Chapter Three - Where was Jasmine.
Somewhere across the city by the sea at the same time that Aladdin arrived to the urban world. Jasmine was gaining consciousness , she could hear the ocean waves crashing and the gentle sea breeze blowing through the curtains. She opened her eyes and everything was so dark. The rooms only source of light was going through the curtains. ' Am I dead ?' she thought. Jasmine got up and walked towards the light. She looked in the mirror and she was wearing a white night gown. She opened the curtains and saw the beautiful scenery. The place where she was at was on a beach. She looked to her left and she sees houses to her left. She looked to her right and there was more houses.
Jasmine saw someone running on the beach with their dog. He was wearing funny clothing. Bands on his head and wrists, he's wearing pants with his legs showing, and a shirt with no sleeves.
" Good morning neighbor." he greeted.
" Is this heaven?" asked Jasmine.
" With this beautiful scene living on the beach?" He smiled, " Yeah, I believe so."
There was something ringing through out the house. ' What was that?' Jasmine thought. She went back inside the house trying to find where the ring is coming from. Someone barged in through the door with a tray on wheels. " Good morning your highness." she greeted. She was a young maid that was close to Jasmine's age. Her black hair was in a bun with a neatly pressed maid's uniform.
" Good morning." Jasmine replied.
" I brought in your breakfast." The maid lifted the silver tray cover and showed Jasmine's food.
The ringing started going again. " What is that?" Jasmine asked.
" The phone. Let me get that for you." The maid found where the ring is coming from. She picked up the mechanism and spoke into it. " It's your father on the phone. Do you want me to put him on speaker?"
" Where is he speaking at? Is the phone a place here?"
The maid laughed, " That's what you get when you have the help do everything for you." She pressed the button on the mechanism.
" Jasmine? Did you make it okay?"
The princess looked around the room. " Father? Where are you? I can hear you but I cannot see you."
" I am here in New Agrabah. I'm sorry that I have to send you away. Rebels of Mozenrath are rising up against the government. They convinced citizens to join forces with them. They are willing to destroy everything including the royal lineage. You're the only heir to the crowned throne so I sent you far away from New Agrabah to keep you safe from the rebels. You are protected by our finest guards and with the help of the U.S. government."
" Father, what about you?"
" I am still here in New Agrabah and I'm protected in a secret location. Don't worry, when the war is over. We will send you word to come home. For the time being, feel yourself at home. What do you think of our vacation house?
" I haven't gone discovering since I got here."
The Sultan laughs, " We haven't set foot in this house ever since it was built. But, I need to make this phone call short. I love you dearest and please be safe."
" I love you too father."
" I'll call you later. Okay?"
"Okay."
A familiar face popped in Jasmine's mind, " Wait! Father! What about-" Jasmine paused for a moment.
" What about what? Daughter?"
" I can't remember his name. I know his face but I can't match the name to it."
The Sultan didn't know what his daughter is talking about but he wanted to make her feel better. " I'm pretty sure that he's safe. Talk to you soon."
The maid went over and pressed the button to turned the invention off. " If you need anything. Please call me through the intercom and if you're planning to step out into the city then also call me. You're under protection and you can't go anywhere by yourself. You may never know that there might be spies that are sent here to kill you."
" Intercom? What's that?" Jasmine asked.
The housekeeper gave Jasmine a ,' You got to be kidding look'.
The princess smiled at her, " What ? This is my first time ever being here. If you want me to learn how to do things on my own then you have to show me." The housekeeper showed Jasmine how to use the intercom.
