Right Girl for the Job

Chapter 4

Javi had been working up the courage all day to talk to Sandra.

After the fuss she always made about borrowing money or even accepting pay advances, it now seemed strange to have to bite her tongue and ask Sandra to borrow money. And it wasn't just a little bit of cash or an advance... it was $2,500!

To Javi, it seemed like an exorbitant amount of money... then she also had to ask the very embarrassing favor of letting her stay with her until she could get a new apartment.

There was several times through the day that Javi almost asked... but every time she changed her mind and started rambling about completely random and unimportant things.

Now here she was, 4pm again and she still hadn't worked out the courage to talk to her about it. Before she knew it, she was out front with Sandra as she locked the door.

"I'm so glad it's Friday." Sandra said with a smile. "I love Fridays."  Javi smiled.

"I know, me too." She said nervously.

"So, what do you plan to do this weekend? Let me guess... read, workout?" Sandra said, teasing Javi.

"You know me so well." Javi said, trying to sound normal. 

"I don't suppose I'll convince you to join me for a movie?" Sandra asked.

"Sorry, after the bike, I'm sort of short." Javi said. "Actually- that's something I wanted to talk to you about. Sandra..."

"Oh my god, Javi- Isn't that your new bike?" Sandra yelled as two men used a pair of bolt cutters to remove Javi's bike lock.

"Oh god." Javi said, running towards the men. "Hey! Hey!"

Javi watched as they loaded the bike up onto the back of a van. "hey!"

The men did not stop to look at her, instead they kept moving.

"That's my bike!" She called, running towards them but it was too late, they were already driving off.

"Oh my god, I'll call the police. Get the plates." Sandra said but Javi shook her head.

"There's no plates. No, no!" she shouted, staring at them in the distance.

"Isn't there a cop somewhere?" Sandra asked. Javi looked around, trying to figure out what to do.

"I need a taxi!" Javi said, trying to flag one down.

"What for?" sandra asked, looking at her in surprise.

"I'm following them." Javi replied, trying again but the taxi did not stop.

"You're crazy. You can't do that! Those men could hurt you!" Sandra yelled but Javi wasn't listening, she was crossing the street.

"Phil! Phil!" Javi yelled as she ran into the corner bakery. Phil was boy only a couple of years younger than her who drove the motorcycle parked out front.

"Hey! Javi, what can I do for you?" He asked, coming into the front room from the back.

"I need to borrow your motorcycle... now." She said, making him stare at her blankly.

"Okay- what for?" He asked but Javi insisted.

"Please, it's urgent. I'll explain later." She said, looking out the window and still seeing the van a few blocks away. Phil was quiet and still but after a few seconds he disappeared into the back room, returning with a set of keys in his hand.

"Please be careful." He said, but Javi had already yanked them out of his hand and was heading out the door.

Sandra couldn't believe what she was seeing as Javi hopped on the motorcycle and sped away.