Fountain Garden Apartments was a luxury apartment complex that only the top 5% resided in.
Even if she managed to purchase one of those apartments, would she ever be able to afford anything else?
Azul chucked, "That's quite the ambition you have. So, you're putting yourself through this poor treatment just for….an apartment?"
Was she really so materialistic?
"Not JUST an apartment! Have you ever been inside? They're beautiful! It's like living in a dream. You know they have indoor pools in some of them that are built to look like tropical waterfalls and ponds? How pretty is that?!"
Azul placed his head on his hand, "So, you just care about flaunting money?"
Sira looked taken aback, "What? No! It's just beautiful. I want to live somewhere beautiful, what's so wrong with that?"
"There are other beautiful places to live that are cheaper, and then you wouldn't have to subject yourself to treatment like this."
"Then what is the difference? Why does anyone choose to live anywhere? What….am I not good enough to live somewhere like that?"
Azul leaned back and crossed his arms, "Don't twist my words."
"Why not? You're twisting mine."
He sighed, "The main point is that you should stand up for yourself. No job is worth that."
"I can't. If I stand up to them, they'll all have me fired. I don't want to lose this job, the pay is really good. It'll get me my dream faster, it feels more like my dream could really come true. For me, it's worth it to suffer for now."
Part of him felt like she was a complete idiot for willingly putting herself through this, but another part of him found it admirable that she was willing to put in the work for what she wanted, even if it wasn't pleasant.
"Well, then I hope you end up living in your luxury apartments. What do you say we open a tab for them," he nodded towards her co-workers in the next booth, "and get you home?"
Her eyebrows furrowed, "Are you sure that's such a good idea? They think it's my card, they'll probably charge it up if we're not here to stop them."
Azul shook his head as he stood up, "Let them, let's go."
Sira was shocked that he could so willingly allow strangers spend his money like that, but followed him out of the bar nonetheless.
Right now, the thing she wanted the most was to go home.
Once in the car, they buckled their seatbelts.
"Where to?" Azul asked, his fingers hesitating over the GPS system.
Sierra gave him her address and a grim look came over his face.
"What?" she asked, noticing his sour look.
"That's a pretty seedy area. What are you doing living there? Are you living alone?"
The thought of her living by herself in a dangerous place like that made him feel a bit worried for her safety.
"Hmm…..you're still a stranger you know. Telling you if I live alone or not…"
"You're supposed to say your boyfriend is living with you." He said, shaking his head with a chuckle.
"Yeah, but if I told you that, how do I know you're not some serial killer who will break into my house later and try to kill him so you can have me?"
Azul glanced over at her, an amused look coming over his face.
"Why would I take you home then? I already have you in my car, I'd just lock the doors and take you somewhere else."
Sira pursed her lips, "Oh. Right."
"You should move somewhere safer. What's your budget? I'll help you find a better place."
"Excuse you! This is the cheapest place I could find that was close to work. The money I'll save by living here just puts me closer to my dream apartment!"
'Not so smart after all…' Azul thought, taking back his complimentary thought from before.
"You should never skimp on safety. If you can afford it, you should make sure you're safe. Otherwise, you may never achieve your dream, not because you didn't save enough but because you won't be alive."
Sira shrugged, "It's not so bad. For the most part, I'm happy living there. It's not a bad layout and I've fixed the little issues with it. Now it's just the neighborhood that's the issue."
Azul pulled up to the building. There were people outside smoking and drinking, the sidewalks were cracked, and the buildings were all showing major wear and tear.
"Thanks for bringing me home. Do you…..um….want to exchange numbers?"
Without hesitation, Azul pulled out his phone and handed it to her.
She then pulled her phone out of her pocket and gave it to him.
Its case was pastel colored pink and purple with a white moon on it with white flecks as stars. At the bottom was a silhouette of a cat and a few trees. On the top it said in big white letters, the word 'DREAM'.
"Quite the case you have." He said, noting how opposite it was of his plain black one.
"Isn't it cute? It makes me happy!" Sira said as she handed him his phone back.
"Adorable."
The streetlight outside the building was flickering and there were a bunch of men around, making him feel a little uneasy at the thought of her going home alone dressed like she was.
"Let me walk you to your door."
Despite the fact that Sira was wearing a mask, he could see a light pink hue peeking out from underneath it.
"I was just going to ask if you….wanted to come up."
Azul raised his eyebrow, "I'd love to. Shouldn't you take your mask off now by the way?"
He was curious to see what she looked like in full.
Sira gasped and touched her mask with her hands as if he was threatening to rip it off.
"No way! I'm pretty sure some of my mascara ran while I cried in the haunted house. I'm horrified to see what I look like underneath right now."
Azul laughed and held his hands up in defeat before unbuckling, "Alright, alright. Well, you lead the way Miss Mystery."