" I'll call you when I want to go out." said Jasmine
Jasmine went look around of the new house that her father bought. She was astonished at the articles there. It looked like something that Genie would pull or the clever new inventions that her father would buy. She went to a room where it's a lounge area. There was a flat picture on the wall. ' How can a picture on the wall have no picture to show' Jasmine thought. There was another set of black boxes that were stack on top of each other. They have knobs and buttons all over them. She sat on a comfortable big couch and saw a little compact box with buttons in front of her. Jasmine picked it up and observe the thingymabob. There were words on it like channel,power, vol, menu, and symbols of a cross and a dash of a line. Some of the buttons look like arrows. She pressed a button and surprisingly the picture turned on. ' Moving pictures! They look so real!' Jasmine pondered and went close to the screen. She tapped on it and it was solid. Not only the flat picture screen turned on but also the black boxes next to it lighted up. There was sound coming out of them. Every time the person speaks on the flat picture screen, the lights of the box go up and down, and sound comes out. Jasmine kept pressing the button on the small gadget. Volumes heighten and Jasmine changed the channel. The screen turned into a static fuzz and it was loud. It made Jasmine jump and she was trying to find the button to lower the sound. Instead she turned on the radio and the machine got louder. " Okay, be quiet. How do you turn off this thing? Shh! Please stop." cried Jasmine as she frantically trying to find a way to stop the machine. Jasmine pressed a button that says power and everything turned off. " Finally!" she blurted out. She dropped the little gadget. " Okay, I will never go into this room again." Jasmine exited the room and continued to scavenge the mansion. She passed by a room and saw something on the ceiling. Jasmine walked passed by the object and it followed her. The princess stopped and walked backwards, the thing continued to follow her. Jasmine was moving side to side and the machine went along with her.
" Your highness. May I help you with something?"
Jasmine looked around where the voice is coming from and she thought it's the same call like from her father this morning. " Umm...Are you calling from New Agrabah too?"
" No, your highness I'm at the security room. I can see you through the camera."
" Where?"
" Right here in front you."
" This is the camera?" Jasmine looked at the object with the red blinking light.
" Yes, your highness. Wave Hi "
Jasmine waved at the camera like a dork, " Where does this door lead to?"
" That door leads to the outside world. Are you planning to leave? I can call the limo and your body guard, Rasoul. "
" No, it's okay. I'm planning to stay inside today."
Jasmine found the kitchen. There were little doors and more inventions everywhere. She saw a large box with doors. The princess opened one door, inside was freezing and everything was covered in snow and ice. Jasmine opened another door and found a moderate temperature. There was vegetables, pitchers of juice and milk, to her left there was eggs,and butter. ' Wow. I can't believe father bought all this stuff. But he loves his little gadgets.' she thought. The princess found a room that she really liked. There was a huge bath that was next to a window that showed the ocean.
There was a table at the middle of the room. On top of it were bottles. Jasmine opened the cap and she smelled sweet fragrances. ' These must be bath oils.'
She read the contents, " Makes hair healthy, silky, and smooth. Apply, lather and Rinse. Try conditioner. and repeat." She picked up a bottle that was similar to it. " This must be the conditioner."
Right in the corner was a small glass room with a nozzle sticking out. Jasmine opened the glass door and went inside. There was two little knobs in front of her. They have arrows pointing outwards. Her curiosity heightened wondering why there are arrows signaling that way. Jasmine's hand touched the knob and turned the direction the arrow was pointing towards to. A gush of water came out of the nozzle and came pouring down on Jasmine. She screamed at the splash and laughed hilariously. Jasmine turned the knob back and the water turned off. Jasmine got a towel from the rack and dried herself off.
Another servant walked into the room to bring some towels. She saw the princess, " Oh! I am sorry. I didn't know that you're in the shower."
" It's okay. I was trying to figure out how everything works and I got into an accident." Jasmine replied.
" Do you want a change of clothes?" the servant asked.
" Sure."
The servant took Jasmine back into her room. " Here's your closet. Your highness." She opened her closet doors and it was a walk in wardrobe. There was more closets,cabinets, or drawers.
" There's nothing in here that will come to life right?"
" Oh no your highness. They are all manual. You can pick it yourself."
Jasmine opened the cabinets and all the clothing were are strange. There was a fashion magazine on the table. " i guess that's a style here." she said to herself. Jasmine turned the pages and she saw something that was an eye opener. There's a picture of her in there. ' How did I get in there?' she pondered. There was a title above her picture that says, " Top ten young people that will change the world." She was number one on the list. Jasmine looked at herself and saw what she was wearing. She continued to look around her wardrobe to match the outfit in the magazine.
