It was twilight all day.

Sometimes the smallest things weigh us down,

small stones that we can't help

admiring and palming.

-

"When do you think that they'll find me another foster home?" Josie keeps asking questions, which I don't mind. If I was in her position, I'd want to keep asking questions too. Bethany had told me that Josie could stay with me until they either 1.) find out that Davis isn't dangerous (which he clearly is) or 2.) find another foster home for her. The school knows that she'll be missing one week but that should be enough time for me to get Davis taken care of.

"I'm not sure. They said that they're pretty full right now so it might be a while," I warn her. "I'm sorry."

"Don't be sorry," She says quickly. "I like it here. I mean, your brother's room does smell like nachos but other than that, I like it here."

"We can go to the store and get some candles later," I say with a small laugh and then my phone starts ringing so I get off of the couch and go into the kitchen for some privacy just in case it's work. It's not work though, it's an unknown number. I answer it.

"Hello?"

"Hi, is this Eleanor?" Somebody asks me.

"This is her," I confirm politely.

"Oh, good. Your brother gave me your number," The guy informs me and then I realize that it's Micah. "He gave me your address too so I'm on my way to pick you up."

"You're picking me up?" I ask him in confusion but then it hits me that we're supposed to go on a date tonight. With so much going on though, I had forgotten about it. With my father asking for me at the escort service and then this whole thing with Davis and Josie, Micah got put completely on the back burner. "Shit. I totally forgot. I'm so sorry, these past few days have been crazy."

"We're not going anywhere fancy. Just put some pants on and we can go get burgers or something," He insists, seemingly unfazed when I tell him that I forgot. I feel bad that I admitted to that out loud, I hope that I didn't hurt his feelings.

I look over at Josie. I can't leave her by herself. I leave her alone if I have a client but that's only because I have to. She has made it clear though that she doesn't like being alone. She calls me a lot, making sure that I'm still coming back and she had a panic attack when I went to get her a toothbrush because she was afraid that Davis was knocking on the door when it was just somebody knocking on the door beside mine in the apartment complex.

"I can't leave my apartment right now. I'm sorry, something is going on," I tell him apologetically. I feel so bad though and I'm also feeling disappointed that I don't get to see Micah again. He's so sweet and funny and he's just the kind of mental break that I need right now, a break from all of the reality being thrown in my face. "I'm not trying to stand you up, I swear."

"Sure sounds like it," He mutters, now sounding a bit bitter. I can't fuck this up.

"Do you want to come over?" I offer quickly. "We can watch movies and order pizza or something. I do want to see you again, it's just so much is going on right now. Everything is so fucked. Please just come over."

"I don't know, I think that I need to hear you beg some more," Micah informs me but I can tell that he's joking, which makes me smile. I'm glad that he's not mad at me for forgetting about tonight.

"That's all that you're going to get," I inform him. "So I'll see you soon?"

"Yeah, you'll see me soon," He confirms and I smile again, relieved that he really is coming over. I know that I was hesitant before about seeing Micah again but I think that after the past few days that I've had, I could use somebody like Micah to help me feel better about it for a little while.

Once he hangs up, I walk back over to where Josie is still watching TV. "A friend of mine is going to come over. I'm going to go clean up a bit before he gets here."

"Are you going to put makeup on?" She asks me.

"Yeah, a little bit. Why?"

"Can I put some on too?" Josie now looks incredibly excited about the possibility of putting some makeup on.

"Sure, if you want," I decide.

She springs off of the couch and then follows me into the bathroom where all of my makeup is stored in the cabinet.

"My dad never lets me put makeup on, said that I was too young," She explains to me. "But it looks like so much fun. What's this?"

"That's a beauty blender," I explain to her and then I hand her my foundation. "Here, it might be too tan for you but that's alright. Just dab the blender in the foundation and then dab it on your face so that it covers your whole face."

She does as I instructed and while she's using the blender, I use a brush to apply my foundation. I put on my highlight and bronzer too, thinking that she won't want to do that part because it's kind of tricky but after I finish with the highlighter, she takes it from me and tries to do it on her face but ends up looking a bit like a clown because she put way too much on.

