The weather was pleasant as Zaria walked toward the beach. After turning right at the traffic light as instructed, she could see the ocean glittering far in the distance. She must have been walking for far longer than she realized that night while running away. The shop sat between Auntie Wang's apartment and the beach, and after that first night, she had not walked the other direction at all.

With nothing to do for the next nine hours, it didn't seem to matter much if she was going to be walking for almost an hour just to get there. The sun felt good on her shoulders through the thin material of the t-shirt, and she was glad for the light pink duck billed hat blocking the sun from her eyes. The matching surgical mask was a bit stifling, though. She hesitated to take it off. It had been a few days. If the police were going to come after her for assault then the little mask would not be what kept them from identifying her. She took it off and took a deep breath before continuing toward the little ribbon of blue in the distance.

A tiny squeak accompanied her with every step that she took. Servers had to wear special non-slip work shoes, and managers were no different, so she had not been wearing her favorite sneakers the night she was knocked out of her world. She was grateful that she had least been wearing the most comfortable pair of laceups that she owned for work. But they were so ugly, and the fake leather made an annoying squeaky sound when she walked. New sneakers went on the 'need to buy before leaving' list, a list that was growing bigger with each day. Making what equated to 75 dollars a week, how long would it take to buy everything that she wanted to get? Add to that the lack of things to do in the shop, it was very likely that Auntie Wang was already regretting hiring her. Maybe the list should be trimmed down as slim as possible, just in case.

As she crossed the final street leading toward the beach, she saw a stylish man wearing a camel brown suit and pearlescent white tie waiting patiently at the other side of the crosswalk. As she stepped onto the sidewalk, he straightened his wire framed glasses and greeted her with a nod.

"Miss, you are quite beautiful, I will help you become a model!" He smiled at her confidently.

Zaria stopped and looked at him. She forgot that she was not wearing a mask as she usually did and did not hide the incredulity on her face. "I appreciate your words, but I am not interested."

As she turned left to head away from the more crowded areas, he kept pace with her, holding a card out to her as he walked. "I can tell from your voice that you are meant to be a singer, I will help you to become famous!"

His words were very familiar, and she stopped again. Her brows rose on her forehead. There was nobody else around, but she looked through car windows as far away as she could, expecting to see a person with a camera. "Is this some kind of prank? Is there someone recording us?"

"I beg your pardon?" He asked, nervously looking around as well. "I don't believe there is anyone recording. I saw you and thought you had the look that my company seeks out."

"Please forgive my rudeness, but you didn't just see me. You looked like you were waiting for me. I am sorry, but I am really not interested." She raised her hands and stepped backward before turning around again.

"Please, miss, I have been asked to recruit you. Please just call the number on my card and I will help arrange things for you." He fell into step with her again, his tone sounding genuine for the first time.

Zaria did not stop this time, nor did she spare him or his outstretched card another glance. " I am not interested. I don't know who asked you to do this,but you are bothering me right now, and I would like you to leave me alone. There are plenty of more beautiful women on this beach, you just need to look."

"Miss -"

"Look, I have a stungun, and I will use it BEFORE I call for help. Is that clear?" She narrowed her eyes and watched as he backed away quickly. "Thank you. Have a good day."

When he quickly walked back the way he came, she let out a sigh and shook her head, continuing on toward the far end of the beach. "Idiot, where would I fit a stun gun in these pants..."

She wished she had checked the names on the two cards, the one that she had thrown away and the one she had declined. The wording was far too similar, and if the two people were not together, she would eat her hat. While watching music videos, Auntie Wang had talked a lot about how each member of the groups joined, and being scouted on the street was not uncommon. It was not false that there were incredibly beautiful women everywhere that she looked. The two people would have no problem finding someone else if they were really talent scouts. Whether the pendant reactivated in a week or six months, it didn't matter. She had no desire to get involved with anything big in this world.

The next time she looked back over her shoulder, the man was gone. There was nobody around for some distance. Feeling better, she stepped down into the grass and walked toward the beach. She stopped at the edge of the sand and removed her squeaky shoes, then rolled her socks up inside of them. Her toes curled up in the sand, bringing a smile to her face.

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Not far away was the end of the beach that she found a few days before, and she headed toward the big rocks carefully. Just because everything was clean everywhere she looked on her walk didn't mean there might not be something sharp left behind by some beach goer. When she reached the rocks, she sat down , placing her shoes in the dry sand next to her. Except for the sound of cars passing on the road up the hill, it was quiet. She sat for some time with her eyes closed, just relaxing and coming up with a new shopping list.

