"Money."

“Money.”

Elyse made the choice to be straight to the point.

“I came here for money. I'm in dire straits, Mr. Brady...I owe some people some money, and they're really mad at me.”

She expected him to be mad at her, to throw her out of the house. But, to her surprise, he was immediately understanding. He took her hand and caressed it.

“Elyse,” he said, “is this true? What do you owe? I can certainly help you.”

“You can? Really?” She looked up into his eyes, frozen momentarily before realizing that he was waiting on her answer. “I owe a lot, Mr. Brady. More than I expect you to give me, but if you can give me a little...”

“I understand,” he said, “here, come dear, come with me.” Still grasping her small hand, he led her to his living room. They sat side by side on the couch. His hand on her hand slid up gently to fondle her arm.

“Maybe,” he began, “maybe you might feel that you are about to ask too much, but, I have a situation myself which would be surely asking a lot from you... but, if what you owe is excessive, then maybe it's worth a shot for me to ask.”

This confused her. “Umm, I don't expect you to cover the full amount. It would be asking too much from you, Mr. Brady.”

“How much is it?”

“$750.”

He smiled to himself before placing a hand at Elyse's knee. “That's certainly not too much! For what I was thinking about asking...I would give you a lot more.”

She furrowed her eyebrows, and incapable of deeming this man crude, she sat there confused. “What were you going to ask of me?”