It makes me laugh and when Josie sees it in the mirror, she laughs too. "I don't get this part," She admits.

"Here, let me help," I say, wiping off some of the highlighter so that it doesn't look like it's too much and then I blend it in some more. I don't do too much makeup because we are just saying in the apartment but I put on a bit of mascara and nude lipstick. I let Josie choose a bright red lipstick because that's what she wants to wear and she looks so excited to be wearing it.

"This is amazing," Josie says. "What about eyeliner?"

"Not tonight," I decide. "We can do eyeliner tomorrow."

I almost decide to do my eyebrows but there's a knock at our front door so I leave the bathroom. Josie doesn't follow me though.

"I'm just going to stay in here until you answer the door. Just in case," She tells me, now looking nervous because she's worried that the person at the door is Davis. I let her stay in the bathroom until I look through the peephole.

"We're safe," I call to her when I see that it really is Micah. I didn't have time to change clothes so I'm wearing leggings and a tank top but that'll do, I guess. At least the leggings make my butt look big.

When I open the door, I greet Micah with a smile. "Hey, come on in. I'm sorry that it's a bit cramped."

"You have your own place, that's pretty cool," He comments as he walks inside. He's wearing jeans and a t-shirt so it's not like he was expecting a big fancy date anyway which is good. "You look nice."

"Do I?" I wonder, looking down at my outfit.

"No but that's what you're supposed to say on a date," Micah admits. "I mean, you're still beautiful but, you know, you've seen better days."

I know that he's just teasing me so I laugh and lightly hit his shoulder. "Okay, jerk, if that's how it's going to be."

Josie appears from the hallway and looks apprehensively at Micah.

"This is Josie. And Josie, this is my friend, Micah," I introduce them.

Micah looks confused and then says, "I thought that you had a brother."

"I do, he's not here. Josie isn't related, she's just staying with me for a while," I explain vaguely. "Anyway, Josie, do you want pizza for dinner?"

"I can make dinner," She offers. "My dad taught me how to make biscuits and gravy."

"That sounds amazing," Micah tells her. "What can we do to help?"

"You guys do the biscuits, I'll cook the gravy," She instructs and then we all head into the kitchen. I have Pillsbury biscuit dough in my fridge so really all we have to do to make the biscuits is open the tube of dough, take it apart and put the raw biscuits on a baking sheet and get it in the oven.

"You like to cook, Josie?" I ask her as I'm working with Micah to get the biscuits ready on the baking sheet. She's working at the stove to make the gravy and she insists that she can do it on her own.

"Well, this is the only thing that I can cook," She admits. "But yeah, I like it. I make it with my dad every Sunday for breakfast."

"We can cook dinner more often if you want to learn more recipes," I suggest.

"I can make this potato chicken bake that my grandma used to make," Micah suggests. "It's really good."

"I love potatoes," Josie says, sounding very excited. "And I want to eat that."

"Guess I'll have to come over again and show you how to make it," He says and then flashes me a smile before he puts the last biscuit on the tray. With the oven still pre-heating our job is now done.

"Josie, are you sure that you don't need help with the gravy? We're pretty much finished with the biscuits," I tell her.

"No, I've got this," She assures me. "I'll let you know when it's done."

"Alright. Do you guys want anything to drink? I think all we have is water and Pepsi."

"I'm okay for now," Micah says.

"We're going to go in the living room. Let me know if you need any help," I say to Josie, feeling bad that she's working by herself to make dinner but if she doesn't want my help, I can't force my way into the kitchen to help her. And I do want to get just a minute alone with Micah at least to apologize again for a very terrible date.

In the living room, Micah and I sit on the edge of my bed because it's further away from the kitchen than the couch is and it gives us just a bit more privacy.

"I'm sorry that this isn't going as planned," I tell him. "I didn't know that Josie was going to be here when I agreed on the date and I can't leave her by herself. And I'm sorry that I forgot about tonight. It's not that I wasn't excited. I was, I just have so much going on right now and I can't even tell you about it."

