Cheap

Author: Sierra (AliasSydney502)
Genre: S/V
Summary: Sydney’s at the bottom of the food chain, Vaughn’s at the top.
Disclaimer: Sydney, Vaughn, etc are properties of JJ Abrams and ABC. Not mine, unfortunately.

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Chapters 1-6 // Chapters 7-12 // Chapters 13-18 // Chapters 19-23 + Epilogues

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Chapter 1


“Can you spare a dollar, sir?” Sydney asked, holding out her hands that were barely covered in ragged mittens, begging for money from strangers. She had been living on the streets since she was eighteen. So, she panhandled for a living, but she wouldn’t call this living.

”Did you see Lauren’s new purse?” Her best friend Francie Calfo whispered to her in study hall. “I mean, it says PRADO!” She laughed and Sydney joined in.

“She is so cheap.” Sydney added.

“If you can’t afford it, don’t even try.” Francie rolled her eyes. It was known throughout the school that Lauren was there only because of financial aid and scholarships, which meant she was poor.

“I bet she can’t even afford ‘Targé’.” Sydney joked, making the name of Target sound classy by pronouncing it in French. They continued laughing and kept talking through the rest of the bell.

“Go back to the gutter.” The man replied, cruelly pushing her back into the alley she called home. It contained all of her belongings. Which was basically a box, an old blanket, and the clothes on her back. She stumbled to the ground, not bothering to get back up again. If she didn’t have money to get food, what was the point?

Sydney looked down at her old, ripped clothing that hung loosely on her scrawny frame. She looked every bit the beggar she was. She hadn’t had new clothes in a very long time, but she was used to it.

Sydney crawled back into her home, a cardboard box sitting up against a tall building in a dark alley. She pulled her only blanket over her body to keep the chill away. With the many rips and holes in the fabric, she never failed to shiver at night. But she didn’t cry. She hadn’t cried in a long, long time. She knew it wouldn’t make life any better.

***

“Stacy, I need you to get in touch with my two o’clock and tell them I’m going to be running a little late and you can cancel the staff meeting and move it to tomorrow.” Michael Vaughn talked into his cell phone as he walked down the crowded sidewalk. If he didn’t find the building soon, he was going to be late with a very important client. Even being the president of his own company, Vaughn & Co., he still had to bend over backwards for his special clients.

“Yes sir. I’ll get right on that Mr. Vaughn.” He cringed, having told her to call him Michael a million times. Mr. Vaughn was his dad, not him. It made him feel old to be called that.

“I’ll talk to you later.” He looked at his watch and cursed under his breath at the time. “I have a meeting to be late for.” He hung up, slipping his phone into his pant pocket. He walked the sidewalk for another moment before coming to a stop outside a very large, very shiny building.

His client’s name was etched in stone on the outside of the building and he entered through the glass doors. Looking around the classily decorated lobby, he couldn’t help but think this guy must’ve made thousands of dollars a day.



Chapter 2


A glimmering object caught her eye as it entered the alley. Sydney focused her eyes on what appeared to be a watch skidding towards her. Looking up at the many people passing by on the sidewalk, she saw that no one was searching for it. It had probably been dropped and kicked into the alley by accident.

She rose to her feet, approaching it slowly. She picked it up and was shocked to see that it looked expensive. It was shiny silver, obviously real, and the glass wasn’t cut or scraped. The inscribed ‘ROLEX’ on the band furthered the idea that it was expensive.

Smiling at her discovery, Sydney took it back to her box for safekeeping. She knew she could get a lot of money at a pawnshop for this kind of thing. She just hoped they would believe she didn’t steal it.

She wondered about the man who dropped it, as it was obviously a man’s watch. Did he deserve to loose something so precious? Or did he work hard for his money? Was he handsome? Was he kind?

She shook her head, ridding her mind of thoughts like that. Daydreaming would help her situation about as much as a thunderstorm on a cold night. Clutching the watch to her chest, she fell asleep for a while, happy that she might be able to actually buy something when she awoke later.

***

“Thanks for meeting with me on such short notice.” His client thanked him at the end of the meeting. Michael shook his hand and noticed his wrist felt lighter than normal. When he pulled up his sleeve, he saw that his watch was gone. It had been a gift from his father for his birthday that year. Maybe the clamp came loose during the meeting and it fell off, he thought.

“Have you seen my watch?” Michael asked, ducking under the table to check the floor.

“Where did you last have it?” The man asked, checking around the meeting room.

“Um... I last checked the time when I was on the sidewalk… so somewhere between here and there.” He deduced. Not finding it in the conference room, he said goodbye and headed outside.

