He heard about her job interview not too long after she had it, and he had been incredibly supportive.
Alyssa noticed how good he smelled, like herbs and wood. She broke away from him before she did anything weird.
She lost a lot of her common sense around him. The perils of having a crush. She was just surprised she made the first move to hug him this time.
"Thank you. And I'm not telling my parents," she said with a huff. She could already imagine what they would say.
They would claim that since she had a job now that she had extra money to send their way. If she said no, they would call her selfish. She had heard it all before.
Elias gave her an amused look.
"So that they don't guilt you into giving them money," he said with an understanding nod.
"This is my achievement, not theirs," Alyssa murmured as she slipped her phone back into her pocket. She mostly spoke the words to herself.
