Chapter 1

Mia

Portland, Oregon

Coffee stains. Mia Harlow hated coffee stains, especially the grimy ones. If a grownup person spilled coffee, would it really be so much trouble to wipe the stains off before they would be grimy? Apparently so. She sighed and continued rubbing the messy desk. There were all kinds of papers lying all over the desk and she really had to resist her urge to organize them since she knew perfectly well that she wasn't allowed to touch them. No, she dusted, emptied the trashcans, mopped the floors, watered the plants, cleaned up the break room and so on. Despite the coffee stains, she usually liked her job. Maybe it wasn't the most glamorous job in the world, but she enjoyed cleaning.

She had always been a very tidy person and she couldn't stand any mess. Her brother Oliver often teased her about that, he on the other hand was everything but tidy. Cleaning offices wasn't as hard as cleaning homes, especially very big homes, so she felt very fortunate for having a job like this for a change. With her education, this was more than she could have hoped for. She had barely finished high school, but she had finished it, thanks to her brother. He hadn't let her giving up, no matter how much she had wanted to.

The school itself hadn't been so bad; in different circumstances she could have even liked it and tried harder. Unfortunately, she hadn't felt much need to try when most of her classmates had made it their mission to let her know how stupid and worthless she was. Scum. A freak. Ugly. Poor. Filthy. One of the girls had even managed to take a picture of her scars in the locker room and sent it to everyone. They had all laughed and called her all kinds of names. Mia hadn't shown them any emotions, she never had, but that night she had cried.

Ollie had said that there was nothing ugly about her and when those brats would grow up, they would regret the things they had done. Surely the teachers had noticed what was going on, but they hadn't cared. Her foster parents certainly hadn't cared either, her foster mother had just snorted that the world was a cruel place; she needed to learn how to stand up for herself. Her darling Ollie had been the only one who had cared. Maybe he wasn't her biological brother, but that made no difference, he was the only person in this world she called family.

Mia felt more than pleased with herself when she got the damn coffee stain out, the desk looked spotless. The whole building was almost empty in this hour; there were only two security guards downstairs and couple of office workers who were pretty much always here. Mia had sometimes wondered when they had time to sleep or do much anything else than work. She herself came to work after the office hours; working in the evening suited her just fine. She liked the peace and quiet and she had never been really a morning person.

Fortunately, she was almost finished for the night; she only had one office left. It was the biggest one on the floor, Mr. Ludlow's office. He was the office manager and he was one of those people who seemed to be always here. There wasn't anyone else here now, just the two of them. For some reason Mia usually felt a little uncomfortable when she had to clean up his office, although he was always polite to her. There was just something about the way he looked at her that made her uncomfortable. Surely it was all in her head. The door to his office was slightly open, but she still knocked.

"Mr. Ludlow?"

"Come in, Mia," he replied.

As usual, he was sitting at his desk. He was a tall, hefty man in his mid-forties; he had dark (probably dyed) hair and grey blue eyes.

"Good evening," she said as politely as she could. "May I clean your office?"

He looked up and smiled.

"Of course, come in."

"Thank you."

She started by dusting, she wanted to finish as quickly as she could.

"How long have you worked here, Mia?" he asked casually after a moment of silence.

"Almost 7 months," she replied.

"Hmm. Have you liked it here?"

"Yes, sir."

"Good, I'm glad to hear that. I have also heard that you've done an excellent job."

"Thank you, sir."

He smiled.

"Yes, a hardworking young woman such as yourself can go far in this firm."

She wasn't sure how to reply, there was something about the tone of his voice she really didn't like.

"Thank you, but I'm happy doing what I do."

"Being a cleaner?" he snorted. "Oh please, surely you want something more in life."

"I don't," she muttered. "Excuse me," she added and reached for the trashcan under the desk. Before she could reach it, she felt his hand squeezing her bottom.

"What are you doing?" she snapped and backed away.

He was still smiling.

"Oh come on, you can drop the hard to get act," he purred. "You've been flirting with me since the beginning, always shaking that pretty ass of yours."

For a moment she was so shocked that she couldn't get a word out.

"What… Are you insane?"

His eyebrows furrowed.

"I told you to drop the act."

"I'm not acting," she snapped. "You have no right to touch me."

He stood up, but she was too angry to run.

"I would watch it if I were you," he stated icily. "If you want me to help you…"

"I don't!" she snapped angrily. "I don't want anything from you!"

His eyes narrowed.

"Who the hell do you think you are? Someone like you should be flattered that someone like me even knows that you exist."

She glared at him and crossed her arms.

"I wouldn't touch you with a ten-foot pole."

She regretted her words when she saw the look on his face, he was apoplectic.

"You arrogant little slut."

She ran to the door, but he grabbed her arm before she could get out.

"I'll teach you manners!"

Fortunately, she didn't panic; she needed to do like Ollie had taught. Mr. Ludlow tensed up and cried out in pain when she kicked him between the legs as hard as she could. Thankfully that made him let go of her.

"Bitch!" he shouted when she ran to the hallway. "You're fired! And if you try to make up any stories, I swear I'll destroy you! No one will believe your word over mine!"

She didn't stop; she needed to get out of here. Quickly she grabbed her backpack with her and ran down the stairs.

"Good night, Mia…" one of the security guards called Harry started, but she was too upset to stop. As soon as she was outside, she picked up her phone with shaky hands. Come on, pick up…

"This is Oliver, I can't pick up right now, but you know what to do. Unless you're a telemarketer, in that case, don't bother. "

Oh great, a voicemail.

"Ollie, it's me," she muttered. "I…please just call me."

She needed a moment before she managed to walk over to her bike. Home… She needed to get home where she was safe. Thankfully the apartment building where she lived wasn't very far; usually she was happy that her workplace was so near to her home. She was strangely calm when she pedaled down the street, she didn't really notice anything around her. What was she supposed to do now? She had no idea. No, what she needed to do was talk to Ollie; he would know what to do. Surely, he would call her soon.

The ride felt longer than usually, but finally she was home. Slowly she walked up the stairs and looked for her keys. After finally finding them, she opened the door and stepped inside her small apartment. Something was wrong… Automatically she closed the door behind her before properly formulating her thought. She turned the lights on and gasped in shock when she saw a man, he was aiming at her with a gun.

"Don't move," he ordered firmly.

Her mouth floundered open and closed, he wasn't wearing a mask. Quickly she looked down; she would have no chance if he would think that she could identify him.

"I-I… My wallet…it's in the bag," she managed to say. "In my backpack. Please take it, take whatever you want, just please don't hurt me."

"Dean," another male voice said, he sounded almost scolding. "It's okay; we're not going to hurt you."

She didn't say anything; she just kept her eyes on the floor.

"Are you Mia Harlow?" the man with the gun asked.

She had no idea what to say, her mind refused to cooperate.

"Answer me."

"Yes," she muttered. "Please… I…"

She flinched when the gunman marched in front of her and took a hold of her arm.

"You're coming with us. And I'm warning you, don't try anything foolish."