Originally, when Astra came to Lennox Estate, she had no plan of using the other rooms beside her bedroom. But then she remembered that even in her old home, she and her mother lived on the first floor, and the upper floor was entirely turned into what many called a mini studio. Back there, there were three rooms, each of them serving a different purpose for her.
So when she received the message before she came for breakfast that her things would be arriving by the evening, she was reminded of the fact that she could not put them in her bedroom. Hence, she decided to utilize the other rooms.
After breakfast, she went back upstairs to explore the other rooms in her hallway. Two rooms flanked her bedroom on either side, with three more facing them from across the hallway. Each space was larger than what she'd had in her old home, though not quite as big as her current bedroom. However, they were all empty, with white walls.
Seeing those bare rooms, Astra realized she needed to get them ready before she could put her things inside. While she preferred minimalism and pale colors, that did not mean plain white was her color. These rooms needed some personality. Hence, she decided to go shopping and buy some paint for the walls and other things that might catch her attention.
She went downstairs and informed the butler that she had to go out. Thankfully, unlike Rosetta, who Astra was sure would ask her a dozen questions and even lecture her to not waste Master Lennox hard hard-earned money, the old man simply nodded and moved to arrange the car.
Astra was not stupid. And even if she was, she would have still felt the animosity Rosetta felt towards her the first time they had met. But Astra did not care about others' feelings for her. As long as it was someone of no importance to her, she would not even spare a small glance at them.
Within minutes, a car pulled up to the front entrance. Astra settled into the leather seat and instructed the driver to take her to the nearby shopping complex.
The ride to the shopping mall was not long but throughout the drive, she could feel the driver's curiosity towards her. She could also feel the emotions of the people outside they passed by. She internally sighed and put on her earphones, playing some loud music to drown all those emotions.
"Wait here," she instructed the driver before stepping out. She kept her music playing in her though she lowered the volume a bit.
She walked for a while before she found a shop that sold items for interior design. She went to the paint section and looked around before she put cream, beige, and sage color paint buckets in the cart. She added paintbrushes and rollers to her cart, then wandered through other sections, picking up curtains and a few minimalist clay decorations that caught her eye.
At the cashier counter, she paid with her own card instead of the one Atticus had given her. Once she had cashed out, a young staff member picked up her items to carry them back to her car.
They were halfway to the exit when a shrill voice cut through her music.
"Stop that pervert!"
Now normally, Astra would have continued walking, ignoring whatever drama was unfolding but the man who was holding all of her things had stopped to watch the commotion.
Astra took off one of the earplugs from her ear and turned around just in time to see a man sprinting in their direction. In his hand, he was holding a phone, clutching it close to his chest. Behind him were two teen girls, one with curly brown hair that reached her shoulders and was yelling at him like a madwoman. The other had red hair and was running behind her friend, looking slightly embarrassed.
The man's focus was more on getting away than where he was going and barreled straight toward Astra.
Astra let go a small sigh. [Since he wants to run straight into his doom, who am I to deny him the opportunity?]
The moment he came before Astra, she caught his wrist and threw him over her shoulder. He hit the marble floor with a loud thud, the impact forcing a pained groan from his lungs.
Astra gave him an empty gaze before she bent down and picked up his phone that had skittered to her feet. She quirked an eyebrow when she was on the screen. With a soft scoff, she tossed the device to the approaching girls.
"Thanks," the curly-haired girl managed between breaths after she caught the phone. She then looked at the man and kicked him to the side.
"You fucking son of a bitch! How dare you take sneaky pictures of my friend!? If I don't castrate you today, my name won't be Nova Starling!"
Astra had already turned away, uninterested in whatever justice Nova Starling planned to dispense.
"Let's go."
Nova threw a few more kicks at the man, each one landing with a satisfying thud as she hurled curses at him like a sailor, "You disgusting piece of shit! "I'll fucking gouge those perverted eyes right out of your skull! Then you won't be able to creep on anyone ever again!"
The man curled into a fetal position, whimpering as Nova continued her assault.
"I'll make sure you never even think about touching a phone again, you fucking degenerate!"
"Nova, please stop!" Eliza tugged at her friend's sleeve, her own face burning with embarrassment as she tried to hide behind her red hair. "People are watching..."
"Let them watch! This pervert deserves it!" Nova pulled back for another kick.
The man tried to crawl away, but Nova grabbed him by the collar. "Where do you think you're going? I'm not done teaching you a lesson, you pathetic excuse for a human being!"
Two security guards finally arrived, rushing to separate her from the groaning man.
"Miss, you need to calm down," one guard said, holding her arm.
Nova jerked against his hold, her chest heaving with anger. "Calm down? This perverted asshole was taking upskirt photos! He deserves every fucking kick and more!".
"We'll handle this from here, miss."
Nova finally stopped, though her chest still heaved with anger. "You better hand him over to the authorities."
"Of course, miss."
"Good,"
She straightened her clothes and brushed her curls back from her face. A smile appeared on her face as if she had not been the one beating the man just now. She turned around, wanting to thank the stranger who had helped them.
"Wait, where did she go?
"She left long ago," Eliza told her.
"Bummer. I wanted to thank her properly." Nova deflated slightly. She stared at the mall entrance for a moment before shrugging. "Well, whoever she was, she was pretty badass. If we meet again, I will definitely ask for her number."
Eliza shook her head at her best friend. If she did not know her friend was straight she would have thought she had fallen in love with that girl.
"Come on," Nova said, linking her arm through Eliza's. "Let's give our statement to security and then get some ice cream. I think we both need it after this mess."