Ella got out of the car as soon as she reached the entrance of the mall. The place being constantly under crowd, the car had to be parked up in the underground space, which left both Roy and Ella to get in the crowd on their own. Though she had entered before Roy could keep up to her, she was scanning the area as she went by looking for a certain fellow. Not being able to find him, she made her way to the washrooms. She quickly got in one of the cubicles and rummaged for the phone she had hidden in the inner part of her thigh through a belt. She messaged him, 'Meet me at the Darlings Square. I am being followed. Be careful.' She was about to switch it off and place it back in her legs when the phone vibrated indicating a message, 'Already on my way.' Satisfied, Ella kept the phone back and flushed the toilet as an excuse of her using it; she was on her way out to the wash basin when she found Roy to be leaning on the wash basin. Not only that, but he had managed to make the other women in there to feel at ease and was flirting with them.
"So you see miss, that is how it is done. You never know when you would need to defend yourself from an attack which could come to you from anywhere."
"I'm sure we will learn a lot from what you taught us", said one of the desperate ones.
"Will you do it again, I'll record for future reference," this time it was a teenage girl running too high on her hormones. Before he could reply, Ella said, "Why, isn't there a lady to teach here about self-defense?"
"You see we need to grab attention than just teach. It makes them learn better." He said and continued, "I can teach you too."
She smiled tightly, "Why not! Wait here for me till I get some gears on me to learn." His face fell at that and she was aware it would be difficult for him to get out of the clutches of those women. Ella exited the washroom after that. At first she was furious at him for going through these lengths in order to keep an eye on her, but she left him at his own game now. Smirking with satisfaction, she hurried up to the shop which was located in the next floor, almost running over the escalator, she finally reached there.
As Ella emerged in there, a loud noise erupted leading her to shut her ears with her fingers. She thought she heard a monster when she looked up slowly to find her dear friend with her mouth open looking at her like she was a ghost.
"How many times did I tell you to put your voice down Carl!"
"Oh my frigging panties! Are you for real? Oh yes you are. Only you call me that boy name." Carla said to her partly accusing and partly surprising.
"Well you look exactly like one. It isn't hard for me to say that to you."
Ella sighed and looked over to her friend who was the co-owner of this shop which specialized in the undergarments for men and women. She had short hair close to make her look like a boy, she would dream of having long hair, which was futile due to her genetic condition that was passed upon in her family leading her hair to grow excruciatingly slow. Not only that, she wore up a wig to diminish that fact. She had her own design of the garments made which helped soar her brand much higher. She claimed to believe that the garments would help in satisfaction for the both sexes, and 'there won't be a requirement for any other sex tools'; were her words. Least to say that statement was her brand promotion tag, which surprisingly led to many customers especially middle-aged and old women, to line up the counters. By the next moment of thought Ella was hurdled up by her friend in a bone-crushing hug.
"I missed you so much my panty."
"Ugh, you are crushing me!"
"Well you won't be. I'll take care of you very carefully", Carla winked at her.
"I need you to hide me. There will be a man who will come finding me, only then bring him to me. No one else, this is too important." Her serious face scared her friend. She didn't want to trouble her much, but Carl was her only bet now.
"What have you shitted upon now?" Carl's choice of words reminded Ella about who she was talking to. It was difficult to grasp up with her.
"I haven't shi- I just need to talk to him. My boyfriend doesn't like me talking to him," other than that Ella couldn't think of any other excuse.
"Oooh. You've got men lining up after your-" "Carla! Will you help me or not?"
"Sure. Hide up in the changing room." Ella started heading to the area and away from any other questions from her friend.
"Wait! I'm supposed to bring in someone who would be calling your name?"
"Precisely. Yes." Carla agreed, not before threatening Ella to hear her whole story of what was going on. Ella sat on the stool and waited up. She decided to call him up again, when suddenly the door of the small changing room banged. The sudden sound led to her dropping the phone which clashed on the floor with a small thud. Hurriedly clutching the phone, she shouted, "Occupied."
"Are you? I'll wait." It was Nick. Ella opened the door and not too gently pulled him inside within a blink of a second. "Oommf!"
"Your ways of crashing into me seem to be highly toxic day by day Ella."
"Actually I pulled you to me. So it was the other way round."
"Yeah and it was your fault. Totally."
Ella was about to argue back when she glared at him, "Stop distracting me. I don't have much time, he would be searching for me. I need your help." He looked at her questioningly. She continued, "I need a lawyer to make the change of the legacy. I can't exactly hire one, which is why you will do it for me. This has to be out of any other's knowledge. Not your uncle, not the Kings' no one." By the time she finished speaking, she was breathing heavily and looking at Nick to make sure he understood her clearly.
He nodded at her. Before he could say anything more she said, "Good. Now leave."
"That's it? I thought we were going to spend time together." He complained.
"It's not the right time Nick. I can't be seen with you. Roy is suspicious of us. He knows that I didn't come here alone but with you. I can't let anything happen to you. You are my last ally here. Will you be with me?"
"Do you have to ask? I'll go to wherever you want me to." Nick said while cupping her face. She rested her face in his hands, closing her eyes and wound up her arms around him to hug him. He responded tightly.
"Go through the other door, it's on the left from here. You will be out in the stairs." Ella said while pulling away from him. She didn't know what she felt for him or for anything in her life, but she knew she couldn't lose another person in her life. She had been lonely too long to be desperate to have hope. Hope for better. She opened the door for him to leave, when he bent down to give her a kiss on her lips which stayed a few seconds after he pulled back, "Stay safe Ella. I'll take you back from there."
Her eyes prickled at the love shining in his eyes and she nodded at him. After he left, she closed the door with a loud click and cried standing there. If this was how she would be grasping happiness only to let go of it the next moment, she wasn't sure whether she wanted to even have a glimpse of it now. Ella wiped her eyes and left the room with more determination to be away from here, away from the corporation, and away from the throne. She was definitely not chosen to be the one to lead.
She came over to the front of the counter to find her friend putting on a strap of bra on the model, so in tuned in her work. She smiled at that and said, "Thanks Carl. You are the best."
"Oh fret not, babe. This one here always has a room for your necessities." Carla turned to face her and winked.
"What necessities Ella?" The cold question boomed the heart rate of both the women standing parallel to the entrance door. Unfortunately the door didn't have a bell to jingle and let them know about the sudden intrusion.