Aladdin and Sadira sat in the doctor's office. Sadira was filling out some forms and Aladdin was reading his journal.
" What are you reading ?" Sadira asked
" Just reading up on some old memories. I like to look back and reminisce."
The T.V. in the waiting room was on and the channel was set on the news. " Hey, it's one of those moving pictures with sound. Dad has one in that room with all those stuff in it." Aladdin kept on rambeling on about the stuff that he saw this morning. Sadira just stared at him having no idea what he is talking about. Aladdin saw the expression that Sadira was giving out. He could feel the heat at back of his neck rising.
" It's a T.V. ?" Sadira reminded him. " Why are you describing a coffee maker, toaster, and a refrigerator? Are you playing charades with me?
Aladdin laughed try to play it off, " Yes! I am! Here. " He picked up his journal. " I have a square thingy of a book and it has papyrus for me to transcribe on it." Aladdin laughed nervously." Of course, I knew what a T.V. is " he lied as he tried to avoid eye contact with her. He looked that the T.V. screen, " Hey look they are talking about New Agrabah."
The news anchor, "Rebels are attacking New Agrabah, this afternoon. One of the most tragic news has happened. A member from the Royal family has been missing ever since the bombing had begun. She was one of the top ten youngest people to change the world."
Sadira had a feeling that they might show a picture of someone that she didn't want Aladdin to see. " Here. Sweetheart. Take these papers to the front desk and they take you in for a check up." Aladdin took the papers to the front office. Just when Aladdin got up, they showed a picture of Jasmine. Sadira was relieved that he didn't see it. " Please not now. Especially when things are starting for the both of us." Sadira saw a familiar face and it was Venus. She crossed her fingers as a symbol of ' Fate and her are like this'.
" Not if i can I help it." Sadira responded to Venus
" Who are you talking to?" asked Aladdin
" I was talking to my friend."
" Where is she?"
Sadira looked where Venus was sitting at and she wasn't there. " Because I was talking on a hands free cell phone. See?" Sadira showed her phone with a cord that connects to her ear. Sadira pretended to talk, " Okay. My fiancee and I are at the doctor's office." Just before Sadira said another word, her phone rang. Aladdin had this confused look on his face. Sadira continued to play it off. " What? Call waiting."
Aladdin heard the word ' fiancee ' came out from Sadira's mouth and he knew that she was referring to him. Somehow it didn't feel right but,,then again he is in a strange world. Things that are far advance that it looked like the works of Mechanikles.
" When I was in the third world and coming here. Everything looks so complex. " Aladdin spoke.
Sadira giggled, " Believe me, in the letters you wrote to me. You were complaining that you wanted come back here and that you wanted to stay here with me." She leaned in for a kiss and Aladdin stopped her.
" Are sure you... you wanted to kiss me? I am sick after all. You don't want to catch my bug. "
' Drats!' thought Sadira. " Oh yeah. You're so irresistible that I forgot."
Aladdin laughed with relief and uneasiness.
" Aladdin ?" the nurse assistant called out his name. The nurse had wavy black hair, olive skin and her eyes were hazel color. Her face looked familiar to Aladdin but it wasn't the face that he was looking for. Her badge on her uniform says "Lexie ". Aladdin and Sadira stood up and walked towards the nurse. They went in a small office and Aladdin sat on a bed that had a paper lining. Sadira saw a magazine on the counter. The page was on the article read, " Top ten youngest people that will change the world." Jasmine's picture is on the page. ' You got to be kidding me.' She thought as she picked up the magazine. ' Well the world is big. What are the chances of Aladdin bumping heads with her ? But what great lengths that Aladdin would do to get to her?
' Sadira quickly got rid of the magazine. " I'll be waiting outside." She said to him.
" Let me take your blood pressure." said the nurse. The nurse grabbed an instrument and wrapped it around his middle arm. She pumped the air from a black little ball. That thing around his arm was getting tighter and tighter.
