Cassandra did not exactly like the fact that there was so much yelling and running around at the mart. A mom with three hyperactive kids had come to the mart to get a few essentials like Cas had done with her niece, Liz.
Source
She saw the look on her niece's face when one of the kids ran to her, holding up an empty ice cream cone.
"Mom won't let me have a third cone!" He complained.
He looked a little younger than a six-year-old but he was loud and ebullient, tugging at Liz's leg, imploring her to do something about his complaint.
Liz must have been taken aback because she stood watching the kid holding her leg, her hands on the trolley, unsure of what to do. The child kept looking up at her, his eyes pleading with her to do something.
"Little cutie, if Mommy doesn't think you should have another cone, then you should listen to her," Liz explained.
The child frowned. He stepped back to regard Liz with a small sigh, a typical adult thing to do. Liz forced a smile. She was not any better with the kids compared to me. I had been watching from the shelf holding cereals all the while, watching them.
"Will you wheel the trolley over here, Liz?" I called when the child did not go away.
Liz looked up at me, tucking a few strands of hair behind her ear. She looked pissed.
"What is wrong?"
"I am not done with this little cutie. He seems to have something else to talk to me about." She said. I sighed. Of course, there was nothing I could do but wait for them to finish their little chat.
"Mom says Martin can have some more candies but I can not!"
He complained again. It was as funny as it was cute that a kid walked up to a random person in the mart to tell him his problems. Liz was yet to reply to him when his mom started towards them.
"Oh my goodness, Luke!"
She cried as she started to reach them, holding her two other kids. It made Cassandra wonder how she was able to wheel her trolley about while having to hold her kids so they don't get themselves missing or even go with a stranger.
"Miss, I'm sorry. I hope Luke has not been a bother."
The mom apologized to Liz as she took hold of Luke's hand. Liz was smiling awkwardly, shaking her head. What Cas saw in her eyes was exhaustion.
She was smiling, but there were huge bags under her eyes and her lips were pale, she had not used any makeup at all. Her shirt had a gaping hole on one sleeve and her hair was a mass of rumpled strands.
She was a walking mass of exhaustion and even the blind could have seen that. Cas was not used to speaking with people she had just met for the first time, especially when she was going to sound nosy, but she called the woman anyway.
"Ma'am?"
She called, "You look really exhausted. Everything okay?" She asked.
The lady nodded, but she had literal tears in her eyes and Cas dumped her cereal to walk to her.
"Do you want to talk about it?"
She asked. She was standing right by the woman, her arm supporting her.
"I will be okay, miss. Thank you for showing concern." She said. But Cas was not ready to let her go without lending a helping hand.
"Ma'am, I want to see how I can help you. Let me know what you need help with." She persuaded. The woman sized her. Maybe she did not think Cassandra could help her. She looked like someone fresh out of college with not enough experience in life, but that was not the case.
Cassandra would go to the most expensive places dressed in old shorts and a sweatshirt when indeed she had more than enough to help her. The lady looked up at Cas, her nose had started to run and so she fished out a handkerchief.
"My husband has been in a wheelchair for two years now. I have to work two jobs to keep our family running. I take care of the kids, take care of him, and hardly have time to take care of myself."
She sobbed. Liz was playing with the kids as they spoke.
"I see," Cas said.
"Would you like a single job with really good pay that will afford you time to do other things in your home?"
She was already nodding before Cas was done making the offer. She had no idea all she needed was understand the principle governing money to earn her the freedom to do other things including taking care of herself. But her life will be taking an awesome turn because Cassandra will show her.
"And yeah, there are a thousand things your husband can do from home to support his family. He should try something."
The woman nodded and held Cassandra's business card for a while before putting it in her bag.
"You'll get the job next tomorrow," Cas promised.
When she left the mart, it was with relief that she had been able to help the woman.
More from iska
There's Money on the Internet - Search and Commit
You know daddy is a miner right?
Everything you want in life has a price connected to it
Work expands so as to fill the time available for its completion
There's no such thing as an all-profit market - Invest an amount you can afford to lose
The lessons gained from failures are building blocks that helps you move forward
The Cardinal Marketing Sin is being Boring - Zealy Campaign to the rescue
Go as far as you can see - When you get there you'll be able to see farther