Total pages in book: 28
Estimated words: 26666 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 133(@200wpm)___ 107(@250wpm)___ 89(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 26666 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 133(@200wpm)___ 107(@250wpm)___ 89(@300wpm)
Amelia shrugged.
“Your guess is as good as mine. But if you ask me, all rich people are like that. They always think that the world wants to know about them, when actually, no one’s interested. It’s the Kim Kardashian effect,” she said with another roll of the eyes. “They think being wealthy automatically means you’re going to be in the spotlight too, but honestly, how interesting are rich people? Not at all, if you ask me.”
I nodded.
“I guess so. I just wish we knew more. I mean, Charity had me sign a confidentiality agreement, so I don’t understand the need for all this secrecy.”
Amelia shrugged.
“Yeah I signed one too. I think we all had to, in order to get this job. But who knows?” she asks rhetorically. “All I know is that all expenses are paid, and that I really need the money. So I’m down with whatever.”
I nodded. The truth is that I really need the money too. I graduated from college with a degree in Sociology, and I wish someone had told me when I was picking a major that Soc wasn’t going to pay well. I guess I sort of knew that when I selected my focus, but still, I didn’t know the job market was going to be that bad. I must have applied to at least five hundred jobs after graduation, and gotten five hundred rejection letters as a result. The papers are currently buried beneath my mattress, and sleeping on them was a constant reminder that I was a professional failure of sorts.
So now, I have tens of thousands of dollars in student loans. It’s crazy, right? I’m twenty-five, and saddled with an enormous mountain of debt. The last couple years, I’ve been working as a waitress to try and pay down some of the burden, but the fact is that I can only afford to pay the interest on my loans. Most of the principal is still there, and at the rate I’m going, I’ll be paying these loans for the next fifty years. Heck, I’ll be sitting in a retirement home and still making checks out to Sallie Mae.
That’s where this job comes in. Even though it’s just a temporary gig, I’m getting paid thirty thousand dollars for three months of work. Isn’t that crazy? I made thirty thousand at my old waitressing job in a year. The minute Charity made me the offer, I took it. Hopefully, this opportunity will give me a chance to put some money towards my loans, and maybe even provide some breathing room so that I can contemplate next steps.
Suddenly, my thoughts were interrupted.
“Hey girls,” hissed a sibilant female voice. Amelia and I turned. There were three other girls on the tarmac, all of them blonde and slim, and looking eerily similar. Was this a re-play of Heathers? Why did they all have their hair done in side ponytails, while also wearing matching t-shirts and denim miniskirts? Not to mention, the blank look in their eyes. I was a little creeped out.
“Hey,” says Amelia in a bright tone. “Are you guys headed to Maruba too? Are you also hostesses?”
“We are indeed,” says Barbie One, smiling to show her perfectly square, white teeth. “My name’s Candy, and these are my sisters Mandy and Tandy. We’re identical triplets.”
I nodded. I knew it wasn’t my vision. These girls looked eerily alike, and now I knew why.
“So nice to meet you Mandy, Tandy and Candy,” I say with a friendly smile. “My name’s Ava,” I add, holding out my hand for a shake. “I guess we’ll all be working at Maruba together.”
But the three sisters merely look at my hand as if it’s diseased and covered with SARS.
“We don’t shake,” says Tandy.
“No thanks,” adds Mandy with a sniff, flicking her long blonde ponytail over one shoulder. “It’s not our thing.”
Candy smiles again, her red lips parting.
“Sorry, we’re very sensitive to germs and such,” she says with a fake-apologetic laugh. “But let’s go!” she adds vivaciously, while eyeing the private jet. “I can’t wait to get to Maruba because it’s going to be so much F-U-N. I love billionaires.”
As the three of them prance up the red carpet to the plane, Amelia and I share a puzzled look. Did that really just happen? Are we going to be stranded with these three blonde zombies on a private island? And who are the billionaires she alluded to?
Shrugging at one another, Amelia and I hoist our bags over our shoulders and ascend the ladder to the waiting flight. Maruba, here we come. I try to appear cheerful but inside, I was beginning to have doubts. Thirty thousand for three months of work is a lot, but why were they paying us so much? Suddenly, a stone formed in my stomach and with a sinking feeling of dread, I buckled myself into the waiting seat.