Zaria leaned against her little rolling table, smoothing a blue t-shirt out before folding it with tight creases. A yawn forced its way out, and she ducked her head as she bent to put the shirt in its correct spot. Yawning was incredibly rude when in public, she had discovered, and twice as rude if it was done by someone who was working. The transition to early mornings had been rough, though, and occasionally, a yawn would escape. She found that if she ducked down when she was doing something, it was not as obvious.
Two days passed since Zaria accepted a job with Auntie Wang at her little shop. The two got along well, and Auntie needed a hand restocking her shelves and tables full of clothing. From sunup until the open hours were over, she walked the store, tidying items and looking for more sizes for anyone who asked. Auntie had whispered to her in the stockroom just that morning that business was up now that she had such an exotic and pretty assistant. Zaria's new clothes came from the shop, and many of the younger and even middle-aged women were hoping that the clothes would look as good on them. She laughed politely and tried not to adjust her new jeans. Most of the clothing was not designed for her shape, and every jean she tried on clung to her hips and butt like they were a second skin. Luckily, tops that were long and flowy were in fashion, so she could hide behind those a bit.
When the entrance bell jingled, she looked up with a bit of trepidation but settled immediately when she saw that it was a cute girl her own age and not police or some kind of public official. Through her first day learning to tidy the store, she had a lot of time between customers to think about things, and she had figured out why the scene in the hotel room felt so familiar. In many light novels and comics, there was an overly used trope of aphrodisiac type drugs being used on characters by villains or villainesses to trap the male or female lead. That stuff only really happened in movies or stories, but the man had been drunk or something. It was unlikely he had seen her well enough in the dark, but she HAD hit him pretty hard in the testicles AND over the head with a lamp. She was worried that the police would be coming after her for assault. If she wanted money to buy up the supplies for her next hop, when the pendant was ready, she needed to work, though. So she couldn't just hide and hope he was just too drunk to remember.
Belatedly realizing she had not greeted the new customer, she nodded her head and put on her service smile. "Good day. Is there anything I can help you find today?"
The young woman gave her a clear up and down look before putting on an equally fake smile. "I'm looking for my grandmother. Is she in the back?"
"Oh, yes! Let me go get her for you!" Zaria began to move the folding table out of the way, but the young woman walked past her and headed toward the back on her own.
"Don't worry about it, I know the way." She said dismissively and pushed through the door at the back of the shop.
Zaria stared after her for a moment and then shrugged her shoulders and went back to her work. If she worried about every time someone looked down at her, she would not have made it through high school intact. "So catty, though," she couldn't help but whisper to herself.
She finished the top she was working on and rolled the folding table over to its little corner spot, out of the way where nobody would trip over it. She looked up as Auntie Wang left the stockroom. Her granddaughter trailed behind. They walked behind the counter, and Zaria could see money taken from the till and passed to the young woman who smiled innocently and thanked her grandmother.
"Little Mei Mei, let me introduce you to my new assistant!" Auntie said, pulling her granddaughter over to where Zaria was straightening clothing on their hangers. "This is Little Zaria. She is staying with me while she finds her own place."
"Staying with you, grandma? But you don't have the space! Unless she is in my room..." Zaria could see a crack appear in the girl's polite mask, so she hurried to explain.
"Thank you very much for letting me use your space, I greatly appreciate it," she said with a bright smile. She winced for just a second and touched her lower lip before realizing what she was doing and dropped her hand.
"Her room? Ah, it's my apartment. She lives elsewhere now." Auntie Wang assured Zaria.
"Grandma," Mei Mei pouted cutely, swinging her grandmother's hand inside both of her own. "My home will always be with you even if I stay closer to my work, won't it?"
Zaria dropped her eyes to the floor and tried to ignore the overly sweet display in front of her. If she had ever acted like that in front of HER Gramma, she would likely have gotten a swat on the head. She did not know why the girl seemed to dislike her so much, but she didn't let it bother her. It was not as though she was going to be living there forever.
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After the girl left, Auntie Wang walked over to join Zaria at the rack she was straightening. "That girl, since she got that job at the hotel, she has decided she is above the area she grew up in. Always spending her money on things she can't afford and then needing to ask me for money. You don't treat your grandma like that, okay?"
Zaria focused on the top in front of her, rebuttoning it so the buttons were going through the right holes as she made a sound of agreement.
"Have you called your family to let them know you are okay?"
"Mm," she hummed before changing the topic. "Auntie, what hotel does your granddaughter work at?"
