The arrangement - CL

1.

Another hectic shift at the restaurant. I could barely stand on my feet anymore.
Working in a restaurant in Monaco was definitely challenging, they all expected the best service which was hard when you were already working for 10 hours.

"I am gonna go home, can you close today? I can barely keep my eyes open" I asked as I leaned against the bar.

"Yeah sure, go to sleep princess" John chuckled a little as he was putting some glasses away.

I smiled a little. "You're a life saver"

"You owe me one" he yelled. I rolled my eyes before grabbing a bottle of wine and some food. They wouldn't miss this and I was hungry.

As soon as I walked in the apartment, I fell down on the couch and put a black and white movie on. I loved those old movies, they were much better than the new ones, some of them at least.

I shared this apartment with my best friend Aimée. We knew each other for a while now. We both struggled to make the ends meet, but we managed, we had to. 
Her mom kicked her out when she turned 18 and my parents.. well, we didn't talk about them.

I heard the door open only half an hour later. I looked up and saw Aimée walking in. She was supposed to be on a date.

"You're home soon? Was he ugly?" I asked. 

"He didn't show up. Guys in Monaco are assholes" She sighed.

I didn't really know what to say. I was dating someone for a long time now. Cooper and I met each other three years ago and I fell in love the moment I saw him. 
But most of the guys in Monaco were rich, famous or a combination of both and those weren't the best guys to be around.

"Aw babe" I said as I got up and opened my arms. She immediately got the hint and walked to the couch, right in my arms. "I stole some food and a bottle of wine from the restaurant"

The bottle was already half empty, because I really needed it but still, it was better than nothing.

"You're the bestest friend ever" she laughed as she grabbed the bottle and put it on her lips. Maybe she needed it a little bit more. "God I love your job" 

She may love my job but I absolutely hated it. There was nothing I liked in that job, except for maybe the free wine and food. 
Okay I definitely loved that. 

I wanted to open my own little shop, maybe sell flowers or clothes or purses. It didn't really matter. Just work for myself on reasonable hours and kick all the nasty customers out instead of smiling at them.

But to open your own shop, you needed money and I that was something I didn't have. Rent was expensive in Monaco, food was expensive as well, everything was expensive here. 
So all the money I made in the restaurant went straight to those things.

I was tempted to leave Monaco for a while now. Cooper and I both talked about moving somewhere else, somewhere cheaper.

But I couldn't do that to Aimée. She couldn't stay in Monaco on her own, it was way too expensive and she had no one else. 
I had to find another way.