As Sin

light at the end of the tunnel

"My first week here. The lights went off and I was stuck for twenty minutes. I thought I was gonna die."

The doors opened. He turned to her, and she saw that the corners of his mouth had lifted. Her heart skipped a beat. Stupid, silly boy. Did he charm everyone else so easily? He must've. Although she wouldn't admit it in a million years, she saw how he acted in interviews. He had people hanging onto his every word. He was destined for the limelight, and she should have known that from the start.

"Good thing you're not dying with me."

"You're so dumb," she said without thinking. He wobbled out into the hallway before offering her a hand. Again, she took it without thinking. She was thankful that it was impossible to see how her cheeks warmed up at feeling her hand in his. Stupid, stupid, stupid. She wasn't a schoolgirl anymore, why did he get her so self-conscious?

"Should I close my eyes, so I don't know which apartment you're in?" he asked. She rolled her eyes and kept helping him walk in the right direction.

"Unless you're a rockstar by day and a serial killer by night, it doesn't matter to me. I'd prefer you keep your eyes open, so you don't bash your head against anything."

"You're still so funny," he laughed. Pride swelled in her chest to know that she made him laugh. She had to remind herself that she wasn't special. This was just a meeting between old friends who would soon go their separate ways. Yes, that was it. He might remember her, but there was no need for their paths to cross once more. That would be a pipe dream.

They stopped at a rusty grill door decorated with pink fairy lights. Natasha's idea, she would have never agreed to it if it weren't for the fact that her roommate always paid their rent whenever she came up short. She should start being a lot nicer to Natasha, she thought as she jammed the key to open up the door. Maybe by not bringing unknown men to their apartment. She would start.... tomorrow.

Nate stepped into the apartment. If he noticed how there was a giant hole in the ceiling and the fact that they had no carpet, he didn't say. He just yawned.

"Where am I allowed? I need to sit down, my head is killing me."

"Well..." she thought out loud. "You can go anywhere except that hallway," she pointed it out to him. "That's me and my roommate's bedrooms. There's a toilet in the kitchen, and you can get something to eat if you want. There's not much, but I hope it's enough."

He nodded and took a few steps before collapsing onto the living room couch. Maybe it was a good thing that the apartment wasn't that big. She thought it was better if she got him a glass of water. She was about to go to the kitchen when a message popped up on her phone.

A curse almost slipped out of her mouth. She checked to see if Nate was looking. He was staring at the blank TV, deep in thought. She slipped into her bedroom for a minute, hoping that he would be okay. She didn't want to seem like she couldn't give him attention. It wasn't like she had to work that night. A thought popped up in her head to count the money he gave her. She took out the bills from her purse. As the numbers racked up with every bill she counted, she was lost for words. He had given her seven hundred dollars.

Another message popped up, breaking her out of her daze. She scrolled down her notifications to open up the app. There were dozens of unread messages, but she focused on the most recent one.

Albert : Good evening.

Albert : Not working tonight?

Nate must have been an angel God sent her to save her from work. With the money she had, she wouldn't have to work the next night, either. A part of her wanted to wave that in his face, but she had to stay professional. She thought of an excuse to type out. After all, she couldn't seem like she was anything but eager to work. Exploitative bastards.