Four

Jocelyn slipped out of her shoes and plopped down on the couch. It had been a very long day and she was really glad it was over.

Mr Parker's face conjured itself in her memory. He didn't believe they could get the money for the orphanage. It was not his fault anyway. If they could, the orphanage wouldn't be as crappy as it was. She didn't even believe she could anyway, nothing short of a miracle could save the orphanage, but she was willing to try everything.

Her one bedroom apartment could not contain her things, let alone twenty four people, so asking the kids to move in was a definite no. She wondered where the kids could go to for the meantime. She remembered the unoccupied floors at Shane's home, if only she could somehow have just a floor.

What she would do for her fantasy home to spring up to life.

Ian was squatting with friends and he was already out of funds, so providing for them was out of the question too.

She couldn't possibly add anymore jobs to her work schedule, especially since she worked almost every hour of everyday.

She dug into her purse for her cellphone so she could research jobs that paid higher and drop the ones that paid less. Her hand closed around a piece of paper, leaving her confused on what it was . It was probably some sort of receipt, she thought as she dumped it in the trash.

Her stomach growled at her, the last time she had eaten was breakfast before she had started her morning shift at Mallory's. She had planned everything for the night to ensure as much relaxation as she could get, so she dragged her weary self into her room, grabbed a glass of juice, the box of pizza she bought and her old laptop then settled on the bed.

She was taking an online course in marketing, and was already far behind on her classes. She had exams by the end of the month and she wasn't prepared at all for it. However, studying would have to wait for later, right now, finding better jobs was her priority.

She typed in the keyword for new, higher paying jobs, then an ad for a wife came up on her screen. She remembered the piece of paper from before that was probably the same one she had tossed in the trash. She hurried to the kitchen and grabbed it, smoothing out the crinkled paper.

After thinking about it for a moment, she dialed the number. It rang a few times before she was redirected to another person.

"Hello? Malcolm Enterprises, I'm Lorraine Henley. How may I help?" The voice was very smooth, as though she was used to repeating the same sentences over and over again.

"I'm Jocelyn Williams. I saw the ad in the newspaper."

"Oh, that," the woman laughed. Jocelyn's heart beat faster as she wondered if it was a prank that she had fallen for. "I didn't think anyone will actually take it serious. Em, are you free tomorrow?" She asked.

Jocelyn tried to breathe normally. "No, but I can make time."

"If you can't that's okay too. We can work something around your schedule. I'll give you a Facebook account, send a picture with a brief note about yourself to the account. We'll contact you if necessary," she hung up immediately.

Jocelyn sat down, dazed and confused about what had just happened.

She pulled up her notes and tried to study, but the lines blurred and mixed up with others. She muttered a curse, then let her head hit the pillows.

Sleep evaded her.

In a week little Justin would be homeless, along with the rest of the kids.

The oldest was fourteen year old Jessica. As the kids grew older, they were harder to place in homes, the orphanage would care for them till they were eighteen and could get a job to support themselves. Some were transfered to other orphanages, if the government added more funding to those other orphanages.

There was no government funding now. No one would take in the older kids. The kids below ten were fifteen in number and easily adoptable. What would happen to the rest nine teenagers?

Her cell buzzed.

It was a text with the account, so she saved it, then logged on to her Facebook account.

She had little to no friends on it, preferring to keep to herself. Most of the people who sent requests were either from work or random strangers.

She immediately picked out a picture of herself from the few Ian forced her to take after she had gotten her smartphone. He had threatened to give her new number to his friend if she didn't take the pictures.

She smiled at the memory and her cheeks hurt. It was probably from not smiling frequently, or at all.

She wrote her full name, where she lived and about her work experience. Not knowing what else to write, Jocelyn pressed the send button.

She stretched on the bed, then moved her laptop to the table beside the bed. She pushed the empty box of pizza away. She was already extremely tired, but sleep was still eluding her.

Jocelyn tossed and turned several times, waiting for sleep.

Her cell buzzed again.

Whenever you have time between tomorrow and next, just let me know. I'll fix you up with the guy.

It was from Ms Henley.

There would be time tomorrow.

"As long as you are alive, there is time," her mother's voice rang in her head.

Not today, she groaned. She didn't want to remember.

Jocelyn grabbed the sleeping drugs on her bedside table. She only resorted to drugs when she was super stressed or when her memories of her parents assailed her.

She swallowed it, then followed it with a big gulp of water.

"I love you Linnet," her mother's voice was the last she heard before drifting off to sleep.