Reposting every chapter after I proof read them and improve the storyline. Had to be done after all the messages I got about my typos. Sorry for the inconvenience.
I leave the university early to go home to my brother Avery and talk to him about ways to pay this debt.
Avery, my brother who I love dearly, has gotten us under a debt we can't pay from a bad hand in poker. This is not the first time he has done this either.
He has gone through a dark phase after our parents death. They were killed in a fire in my moms office eight years ago when I was eleven. My brother was eighteen and he took the blow hard.
My parents were not the richest people in the world but they had a trust fund for both of our education and when they passed, that was all we got alongside a house in Philadelphia from our grandparents and the house we live in now.
In order to survive, we already started eating through that trust fund and let me tell you, it was not easy. My brother dropped out from the college he was supposed to go with a sports scholarship.
He convinced himself that he would work but instead, he slacked everyday in the house, playing video games while I went to high school.
After I graduated and got into Columbia here in New York to study business, he tried to work again. Things were good my first year in uni. Then he quite this year and he has been gambling ever since, convinced he will double the money left.
He lost all of it last week.
Now, we have a debt of 500,00 dollars in our hands that we need to pay. We have hundred bucks left in the bank and collage loans to pay alongside electricity, water, cable, groceries and Wi-Fi.
I am studying business and we have courses on money management and from what it looks like, this company is doomed to be thrown to the ground.
As I take the subway as usual and ramp up to our house in Little Italy, someone pulls my hair and slams me across the wall in a back alley thats a shortcut to our building.
"Where is our money?" I hear a yell as my ears ring. These must be the people Avery owes money to. He has warned me about them, a very strong family living in West Hollywood.
"We are trying to pay it." I whisper as I try not to shake with fear. This is a really big guy in front of me, able to crush me into pieces with a single slap.
"Trying?" He starts laughing as I get even more spooked. His bald scalp, scary big eyes and black suit makes him look really intimidating. Almost like from a movie made in Hollywood.
"I need the money. Soon. Or else." He shouts in my face as I close my eyes and curse Avery out for this.
Here, I am being jumped because of his foolishness.
"You will. Just, we need time. I am a broke college student." I have no other strategy than to beg for his mercy. We are so fucked.
"You will be a dead college student if I don't get my money. Be quick." He shouts and walks away, leaving me breatheless on the floor.
I stay there for awhile as I try to collect myself. I nearly shat my pants.
I get up and decide that if we find a way to pay this, I will be the one who finds it. Instead of going home and yelling at my brother which will result in him yelling back which will end in a huge fight that will help with nothing, I decide to go for a walk into SoHo and clear my mind, think and search for hiring signs.
Its not something like a thousand bucks, its 500,000. How am I gonna pay that? I am a 19 year old girl thats in her sophomore year of university.
Its really cold here in New York during January so I walk fast and hung onto my coat. I need to think straight and figure a way out. My brother always said that I was the brain team and he was the body team. I guess when he tried to be brains we fucked up.
My hair wet from being slammed onto a snowy wall and may jeans soaked through when I fell to the ground, I barely stop myself from shivering as I look at the people in cafes and the baristas serving them.
My eyes catch a hiring sign on a coffee shop as I continue to walk with a fast pace when I bump into someone and we both fall to the ground. Pissed that I am covered in more snow, I try to collect myself.
"I'm so sorry!" I climb off the women I trampled. She is a middle aged lady with black hair and green eyes.
"You have no fault dear!" Her accent strikes me as I help her up and she brushes off melted snow off her coat. Im already soaked so I don't bother as I watch her.
"I was just not looking where I was going. Sorry again." I say as she makes eye contact with me and stares at my face a tad long.
"No problem dear. Whats your name?" She continues to stare at me, standing two inches away from my face. If she wasn't old, I would be running for the hills by now. People of New York are known for their cold attitude and when an English lady thats very attentive strikes me, all I want to do is get the fuck away.
"Alexandra. May I help you?" I ask trying to figure out what she is after. If she wanted to mug me she would have already done it but by the coat and shoes she is wearing, I doubt it.
"Yes in fact you can. Do you have time to have a cup of coffee with me? I'll explain everything Alexandra." Her eyes glisten as she looks at me.
"Actually I-" I need to find a way to pay all that debt but my curiosity is trying to make me agree. I'm soaked wet, the wind is blowing hard, I have no idea what I'm doing...
