AllFreeNovel
Share Us
From a newsstand, Delilah grabbed several copies of the day’s competing newspapers. Her goal, rather than going business to business, was to find classified sections in newspapers. Moving through all of the businesses in the city one by one was impractical, especially considering all the remote and work-at-home jobs.
One had several niche job listings, but most were sketchy or specialized.The Fast Timeshad a meager classified section that mostly featured fast food and receptionist jobs, something to consider.The Boudoirincluded a much more comprehensive classified section, but it was too much to glaze over.
“Can I help you?” the man running the booth asked.
“Oh, sorry!” Delilah said. “Just looking.”
“You wanna look, you gotta buy,” he replied.
He reminded Delilah of Cheech Marin with black hair that barely ran around his head, a wide nose, an approachable face, and a stained white tee. Delilah handed him ten dollars for all three and a pack of gum.
“If you’re looking for jobs,” he told her, unsolicited. “I find it’s best to talk to the owner. You’ll find a lot more jobs open up to you that way.”
“Thanks,” Delilah offered a kind grin. It made her uncomfortable that he had been scrutinizing her the whole time, but she tried to be gracious.
She curled up on a nearby bench, watching pigeons flutter by and eat bread crumbs left on the pavement. Lying down on her back, she flipped open the newspapers, looking a little closer. She found several medical trials, and she briefly considered that might be a last-ditch desperate option before realizing her anatomy wasn’t even compatible with many drugs.
She noticed an elderly couple on a far-off bench, throwing the bread crumbs she had just seen for the birds and commenting on their eccentricities. They laughed at how one of the birds waddled around and did a dance whenever he found a crumb. They seemed so happy together.
Her hair blew into her face with the force of a coming gale, and she brushed it out of her eyes. The bench was metal and uncomfortable but she loved people watching. The electric tram stopped a few feet away, and Delilah watched passengers disembark.
Coming off the tram, a group of cosplayers huddled together against the strong wind, holding their props tightly.
“If they only knew,”she muttered to herself, looking at the cosplayer dressed in a large wolf suit.
Delilah’s mind ran wild with all of the colors around her. She thought back to the captivity she had recently experienced and shuddered. She knew she should be more worried, a lone shifter roaming the city, but she was just happy to befree.
Freedom was taking time to enjoy your surroundings. It meant not being owned by a man who would just as easily sell you off. It meant owning your time and getting to decide when to use it and when to waste it.
She was free to binge-watch TV all day as long as she could find a job to support herself. She was free to order in a pizza and stay home. Not tonight, though. Today she was getting groceries like a responsible adult. She rolled up the newspapers and stuck them in her travel bag, smiling at the elderly couple.
The Lakeside Marketplace had a grocery store, several eateries, and an outside dining area to serve them. Several women in wide-brimmed hats sat together arguing politics.
When she walked in the sliding door, she grabbed a cart and began moving through the store. Over the loudspeaker, peaceful and reflective indie music played, calming Delilah’s anxiety.
She loved to shop, even just for groceries. Partly, she loved the colors and how clear and organized everything was. Partly, she just loved being around people.
What she didn’t like about shopping was having to fight herself on what to purchase. Everything she threw in her cart was a critical-thinking decision and required financial analysis. Apples were technically cheaper in a bundle, but was she going to eat them in time?
Her purchases were extremely limited because she didn’t have an oven or a full-size freezer. She was going to be limited to one TV dinner, some canned goods, and sandwiches.
As she fought herself over her shopping decisions, her cart intersected with something very broad and sturdy. At first, she thought it was another cart, but then realized that the soft thud had been clothing not metal.
“I’m so sorry!” she spun, apologizing profusely.
There she saw a tall man with red hair who looked fit and well-built. She couldn’t help admiring the physique before her, his tightly cultivated musculature covered with form-fitting clothes. As he turned around, Delilah was lost in his hazel-golden eyes and ginger beard.
“No problem at all,” the man rumbled.
Delilah laughed nervously. “Sorry. It’s not like you’re easy to miss.” He raised a ginger eyebrow in response, and Delilah realized that she had probably let her thoughts slip. “I mean… never mind. Sorry again.” She strode off, cringing.
It took all her strength not to turn and catch a last look at him, but something caught her nose. Was it peppers? There were peppers nearby, but this smelled more like ground black pepper. Or was it something else?
Delilah instantly recognized that the scent must have been coming from his cologne before a feeling of panic set in. The familiar scent wasn’t fruit or cologne, it was the scent of a pack alpha. That man was a fellow shifter.
Her mind ran through all sorts of improbable scenarios as her feet moved her abruptly through the store.
“I didn’t catch your name!” he called out after her before some other realization took hold. She turned and watched as it dawned on him too that she was a shifter, and he gave chase.
