She wasn’t making $5465 a month. She hadn’t been making $5465 a month for a long time. She didn’t know how bad things were, exactly, but that was mostly because she was too afraid to find out.
She got up earlier. She took her laptop to bed with her. If it was a matter of working harder, she would work harder.
Who could she tell? They were all so proud of her, especially her nephew. “My mother’s sister gets paid over $87 per hour working from home with 2 kids at home. I never thought I’d be able to do it but she earns over 10k a month doing this and she convinced me to try. The potential with this is endless.” That’s what he told everyone. “She earns over 10K a month doing this,” he told all his friends, eyes bright with the promise of money. “That’s more than $87 per hour.”
They had never been particularly close before this, which is what made it all the more painful now. He had a role model. “She makes $82/h while she’s traveling the world. Last week she worked by her laptop in Rome, Monti Carlo and finally Paris…This week she’s back in the USA. All she does are easy tasks from this one cool site. Check it out.” But she hadn’t been in Paris, nor Rome, nor Monte. He can’t even spell Monte Carlo. He shouldn’t be dropping out of school to work from home. You have to tell him. You can’t let this go on. She’d been at home, not answering the door, because they shut off the power in her apartment for eight days. Told everyone she’d be in Europe. Lived off of non-refrigerated pudding cups and a bag of already-popped popcorn. This is the life.
Where had the money gone? Where was the money going? “She loves her job, since she’s been bringing in $82h… She sits at home, music playing while she works in front of my new iMac that I got now that I’m making it online.” She’d sold the Mac. For less than it was worth, too. “She’s so happy.” What would she say, anyhow? It’s all been a lie? Would she ask them for money? How could she, after the rosy picture she’d painted for them of her music-playing, Paris-hopping, eighty-two-dollars-an-hour life?
“I quit working at shoprite and now I make $35h – $80h…how? I’m working online! My work didn’t exactly make me happy so I decided to take a chance on something new… after 4 years it was so hard to quit my day job but now I couldn’t be happier.” Her mother had been right. You have a good thing going at the Shop-Rite. Why not work from home part time, just in case things don’t work out? At the time, this had seemed like the rankest undermining. Now she’d wonder if they’d be willing to take her back if she agreed to a reduced salary.
“Oh, my God, Rosie!” Christ. Is that Tricia? It was. “How are you? What have you been doing with yourself? No one ever sees you anymore. Are you in hiding?”
“I’m great.” Smile bigger. Match hers. “I’m working from home these days. Making over 10K a month, actually. Never been happier. I’m doing great. Really great.”
