“Excuse me,” she said.
I looked up. “Yes?”
She smiled, then asked the strangest question I’d ever heard. “Would you like to earn $100 for attending a birthday party?”
I blinked. “What?”
“A birthday party.” She repeated it as though it were perfectly normal. “I’ll pay you $100.”
My first thought was scam. My second thought was that rent was due in four days.
“When?”
“Saturday.”
I studied her face. She looked sincere, normal even, just unusual.
Finally, I nodded. “Okay.”
Her smile widened. “Wonderful.”
That Saturday, I showed up at the address she’d given me. The house wasn’t extravagant, just warm and comfortable, the kind of place where people actually lived.
Inside, about a dozen guests chatted over coffee and cake. Nobody seemed surprised to see me.