"I will pay you 700,000 if you agree." She blurts and the floor under me shifts. The adrenaline in my veins makes me want to do cartwheels. Instead, I keep a straight face and nod towards the coffee shop which I was staring at the hiring sign in. This is incredibly awkward and only feels like a prank.
I am hoping that she doesn't ask me to become a part of a sex ring.
She orders and pays two lattes then has me sit in front of her in a booth.
I'm still dumb founded, trying to figure out what the hell is happening to me.
"I know this sounds crazy but I am stuck in a tight spot here dear." Her accent is a delight to hear so I just sip my coffee and wait for the impossible task she will ask of me. This is either a prank or she will ask me to murder someone. Or maybe even worse, she'll ask me to do both.
"Do you recognize me? Anne Cox?" She asks and I take another look at her. That name rings no bells but the idea of her making me deal drugs is growing stronger by the minute. I'm ready for her to tell me a law suit deal and ask me if I haven't been watching the news lately.
"Nothing comes to mind." I blurt slightly embarrassed and even scared.
"I am the mum of Harry Styles. The singer?" She asks and I open my eyes wide open. The Harry Styles? The one with the long hair? The woman I thought was a drug lord is the mother of a pop star?
"No way." I start laughing as I take my phone out. I google her name and her pictures are an exact match to the woman in front of me. Well fuck this is a shitty day for me.
"Fuck." I curse at the fact that this is no prank, no joke, nothing. I am able to pay the debt and have enough money to finish university.
Anne starts giggling at my reaction as bottles of warm water wash over my head, only to realize there is possibly nothing this woman can want from me except to murder his son which I will not do.
"What do you want?" I ask after the initial shock passes. I can't believe I bumped into a person that is Harry's mom.
"I am guessing from the fact that you didn't recognize me, you don't actually know what Harry's doing at the moment." Anne says and I nod. I am not that much into celebrity stuff. I'm more of a 'fuck I have shit to deal on my own' kinda chick.
I know Red Hot Chili Peppers and enjoy their music but can't say I am a directioner.
"He took a break with the band, One Direction. They are in a 'hiatus'. I begged Harry to come to England with me but he said no. You see, my son doesn't like to lay around all day. He decided to build his own business. Styles Inc. He says he wants to do everything there. He wants to try everything possible. Now, since he is the boss, he needs an assistant. Thats where you come in." Anne talks as her eyes literally burn in excitement. I can tell she is a proud mother. But I still can't where I fit in.
"I don't get it. Why don't you just get a real assistant?" I don't get why she will pay me 700 G's to be his assistant.
"But he is a young, handsome and rich boy. In his world, there are really bad people for him. Just few weeks ago, he was on a yacht with Kendall Jenner. I don't like girls like her. Thats where you get in. I want you to protect him of all that bad people. He has a big heart, he can't see peoples real motives." I raise my eyebrows at this. Thats a lot of work. Lot of uncanny, sinister work...
"Why do you think he will listen to me at anything? He is a pop-star and I would be his assistant." I really don't know how this could work.
"Alexandra you are a beautiful, smart and charming lady. If you could spark a interest for you, he is too much of a gentleman to date his assistant so he won't actually do anything about it. I want you to keep him busy until he finds the right one. If things get too much out of hand, you can call me and I will have a word with my son." Anne holds my hands at this point. Her face is in a deep frown and she looks genuinely concerned.
"You want me to make him like me so he stays away from sluts and gold diggers? You want me to babysit your son and make him want to date me?" Maybe agreeing to this wasn't a good choice.
"Are you in university?" She asks, changing the subject.
"Yeah. I go to Columbia." I say and she smiles, glad by my answer.
"What do you study?" She asks even more intrigued.
"Business." I blurt. She starts clapping.
"Perfect! You will be working in a cooperation! Thats work experience!" She is right about this. I can talk to my supervisor and ask if this can be college credit. If so, I can come and work some days instead of going to classes. That would be great on my resumé.
"How old are you Alexandra?" She asks as she holds my hands again and stares into my eyes.
"19. I'll be 20 this April." I tell her and she nods.
"He'll be 22 this February. You guys are close in age! Please Alexandra! I need you to look out for him! I need you to be around! You are perfect for the job! So beautiful and so smart!" She praises me and I force a smile.
I got jumped today and this much money this easy is impossible to find so quickly without getting murdered or arrested.
"Fine. I'll do it." I blurt and Anne shakes my hand with a smile from ear to ear.