he picked up a pillow off the settee and flung it across the room. Then his BlackBerry started ringing and he saw lauren on the caller ID. Snapping into his upbeat work persona, he said, Hey, Lauren, what a coincidence, I was just about to shoot you off an e-mail.
five
From the very beginning, the Blooms had been very good to Gabriela. Twelve years ago, when she came to New York from Ec ua dor, she was just nineteen and very shy, and she spoke only a few words of English, and she didnt think shed ever find a good job in America. But the Blooms hired her because Gabrielas sister, Beatrice, who was working for another family in Forest Hills Gardens, told them that Gabriela was a good maid and asked them to please give her a chance. Gabriela was very grateful to the Blooms for giving her a good job when no else would, and she always told them how she hoped to repay them someday.
Although Gabriela had worked as a maid for two years at home in Quito, shed never had to clean a house the size of the Blooms. The first day she felt like such a fool; she didnt even know how to turn on the vacuum cleaner. Some families mightve lost patience and fired her right away, but the Blooms were very kind and understanding. The first few days, Mrs. Bloom cleaned the whole house with her, explaining how everything was done and where everything went, and she didnt lose patience at all even though Gabriela couldnt understand most of what she was saying.
When Gabriela started to work for the Blooms, Marissa was just ten years old, in fourth grade. Marissa had a babysitter who still took care of her part of the time, but sometimes when the babysitter was sick Mrs. Bloom would ask Gabriela to go pick Marissa up from school or take her to play with her friends. Gabriela liked Marissa, she was such a sweet little girl, and she liked Mr. Bloom, too. Sometimes he sat down with her in the kitchen and helped her with her English, teaching her new words. He was a very good man who worked hard and who loved his family very much. She hoped that someday she could find a man for herself like Mr. Bloom and have a family as nice as his.
Her first few months in New York, Gabriela was living with Beatrice and her family in Jackson Heights, Queens, sharing a room with Beatrices daughter. But then at a party one night she met a Brazilian man named Angel. He was very handsome and a very hard worker. He was a waiter at a diner in Manhattan, but he had big dreams. He wanted to open his own restaurant one day. He took her dancing in the Village a few times, and he knew how to do the mambo. They started doing everything together going out all the time, going to Jones Beach, or just staying home at his apartment and that summer he got her pregnant. He didnt want to get married, which was okay with her. He was young, just twenty, and she knew how scared young guys got. She thought shed have the baby and then in a couple of years theyd get married.
But when Gabriela was getting ready to have her baby, Angel disappeared. At first she thought something bad happened to him; maybe he got hurt or something. The people at the diner said they didnt know where he was, he just stopped coming to work. She got Beatrices husband, Manny, to go looking for him, but he couldnt find him anywhere, and then she called the police. They said that chances were he probably just ran away. She couldnt believe that Angel would do something like that, but then, a few days before she had to go to the hospital, Manny found out from one of Angels friends that Angel was living in the Bronx with a new girlfriend.
Gabriela had her baby, a beautiful girl, Manuela, named after Gabrielas grandmother. She was worried that it would be hard to work and take care of her baby at the same time, but the Blooms were so nice, letting her take Manuela to work with her every day. The Blooms got her more work with other families in the neighborhood, and pretty soon she was
five
From the very beginning, the Blooms had been very good to Gabriela. Twelve years ago, when she came to New York from Ec ua dor, she was just nineteen and very shy, and she spoke only a few words of English, and she didnt think shed ever find a good job in America. But the Blooms hired her because Gabrielas sister, Beatrice, who was working for another family in Forest Hills Gardens, told them that Gabriela was a good maid and asked them to please give her a chance. Gabriela was very grateful to the Blooms for giving her a good job when no else would, and she always told them how she hoped to repay them someday.
Although Gabriela had worked as a maid for two years at home in Quito, shed never had to clean a house the size of the Blooms. The first day she felt like such a fool; she didnt even know how to turn on the vacuum cleaner. Some families mightve lost patience and fired her right away, but the Blooms were very kind and understanding. The first few days, Mrs. Bloom cleaned the whole house with her, explaining how everything was done and where everything went, and she didnt lose patience at all even though Gabriela couldnt understand most of what she was saying.
When Gabriela started to work for the Blooms, Marissa was just ten years old, in fourth grade. Marissa had a babysitter who still took care of her part of the time, but sometimes when the babysitter was sick Mrs. Bloom would ask Gabriela to go pick Marissa up from school or take her to play with her friends. Gabriela liked Marissa, she was such a sweet little girl, and she liked Mr. Bloom, too. Sometimes he sat down with her in the kitchen and helped her with her English, teaching her new words. He was a very good man who worked hard and who loved his family very much. She hoped that someday she could find a man for herself like Mr. Bloom and have a family as nice as his.
Her first few months in New York, Gabriela was living with Beatrice and her family in Jackson Heights, Queens, sharing a room with Beatrices daughter. But then at a party one night she met a Brazilian man named Angel. He was very handsome and a very hard worker. He was a waiter at a diner in Manhattan, but he had big dreams. He wanted to open his own restaurant one day. He took her dancing in the Village a few times, and he knew how to do the mambo. They started doing everything together going out all the time, going to Jones Beach, or just staying home at his apartment and that summer he got her pregnant. He didnt want to get married, which was okay with her. He was young, just twenty, and she knew how scared young guys got. She thought shed have the baby and then in a couple of years theyd get married.
But when Gabriela was getting ready to have her baby, Angel disappeared. At first she thought something bad happened to him; maybe he got hurt or something. The people at the diner said they didnt know where he was, he just stopped coming to work. She got Beatrices husband, Manny, to go looking for him, but he couldnt find him anywhere, and then she called the police. They said that chances were he probably just ran away. She couldnt believe that Angel would do something like that, but then, a few days before she had to go to the hospital, Manny found out from one of Angels friends that Angel was living in the Bronx with a new girlfriend.
Gabriela had her baby, a beautiful girl, Manuela, named after Gabrielas grandmother. She was worried that it would be hard to work and take care of her baby at the same time, but the Blooms were so nice, letting her take Manuela to work with her every day. The Blooms got her more work with other families in the neighborhood, and pretty soon she was
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