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That’s so nice of you.”
Johanna flung her arms around him and hugged him, then overcome
with embarrassment over her sudden compulsion, pushed him away.
“Sorry. I got carried away.”
    “ You can get carried away
with me any time you like.”
    “ Thanks again,” she said.
“I wish I could invite you to stay, but I’m … uh … having dinner
with my landlady.”
    Johanna leaned against the
door after Derrick left and sighed. Another lie.

    That Friday, Johanna
cashed her paycheck and realized she had barely enough money to pay
Amaranda and Derrick and buy groceries.
Not to mention, she really needed a toaster and a dress. Derrick
had taken her out to dinner a second time, and she felt woefully
underdressed at the restaurant he chose. A dress and high heels
would be nice. In the end, she put both her friends off another
week. There would be plenty of money to pay them as soon as she got
settled in.
    She spent more than she
planned on a really nice dress, a pair of high heels, and a cute
little pocketbook to go with them. She also bought a tote bag for
work. Her eyes widened when she saw the bill. Once again, she
pointed out items the cashier could take off the bill.
    “ Why do that, honey,” the
cashier asked, “when I can just open a store account for you, and
you’ll get ten percent off whatever you buy today?”
    Johanna agreed, filled out
the credit application, received a temporary card, and started to
carry her packages back home. Then she realized she still had money
in her wallet because she charged everything and took a taxi
instead.
    That afternoon, she went
out again and bought paint, brushes, and a drop cloth, and found
out how expensive painting could be. She originally planned to make
the walls white, but when the clerk asked “what color white,” and
she saw all the different variations, she didn’t choose white at
all. Instead, the store mixed up a pale silvery blue that made her
think of ice castles in the sky for the living room, light creamy
gold for the kitchen, and a delicate sage green for the bedroom and
bathroom. She nearly emptied her wallet to pay the bill, and when
she saw them stacking all her purchases on the counter, she
realized she’d never be able to lug it all home. She asked the
clerk to call a taxi for her, and once again she was
broke.
     
    Johanna spent all day
Sunday painting her tiny cottage. She felt a new sense of place—of
home—when she applied her last brush stroke. She discarded the
supplies and plastic drop cloths that littered the floor and
furniture, then threw open the windows and sat on her futon wrapped
in her new blanket—in the cold—while she waited for the paint to
dry and the odor to dissipate. As she sat there, she envisioned
what the space would look like with curtains, a picture on the
wall, and an armoire in the bedroom for her clothes. The dress she
had just purchased remained in a thin plastic garment bag hanging
from a nail sticking out of the bathroom door.
    She thought of her
finances. She owed money to Derrick, Amaranda, and the department
store. To make matters worse, her rent was due the following week.
Her stomach flip-flopped when she realized she couldn’t pay them
all. She would have to put her friends off again. Her rent was
going to eat up her entire paycheck. At least the department store
hadn’t sent her a bill yet. She hoped it would forget all about her
but knew it was only a matter of time.
    The next day, her boss
told her he needed her to work on a special weekend project. “It’s
important. I need you to stay late Friday to start the inventory
and come in Saturday and Sunday until it’s done. Everyone else has
commitments. You’re the only one who can do this. Your job depends
on it.”
    “ Will there be additional
pay for it?”
    “ We’ll work something
out.”
    In a way, Johanna was
relieved. It meant she had an excuse not to see Derrick or
Amaranda, and perhaps by the time she did, she might have the money
to pay