Chapter 6
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Evalina tried to laugh it off, but it came out all forced. She tried to get up, but her stomach cramped up on her. She’d been running around all day and forgot to take her meds. “I didn’t do nothing,” she said.
“You think I didn’t catch what you were saying to Olive?” Hugo’s eyes were all fiery.
Hugo was all riled up and thought, ‘What the heck is Evalina blabbering to Olive? That really blew my mind. She’s seriously sassy, no filter at all. She’ll say anything and everything, no holding back.”
Evalina forced a smile and got all this–Olive was his girl, and her little “Ouch, it hurts” carried more weight than anything Evalina could say.
Evalina gritted her teeth. “Why don’t you take your sweetie and vamoose? I know all about your bedroom shenanigans. If I slip up and tell her, Olive’s gonna be real upset.”
Hugo’s face turned stormy. “Evalina, you’re the most shameless woman I’ve ever met.”
“Well, well, I ain’t got no money, no man, no job. What’s the use of pride?” Evalina said. Her stomach was all knotted up with pain. All she wanted was for those two to get outta her sight.
Hugo looked at Evalina like he didn’t even know her. He thought about it and figured it didn’t matter. They were getting divorced tomorrow, and he’d never have to see her again. Then he helped Olive walk past Evalina.
Evalina sat there on the ground, feeling the sales ladies‘ judgmental stares. It took her a while to find the strength to pick up her stuff.
What was she gonna tell Rosa tomorrow?-Evalina felt lost. But for now, she was out of options.
Evalina strolled in the door, realizing Walden was still waiting for her response.
“Hey, Walden, any design gigs I could hustle on? I’m kinda short on cash. If there’s an urgent one, I’m ready to jump right in,” she called him and said, her tone all eager–like.
Walden paused, scratching his head. “There’s this one job, but it’s a real head–scratcher. The design’s super fiddly. I was scared I’d botch it, so I gave it a pass.”
“Let me take a swing at it,” Evalina said, her eyes all fired up.
Walden whipped up a group chat and mentioned Evalina was fresh to the scene.
The client jumped in: [Our design’s so gnarly that even the big–shot studios said no way. Can you really nail it?]
Evalina leaned back, cool as a cucumber. [I’ll give it my best shot. I’ll whip up a sketch by tomorrow morning. If it’s on point, then we can talk bread.]
The client wasn’t exactly oozing trust, but they went along with a grudging “fine.”
Evalina got her hands on the project plan, thought it over, and then dug in. She burned the midnight oil. When the sun came up, she finally wrapped up the draft and hit send.
Wiped out, she plopped her head down on the desk for a quick snooze. When she woke up, it was 8:30 AM.
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Chapter 6
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She scrambled to her feet and saw a message in the group chat: Whoa, did you really draw this? No way you’re new at this. This is wicked cool! I gotta show this to our big boss. It’s top–shelf, like the best international designs.]
Evalina breathed a sigh of relief. All those years of practice hadn’t gone to waste.
She rushed to get ready, threw her stuff together, and hightailed it to the courthouse. As she stepped out of the taxi right in front of the courthouse, a wave of dizziness hit her.
“Oh no, someone’s down!” someone nearby shouted.
When Evalina came to, she was lying in a hospital bed.
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