Just as Rachel was halfway through sweeping, a figure suddenly showed up in front of her.
She looked up and realized it was George from the convoy.
George's face was kinda red, like he had hyped himself up for this.
"Rachel," he said, trying not to trip over his words. "I heard from Sister Rivera that you don't wanna date right now, but… but I'm serious. I'm willing to wait for you. If you ever feel like dating, you can come to me."
Then he blinked, realizing what he just said, and corrected himself fast, "I mean, I can wait in line for you..."
Rachel stared at him, totally caught off guard.
"You can find someone better for you. I'm just a street sweeper. I don't make much money, and this job doesn't really go anywhere. I'm not a good choice for a wife."
"But I like you," George blurted, his face getting even redder. "Sister Rivera told me you're single. I'll wait."
"But I…" she started, about to turn him down again, but then she saw his flustered face and how nervous he looked.
This guy, at least right now, seemed like he meant it. Like Sister Rivera said, he was an honest dude.
Guys like that usually make good husbands and dads.
But… if he ever found out she had been to prison, would he still look at her the same? Or would he run like everyone else?
Just then, a voice came from behind her.
"Sis, aren't you gonna introduce this guy?"
Rachel turned around and saw someone familiar walking toward her.
He was wearing a plain black puffer jacket, black pants, and sneakers, all basic stuff from the market.
But on him, somehow it looked good.
Under his messy bangs, his sharp almond-shaped eyes were staring right at George, and there was this weird vibe in them, like a warning.
"This is my colleague, Jeffrey," she said quickly. "What are you doing here?"
"Got off work early today," Jeffrey said, walking right up to her and taking her left hand in his. "Your hand's kinda cold."
"It's nothing," Rachel replied. After working in the freezing wind all day, of course her hands were cold. She was used to it.
But Jeffrey didn't let go. He held her hands gently and started rubbing them, trying to warm them up.
He did one hand, then the other, carefully, like it was normal.
George just stood there, watching this whole scene like he couldn't believe what he was seeing.
He finally asked, "Rachel… is he your brother?"
"Yeah," Rachel said with a nod.
Jeffrey gave George this lazy glance, then pulled Rachel close and casually wrapped an arm around her waist.
He leaned in just slightly, his whole vibe screaming mine.
"When do you get off work, sis? I'll head home with you today," he said.
"In about half an hour," Rachel answered. "I just need to finish sweeping this street."
"Cool," Jeffrey said with a light smile.
George watched them, but the more he looked, the weirder he felt.
Were they really siblings?
The way Jeffrey looked at Rachel… the way he stood so close to her… it didn't feel like brother and sister at all.
It felt like a guy staking his claim on his girl.
He must be overthinking it!
Seeing that Rachel was about to get back to work, George shook his head and said, "Rachel, I'll head out now. You take care."
As George left, Jeffrey suddenly grabbed Rachel's chin, making her look straight at him.
"I don't like it when you look at other guys like that."
Rachel laughed a little. "You're imagining things. I don't have any feelings for him."
"Does he not have feelings for you either?" Jeffrey shot back.
Rachel didn't know what to say for a second.
"He likes you, doesn't he?" Jeffrey asked.
"Yeah, I already asked Sister Rivera to turn him down for me, but I didn't think he'd come to find me today."
"That guy's not good enough for you. If you don't like him, you should be more direct with rejecting him," Jeffrey said.
Rachel laughed. "You think too highly of me. Honestly, I'm not good enough for him. He's got a house, a car, and a stable job. There are plenty of girls in the office who'd want him."
"My Rachel deserves better," Jeffrey muttered, with a bit of possessiveness in his voice, he probably didn't even realize it himself.
After Rachel finished sweeping the street and was packing up her stuff to go back to the sanitation office, Mackenzie suddenly ran over.
"Rachel, please forgive me! I can't lose this job. It means everything to me. Please, just talk to the director and tell him you've forgiven me, so he'll cancel the dismissal order!"
Mackenzie had thought it over and figured Rachel was the only person she might have pissed off.
Rachel looked at her and said, "I think you're asking the wrong person. Your dismissal has nothing to do with me. I don't even see your director."
"How is that possible?" Mackenzie asked, panicking. "The only person I've offended is you. Could it be that Ralph saw you that day and felt bad for you, so he took it out on me? That's the only thing that makes sense."
That was when Rachel finally got it, why Mackenzie came begging her for forgiveness.
Ralph?
That man probably didn't even have a sliver of pity for her!
"I don't know what you're talking about. If you think Ralph made you lose your job, then go look for Ralph," Rachel said coldly.
Then she grabbed Jeffrey's hand and walked right past Mackenzie.
Mackenzie wanted to follow, but the second Jeffrey turned and gave her this cold, casual glance, she froze.
That look… it freaked her out.
Like if she kept bothering Rachel, something worse would happen.
What was going on?
Most of his face was covered by his hair, so she couldn't even clearly see his expression, but that look, just his eyes, was terrifying.
Was this man Rachel's sugar daddy or something?
Did she actually have someone powerful backing her?
If so… who? Ralph? Or someone else?
At that moment, no matter how bad she wanted to fix things, she couldn't take another step forward.
On the way back, Rachel suddenly asked,
"Jeffrey, do you know Ralph?"
"The president of the Patel Family Group?" he answered.