18 Why?

"No," Cherry said, not wanting to explain herself.

Scott was under the impression her granny was alive. Saying that she used to would bring further questions she wasn't prepared to answer.

His expression was somber for a moment before it lightened. "Well, for what it's worth, you can call me if you ever need help. This is my work number and this is my cell number. Be warned though, I work nights but I own my own business so if it's an emergency, I can come whenever."

Cherry stared dumbfounded at the business card he had just handed her with his cell number scrawled on the back. Why would he give her such an open-ended offer like that when he didn't even know her?

"Why?" she asked in disbelief.

"Because everyone needs someone they can turn to when they're in trouble," Scott said seriously.

Oh, why was she stupidly tempted to cry? She hadn't cried in years. Now she wanted to just because someone was being nice to her? She wasn't that weak!

Cherry couldn't take advantage of his kindness but she couldn't deny that she did need an emergency contact. She would only call him if she absolutely had to. Only if it was an emergency. That was the whole point of having an emergency contact. She could handle anything less dire herself.

"Thanks," she said quietly, not meeting his eyes.

Scott was definitely way, way too nice. He had absolutely no reason to care what happened to her but was offering his help without even knowing her situation.

Cherry had no intention of taking advantage of him unless it was a matter of life and death but it was nice to know that she had a backup plan if necessary. She had nothing to feel guilty about. He was the one who offered.

She did feel bad about lying to him though. She had never felt bad about lying to anyone else but he was different. He was nice. He didn't deserve to be lied to. He definitely wouldn't offer to help her out like that if he knew who she was and what she had been doing.

"Any time. I mean it," Scott said seriously. "Are you okay now? Do you need to go home?"

"Yeah."

Cherry needed to go back to the house to have something more substantial than desserts to get ready to go on the hunt tonight. She got up and gave him a small smile, thanking him again before heading toward her apartment.

She had never felt like such an idiot in her life. Why did she have to go and hug him like that? He thought he was comforting a distressed kid. That was the only reason he got her ice cream and offered to help her if she ever needed it. He wouldn't have done that otherwise.

Scott didn't know the real her. No one did.

Cherry had someone looking out for her but she had never felt so alone and separate from everyone else. Why did it even matter? Wasn't she used to this by now?

She wished things were different. That she was in a position to accept the help of someone nice who vaguely cared about what happened to her. But she wasn't. She had to stay alone to protect herself.

She really needed to cheer herself up. Seeking him out had been a dumb thing to do. She felt worse now than she did before.

Another musical ought to do the trick. Not tonight though since she really needed more money. She would have to wait to get tickets until after her next score.

Cherry might have to stay out later than she intended tonight. There had to be at least one potential target in the club she went to tonight. All she had to do was find him and she would be golden.

It took her a few tries but she managed to work her magic and slip away as usual. She got a better cash haul than she did most nights (over $100) and managed to grab four credit cards. The man that was not only an old creep hitting on young women but was also married had so many of them that he wasn't likely to notice they were missing for a while but she was still in for a major shopping spree come morning.

That perked her up a little. She did love to shop.

Cherry needed more makeup, some new wigs, and more clubbing outfits. The rest of the money could go toward buying things to sell later.

On her big shopping days, she had to use the truck she bought with a combination of money from trading in her granny's old car and from her exploits so she could fit everything. It was always difficult getting the stuff to the parking garage from the stores but she did her best.

Shopping took most of the day. She usually had to get herself something to eat for lunch while she was out and about. A hotdog sounded good right now. Maybe two. She had been at this for hours and still hadn't maxed all of the cards yet.

That creepy old man got her a great haul. She would definitely be able to justify getting herself front row tickets to a show after this.

Cherry was exhausted by the time she finally got everything up to her apartment because of how many trips she had to take. Should she skip going out tonight? She really didn't have the energy for it and she would have to start making dinner and getting ready within the next hour.

Yeah, tonight was no good. She could take pictures of all of this stuff and set up online postings so people could start buying them instead and then watch a movie or something. She had earned it.