* * *
It’s perfect. Sold. Done.
* * *
I grinned, feeling like I was finally getting somewhere. I tried to ignore the price tag.
“It has a secret pocket, by the way,” the saleswoman said, watching me in the mirror. “In case that helps.”
I found the sleek little pocket built into one of the side seams. My little burner phone fit perfectly.
“I’ll take it,” I told the saleswoman.
“Excellent,” she replied. “If you’d like, we have an in-house seamstress. She can hem that for you and have it ready Saturday morning.”
“That would be perfect,” I said. The shop was close enough that I could run over here in the morning and still have more than enough time to do my hair and makeup.
I stood for a moment, turning in the mirror and enjoying the view. This was a dress I could wear to a fancy party. I had black shoes that would look nice and I knew I could find a simple gold or white mask at the costume shop that would look wonderful. It was perfect.
“I’ve seen peacocks preen less than you, dear.”
My blood went cold at the snide voice of my stepmother. I looked up from the dress in the mirror and saw my stepmother standing behind me. Her arms were crossed and she looked pissed.
I swallowed hard, doing my best to keep my head held high as I slowly turned to face her.
“Hello, Audrey,” I greeted her. “What a surprise to see you here.”
“Surprise is an excellent word for it,” she agreed. “Imagine my surprise when I find out that not only are you not doing your job, you’ve been seen trying on dresses at a bridal shop. Is there something you’d like to let me know?”
“No, not really.” Maybe it was the fancy dress or the two champagnes I drank while trying on gowns, but I didn’t want her to ruin this for me. I wished she’d just leave.
Her eyebrows raised slightly, but she simply shrugged and took a seat on the white leather couch.
“Why aren’t you at work?” she asked, picking a piece of lint from her black slacks and then casually flicking it to the floor.
“My boss gave me the afternoon off,” I replied. I was glad the layers of satin on the dress hid my shaking knees. I didn’t want to tell her about Henry or the ball. I didn’t want her to know about him because I knew she would use him against me somehow. It was just what she did.
“See, that’s interesting to me,” she said. “Because I just spoke with her boss and found out that she re-tasked you. I’m sure you can understand why that displeased me. I did a lot of work to get you on those documents and now I find out you’re stuffing folders instead.”
I didn’t say anything. The last thing I wanted was to get Jaqui in trouble. She didn’t deserve my stepmother’s wrath. No one did.
“And, I haven’t received any new photos of your work progress.” Her voice was light and cheerful, but it held a dark undertone that made me want to run and hide. “It’s really quite concerning. Add on to that, I hear you’ve been invited to the Paradisian Masquerade Ball and are out trying on dresses. It’s simply almost too much to believe.”
“How did you know about the ball?” My stomach felt like a giant ball of hard ice.
“Oh, don’t look so surprised,” she scoffed. “You should know I always find out about these kinds of things. You can’t keep anything from me.”
“What do you want, Audrey?” I reached into the secret pocket and called my old phone number. I knew it would go straight to voicemail. It wasn’t a great chance, but if I could record anything to catch her, I wanted to try.
“Where are my photos, Aria?” She looked up at me with those acid green eyes and I felt a little bit sick. The ice ball in my stomach tightened.
“I was going to give you one thumb drive with all the files when I finished. It’s less risky for me than taking pictures on my phone,” I lied. I didn’t plan on giving her a damn thing, but she didn’t need to know that.
“Oh, my sweet naive Aria.” Audrey stood and touched my cheek with a sick smile. “I can see through that and it isn’t going to work. You’re going to get me those photos now. Or else I destroy your father. And you.”