Mira heard the doorbell ring and came down the stairs in her red nightie. She rubbed her eyes with both hands once she was down and yawned in exhaustion— her sleep had been interrupted and she suspected it was crazy Abby.
She turned the knob slowly.
"You must stop doing this, Abby."
Her words paused once she saw that it was a stranger.
—"Who are you?" She asked in confusion.
"Mr Grant said to inform you he was waiting in the car." The young guy said.
He looked as formal as he sounded and she could assume he was the driver.
She watched him walk back towards the car and blink her eyes in wonder. Afterwards, she tightened her face before marching towards them. After getting closer, the back window slowly rolled down. She saw he was on a call and looked straight ahead.
He ended the call and turned to look at her.
"It's Saturday," she said.
He gave no response, only looked at her with judging eyes and asked,
"What is this?"
"What?" she responded.
"Your outfit. It's obscene." He said.
"Oh yeah? Well, it's because I wasn't informed you would be showing up at my house unannounced and having a stranger knock on my door to deliver your message." She said.
"Perhaps if you weren't a horse you would have heard your phone ring and we wouldn't be having this conversation." He told her.
"Well, I am sorry you came all this way for nothing. I just got my period and we would have to postpone whatever this is." She said.
"So it hurts?" He inquired.
"Ye-S" she replied.
"We'll get some pills on the way," he told her.
"What? No. I can't work. At this time, women's hormones are all over the place. You never had a girlfriend?" she asked.
"I don't need a girlfriend to know how these things work," he said.
—"Now, get dressed. We have a plan, we must stick to it. There are no excuses for periods, especially fake ones." He told her.
"You don't get to be my boss on weekends." She said.
"Don't I?" He replied with a fixed gaze.
She breathed deeply. With so much running through her mind, so many ways to cause him pain, she could only acknowledge he was the boss.
Thirty minutes after they were on the road, she noticed the driver slowing down just before a boutique.
"Why are we here?" I asked.
He brought out a passport, which he handed to her.
"That's your undercover name. You are checking in as my wife for the trip." He said and got out of the car.
"What?" she asked in disgust and rushed outside the car as well.
"Not happening. You are dreaming." She said.
He walked to where she stood.
"Do you even realise what this is? Do you think this is some kind of joke? Do you think playing with your husband will be satisfying?
Everything my uncle worked for is about to crumble down and we can do something about it but because you are so egocentric you would rather not.
Now listen to me. When I get someone else to do this, a whore maybe and I pay her off and perhaps she messes things up because she got scared as every whore does, it will all be on you.
Funny how my uncle kept loving the wrong women." He concluded in a disgusted tone and walked away.
"Argh! Fuck!!" She grumbled. Her body demonstration showed unwillingness but his words triggered a feeling of guilt in her and caused her to enter the boutique.
She found him in the male section of the boutique making picks for himself. He seemed to know just what he wanted, the right kind of man for the female boutique assistant with him. She held onto the clothes he picked up from the hangers and smiled, perhaps craving attention.
Mira rolled her eyes and shook her head from side to side before heading to the female section.
When she arrived, she looked confused. She rarely got out, so most of her clothes were mostly official. Now she was standing before clothes, shoes, bags, and jewellery she never thought she could afford. The mere sight of it all told her she was in a place built specifically for sucking dry bank accounts.
She sighed.
"I could help." Another female assistant replied to her.
"Okay, I would like that," Mira said with relief.
The assistant brought out some clothes for her to choose from. Her smile disappeared as she stared at them.
"Is this you being judgmental?" she asked the lady.
"Judgemental? Whatever you mean ma'am, I am only trying to help." The lady responded.
"You call this help? You rated me a star and a half by one look which is why you got these picks and I would love to know why?" Mira wasn't having it.
"Look, let's not make a fuss out of this. I know your type." The lady said.
Mira had never been so insulted.
—"Coming here, roaming around like they don't know what they want, only for them to walk out in the end without buying anything. So I have got for you what we both know you can afford to save yourself the embarrassment and my time," the lady added.
"I see you are the manager here and God," Mira responded, looking closely at the tag on her left breast.
"Think whatever you wish but if you aren't buying, don't waste our time. We have customers to attend to. I would appreciate it if you could." The lady said, about to walk away.
At that moment, Mira pictured hitting her head against the wall several times till she fell unconscious. Her fists tightened, she looked like she couldn't contain her fury anymore.
"Everything okay?" Lucian appeared with his hands in his trouser pockets as his eyes moved from Mira to the manager.
"Oh, sir, I assure you, nothing at all. Just a normal part of the job." The lady replied with a bright smile.
"I just heard the conversation and it shouldn't be a normal part of your job," Lucian said, calmly but sternly.
"Sir?" The lady was surprised to hear his words.
"You just disrespected my girlfriend and you called that a normal part of the job? Are you sane at all?" He asked her in a harsh tone.
The lady had already shivered in fear.
"I'm sorry sir, I didn't know." She begged.
Mira had her brows furrowed at this point. She became confused and wondered what was at play before her. Clearly, she knew who he was or something.