Quite some time later, she was shaken out of her thoughts by a loud growl, and she looked around in a panic before realizing that the sound was coming from her stomach. She laughed and stood up, brushing sand from her back side. Without a phone or watch, there was no way to guess how much time had passed except to track the sun. At best guess it had already been a few hours, and she had not eaten since early that morning. It was no suprise that her belly was growling. Unwilling to leave yet, she decided to get her feet wet for a little while and then go to find a shop to buy some supplies and a snack.

The bottoms of the stretchy blue jeans were able to slide up a few inches, but once they reached the curve of the calf, they gave a resounding "no more." Zaria looked out at the gentle waves and decided to walk up on the rocks leading out into the water rather than wade directly in. Walking around in wet pants the rest of the day took some of the shine off of the original idea of going out into the ocean.

The rocks were slippery, her toes curling on the rounded surface to keep upright. The natural pier went at least six or seven meters out into the water, but she stopped around halfway. She was not confident in her ability to stay upright with the way the waves were breaking farther out. The cold water felt good against her ankles and feet. Her head tilted back, and she closed her eyes, enjoying this rare moment of peace. Even back home, there was always something that needed to be done during the rare times that she was not at work. Standing in the sun, listening to the water splashing at her feet, it was a rare treat, and she ate it up.

Eventually, her stomach growled again, and she made her way back, carefully placing each foot toe first to make sure there was enough traction. Just as she passed the water line, a voice called out. "Why did you turn down the offers?"

The foot that she was transfering her weight to slid out from under her, and she fell with a squeal. She threw herself to the side to keep from dashing her head against the rocks behind her and narrowly missed a suited arm that was reaching out to steady her. There was a crack as she landed in the sand, and her left arm buckled beneath her body in a white wash of pain. She screamed out and rolled onto her back, her arm tucked tight against her chest. That same arm reached out to help her up, but she smacked it with her good hand and yelled, "Leave me alone!"

"I am trying to settle things between us, and then I would be happy to leave you alone," the same cold voice sneered as the hand was retracted.

Zaria rolled to her side, unaware of the water seeping into her clothing. "Settle what things? I don't know you...were you the one that sent those other people?"

"All young women want to be stars," the man said, crossing his arms across his chest. "Do you want money instead?"

She looked up in confusion. A tall, well-built man stood with his arms crossed a meter away. If she had not been in pain it is possible that she would have been pulled in by the face that looked as though it had been chiseled from a stone of perfection, but distracted as she was she didn't linger on it. From the way that his suit fit his body, she could tell it was expensive, outlining broad shoulders and long legs in a subtle way that spoke of a good tailor. Dark eyes, as cold as his tone, watched her out of narrowed lids, and his face showed nothing.

"You are mistaken. We do not know each other..." She braced herself with her good hand and rose to her feet, swaying as she did so. When he did not look like he was going to stop her, she stumbled past him to get to her shoes. The pain in her wrist told her that it was at least sprained, maybe even broken when she fell on it. For a brief second, she thought to ask him where the nearest hospital was, but she wanted to get as far away from the angry crazy person as she could.

"Are you saying it wasn't you the other night in the hotel?"

Her eyes snapped up and took at his face once more. The light had been too dim, he did not look familiar at all, and the only parts she had touched were thin lips that might have been his... "You are mistaken," she said quietly, sitting on the rock from earlier and pulling her socks out of her shoes. Using one hand, she tried to get them on but quickly gave up and decided to put her shoes on without them.

"I'm not mistaken, so let's get this over with," he said, grabbing at her left arm to pull her up. As soon as her arm was jostled, there was a burst of fresh pain, and she barely bit back a scream. He dropped it immediately. "Did you hurt yourself when you fell?"

"I'm fine," she said through gritted teeth, loosening the laces on the first shoe more so she could slide into it without help.

"You aren't," he announced, his voice marginally less frigid than before. "I am taking you to the hospital."

"I may not be fine at this moment, but I will be if you would leave now, hey!" she said, smacking at his hand as he reached forward to pick up her shoes and socks. He carried them a few feet away and handed them to an approaching woman she recognized as the one who offered to find a manager for her before. "Fine, I was there. It was all a big misunderstanding. Look, if you are not going to have me arrested for assault then I say that we are even! We owe each other nothing, so give me back my shoes please!"

"You can either walk, or I can carry you," the man said, crossing his arms again as he looked down at her. Behind him, the woman stared at him with wide eyes.

Zaria stood up and felt nausea boil in her stomach. She bent over and steadied her good hand on her knee while she took in some deep breaths. When she looked back up, the woman was already halfway back to a familiar looking black car idling on the road. With her shoes. She yelled in irritation and glared at the cold man. "Fine, since I wouldn't have fallen if you had not surprised me, I will let you drive me to the hospital."

He did not respond, just walked toward the car with his long strides, expecting her to follow. With her shoes held hostage she saw no other option but to do that, mentally anguishing over a bill that had yet to come.