A man stared through his binoculars, at a young woman sitting on the floor of a tiny apartment, bent over a laptop, cradling her head in her hands.
Abigail stared in dismay as the last of her funds transferred out of her bank account. She'd been saving for a few months religiously and had finally had a good amount of savings. But her scholarship had been pulled out from under her feet, and now she had to cover her tuition herself. And that had taken all of her savings and most of her money for this month.
If she was careful with the rest, they wouldn't starve this month.
But if she wasn't. They might start owing on their rent.
Abigail was careful, always so careful, to never fall behind in any of their payments. Poverty was a trap, and if you fell into it, it was near impossible to get out. So, she always made sure their bills were paid, first, before anything else.
Then came the doctor visits. She never skimped on any of those, not for her and not for her mother. They couldn't afford a hospital visit, for either of them, so she made sure to sort any problems that came up, quickly and efficiently. Before they could escalate into something worse.
Abigail made sure to have a handle on their finances at all times. It was how she'd managed to save up so much in the first place. By restricting what they ate, where they went, by basically planning their entire lives down to every meal, Abigail was able to build a savings for them.
All for it to just go down the drain.
She felt like crying, but then she felt too numb to cry.
“Abby," she turned at the sound of her mother's voice, smiling immediately.
Her mother had entrusted Abby with all the finance work. Her mother had asked to not know anything about it, just for Abby to work everything out for them and make sure they always had a roof over their head and food in their stomach. Her mother hadn't cared about much else.
But Abby had. Abby had wanted to save for something nice. A holiday somewhere, nowhere fancy, just a house on the beach somewhere, and to be able to have one good meal at a nice restaurant.
Now. Now she had to start all from the beginning again.
“Yeah mom?" Abby asked. She didn't let her disappointment in her voice show, though.
One good thing was she hadn't told her mother about her plans, so her mother wouldn't even know all their savings had just gone down the drain since her mom didn't even know they had savings to begin with.
“I'm heading out to work," her mother answered. “Be sure to lock up after yourself when you leave. We can't afford another break in."
They definitely could not, Abby agreed silently. Though, just two days ago, someone had broken in, but that hadn't taken anything.
Their stuff had definitely been ruffled through, but it looked like someone hadn't found what they were looking for.
And they wouldn't, really. Any thief that broke in would quickly find that there was really nothing to steal here.
“Sure Mom. Have a good day at work," Abby waved at her mother, still looking at her screen with her monthly budget drawn up on it.
They would survive. They just had to.
Sighing slightly, Abby closed her screen. They had always struggled, but they had always survived. Her mother and her. As far back as she could remember, it had only ever been the two of them. Even in the pictures, there had never been anyone else.
Her mother had never married. Though Abby had heard a little of her father growing up, now that she was older, those all seemed like fairytales. Of a prince that would come and save them, of someone with a castle they could go away to. Somewhere they could be together, and happy.
All just stories her mother had dreamed up to tell a little girl of her imagined father.
There had been many times, Abby had to admit, that she had wished for her father. But less out of the need for him to be there, and more because of how much easier their lives would have been if they'd had someone to help look after them.
Abby scrubbed her hands over her face. This was ridiculous. She was happy with her life, she only ever thought of her father when things got tough. Tougher than she sometimes thought she could manage on her own.
Ideally, Abby realized, those were the times she would have turned to her father too. But he wasn't there. He had never been there. And she had come out of every situation perfectly well on her own.
Sighing, Abby shut her laptop, and started gathering her things for work. She would have to study when she got home, but for now, she needed to clock in as many hours as she could get. Any extra hours, and any extra work, was always something she was up for.
She showered in the trickle down hot water, she could have cold water at full blast or trickling hot water. She always, much preferred the hot water. And if she was very lucky, then she would get short bursts of hot water from the old shower.
She quickly dried off and pulled on a jeans and sweater. It was cold in their apartment, but the flower shop she worked at would be warmer. She still needed to get from home to there, though.
She gathered her bag with her laptop in it, she would work on her assignments during her break, slipped on her best shoes, and headed for the bus stop.
She always wore her best clothes to work in. She didn't have much choice, she would be fired on the spot if she wore her normal day clothes she wore at home.
Owning a car was just something entirely out of the question.
There was man standing on the wrong side of the bus stop, wearing sunglasses. He looked like he was waiting for the bus, and Abigail waved to him, trying to get him to see that the bus would stop this side. But he suddenly seemed to turn around.
Abigail shrugged, maybe he changed his mind.
The bus drive wasn't long though, and pretty soon Abigail was at the flower shop on the corner.
She loved working at the flower store, they had their own little garden at the back, and everyday they would tend to it, before opening up for customers in the morning. They also had a small coffee machine and tiny pastry stand that Abigail herself stocked with her own personal baked goods.
Just being in the flower store brought her spirits right back up. Her life wasn't perfect, that was for sure, but it was very close to it. They had money struggles, but they weren't starving. And she loved her job and work.
Things could always be far worse. She could be working ten hour shifts as a waitress somewhere with some strange guys ogling her and trying to grope her.
Here, everyone that came in was always already looking to buy flowers for someone they already had, so many people didn't even bother flirting with her.
“Hey Abby!" Clary, her co-worker, greeted as she walked through the front door.
“Hey Clary," Abby answered.
Clary was blonde and blue eyed and absolutely beautiful. But if someone asked Clary, she would always say Abigail was the beautiful one between them, with her brown curls and almond eyes that were nothing like her mothers.
Her skin was a light tan, from working in the sun every day out in the garden, but Clary stayed indoors almost always, and her skin was still porcelain fair. Abby loved the tan the sun gave to her skin though.
“The lavender and the baby's breath are running short, so I think you can get some of those," Clary told Abby, as she hung up her coat by the door.
The flower shop was warm inside, though the flowers were kept in a cold room to keep them fresher for longer. And many cold storages dotted the place, sealing the cold in with the flowers where its needed. The more humid needing plants were kept in front.
There was one customer, just looking at the flowers. They normally left their clients alone, unless someone came asking for help, they let them choose on their own. Abigail almost considered breaking that rule, since the customer seemed to be glancing at her the entire time. Maybe he needed help but was too shy to ask.
But Abigail decided against it. If he really needed help, he would come and get it.
“Sure," Abby answered, heading for the coffee machine. They were allowed to have three hot drinks a day, along with one meal and two snacks.
Abby knew very well she had a great boss, and mostly Abby survived on the food she could get from at work. Her mom did the same thing at her work, and all they would have to do was scrounge for a supper for both of them, and that would be their meals sorted for the day.
It wasn't the best way to live, but they survived. And it wouldn't be forever. Soon, she would graduate law school. She would get her placement, and all of their difficulties would be behind them.
Abby went to the garden outside, taking a basket with her, and began cutting from the lavender and the baby's breath.
Soon, all their troubles would be behind them.
______________________________________
“Tell him we found her," a man spoke into his cellphone.
Watching a beautiful young woman bend over some white and purple flowers, brown curls blowing in the wind, with almond eyes he'd seen on someone else just this morning.