"Oh, that big new one down by the beach. She is just a counter girl, but they have big events all the time, and she gets to see all the rich and famous of City C. So she thinks she is a big shot herself." She hrumphed as she grabbed her dusting wand and ran it along the bottom of the rack.
"That must be pretty exciting," Zaria remarked after swallowing the lump in her throat.
"I am too old to be excited about movie stars anymore," She replied and then winked at Zaria. "Now those little fresh meat singers, I can stare at them all day long."
"Auntie!" Zaria scolded around a large smile. They giggled like school girls, and Zaria spent the afternoon listening to which new boy groups were the most promising. She didn't know who any of them were and said so, and a date was made to look up some music videos when they got home that night.
When the doors were locked at 8pm, she pulled her black duck billed cap down over her tight curls and followed Auntie out the back door. They walked through the alleyway to a street that would lead them almost all the way to the apartment. As they walked up that side street, she felt a crawling sensation on the back of her neck. She looked backward toward the shop, but there was nobody on the sidewalk behind them. Several cars were parked along the side of the road, but it was too dark to see if there was anyone in them. She pulled her hat down lower on her forehead and quickened her pace to keep up with the spritely older woman. She looked backward occasionally, but there was never anyone behind them, and she chalked it up to paranoia.
"If you keep looking back, you will trip," the kindly voice said next to her, two seconds before she really did trip on a part of the sidewalk that was sticking up.
"Auntie, don't you remember you were nearly robbed the other night? I think I can be a little extra alert."
"Ah, but now I keep this in my pocket when I leave and not in my purse. In case it happens again." She held up a little purple rectangle with metal tips.
"Is...is that a stun gun?" The older woman nodded, and Zaria let out a joyous laugh. "Auntie, you are amazing. And is that a cartoon cat on the side of it?"
"Are you making fun of my little kitty?" She pretended to be affronted.
Zaria's laugh faded out, but the smile lingered across her lips. "Oh no, I love it."
"I have an extra at home. You will take it from now on. I thought this was a safe neighborhood, but I guess you never know."
Zaria declined, but Auntie insisted, and by the time one was pressed into her hands when they arrived back at the apartment, she was even a little excited.
The next day, she unexpectedly found herself with a free afternoon. Auntie Wang closed the shop at noon so that she could go to a doctor's appointment. She wrapped Zaria's fingers around an envelope before getting into her cab, calling out, " I will meet you at the apartment at 9!"
"Wait," she called after the cab, but it was already moving away. "What do I do now?"
Her first plan was to find a bench at a park somewhere and sit for a couple of hours. But if she tried to sit for 9 hours at a public park, she would probably be chased out of the park by a security patrol.
With a sigh, she opened up the envelope that was handed to her by Auntie Wang. Inside were 5 crisp red bills with the number 100 on their corner along with a note reading 'this week's pay, minus room and board'. That would easily be enough for a meal with a lot left over, but she put it back in the envelope with the intention of saving it for travel supplies. The envelope was folded in half and slid into her back pocket. Her assumption was that if someone tried to pickpocket her, she would feel it, as tight as her pants were.
Pulling her hat down low and sliding a mask across her face, she turned around to look down the sidewalk, trying to figure out what to do next. Seeing a smartly dressed woman stepping out of an expensive looking car in front of her, she walked calmly up and asked, "Excuse me, would you happen to know how to get back to the beach from here?"
The woman looked startled, glancing around her as if to get her bearings. "Ah, yes. If you go down this road until you reach the traffic light and then go right, you will get there."
"Thank you," she said and nodded her head before continuing on in that direction. When she heard the woman calling from behind her, she stopped and patiently waited for her.
"Miss, you have beautiful eyes, how about you come be a model for my company?" She asked, pulling a card out from a case in her hand and holding it out.
"No, thank you, but that is kind of you to say." Zaria politely nodded before stepping forward again.
"Ah, Miss, your voice is very nice. Perhaps you would consider a singing career?" The woman hurried to catch up to her, holding the card out still.
Zaria turned to face her, smoothing out the small furrow that had appeared between her brows. "I'm sorry, ma'am, but I can not carry a tune if you gave me a bucket to put it into. I appreciate the offer but I think you have the wrong person."
"Wait, what about acting? Please take this card, I am ready to introduce you to your manager as soon as you call." She held out the card again. Hoping to end the conversation, Zaria took the card with a nod and waited until the woman was walking away before throwing it into a nearby trash can without even looking at it. Maybe in this world, that sort of thing was normal,but in hers it was a scam. She put it out of her mind. She was already looking forward to dipping her toes in the surf.