I Said No (Sophia)

Sophie hated caring about other people. She hated the desperate need to take care of them and make sure they were safe. She should have been taking care of herself. That's what she'd always done, and it took too much concentration to waste precious moments trying to help others along the way. Still, with her, she couldn't help herself.

Mackenzie wasn't Sophie's first real friend or anything, but she was the first person in a while Sophie had truly felt she related to. Sometimes she felt trapped in her own version of the world that no one else could see. It was suffocating.

After their interaction, Sophie had felt bad every time she saw Mack. Instead of going to school on Friday, she'd gone to her hotel and rented another suite. She'd heard what Mackenzie said, but it didn't really matter. She needed the girl to be safe with an intense, unexplainable desire.

She twirled the key in her hand, determined to get her nerves under control before slipping the key into her bag, lifting her arm, and knocking on the door. She prayed Mackenzie's mom would be the one to answer. That would make this so much easier. But she knew she didn't have that kind of luck, so she prepared herself to keep a straight face no matter who it was she saw.

When the door was answered by an older woman and a waft of alcohol, Sophie offered what her father would have called a customer service smile. "Oh, ma'am," she said, rushing to place her foot between the door and the frame. She wasn't going to be locked out. "I'm not selling anything. Are you Mackenzie's mother?"

She twirled her ponytail with her finger. She'd pulled it up for this, and put on a bit of makeup to make her look a tad bit older without being too obvious about it. "I actually had a question for you. More of a proposition, really. I swear, I will only take a few moments of your time."

She lowered her voice as she continued, adding a pleading gleam to her eyes. "Please, I'm here on my father's behalf, and he's a very rich man who doesn't like the word 'no.'" she grinned sheepishly, pulling a small business card from her pocket. Sophia Foster it said and then listed a number and a few other contact points. At the bottom, scrawled in cursive, it said On behalf of Edward Foster. She handed it to the woman, knowing she shouldn't use these cards for things that weren't official. But this was a risk she had to take. "At least, not until he's heard out." she added with another bright smile.

A slow smile spread across Sophie's face, despite her desire to cringe back. She could tell Mackenzie's mother was drunk. She'd be able to tell even if she didn't reek of liquor. "It's about your daughter actually, but my father prefers to deal with adults. He doesn't believe in exchanging money with children. Something about them always spending it in one place."

She caught sight of Mackenzie beyond her mother and did her best not to react externally, though fury spiked in her stomach. She couldn't see clearly, but the girl had to have been drunk. "Would you mind if I came in? We could sit and talk." she motioned beyond the woman, hoping she'd take up the offer if only for the chance to sit. Drunk people usually wanted to seem more sober. "And maybe Mackenzie should hear this too," she added. Hopefully she'd hinted enough at money being involved by now that the woman wouldn't question too much.

Sophie wasn't sure stepping into the woman's house was the smartest idea, but she ignored the gut feeling and followed Mackenzie's mother to the house, not bothering to ask before sitting down. "Right. My dad is going out of town for the next month or so, and he's looking for a dog-sitter. God knows I can't take care of that little rascal. I don't really know Mackenzie that well, but he said to find someone responsible and she's the first person that came to mind." She'd planned the excuse before coming and did her best not to rush through it. She had to seem convincing. "It's a paying job and she doesn't need to do the whole month if you don't want, but it is a full time gig. After school she'd have to come over and stay the night. She'd have her own room and everything."

Sophia's heart beat in her chest. This was the hook, the moment that really mattered. She bit at her bottom lip as she rooted through her purse for a slip of paper she'd already written a number on. She may have been a kid, but she knew better than to discuss large amounts of money out loud. "Good pet care is invaluable to him," she drawled as she handed Mackenzie's mother the slip of paper. The number was 50 dollars per day, adding up to over a thousand dollars over the course of the month. A negotiable amount of course, she'd never go in with her largest number first. Not that she expected any real haggling from a drunk.

Her gaze drifted to Mackenzie to answer her mother's other question. "It's really a simple job, anyone could probably do it. But your daughter seems very committed to what she takes on. Plus I happened to see her with a dog the other day and they interacted well. Honestly, I don't know the first thing about animals, and I'm kind of new at this school so that was enough to convince me."

Sophie chewed at the inside of her cheek, taking a moment to debate the best payment method. How would her father do it? It would all depend on what he wanted shown on the books, of course. This sort of thing was bordering a line between charity and frivolity that and had no idea what he’d do with. So cash would be better. Between the room and these payments she would be nearing her monthly budget and she didn’t want him to know she’d spent his money on other people rather than the latest fashion trends.

”We can pay you at the beginning of each week. Like I said, if she can’t do the whole time she doesn’t have to so it can’t all be paid up front.” she explained as best she could. She dawned a smile, making sure she looked as innocent as possible. The amount of time was malleable to Sophie. She didn’t want to force Mackenzie into anything, despite the fact that she was doing just that. She could easily extend this, say her father had some trouble and had to stay longer, but only if Mackenzie agreed to it later down the line.

Her smile almost wavered as Mackenzie protested, but instead Sophie looked away and did her best not to see. It was what her mother and her siblings had done for most of her life, and it made her sick to do it now but she couldn’t risk drawing suspicion. As Nora asked another question and Sophie looked back at the woman, she spotted Mackenzie’s hand in her peripheral vision and couldn’t help her smile from wavering. Damn. She didn’t want to seem like she cared about the girl. So she let the smile fall altogether and came up with another reason. ”I… really probably should have set this up earlier,” she chewed at the inside of her cheek for a moment before going on. ”My dad leaves tomorrow, and I think he’d prefer to meet her first, so the sooner she can leave the better.”

"Thank you, ma'am," Sophie said with a bright smile as Mackenzie's mother walked away. That had gone a bit smoother than she'd expected, but based on the looks Mackenzie had been shooting her she was willing to bet that would be the easy part.

"Before you talk," Sophie said softly so the woman in the other room wouldn't overhear, "This isn't me helping you. This is a guilty conscience's selfish actions." In a way it was true. If she was helping she would have found a different way. One that involved putting her at lower risk and not giving money to a drunk. In part, this could be a fallback plan if her father got mad at her again any time soon. She doubted Mackenzie would like being turned into a publicity stunt, but it was unlikely it would come to that any time soon.