Class Of Desire (Contemporary Romance) by Linda Wilson Page B

gloves from his hands and tossed it into the
garbage bin to his right. The crumbled ball of plastic went sailing in mid-air
like a basketball launched into a hoop.
    An uneasy feeling swept through her, this was like déjà vu. She’d
seen it all before; the argument, flared tempers, heated words exchange and
bruised egos. In the back of her mind she knew exactly what would happen next.
Ten years working with Jimmy’s Burgers and every other week or two an employee
would either quit or get fired. It was a painful reminder that apart from the
fact that this job paid minimum wage, there was no job security. She hoped that
now she was in college again, she would finally graduate, go on to Law School
and become an attorney.
    In that moment her two children crossed her mind. Lizzy had
been in college when she met her ex-husband Luke Johnson. They had been madly
in love and shortly before her junior year of college, she discovered she was pregnant.
At seven month’s pregnant Luke proposed and a few weeks later her daughter
Molly was born. Luke and Lizzy got married several months later and their
ceremony was held at a small Baptist church in New York. The wedding was small and
only a handful of their closest friends and family were present.
    Lizzy tried going back to college after the baby was born, but
over time it became harder and harder to do. “I can take care of you both, I
promise,” she recalled, Luke telling her one day. At the time she was very
young and naïve. She believed that she’d met the love of her life and become content
with being a stay at home mom at the age of 20. Everything was okay until her
second child. Nathan was a bouncy little baby boy, a preemie yet very active
and full of life. His cries were so loud that one of the delivery nurses said
it left her ears ringing for hours.
    It seemed that perhaps she would have her fairy tale life
after all; she was married to her college sweetheart and had two beautiful
children. However, a few weeks later her perfect life came crashing down. Luke
wanted a divorce and he didn’t want to talk things over. He’d hired
several movers and a bulldog attorney to take care of everything for him, while
he moved to Europe with his new girlfriend. After a nasty divorce she’s never
seen or heard from him again. Eventually the child support payments stopped
coming and Luke could not be reached. After a few years of trying to find him
she gave up and was on her own to raise her two kids.
    ***
    A loud buzz alerted Lizzy that there was a customer at the
drive-through window. Hastening her steps Lizzy rushed to the window, ready and
willing to serve. Life had not been fair and while other employees could easily
walk out the door in frustration and rage, this was not an option for her. This
job had helped her put food on the table for years, it was her only means of
survival and she could not afford to lose it.
    “Welcome to Jimmy’s Burgers how may I take your order?” she
greeted a young woman in a white Chevy with a smile.
    As she attended to the customer a young man approached her
from behind. “I’ll see you around Lizzy... It was nice working with you,” he whispered
in her ear.
    “Okay kiddo,” she replied in a low voice. A doleful
expression swept across her face, as her heart went out to the guy stepping out
of the door. She knew that she would never see him at work again.
    Another one bites the dust, she thought to herself
with a heavy heart, as her co-worker Allen left the restaurant. The saddest
part of it all was that she was already missing him.

Chapter Two
    Home Sweet Home
    Meanwhile in another part of Pelham Bay, NY...
    T he
modern style brick house stood proud and tall at the corner of a small dead-end
street, a few blocks from the Bregor Allen College. Iron fencing ran the
house’s perimeter and a narrow driveway led to a two car garage. Pulling up
into the drive way, the intense sunlight struck the windshield of the black SUV
and an almost