" Uh? That thing is getting a little tight. Ow! What are you doing?"
" Relax. This is how we measure your blood pressure." The nurse put a cold stethoscope Aladdin jumped, " That's cold. My blood had pressure ?"
" You have to be quiet so I could hear your pulse.!" said the nurse as she listened to his pulse and looked at the clock on the wall. She release the air out of the black ball and the instrument around his arm deflated. " You're normal." The nurse asked plenty of questions about his health.
" Well, I returned from a third world and I got sick." There was a pause. " I think." Aladdin spoke again.
" Oh, you want to make sure that you didn't bring a foreign bug here." said the nurse.
The nurse went out and put the chart by the door. " The doctor will be in shortly."
The doctor came in and gave Aladdin an examination. " You didn't eat any olives last night."
" I don't remember eating any olives. I don't remember anything before last night either." Aladdin replied.
Sadira came into the room. " She was with me last night. Maybe she remembers what I had last night." Aladdin pointed to her.
" What? I didn't do anything. I promise." said Sadira so guilty.
" Did Aladdin ate anything that was mixed in with olives?"
" Oh my gosh! That was probably it! We specifically asked to put an alternative oil in our pasta. They must have forgot."
" You are so lucky that you Didn't -."
" Well he did pass out after he proposed to me." Sadira added.
" That doesn't really explain my fever." said Aladdin.
" You were overwhelmed by a mixture of things. Nerves, allergic reaction, flu like symptoms and culture shock."
" So that explains all the jumpiness and I can't remember what happen last night kind of thing?"
" You didn't even remember your own proposal to this pretty lady ?"
Aladdin was speechless. " Uh? I? Um? I don't know." He looked so confused.
" How could you not know? It was the most important night of our lives." said Sadira. Her muscle from her face turned into a frown.
Aladdin was trying to figure out what happened and nothing made sense. All he remembered was a set of stairs and that beautiful face looking back at him. He remembered was her words as she spoke. " I love you." Then there in front of him. Sadira. My fiancee? I don't even remember proposing to her or ever being in love with her. But everyone in this world knows who I am including Sadira.' Something dawned on Al.' With all the magic of the seven deserts. Maybe something went wronge and I was put in an alternate universe. Maybe there's an Aladdin in this world and I switched places with him. I have to find a way to return to my real home and return that Aladdin back here. I have to pretend that everything is normal.'
" Doctor, I think he just spaced out."
" Aladdin? Yoo-hoo! Are you there?" the doctor wave his hand in front of Aladdin's face. Aladdin snapped back to reality.
" How can I ever forget the important point of my life. Asking Sadira to be my wife." '
i Liari0 .' went his mind. " I promise I'll give you my whole undivided attention as soon as I am well and it will be special." Aladdin took Sadira's hands and looked straight into her eyes with sincerity. Suddenly that frown of hers turned upside down.
Later in the day, Sadira dropped Aladdin home.
" I'm going to get well by resting at home." he said to her
" Did you get your medicine?" Sadira reminded
Aladdin held the little white bag and shook it, " Yes. I did." He kissed her on the cheek.
" Thank you for taking me." Aladdin smiled.
Sadira smiled, " Well you can thank me later."
Aladdin walked inside his house and found a box on the table. There was a message on the box.
Al,
I finished your artifact while you were at the doctor's. You'll definitely be satisfied with the results. Are you going to split the appraised money with me ?
Your lackey,
Iago
p.s. really I think you should.
Aladdin opened the box and saw the priceless artifact. It was a \cf2 turquoise jewel and a sea green band that wraps around the head. ' A princess crown ? he pondered. A flash of memory flicker his mind. That same mysterious face wearing that princess crown and he could hear her laughter vestige through his mind. " I'll find my way back to you. Somehow." he said to himself
" Who are you talking to?" said a little voice
Aladdin was startled and turned around. There was a little girl, with black shoulder length hair and she was pretty tall for a seven year old. " Who are you?" he asked
" You're supposed to pick me up."
" From where?"
