"Wait. You wanna set me up? Forget it. Even if this wasn't your dumbest idea yet, there is no way you'd be able to pick someone right for me." Tim rejects, immediately.
"Um, I bet I can. I'm serious. If we can fix you up on one good date, just one, we get to, uh - we get to wear short sleeves." Lucy decides, gesturing between her and Ana.
"Okay. Okay. But you're paying." Tim agrees.
"Whatever." Lucy shrugs.
"And if you lose, you're gonna do 50 push-ups after every call we take." Tim decides.
"what did you just rope me into?" Ana asks, softly, looking up.
[Timeskip]
"She's a social worker?" Tim asks.
"You say that like it's equivalent to being a serial killer." Lucy frowns.
"No." Tim answers.
"Social workers do valuable work -" Ana starts, softly.
"- coddling criminals." Tim finishes, making Ana frown.
"Look, if you're not even gonna try -" Lucy says, getting frustrated.
"Hold your water, Boot. I'm just getting the lay of the land on my "date."" Tim responds.
"So, where are you taking her?" Lucy asks.
"Ravenna." Tim answers.
"That sounds expensive." Lucy frowns.
"Oh. It is. They've got a $100 filet, just melts in your mouth. And their wine list - ohh! It's exceptional." Tim replies, making Ana frown at having to pay for that when she doesn't even have enough money to buy herself lunch from a food truck.
"Well, good. It seems like a really romantic place." Lucy continues.
"Hmm." Tim hums.
"What?" Lucy asks.
"You're gonna have to do so many push-ups." Tim grins.
"Anyway, this is Rachel." Lucy says, showing him a picture of her.
"Pretty." Tim nods.
Ana doesn't expect the way her stomach drops when he calls Rachel 'pretty'. Instead, she shakes it off and wonders if she can cut back on groceries this week to pay her half of Tim and Rachel's date.
[Timeskip]
Ana is dragged along to spy on Tim and Rachel's date.
"this feels weird" Ana frowns, softly, as Lucy looks through binoculars at the pair.
"relax, this is gonna get us short sleeves" Lucy replies.
"is this really that important?" Ana asks, softly.
"yes, it is, mama needs short sleeves" Lucy answers.
Ana shrinks in her seat, tired and wanting this day to be over with already.
"wait, they stopped talking" Lucy realizes. "we're going to lose this bet"
Ana really doesn't care, she doesn't mind short sleeves and she can do pushups, what she's worried about is the bill to this restaurant. Her stomach grumbles a little. She's endlessly hungry these days now that she barely eats anything, only enough to keep her body functioning.
"we're gonna be in long sleeves forever" Lucy whines when they watch Rachel spill her glass of water on Tim, slap him, and walk away.
"can we go home now?" Ana requests, softly, only to be met with silence.
[Timeskip]
Ana sighs, looking through jobs online.
All of them that would pay her enough wouldn't allow her to do police work as well.
She gets woken up in the middle of the night some days for calls but no jobs available would allow her that freedom.
"¿Por qué buscas trabajo?" Mario asks, sitting down next to his granddaughter. (Why are you looking for jobs?)
"El alquiler volvió a aumentar y necesito algo más de dinero." Ana responds, softly. (The rent increased again and I need some more money.)
"Mija, ¿estamos luchando con el dinero?" Mario questions. (Darling, we're struggling with money?)
"Sí, sí lo somos." Ana nods. (yeah, yeah we are)
"Este es un apartamento grande." Mario notes, looking around. (This is a large apartment.)
"He buscado pero no hay otros apartamentos de cuatro dormitorios más baratos en el mercado." Ana explains, softly. (I've looked but there aren't any other four bedroom apartments cheaper on the market)
"No necesitamos cuatro dormitorios. Vivíamos en una choza en La Habana, ¿sabes? Dormimos en el suelo todos los días, creo que podemos compartir habitaciones entre nosotros." Mario responds. (we don't need four bedrooms. we lived in a hut in Havana, you know. We slept on the floor every day, I think we can share rooms with each other.)
"No. No. Cada uno de ustedes merece una casa enorme con el jardín que la abuela Carmen siempre ha soñado, con la piscina que el abuelo José siempre ha querido. Te mereces las casas de tus sueños. Y no puedo decírtelo, pero ciertamente no lo empeoraré. Lamento no poder brindarte más, pero estoy haciendo lo mejor que puedo y nos quedaremos con este apartamento." Ana rambles, standing up and shutting her laptop. (No. No. You each deserve a huge house with the garden grandma Carmen has always dreamed of, with the pool that grandpa Jose has always wanted. You deserve the homes of your dreams. And I can't give it to you but I'm certainly not making it worse. I'm sorry that I can't provide more for you, but I'm doing the best I can and we're keeping this apartment.)
"mija, I-" Mario starts but Ana has already entered her room and shut the door.
Ana barely manages to put her computer down before she's sliding down the door, sobbing. The weight of the world is on her shoulders and she has these confusing feelings for Tim and she's overwhelmed and confused and done with all of this.
She doesn't want to do this anymore.
YOU ARE READING
Altruism | Part Two : Care
Action"Let me be your light at the end of the tunnel" - Ana Cabrera Ana Cabrera is a Cuban immigrant. She lives in a three bedroom apartment with her grandparents and is a rookie starting in the LAPD. This part starts in Season Two, to find the first part...
Episode Three
Start from the beginning