The overwhelming New York crowds made him stop in his tracks and wonder how he was going to find his watch and not get trampled.

***

Sydney glanced out of her box as she awoke later that afternoon. A man was standing still among the moving traffic of people on the sidewalk. She wondered why he wasn’t going anywhere and what he was doing. He was looking around at people’s feet.

Suddenly realizing that this man probably was the owner of the lost watch, she tucked it into a pocket on her coat. She should probably return it, but she needed the money more than he did, obviously.

***

The task felt hopeless, he thought as his eyes searched the ground on the sidewalk. There were too many people walking by to be able to see much of the ground. If it had been dropped out here, it wouldn’t still be on the sidewalk. Someone would have kicked it, or picked it up, or stepped on it.

His eyes suddenly connected with a young girl in the alley to his left, sitting in a cardboard box. He could plainly see she was homeless, but there was a chance she could have seen where his watch went.

He pushed through the crowd, keeping his eyes on her. He entered the alley, slowly approaching her box. When he got a clear view of her face, he could tell she was afraid. It probably wasn’t everyday a random man walked up to her.

“Excuse me… Um… have you seen a watch?” He asked, trying not to scare her.



Chapter 3


“No.” She answered quickly and he seemed to accept her answer and sighed.

“Damn it.” He cursed, running his hand over his furrowed brow. She had the chance to study his features a bit as he looked up and down the alley. He was attractive, to say the least. And she probably looked like trash. Well, she was trash to his kind. A thought crossed her mind and she wondered what his name was.

“It was a gift from my dad.” He explained, feeling the need to explain why he was talking to her.

‘I wish my dad would give me things like that.’ Sydney thought bitterly. ‘If he even cares anymore.’

“I’m Michael by the way. Michael Vaughn.” He stretched out his hand, and she wondered why he hadn’t left already. Had he really believed her lie? She hadn’t even said more than one word to him and he was practically telling her his life story. “And you are?”

“Sydney.” She answered, shaking his hand lightly, feeling dirty compared to his clean, washed hands.

“Sydney…?” He asked, not wiping his hand off on something as she had thought he would. She had more dirt on her hands than a construction crew. Maybe he just though it would be impolite. She smiled, feeling semi-human now that someone was treating her like one.

“Just Sydney.” She answered. They stood and sat there, just staring at each other for another moment before he spoke again.

"Well, I gotta go grab some lunch." Michael said, tucking his hands in his pockets. "Thanks for your help." He walked towards the sidewalk, pausing to look back at her before leaving the alley.

***

Once he was gone, Sydney pulled out the watch to re-examine it. It seemed different somehow. Now she knew who the owner was and felt guilty for not giving it back. He had been nice to her, unlike everyone else. He took time out of his day to talk to her. He treated her like she was normal, not just sewer trash. But he still walked away.

***

As Michael was about to bite into his sandwich, his thoughts returned to the girl he had met in the ally. Sydney.

He wondered what she was doing right then, guessing she wasn't eating lunch. He felt sorry for her that she had to live in a box and go hungry, when other people spent money like Vanilla Ice.

He felt guilty for rubbing it in her face like that when he walked away. 'I've got to get some lunch', he might has well have said 'I get to eat while you sit here, ha ha' and taunted her. He pitied her for living her life that way because she had seemed like a nice girl.

He continued to eat his lunch, his thoughts never leaving Sydney.

***

Standing at the opening of her alley, Sydney politely asked for money from people passing by. Most chose to ignore her, not even bothering to look her way as they walked by. Some dropped spare change into her hands and she thanked them profusely. When she had around four dollars in change, she walked to the corner in search of a cheap place to eat.

She found a vender set up and selling hotdogs near the curb. She held her money tightly in her hands, not wanting to drop any.

“What can I get ya, sweetie?” The vender asked, ready to take her order.

“Um… What is there to choose from?” Sydney replied, having not bought a hotdog in a long time.

“Ketchup, mustard, relish, mayo… What eva ya little heart desires.” He smiled at her.

“Um… I’ll have one with just ketchup please. How much is it?” Sydney asked, ready to count out her change to pay him.

“Two-fity.” He answered, holding out her hotdog and reaching with his other hand to get paid.

She counted out the change, dropping it in his hand. They exchanged goodbyes and Sydney walked back toward her alley, a smile on her face, food in her hand, and some change still in her pocket.



Chapter 4


His mouth hung open slightly as he took in the sight before him. Sydney sat in her box, hungrily chomping down a hotdog. There he was, thinking she would be starving out here and instead, she was eating.

“Hey, I brought you food.” He whined, walking over and making his presence known. She looked surprised to see him again and lowered the food from her mouth.