" From school? "
Aladdin played off as if he knew. He laughed, " I was sick and Sadira took me to the doctor's. Who got you?"
" Cassim."
" Well someone got you."
" It's not you. You always come get me when you return from your trips." The little girl notioned Aladdin to come closer. Aladdin kneeled in front of her. She wrapped her little arms around him with a great big hug. The little girl drew back and looked at him. " Something has changed. You look different." She stared into his eyes. " You switched places with someone haven't you?"
Aladdin was surprised that this little girl was on the dot.
" Don't worry. The aliens will bring you back and everything will return to normal."
" Aliens!?" Aladdin responded in thought.
" Dhandi?" called Cassim from the kitchen. " Have you finished your homework?"
" No. Aladdin is here. "
" Do your homework now and Aladdin will tell you stories later."
" Okay." answered Dhandi as she scrambled back to the kitchen and Aladdin followed her after. There was Cassim sitting on the table looking at some ancient and modern maps. Dhandi sat climbed a bar stool and she does her homework on the kitchen island. Aladdin looked at the maps, they were maps of Arabia. The ancient maps looked so familiar and the other map he had no clue. Cassim made some marks on the modern map.
" These are places that we looked and found the artifacts." said Cassim as he pointed out on the map. " It was your idea to come there after their 100 year storm had hit. We did and EUREKA! The wind blew unearth sand on some ancient artifacts."
" 100 year storm? " Aladdin asked, " Was that it?" There was a sense of familiarity with it. A mental picture of a large stone door opened and there was a huge wind that blew swirls of sand and dust. Thunder and lightening was cracking, rumbling,crashing in the background.
" Yeah, what you think it was? Son, are you okay?" Again Cassim caught his son staring out into oblivion. " Aladdin!" Cassim exclaimed.
Al snapped back into reality and lifted himself to sit on the kitchen island. He placed his hands on his face. " It's like I am going crazy or something. I feel like that I don't belong here. Everything here looks so strange and different as if Mechanikles was behind this. I having these memory flashes of a life half lived."
Cassim comforted his son, " You're just tired and still under the weather."
" Yeah." Aladdin agreed. " Maybe you're right. "
" Uh? Son? Mechanikles?" Cassim asked. " Didn't we finish that project a year ago?"
Aladdin got more confused, " Remind me about that project was about?"
" There was a myth of a Roman inventor that created gadgets that were ahead of his time. People say that he inspired some of the inventions of today."
" His inventions were meant for world domination." Aladdin added. ' Gee, I could remember these people's names and have no memory being with them here. I remember a memory of a girl and I can't match a name to her face.'
" Well, that's a missing link that wasn't proven for world domination. We went to Rome a year ago and we couldn't find anything there ." Cassim continued to explain
, Aladdin wasn't paying to attention to Cassim's babbles about their misadventures in Rome and their dead end excavations. He was focused on his thoughts. Unexpectecly, he let out an outburst, " Ugh! What is her name?!"
Cassim stopped talking and stared at his son on a verge of going insane. " Are you okay? I'm getting concerned. It's not contagious is it?"
" I don't know but you were with me to that other world. But I don't remember you being with me in that place or so...that's what I know so far. Maybe -"
"You really need to sleep. A lack of sleep can interfere with remembering incidents. A goodnight's sleep can refresh you. " Cassim interrupted." Do you need a sedative to help you sleep?"
" What's a sedative?" Aladdin wondered.
" Sleeping pills."
" No, it's okay. I can sleep fine, Thanks."
Aladdin went to his room and continued reading his journal. He found a drawing in his journal. It looked similar to the tattoo that was on his right chest. It was a symbol for the Riders of Ramand. A map that was branded onto the riders just in case if one gets lost or found dead. A huge lined star that was risen in the east. A small star that was located in the west that represented the city of Ramand. In between was lines of mountain and river that were crisscrossed. A dot north and a dot south were locations of other cities. 'Cool symbol ' he pondered. ' Probably, this Aladdin like it so much that he permanently inked himself with it.' He turned into another section of the journal.
