BarnOwl6-5
"I-I want to talk to you," I told her, hoping I didn't sound too forceful. She paused in picking up her things to look at me expectantly.
"Go on," she prompted. I paused for a moment, looking around to assure myself that there was nothing that she could use to kill me before continuing.
"Well, I was just hoping that um, well, you don't have to if you don't want to... but... um..."
I was blowing it. There was no way I could do this. Maybe if I didn't look at her, I could summon up the words, but I seriously doubted it.
"Hey, before I forget," Carmine interrupted, reaching into her purse. My heart stopped. What did she have in there? Was she going to shoot me with a knife? Or stab me with a gun? But what I didn't expect was the money that she pulled out of her purse. "This is for you and your friend. Buy yourselves something pretty.
"What's this for?" I managed to ask, not moving. She rolled her eyes as if it were completely obvious.
"Payment for your acting," she replied, her eyes wide and her voice slow, as if she were spelling something out for a first grader. "You didn't think that I'm so cold-hearted that I wouldn't pay you for services rendered, did you?"
"I thought living was our payment," I muttered to myself.