"I'm telling you, Ana; Paul likes you." "No, he doesn't." "Yes, he does. It's so obvious to everyone." Kate and I were currently in Lush. I… I don't know; I'd been in this weird funk for the last couple of days. Nothing turned up at the hospital, thank goodness. But I still wasn't feeling completely one hundred percent yet. I don't think it was the attack either; well that might have had something to do with it. But…. "Either you succeed me or marry the man who does."
No matter what I did, Daddy's words kept ringing through my head. They're the whole reason I started running that night in the first place…. Most daughters- especially adult ones- could probably just move far away and that would be the end of it. But my situation was different. Daddy was powerful; very powerful. And he usually got what he wanted- and that was me safe in the best way he saw fit. There was no room for my thoughts on the matter…. No room at all.
I had to give my head a hard shake, as if physically attempting to banish it all from my mind. "Ana? You ok?" Kate looked over to me with concern. She was always there for me, even though she too had to be kept in the dark. "Y-yeah, I'm fine." I told her that I ran into Paul the other night; I just omitted the whole police station part. Whenever I got into a weird funk like this, we went to my favorite shop in the whole world together- Lush. I'd pick out something sweet-smelling or that would make my skin soft. Something, anything to remind me that life can be good, and I can feel good. That I'm allowed to feel good….. I had to stop my bottom lip from quivering, or I would have burst out into tears in the middle of the store.
"Face it, Ana. Paul's has a thing for you." "He's the one who rejected me, remember?" Good, let's talk about something else; anything else….. "That was back in high school; he's different now. Things have changed. Hey! What do you think of this scent?" She sprayed some Amelie Mae perfume in the air. "Nice," I grinned and reached for Vanillary body spray. Ah yes; vanilla is such a nostalgic, warm scent- just what I need right now.
"Looking for something to wear to your interview on Monday?" Kate asked me, still busy testing out perfumes. "Not really. I just wanted… to come here; get something new." New and comforting. "Ah, it doesn't it matter; I think you'll get it. You're perfect for the job, though I don't know why they want PhD candidates for interns. You seem really overqualified, but who cares! I heard Christian Grey pays his interns and really well." "Grey…..?" This made me pause for a second. Where have I heard that before? I can't put my finger on it, but that name sounds familiar….
I was about to reply until the silent buzzing of my other phone interrupted me. I had two phones; one personal and one….. for the Dollars. It was an old flip phone; one that couldn't be traced to me if I lost it. Oh, now what do they want? "Um, I'm gonna go look at the bath bombs, Kate!" I was instructed to answer the phone in public whenever possible; makes it look less suspicious than me slinking away somewhere. With a double-check to make sure Kate was still at the perfumes, I quickly pulled out the phone to answer it.
"What?" "Celestial?" That was my code name. Daddy let me pick it; course I chose something from Lush. It was a precaution just in case our phones ever got tapped- no names over phone calls, ever. "Hi, Hound," I sighed. "We're having a family dinner at Versailles tomorrow night. Masterpiece wants you present." That was all code; I'm sure it's not that hard to decipher. "Alright, I'll be there," there's no refusing Daddy. Jerome hung up without another word. I pulled my phone back from my ear, staring at the blank screen for a minute. I don't even have to remind myself; they do that enough for me… Daddy's right; my fate's sealed. Unless I can think of something- perhaps a miracle- my destiny's already been decided.
With a deep, deep breath in, I shoved my phone back into my pocket before Kate could see. She came over to me with her perfume and my Vanillary in her hands. She was smiling so warmly at me, so kind… "Ready to go?" "Yeah." Whether I like it or not, yeah….. I had to be.
There is only one woman I can love; my heart won't even let me consider another. Long, brown hair, a slender figure, and pale skin….. I don't know what she looks like otherwise or who she is, but I will find her; that's what I've told myself for years. No matter how long it takes….
I'm going to find the woman who bled for me, and I'm going to marry her.