“Why?” She asked, wondering again why he was being so nice to her. She was also suspicious to why he came back and didn’t know if he had ulterior motives. He probably had better things to do than try to feed homeless people.

“I thought you might be hungry…” Michael tried to explain when he didn’t know himself why he had gotten the sandwich for her. She popped the last piece of her hotdog into her mouth.

“I’m fine.” She said mechanically. He stared at her for a while, until she looked back up at him slightly annoyed. “What? I’m not gonna pay for it if that’s what you’re waiting for. I didn’t ask for it.”

“No, I was just feeling stupid.” He grinned and her heart fluttered. “Of course you can get your own food, I just… thought I could help.”

“I don’t need any help.” Sydney said forcefully, feeling the need to defend herself. She didn’t want anyone’s pity. She thought he might be different. In some ways, he was, but in others…

“If you don’t want it… I guess I’ll just leave.” Michael turned from her, purposely walking slowly out of the alley.

“Wait!” She called, rising to stand. He turned and grinned at her. He knew she wouldn’t let him walk away with perfectly good food.

“Yes?” He asked, playing innocent. He took in her height, thinking her to be shorter. Of course he hadn’t seen her stand up, so he was just guessing. She was only a few inches shorter than him.

“Can I have it?” She asked, looking away from him. She really needed the food and even though she wasn’t so sure she should eat it, anything was better than what she could afford. “Please.”

“Certainly.” Michael smiled, handing it over to her. “And since you asked so politely,” He laughed. “You can join me for lunch tomorrow too.”

***

“I don’t think that’s a good idea.” Sydney cringed, taking a step back with the sandwich clutched to her chest. She didn’t know him and he certainly didn’t know her.

“It was just a suggestion.” He noticed her defensive posture, feeling like an idiot for springing that on her. “You don’t have to say yes.” He backtracked. “I’m just the world’s biggest idiot.”

“No, it’s just… I don’t know you very well…” Sydney tried to get him to see her side.

“I know. I’m sorry. Never mind. I’ll just leave.” He turned to leave again, this time for real, before she gently placed her hand on his arm to stop him.

“Well, I would, but I don’t have anything else to wear and you don’t wanna be seen with me like this.” Sydney gestured to her dirty, tattered clothes. He frowned and sighed, racking his brain for an idea. Anything to make her see that she wasn’t just a homeless person. To make her see that she wasn’t worthless.

“Well, you could come back to my place to get cleaned up, I live just down the street.”



Chapter 5


“Ok, lunch was a bit questionable, but that was just too forward.” Sydney replied, looking at him like he had three heads.

“I didn’t mean it like that.” Michael ran a hand through his hair and she briefly felt the desire to do the same with her own hand. “I meant like, when was the last time you had a hot shower and clean clothes?”

“A long time ago…” She answered hesitantly.

“That’s all. Nothing else. I promise.” He said sincerely.

She wasn’t too keen on going to his place, mainly because she didn’t know if he was some creepy pervert, but the idea of a hot shower and clean, fresh clothes clouded her better judgment. “I guess it’d be ok…” She mumbled, looking at the ground.

“Ok.” Michael smiled slightly, leading the way down the street to his apartment. She followed behind him, casting weary glances around as they walked. The doorman gave him a strange look as he opened the door for them, taking in Sydney’s apparel. They stood in the elevator and Michael noticed the way Sydney took in the gold trim and clean walls. She looked like she was lost in a memory.

“Wow.” She breathed, when the doors chimed and he opened his door to reveal his apartment. The walls were all painted in shades of blue and there was a modern theme to the furniture. The couch faced a built in fireplace and Sydney almost teared up at the sight before her. She hadn’t seen anything like this since she was a teenager.

Michael walked right in, ignoring the grandness around him. To him it was just the same boring, cold apartment it had always been. He left her in the foyer to look around while he went into the bathroom to get a towel and shampoo out for her. He returned to the living room to find her sitting on the couch, running a gentle hand over the suede. He found a sense of peace in watching her explore her surroundings like a young child.

“The bathroom is right back there and I set out a towel and some shampoo for you too. I only have a bottle of some stuff I got at a hotel, but it’s the closest to girl’s shampoo I have.” He apologized.

“That’s fine. I’m not picky.” Sydney smiled at him, a blush rising to her cheeks. She thanked him again before wondering down the hall to the bathroom. It was painted golden yellow and had lavish furnishings. The shower was a large cavern that was formed by glass blocks and positioned against a wall covered in tile. To say it was pretty was an understatement.

