Later that night, Milly opens her apartment, sets down two shopping bags in her kitchen, and heads to her blinking desk. “Play new video message.”
“Milly, I know you don’t want to be a real estate agent like me, face plastered on bus stops, but I have news. Our office manager is retiring. We can pay your trust …” The compensation is revealed.
Next to Heoh’s address, Milly jots numbers with a pencil. “That’ll barely pay my rent.”
After she unpacks fresh vegetables, meats wrapped in paper, raw cheese, berries, eggs, and organic milk into her refrigerator, Milly glances at a paper receipt.
— OLYMPIC FINE FOODS
Quality groceries: nearly a week’s salary.
While Milly fondles jewelry in her glass display case, her desk dings with another video message.
It’s Sis. “Hey, what happened? You OK?” Her tone turns sarcastic. “There’s always a home at the Church—”
“Stop.” Milly spends time selecting songs and loading music onto a chip.
Drones and helicopters buzz hypnotically outside her window. The night skyline sparkles as clarity peeks through clouds. Milly’s pencil scratchings are too brief to read.
She folds a greeting card around the chip, sealing it inside an envelope, then configures a news alert on her phone:
— Damien Goode
Placing a piece in her jigsaw puzzle, Milly yawns. She lays her phone down to charge and snuggles herself into her little fold-down bed. After dozing off, her phone brightens.
— hey its ethan. milly?