"Hey, it's fine," He assures me with a handsome smile. "You don't have to tell me anything. And I'm fine with just hanging out here. I'm just glad that I get to see you again. You seemed pretty convinced that last week was just a one night thing so I was worried that that was it."

"That should have been it," I sigh. "I don't want to drag you into my mess. But I really like you so I'm not going to keep pushing you away if you want to be stupid enough to stick around."

"Us law students are known for our stupidity," He says jokingly. I laugh again because it's so easy to laugh around him. I almost kiss him but the oven bings to let us know that it's finished being preheated and that it's time for the biscuits to go into the oven. I quickly spring to my feet and go to the oven where I slide the biscuits into the hot oven.

"Is he your boyfriend?" Josie asks me before I can return to the living room.

"Not really," I say slowly, not really sure how to define my very new relationship with Micah. But for a fourteen-year-old who has enough to worry about, I just simplify it to, "We're just friends."

"He's cute," She informs me.

"Do you want him to be your boyfriend?" I ask her with a teasing laugh.

"No," She says quickly. "I'm just saying that he's cute. It'd be nice if he was your boyfriend because you're really nice and you deserve a cute boyfriend."

"Thanks, Josie," I say with a fond pat on her shoulder and then I return to the living room. I'm glad that she thinks that I'm a nice person but she only thinks that because she doesn't know about all of the not-so-nice things that I've done in my lifetime. Then again, all of the bad things that I've done were done for good reasons so maybe that makes up for it. I'd like to think so.

"Are you busy this weekend?" Micah asks me randomly as I return to him in the living room.

"Um, I don't think so. Why?" I wonder, trying to think if I have any clients this weekend. Usually, the weekends are pretty busy for me but I don't think that I have any planned this weekend.

"I know that it's quick but there's this end-of-summer event for my father's work and his office always nags me for not bringing dates to these social events," He explains to me.

"Your dad, the senator?" I clarify. "You want me to spend my weekend hanging out with a bunch of senators? That sounds horrible."

"Yeah, it's pretty miserable," He agrees with me. "But it'd be less miserable if you were there. And it's not your whole weekend, just Saturday night. I can help you find somebody to watch Josie if you don't want her to be alone for the day."

"And I'd be meeting your dad," I add to the situation. We aren't even a real couple and he thinks that it's a good idea for me to be meeting his parents?

"Yeah," He confirms. "I know that it's weird, I understand if you don't want to go. I just figured that it's worth a shot."

"I'll go," I decide without actually letting myself think it over too much.

"Really?" Micah looks surprised.

"Sure," I nod. "I mean, what else am I going to do on Saturday, right? And don't worry about Josie, Casey can come hang out with her."

"Cool," He smiles. "Thanks. My dad will be happy to know that I won't be going alone this time. Not that you're a prop to me or anything, that's not what I meant."

"It's fine, I've been called worse," I tell him but again, he laughs because he thinks that I'm joking and so I laugh too. Of course, I'm used to being used as a prop-- that's pretty much my job. I'm not going to tell him that though so I just let him believe that it's a joke.

"It's almost ready!" Josie calls from the kitchen.

"I'll get plates out," I decide, going back into the kitchen and this time, Micah comes with me.

"Where are we going to eat?" Micah asks me.

"We don't really have any room for a table so we can just eat on the couch. I'll put a movie on. This looks great, Josie," I smile at her as I pull three plates out of the cupboard as she's finishing up the gravy and there's about thirty seconds left on the oven time for the biscuits.

"Thanks," She smiles, looking proud of her dinner creation. "I haven't tasted it yet but I think that I got it right. I've never made it without my dad but it looks and smells right."

I'm silently hoping that it tastes good because I know that if it tastes bad, I'll have to pretend that it tastes good just for her benefit. It does smell good though so I have my hopes up.

I get us all glasses of water and we have three plates full of biscuits and gravy at the coffee table. "What movie should we watch? We have Netflix."

"Whatever you guys want," Micah says politely.

"The Office is on Netflix, isn't it? Can we have an Office marathon?" Josie suggests.

