Cin, sweaty and tired and covered in a thin layer of industrial detergents, was making her way home from the hotel laundry. There was something so unfair about how long and hard she had to work there and to still get more money from selling whatever designer dress Archie had given her that week.
But the problem was that rich men like Archie weren't reliable. Either he'd get sick of her not actually 'dating' him, or he'd get bored of this little trek to the wrong side of town, or he'd move onto women more on his level. There was surely some rich bimbo sorority sister just waiting for that chance to ride that dick.
Cin couldn't quite blame them. Archie had a charm (though the charm made Cin suspicious) and he was very good looking (if you were into pretty) and he was certainly someone that Cin had come to enjoy hanging out with. And that didn't even get into the wealth and connections he had in abundance.
Going to some lux restaurant with Archie was such a better use of her time than slaving for nine hours in a hot laundry, but Cin had always been smart enough to understand the world. She wasn't about to assume easy money stuck around, or that jobs were easy to find.
But, god, having her hands either in soap or catching on irons all day really fucked with her skin. As she walked, she opened and closed them in front of her a few times, feeling the stretch of a fresh burn down the side. When she lifted her gaze back to the street in front of her, she saw someone leaning against the Murphy's fence and almost went back to ignoring them.
But there was something about the figure, something familar, and as Cin got closer she moved a little slower right up until she spotted his face and knew him.
"Kaden?" Cin asked in disbelief. "Oh my fucking- Kaden!" She ran across the space between them and yanked the boy into a hug, so shocked that he wasn't dead and so relieved. Kaden was supposed to be rotting in a wet swampy grave, curtesy of Cy, and yet here he was, solid and real. She drew back out of the quick hug and smacked him across the side of the head. "Where the fuck have you been??"