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I don’t have time to think about how Remi would punish me if I lose her, so I put the thoughts to the back of my mind and press on. Even without details, I know the consequences would be horrific for me. I had one job, and I failed.
Without a second thought, I begin asking people walking past me if they’ve seen her. I describe her in detail, but as soon as I mention her age, they tune me out completely. It’s not hard to figure out why they might not want to come to the aid of a large, imposing man who is desperately searching for a young woman.
Continuing to ignore the intrusive thoughts of my impending demise, I walk through the crowd on a quest to find Mika. I don’t know if this is some kind of game to her, but she’ll have to learn sooner than later that she can’t fuck with me like this. She thinks she’ssofucking cute and conniving when she’s just a bitch who needs to get a hobby.
The rain begins to fall harder and I’m ready to lose my mind before I see her familiar silhouette wandering the inside of a dress shop on the other side of the street. The floor-to-ceiling windows did a poor job of concealing her, which is the only positive thing I can say about the architecture of luxury shops. Aside from that, they’re all just excessively polished mausoleums where the living dead search for the next hideous bag or watch that will give their life meaning again.
As I approach the crosswalk, I realize that finding Mika feels more like a game now that I know I’ve won. There’s something gratifying aboutcatchingher, playing the part of a predator chasing its prey and succeeding in the hunt. It’s an unusual feeling for me to be having, and it’s certainly not something I know how to process in the current moment.
Great, more feelings that I need to suppress.
This job might be harder than I thought it would be.
Mika notices me through the window, and she runs deeper into the store in order for me to lose sight of her. As long as the store doesn’t have any alternate exits, she’s as good as mine. All I have to do is wait for her to get bored with the game and come out. What else could she possibly stand to gain from this?
I’ll wait for her in the rain if I have to. After all, she’s my number-one priority right now, even if it pains me to believe it. After everything I’ve gone through to get where I am, at the end of the day, I’m still just a nanny for an ungrateful brat.
5
MIKA
It was far too easy to slip away from Dominik, but he’s caught up with me just as quickly as I ran. I thought that this dress shop would be a good place to sneak into since it’s on the other side of the street, but these windows are doing me no favors.
My heart sinks in my chest as soon as I see him. My first reaction is to sprint out the door, back down the sidewalk into any hole in the ground that will keep me away from Dominik. The act of escaping from him was fun, and it’s been so long since I felt a thrill like this. But now that I’ve seen his enraged eyes from a hundred feet away, I know I’m in for far more than I anticipated. I have a feeling that he isn’t going to think this is funny at all.
I hide behind a display with five mannequins standing on top of it, hoping desperately that the excessive length of their gowns will conceal me long enough to find a way out. There must be another door, possibly through the back of the store where the employees hang out. I’ve never had a job before, but I can only assume that there’s more than one point of entry.
One of the employees notices my erratic behavior, and as I’d expect of someone who works for a luxury good store, she approaches swiftly.
“Hello, are you finding everything alright?” she asks with an unfriendly, cold smile and warning eyes.
“Um, yes, I’m fine. I just need a little more time, I think,” I reply, my face breaking out in a thin sheen of sweat.
She scans me from head to toe, fixing her gaze on the necklace I’m wearing. “Alright, just let me know if you need anything.”
Damn it. Now she’ll be watching to make sure I don’t steal anything, and that means she’ll notice right away if I try to escape through another door. I’m insulted that she believes I’d steal, as if I’veeverhad to steal. She should be able to tell just from looking at me that I can more than afford anything here.
I know that the last thing Dominik wants to do is cause a scene or attract attention, which I can use to my advantage. If he stays outside the store for too long, someone will tell him to leave.
Grabbing a few dresses and skirts from the rack nearest to me, I make my way over to the fitting rooms. I figure they’re my best bet as far as hiding places go. If he does have the balls to enter the shop, he still wouldn’t dare to come into the women’s fitting area.
As though my luck couldn’t get any worse, the associate who apprehended me before is the one assigning fitting rooms to customers. When she sees me, she walks right up to me and takes each item out of my hands.
“Okay, looks like you have five pieces here. What occasion are you shopping for? This dress in particular has been really popular for fall weddings,” she rambles, running her hand over the fabric as if it were warm water.
“Um, nothing really, I’m just looking around and wanted to try these on,” I reply, my throat closing as I begin to panic. This woman isn’t going to just let me disappear into the fitting rooms. She’s going to be up my ass for every minute that I’m here until I’ve bought something. She probably makes commission.
That same soulless, insincere smile appears on her face with the dead eyes to match. “Oh, well, do remember that our sizing is exact, and if one of the garments tears due to incorrect size, you will have to purchase it.”
I want to scream. I’m not even here to buy anything to begin with, and she’s going to make sure I’ve spent at least two hundred dollars before she lets me anywhere near an exit.
“Really, I think I’ll be okay. I just want to try these on,” I reply defensively.
She nods in a curt, rigid manner as she leads me to an open room. “Let me know if you need anything,” she says before she closes the door in my face.
Now I’m hidden, but that also means I have no idea where Dominik is. At the very worst, he’ll call my father to come coax me out of the store. I need to convince myself that’s the worst-case scenario. All that’ll happen is that I’m scolded and can’t go out with Dominik anymore. Itishis fault that I got away, after all.
But now I feel more trapped than ever.