I look at Micah and he shrugs so I just go with it and we start playing The Office while we eat our biscuits and gravy which really do taste pretty good.

"Don't mean to brag but we kind of nailed these biscuits," Micah gloats as we're eating.

"All you did was put them on the tray," Josie calls him out with a small laugh.

"But did we burn them?" He objects.

Josie just laughs again but doesn't dignify him with an answer.

"This really is very good, Josie," I compliment her. "You saved the night."

As we watch The Office, I'm sitting in the middle of the couch between Micah and Josie and I find myself inching toward Micah so that we're sitting so close together that our thighs are pressed together. To be inconspicuous, Micah's hand slowly moves over so that it's resting on my legging-covered thigh. I respond by putting my hand over his so that we're kind of holding hands.

I'm not sure how many episodes we go through but by the time it's ten o'clock, Josie is asleep beside me with her head resting on the side of the couch.

"She's a sweet girl," I tell Micah. "But she's had a rough few months. Thank you for being so understanding about tonight, I still feel bad about forgetting."

"Don't worry about it," He assures me again. "I had a really great time tonight."

I'm not sure if I should say what I'm about to say, I know that it's a bad idea but it still comes out of my mouth before I can stop it. "Do you want to spend the night?"

"You think that's a good idea?" He questions me with an apprehensive look on his face. "What about Josie?"

"She has her own room," I explain to him. I'm not sure what he's understanding from me inviting him to spend the night, if he thinks that I'm suggesting that we have sex or not, but honestly... I'm not sure what I meant by asking him to spend the night either.

I'd feel kind of guilty about having sex with him without him knowing that I'm an escort. I know that a person's sexual history is nobody else's business but maybe this is a special circumstance. Of course, he'll be mad and probably disgusted if I tell him what I do but he already told me that I don't have to tell him anything that I don't want to tell him. This is such a sticky situation and I've never had to deal with it because I haven't dated anybody since I've started escorting. With Casey here and my job, I've just been too busy.

But I feel like the only way that my profession would affect Micah is if I had an STD or an STI but I don't. I get tested frequently and most of my clients are return customers, meaning that we trust them and if a client gives a girl any sort of STD, he's blacklisted. Not to mention the fact that I use condoms every time.

"Did you hear me?" Micah asks me, interrupting my inner monologue about the morality of sleeping with Micah tonight.

"What?" I refocus on him, his face only lit up by the changing lights of the TV.

"I said that maybe it isn't the best idea," He repeats what he had apparently said when I zoned out.

"Oh. Yeah, that's fine. I'm going to get her to bed and then I'll walk you out," I decide, feeling a bit of relief about that so that I don't actually have to decide if it's okay or not for me to sleep with him. I turn to Josie and lightly wake her up just enough for her to walk herself into the bedroom so that she can go to sleep for the night.

"Goodnight, Ellie," Josie yawns before the door shuts and I'm alone with Micah in the living room.

"I have class tomorrow," Micah informs me once it's just the two of us. "That's why I probably shouldn't spend the night."

"Alright. It's fine, maybe next time," I suggest but we both stay on the couch. I had told him that I'd walk him out after Josie was in bed but I'm not so sure that I want him to go just yet.

"Right. Next time," He agrees with me and nods.

We're still not getting up and it's not that late yet so even if he isn't going to spend the night tonight, he can stay for just a little while longer. And maybe that little while longer can be us making out because we've only kissed once and it was so quick that it was barely even a kiss. But right now, his lips look like they would fit right against mine.

He can probably see me looking at his lips so when I start leaning closer to him, he probably knows that I'm going to kiss him. I appreciate that he starts leaning toward me too so that it's easier for me to reach his lips. And then we're actually kissing. A real kiss that makes my heart stop beating, makes the air go stale.

He slowly slips his tongue into the kiss and I eagerly reciprocate, so then we're really making out. It starts off slow and nice but it eventually speeds up and instead of my heart stopping, it's picked up pace and it feels like it's beating a thousand beats a second. I suddenly feel like we're in outer space and the only oxygen we have is in each other's mouths.