" What's going on here? "
A man in a dark navy blue suit came out of the shop's office. He was Mr. Rob Fuller, the shop's manager.
Before he even gets closer, Chloe's phone suddenly rings and she turns around and takes a few steps away from Mirage to answer it. But then she went outside of the shop to answer the call.
" Mr. Fuller! "
Lydia's face suddenly lit up and she felt relief upon seeing the manager. And then she acted up.
" Mr. Fuller, I made a mistake. I thought she was a thief so I confronted her. But she has the VVIP card. But I don't know who she is. "
Mirage stood there looking bored as the time passed by and didn't mind what the saleslady just said. Lydia knew how to behave in front of him. She was professional and respected him so far. And when he saw that Mirage was not going to give an explanation as to what happened, he decided to talk some sense into Lydia.
He walked toward where Lydia was standing and put his hand on top of her shoulder and smiled at her warmly.
" It's okay. If you did something wrong, apologize to the person you've wronged. And you should also need to be careful with your words when you confront others but then you should never be afraid to speak your mind."
The way he said that lacks empathy towards Mirage who was being judged over and over again. He just wanted to seek sympathy for him and Lydia that represents their shop by saying flowery words.
The girl nodded but she didn't really want to apologize after everything that had happened.
" I'm sorry for suspecting you. "
Lydia said, trying hard to hide her disgust. Her words obviously lack sincerity.
" You don't need to apologize if you don't want to. "
Mirage simply said, which makes Mr. Fuller's lips twitch and Lydia's brow arched.
" So, where did you get your copy of this? "
Mr. Rob Fuller said while he picked up the card on top of the glass display. It looks quite the real thing after he examined it. Lydia sneered.
" Maybe she picked that up somewhere. "
' They're getting on my nerves. '
Mirage thought to herself. This whole thing was simply ridiculous in every possible way. She didn't want to go shopping and ended up being caught into an annoying drama with annoying people. She's being branded as a shoplifter, accused of forgery and now a swindler as they thought she was using someone else's card.
' Can't this situation get a little more awful? '
Mirage sighed when she saw Chloe outside of the shop talking seriously on her phone.
' She's the reason why I'm in this mess and she's busy having a chit chat right now. Great. '
And the people in the shop keep eyeing her and exchanging comments about her situation.
" She doesn't bother at all, does she? "
" Is the card really hers? "
" Why isn't she saying anything? "
" Maybe she picked it up somewhere? "
" What's your name Ma'am? "
Mr. Fuller asked.
" Why don't you just check if the card is fake or what? If it's mine or not? Or just call the owner of Equinox? That will surely sort things out faster. "
Mirage said lazily as she sat down on the stool resting around the sides of one of the pillars of the shop, a few steps away from the watches display where they are. The other staff kept staring at them but she paid them no attention.
She heard the manager scoff and Lydia rolled her eyes. She already feels stressed enough with all these comments surrounding her. And Mr. Fuller is making it worse by questioning her actions without listening to any of what she had said.
" Do you really think you're being funny? "
She gave him another sarcastic glare, causing him to chuckle bitterly. He looked at the card in his hand.
" Do you think we wouldn't find out that this is a counterfeit? "
Mirage just wanted to disappear. She doesn't really think he would drag this on. She doesn't want to waste her time but she doesn't want to talk either. She doesn't really mind whatever they think about her right now, she just wants to go home but she doesn't want to explain everything herself.
' They will definitely say I'm a psycho if I told them I'm one of the owners of Equinox, right? And they'll just start to blabber and spew nonsense some more '
" That's why I'm telling you to check it out. There's a serial number in every card and all you gotta do is check that out on your system. And the fastest and easiest way is to call your CEO to save us from all this drama. Can't you just do that? "
Mirage said, sounding really tired and annoyed this time. She could also drag Chloe inside and let her clear everything out so they could go home already but she's still on her damn phone.
' She actually has the guts to wave at me from outside? She's really impossible! '
" You really have the audacity to suggest that we call the owner of this whole shopping center? " Lydia said fuming.
" She's unbelievably a good actress, isn't she? " Rob Fuller said, also getting annoyed.
Mirage rolls her eyes.
' How dumb are they? Are they for real? '
" Listen, I don't care about what you two think about me. Just check out the card. End of story. "
Mirage said while putting her arms crossed over her chest in an attempt to hide her anger and her annoyance.
" You are extremely beyond understanding and it's frustrating to deal with you. "
Lydia said glaring at her.
" Oh yeah? And why is that? "
Mirage questioned her.
" The VVIP card was not just given to anyone, you see? And it was limited to 100 people only. Just that handful of people can get their hands on Equinox VVIP cards. And the Esquibels have the 0000 serial numbers on their cards as they own this whole shopping center. They are also the owner of this shop, Solstice, the biggest shop inside Equinox. "
' I already know about that. '
Mirage thought to herself. That's why she's been telling him to call the CEO to make things faster but he was so stubborn.
" And everyone, not just in Equinox but in the whole country and even in other countries, knew about the Esquibels. So are you saying you're one of them for having the 0000 serial number in your card? "
" That's why I'm asking you to call Nicolo right now. "
Mirage said calmly. This is the reason she's not telling them who she is. They don't know anything about her. They'll just think she's crazy. And Chloe's not helping either. She was actually surprised that nobody recognized her earlier when she threw her card.
' Ah, right. They probably thought that Chloe's still in Paris. '
Maybe everyone here thought that she was just pretending. Rob didn't move his gaze from Mirage. His face showed that he wasn't sure if he should believe her or not but she was being very convincing and he wanted to listen to her words.
" You're really shameless, aren't you?"
Lydia said.
" Stop it, Ms. Lydia. " Rob said. He's starting to feel nervous seeing how calm Mirage was.
' Just who the hell is she? If she's really related to them then I'm doomed! '
And then the door of the office suddenly opens. Everyone's eyes turned to look at the man who suddenly appeared.
" Mr. Fuller, what's the- "
Cris Adams wasn't able to finish his sentence when his eyes caught Mirage.
Mirage sighed and pointed her head inside the office. Adams understands her gesture and hurriedly goes back inside the office and not a minute later, Nicolo walks out from the office.