***

Michael stood in the livingroom, not having thought out his plan further than there. Now he had her in his apartment, in his shower, and he had no idea what to do. He probably shouldn’t have invited her over, he probably shouldn’t have offered to let her take a shower, but he felt sorry for her living out there on the streets all alone and cold. He had the best of intentions, but he wasn’t sure how to approach the situation now.

Should he make some food? Should he watch TV? Should he take a nap? Should he just sit on the couch until she was done?

He knew she would take a long shower, because who wouldn’t when they hadn’t had one in a long time? He tried not to think of her in the shower and decided to busy himself with another task. He would make her some lunch with whatever he had in the refrigerator.

One look in his cabinets and he could tell that he hadn’t been to the store in a while. He always ate out and never had the need to buy food. Home was just a place to sleep to him. He rarely was there for any other reason. He found a good loaf of bread in a cabinet and found some peanut butter and jelly in the fridge. They would just have to eat simply.

He prepared two PB & J sandwiches and cut them in half. Placing them on plates, he saw that only ten minutes had elapsed. His thoughts again returned to Sydney and her ragged clothes. They were probably dirty and ripped. He would have thrown them in the wash if he thought they would be able to properly keep her warm. Instead, he went into his room and retrieved some of his old clothes that were too small for him. They would hopefully fit Sydney.

Walking down the hallway to the bathroom, he suddenly realized he couldn’t just hand them to her. She was obviously in the shower and would probably freak out if he went in there. He knew you couldn’t see into the shower from the doorway because of the glass blocks, but she didn’t.

“Um… Sydney?” He called through the door.



Chapter 6


“Yeah?” She called back, in the midst of shampooing her hair. She lowered her arms, covering her chest.

“Um… I got some clean clothes for you…” Michael struggled to find the right words. “I was just gonna put them on the counter for you…” When she didn’t reply, he took that as a positive response and slowly opened the door a crack. The counter was luckily right near the door and he didn’t even have to step in to set the clothes down. He closed the door and took a deep breath. “Ok, you can go back to what you were doing…”

“Um… thanks.” Sydney replied, nervously checking around the shower wall to see that he had left them on the counter right next to the door. Realizing she was probably wasting water, she hurriedly finished her shower.

***

After conditioning her hair, Sydney toweled herself off and reached for the clothes Michael had left for her. She held them up to her skinny body in the mirror and saw that, while they wouldn’t be tight, they weren’t too much bigger than what she would have worn.

She put them on happily, savoring the feel of being clean. She wrapped the towel around her hair, hoping he wouldn’t mind, and opened the door. Walking down the hallway to the livingroom, she noticed again how fancy and shiny his home was. She would give anything to have what he had.

“Oh, hey.” Michael greeted when he heard her walk into the room as he was watching the flat screen above the fireplace. He turned around and was shocked at how pretty she looked. Even though the clothes didn’t fit perfectly, she still looked gorgeous in them. Her face had that hot shower glow to it and he was amazed he hadn’t seen her beauty before.

“Thanks for the clothes, by the way.” Sydney blushed, feeling awkward for wearing his clothes. “And the shower.”

“It’s no biggie.” He said modestly, still staring at her. “Oh, I made us some sandwiches… it was all I could find around here.”

“You really didn’t have to.”

“But I already did, now you have to eat it.” Michael compromised, smiling at her as she cautiously sat next to him on the couch. She picked up the sandwich and looked under the bread to see what it was. She laughed when all she saw was peanut butter and jelly.

“Wow, what a meal.” She teased.

“I’m not the best cook, as you might have noticed.” He flirted. “Even though my mom tried to teach me a thousand times. I just didn’t get all the French recipes and what was the point when you could just order out?”

“Your French?” Sydney asked after swallowing her first small bite.

“Yeah, I grew up in France until I was eighteen, then I moved here.” Michael explained.

“Wow.” She replied. “It’s totally different isn’t it?” She asked and he wondered if she knew what France was like. She sounded like she had been there before.

“Have you ever been?” He asked.

“Only when I was younger.” She admitted, changing the subject. She didn’t want to tell him her life story, she would be gone in a matter of minutes anyway. “Your home is just amazing.” She complimented.

“It’s ok I guess.”

“Are you kidding? Oh, I would kill for this kind of stuff.” She gushed; looking at all the expensive things she didn’t have any hope of ever getting.

“Eh, it’s not real homey. It’s just kinda there.” Michael admitted, seeing his home differently than she did. “It’s like I only sleep here. It’s not like some of my friend’s houses. Theirs just seem so… inviting.” He didn’t know why he was telling her all this, but he couldn’t help but want to tell someone. “I guess it’s because they have someone to come home to every night.”



Chapters 7-12