Amelia C. Jones

Amelia was a beautiful young lady, he had forgotten how much she had grown since her independence. He waited on Monroe to leave before walking around his desk and approaching her. “I can say the same thing.” Francis grinned and moved some hair behind his ear. “He made a good decision, not that Alfred wouldn’t be fit for the job, you need to do the negotiating as well.”

Francis sat alone at his desk, waiting for what he thought was Alfred to discuss this deal. He was ready to sell the whole territory, well, Napoleon was. The Frenchman was unsure about it, but he couldn’t exactly argue with this one. The empire stood up when he saw the door opening, he looked a little surprised when he saw Amelia walk in, wondering if Alfred was elsewhere. “Welcome, Amelia.” He smiled happily, “Do you mind speaking alone?” He glanced up at Monroe. “At this point in time, I’d rather make this deal between us nations.”

“Honestly has anyone told you about an update? You still have furniture from the 1600s around her it looks like.” she teased and watched Arthur disappear to go get the first aid kit. “I think my ankle will heal… Probably.” That was usually the perk of being a nation.

Amelia distracted herself by looking around Arthur’s house to guess what age different things were. It was nice seeing old things. Amelia always shoved her memories in the attic cause of the clutter. “I like to think my tv shows are very realistic. Vampires must exist at this point.” she snickered.

    “You have. Many times. I like it! Reminds me of better days.” Arthur justified, loudly saying it for her to hear from the bathroom. Ah, there it is. He came back and kneeled down. “Yes but you want it to heal correctly. And for now, not put more pressure on the injury.” It was a small thing but as was his head. Still painful but he knew no permanent damage would be done.

“My brother is too nice to me sometimes.” Amelia smiled at the thought of Alfred. Her twin was always so kind to her unlike the stereotypical everyday brother. “You should become an unofficial librarian then.”

The walk home from the diner was miserable. There was a terrible rain storm hitting the area right when Amelia had gotten out of work. She had nothing but her heels and uniform to keep her covered. She thought about buying a newspaper to keep her head dry but that costed money and wasn’t worked into her budget list despite the kind tips she had received from young and old men alike. Her charm helped a great deal… Along with her unbuttoned uniform, but in order to stay hired at that diner you had to take in good costumer reviews.

Her body struggled to walk along the sidewalks due to the new idea she had adopted. If you can survive without food there’s no need to eat it. Especially with money so tight and Christmas coming up, the depression was causing a lot of financial issues in the Jones household.

Not only would her own government give her a job, Alfred wasn’t even getting paid as much as he should have been. It want something that she liked to think about. Her brother being worked to the bone was enough to make her blood boil. Hoover was being an asshole about sparing some money to them too.

Amelia let out a small sigh, listening to the heavy patters of rain drops on her house’s street. For the neighborhood she lived in, the majority of her money went to paying the bills. By that time she had just enough for food, but instead she had focused her money on a gift for Alfred that upcoming Christmas… and gifts for Alice…

Her eyes settled on her house. It had been a good three hour walk that Amelia endured. She lied to her brother so he wouldn’t waste his money on his car. It was selfish to make Alfred go such a long way to get her. With a small hope that he wasn’t home, the eighteen year old walked into the door, kicking her ruined shoes off by the staircase. More money to waste on new shoes. Maybe she could patch them up. Her dress clung onto her body and the more she tried to wiggle herself out of it the more it refused to slip off.

She gave up on the uniform and walked into the kitchen to see if they had any coffee. She couldn’t sleep because she had to stay up and fill out all the paperwork sitting on her desk. For a woman who wasn’t allowed any say about her country, she got the small liberty of filling out stacks of papers monthly. There was a loud bang which only made her groan. Alfred was home.

     It took every ounce of willpower Alfred had to walk home and not just sleep on the streets. His whole body ached from the cold, the hunger, and this sickness that he couldn’t shake. When he heard of nations getting colds he’d always laughed it off. It was only a nightmare, like the stories Arthur used to tell him, but now that it happened to him… Well the blonde never thought he’d be around to see the day. ‘Jokes on me I guess..’

     As his feet continued to trudge on, his home was finally in sight. A flicker of hope and happiness sparked inside him only to be replaced with confusion as he saw someone enter the house. He shared the flat with only one other person, and said person was supposed to be home filling out paper work… Alfred’s pace quickened, despite the protest his body gave him, as his protective nature threatened to come back out.

     It was no secret that Alfred hated her jobs. He hated the way that the other men would treat her and hated the fact that she couldn’t work with him in the capitol. There he could keep her safe from the animals that appeared in this disaster, but no matter how many times he would beg, plead, and scream that she was just as much help as he was none of the big shots in Washington would listen. If he could have his way Amelia wouldn’t have to work at all and she could live like a queen, like they both used to, but even he knew that his wages, which were getting smaller and smaller by the day, weren’t enough to keep them going alone. 

     This was especially true with the holiday season coming up. He didn’t want this to be the first year he didn’t get Amelia something for Christmas, and so he picked up extra jobs when he could get them. It was hard, not only for the fact that jobs were few and far in between but also because it killed Alfred to see one of his people go without work, and possibly without food for his family, because of him. Hunger gnawed at his stomach, which only served as a reminder of how his people were suffering worse than him, and as he reached the house it only worsed at the thought of some food laying behind that door.

Her eyes took in her brother's appearance. The bags under his eyes looked even more defined then they were yesterday which made the woman alarmed. "You should go to bed, Al." she stepped over to her brother, placing her wet hand on his shoulder. Her hair lost its original curl and now sunk on her head. She needed a shower, but the idea of the water bill made her hold off on the luxury. "You had to work all day."

Perhaps she could pick up some extra shifts at the diner. It would be more money for everything in general. The idea made her stomach ache. She rubbed her head feeling a headache on top of the rest of her sore limbs. There was no medicine in the house. Too costly to buy though Amelia thought about breaking her budget rule just for a few moments of pain Alfred and she had been dealing with for a couple of years now. "I have to fill out that paperwork the Capitol sent me. I'll give it to you tomorrow morning."