Erasing Faith Read Online Free Page B

business to manage each and every worker who came in for a shift, and was all too fond of letting us know whenever we were running so much as thirty seconds tardy.
    “Late,” she growled at me as I skirted the long, shiny counter she was perched behind and headed for the revolving door to the back.
    “I still have at least thirty seconds, Irenka!” I protested, glancing at the large clock on the wall over her desk. “That clock runs fast.”
    “You move slow,” she countered icily.
    After rolling my eyes so hard I was momentarily worried they’d become lodged upside-down in my skull, they landed on the novel in her hands. The front cover depicted a half-naked man in a pirate costume, and I was sure she was reading about his prominent sword at this very moment.
    “Good book?” I teased sweetly, a knowing smirk on my face.
    Marko, the security guard stationed at the front doors, burst into choked laughter but quickly managed to suppress it into a low cough. Irenka narrowed her eyes at him, harrumphed, and turned back to her romance. Shaking my head back and forth, I smiled merrily at Marko before pushing my way into the back room.
    I navigated down a short hallway, bypassing the bike-rack and loading rooms on either side and hurrying for the end of the passage, where the employee locker room was located. Each worker here was assigned a small, wooden cubby to store their street clothes and other personal belongings while they were on shift. When I walked inside, several other girls were already there, changing into uniforms and lacing up their tennis shoes.
    I spotted Margot in the back. As my roommate, workmate, and classmate, Margot had become a fixture in my life in Budapest during the month we’d been here. The petite, pixie-like blonde’s angelic exterior was no match for the amount of sass and snark she managed to pack inside her short frame, but I loved her all the more for it.
    I’d known her mere weeks, but we’d connected on a level I never had with my biological siblings. In a way, Margot had become the sister I’d always dreamed of. A Colorado native and language-studies major, she’d applied to learn Hungarian abroad through her Denver-based university. We’d ended up with several overlapping general-ed classes at Corvintas as well as identical housing assignments, sharing a small apartment just off campus. It was lucky we got along so well — there wasn’t a whole lot of room for drama in our tiny loft.
    Margot was the one who’d convinced me to apply at Hermes when I’d been understandably resistant to the idea of working as a bike messenger during the summer months in a city I was almost entirely unfamiliar with. She’d had an answer for my every objection.
    We’ll get to sightsee the whole time we’re working, she’d argued.
    But I’ll get lost every single shift!
    You’ll have GPS. Plus, what better way to get to know the city?
    It’ll be 90 degrees outside — you really want to ride a bike in that heat?
    We’ll meet so many cool people while we’re out making deliveries!
    No way.
    We’ll be in the best freaking shape of our lives! Riding for five hours a day will make you so fit.
    Five hours straight?!
    The pay is insanely good. You’ll make more money cycling than you would at any entry-level office job.
    Well…
    You’ll thank me later. Just apply and see what happens…
    Given the fact that I was about to start a shift at Hermes, it wasn’t too hard to figure out that I’d caved to Margot and conceded to interview for a position. After several rounds of questions and the most thorough background check I’d ever been subjected to, we were both offered jobs the following week. I’d had no good reason to turn it down – it wasn’t like I had seventeen other offers waiting. Plus, I could really use the cash. After two weeks of nonstop shopping and indulging, my tourism funds were rapidly dwindling.
    As it turned out, the job wasn’t so bad. I didn’t love it, but Margot