where can I get one? Because, dude,” Morris said, “she’s smokin’.” He gave me a nod, his eyes wide with appreciation. Jess did that to all men.

I couldn’t keep from smiling. She was mine, and damned if that didn’t feel good. No one knew the Jess I did, and that felt even better. “Yes, she is,” I agreed. “She’s fucking perfect.”

Morris followed me to my next class, and I got to talk about Jess. It wasn’t until later that evening when Jax called that I remembered the call that Jo had answered. Checking my recent calls, I saw Jess’s name at the time Jo had answered my phone.

“FUCK!” I roared, ignoring the people around me, and dialed Jess’s number. I needed to find some privacy. I had some explaining to do.

I called three times and it kept going to voicemail. I checked the time. She was still at work. There was a chance she didn’t take her phone in with her. I left her a message telling her to call me, then sent a text message saying I was sorry about earlier. If she hadn’t called in two hours, I was calling again.

Chapter Twenty-Four

JESS

He had called three times while I was at work. I had sent it to voice mail each time. His message said for me to call him. So did his text message. Why had it taken him so long to decide he needed to contact me and explain?

I pulled into the driveway and momma’s car was still there. She should have been at work by now. She hardly ever missed work. I climbed out of the truck and headed for the house quickly. My thoughts focused on Momma.

Opening the door, I started to call out for her when I saw her sitting on the sofa. The look on her face told me something was, in fact, wrong. Had Jason’s mother talked to her? Threatened her? No, Momma would be in jail, not sitting on the sofa missing work. She didn’t take shit from anyone.

“What’s wrong?” I asked, dropping my book bag to the painted cement floor and walking over to her. “Are you sick?” I asked, unable to sit down. I needed her to ease my mind. I had a million different scenarios going through my head.

Momma motioned to the chair behind me. “Sit,” she said.

I shook my head. “No. Tell me what’s wrong,” I demanded. The worry and concern had exploded into full-blown fear. This wasn’t right. The last time she had acted like this, my best friend in kindergarten had been hit by a car riding her bike and died. That alone told me something was terribly wrong.

“I got a lot to say, and you standing there ain’t gonna make me talk faster. So sit your ass down,” she said.

“Is someone dead?” I asked, needing to know that Rock, Trisha, and the kids were okay.

She shook her head. “No, ain’t no one dead. Now sit down,” she said, pointing to the chair again.

I noticed that the ever-present cigarette in her hand was missing. Had she lost her job? Surely not. They loved her there.

“I didn’t have no errands to run today. I had a doctor’s appointment,” she said, then cleared her throat. “It was my fifth one this month. About six weeks ago I noticed a lump in my breast when taking a shower. It was hard to feel since I have the implants, so it was pretty big when I noticed it. I got me an appointment and went in, and they had to run some tests. Today they got back the final results, that it is breast cancer, and ’cause it’s been there awhile it’s spread some. They’re gonna need to do a mastectomy, and I’ll need chemo treatments.”

I couldn’t move. All I could do was sit there and stare at her. This felt like death. This was just as bad. “Can they get it all?” I asked, unable to ask her if this would kill her. I couldn’t accept that.

She nodded. “Yeah. They can. They think I’ll be fine once they do the mastectomy and I go through chemo. They’re positive about my recovery. So don’t go worrying about that. Problem here is, I ain’t got insurance. I make too much to get government help and not enough to afford the monthly costs of it. The hospital is going to let me make monthly payments. They actually start this month because all that testing wasn’t cheap. We’re gonna have to move. We need cheaper rent. I’ll also need to find a job that I can work and make enough money to support us. My old one isn’t gonna be possible no more.”

She was going to live. That was all that mattered. I didn’t care about moving. We’d made it through hard times. Momma never let us go hungry. She’d done whatever she could to pay the bills.

Now it was my turn to take care of her. I loved my job, but it wasn’t nearly enough money. I needed something that paid more. “I’ll get a job. Something that pays well,” I told her.

She grimaced and wrung her hands in front of her. “Ever since you was a little girl, I wanted big things for you. That beauty of yours was a gift. Then you ended up with a smart head, too. That brain and those looks were meant to give you the world. You shouldn’t be here with this burden on you. I didn’t get insurance. Now I’m paying for it, and so are you.”

My momma had fought hard my entire life to be a single mom and not lean on a man for anything. She used to say you can only depend on yourself. I disagreed. She could depend on me. “I’ll use this brain and these looks to take care of us,” I assured her. “We’ll be fine. I promise. It’s time to learn to depend on someone else. I’ve got this.”

I stood up and walked over to the sofa and sat down beside her. This time I pulled her into my arms, instead of the other way around, and held her. The only person in my life who I never doubted loved me was my momma. I would do whatever I had to in order to make sure she got better. “We can do this together,” I said, more to myself than her.

My phone was ringing in the pocket of my book bag, but I ignored it. I knew it was Jason, and I would deal with him later. Right now the fact that Johanna was answering his phone was the least of my worries.

“Can’t believe I’m about to say this,” Momma said, “but you know they’ll hire you at Jugs. You’ll get top pay, and if you go that route, you’ll be safe there.”

I hadn’t wanted to admit to myself that using my body was the only way I could make the most money. Waiting tables wouldn’t be enough. The only way I could use my body to make the most money was to follow in my mother’s footsteps. I would lose Jason, though. He would never allow it, and I couldn’t let him stand in my way. My heart took another hit at the realization. Our time together would be shorter than I had imagined. But my momma’s life came first.

The easy answer was lying in my room. I could have it all paid for with one phone call to Mrs. Stone, but I would never do that. I wasn’t using Jason to fix my problem. I loved him. As much as I loved my mother, she wouldn’t want that money either. I would get money the only way I knew how.

“What if we moved farther away from the beach? About an hour or so away, the rent will be cheaper for small apartments, and we’ll be closer to the hospital. And because I’m young and I have the body, I can probably get a job at Delilah’s. It has higher-paying clientele.”

Momma looked defeated, and I hated seeing her like this. She was always so tough and ready to take on the world. “Delilah’s is the big time in that world. Hard to get a job there because they only accept the best. You’ll be hired. Probably make three to four times what I make now,” she said.

It was hard for her to accept that I was about to do what she’d worked so hard to keep me from. I wished I had another answer but I didn’t. I wouldn’t be finishing my two-year degree after all. Might as well face the fact that my future was mapped out for me a long time ago. No use in fighting it.

“That boy ain’t gonna be okay with you stripping,” Momma said.

I nodded. “Yeah, I know. We were gonna be over soon anyway. He has a girl at college I think he’s in love with. I was just the walk on the wild side before he graduates and becomes a politician.”

“Well, he never did realize what he had. But then, most politicians are idiots, so that’s not surprising.”

I managed to laugh even though it was the last thing I felt like doing. I would much rather have cried at how unfair life was. Why some people were born with all the luck, and then others were given one punch after another. I wasn’t going down just yet. I had more fight left in me.

Tonight, I wasn’t calling Jason back. I couldn’t do it without breaking down and crying. This wasn’t his business. I wasn’t his future and he wasn’t in love with me. I had to deal with it on my own. The hardened wall I had let come down slowly began to erect itself as I sat down and made a list of things I needed to handle this week. By Saturday I would be ready to go get a job and an apartment.