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“Don’t call me doll!” Elena yelled at her phone

The line was already dead She wanted to throw her phone onto the road, as though in the act of doing so she could transfer soe and dropped it back into her coat pocket

“Problem?” a voice behind her asked

Elena turned to face Neal, who stood there in a long black coat that both looked and smelled expensive His smile was somewhat sympathetic, but his eyes looked deeply unconcerned Elena didn’t care, she wasn’t looking for sy to be distracted She gazed up at Neal and decided that his face was perfect for exactly that

“No probleo somewhere where they sell unhealthy food”

They decided not to take a cab, to just walk around the city, until so tunelessly, not atte, but he had the luxury of not having to think too hard about anything Elena was not so lucky Her mind was full of unpaid bills, unpaid rent, and the overwhel that she had failed in life

They walked alreasy chicken burgers, and in those eight blocks, Neal had planned his next week to include four different parties, a couple of different woa in

Since leaving his last job, he had decided to take a feeeks off before atte instead of waiting tables Drunk people, he rationalized, were much better company than sober ones

In theher week too She had already put an ad in the papers in an atte in new customers She wondered if she could afford a second ad so that she could reach more people If all else failed, she would just have to s her pride and hand out flyers on sidewalks She did have a potential job on the horizon, but she knew she couldn’t count money until it was firmly in her hands Mitcham had proved that to her

Both Elena and Neal were completely unaware of one another as they walked down the street When they reached the burger stand, they ordered, Elena insisted on paying for hers and then they walked to a nearby bench and sat down to their four-dollar er, Neal turned to her

“You go to many of those parties?” he asked

“No,” Elena replied

“Did you enjoy yourself?”

“No”

Neal raised his eyebrows but made another attempt at conversation