" Today, I bought myself a motorcycle." He read, then he remembered that morning of that two wheel contraption that zoomed passed by Sadira's car. ' Oh, I have to see this.' Aladdin reflected. 'Maybe tomorrow.'
Jasmine pressed a button on the intercom on the wall. " May I help you your highness?"
" Yes, I would like to go to the marketplace today." Jasmine responded.
" You would like to go to the store. We have plenty of food here." responded the maid
" Well, you know clothes and stuff. "
" You wish to go shopping."
" Yes, exactly. Would you like to come and show me around?"
" Oh, I can't. Your highness. I got tons of things to do here in the house and-"
" Please?" Jasmine begged. " I am the only person here in the house and I need a companion so I won't get lost."
" Okay, I am calling your bodyguard, Rasoul."
The girls approached the front entrance of the mansion and there was a long black automatic carriage that pulled up to the front. A big guy came out from one of the doors wearing a black suit, white dress shirt, a black tie, dark shades and some kind of ear piece that was hanging fro his ear. Somehow he was talking to it. He looked like a top government secret agent. But to Jasmine, he looked like a giant penguin.
" Good afternoon. Princess."
Jasmine was surprised, she knew who the person was, " Rasoul. You looked something out of the ordinary. Very different from your usual uniform."
" Just doing my job. Out of the orders of the sultan." He opened the automatic carriage door. " Into the limo. Where are you planning to go?"
Jasmine wasn't sure of places to go for shopping and just before she could say her maid next word.
The maid answered for her. " Rodeo Dr. Beverly Hills." The maid went into the limo without any hesitation.
" What's that?" Jasmine asked as she followed her in.
" The best place where people like you should go shop."
" You know the rules. You must stay low undercover. Don't bring any attention to yourselves." ordered Rasoul .
" Rasoul, you are such a kill joy. We are protected under the most high security country ever." said the young maid.
" Yes, Amina. I know. But the paparazzi will expose and the damage control is unpredictable. The safety of the princess will be at stake."
" Don't worry. Rasoul. We will be careful." replied Jasmine.
Rasoul closed the door behind him and sat in the front part of the limo. The car started to move out of the driveway and into the streets. There was an expression of bewilderment into Jasmine. All these sights that she is seeing! They are out of this world! There were other automatic carriages in different shapes and sizes. Tall palm trees that soar high into the sky. People that looked similar to the jogger the other day running. There were other people are just wearing strange clothes like the ones she saw in the magazine. People that were riding two wheel contraption with pedals. She thought about the person that she left behind. That person whom she can't think of his name at the moment. ' If only you can see this with me. It's amazing.' she thought to herself.
" Who are you thinking about?" asked Amina, the maid.
" Someone that I left behind at home." Jasmine answered, " Gosh! I could see his face but I can't remember his name."
" Maybe, he wasn't that important."
Jasmine laughed in disbelief. " Believe me. He is. It's that I'm just in a complete amazement of this place. It's nothing compared to Agrabah. No wonder why father has a house here, it's his playground of inventions and gadgets." The ocean caught Jasmine's eye, her attention was drawn to it. There were people on wide sticks , that paddle and stand up. " Amina, what are they doing?" The princess pointed out.
" They are surfing."
" Later, we shall return to-" Jasmine was looking for sign that tells where she is. She saw a sign and pronounced it. "Pch one."
" Pch?" Amina looked at the princess strangely. ' What is this woman talking about?'
" Yeah, Pch one." Jasmine assured. " That green sign that says P-C-H and there's a number one under it." There are more signs similar to it. " There's a another one and another and another."
Something dawned on to Amina, " Oh! You mean the Pacific Coast Highway 1 "
" Is that what it means?'" Jasmine asked
" The road that we are on is the Pacific Coast Highway 1. That place that we just came from, where your house is at, and where the surfers caught the waves is Malibu."
" I thought this is heaven?"
" There's a lot to learn. A lot to learn."
Soon they hit the downtown the swanky section of L.A. called Beverly Hills but they were in the middle of a traffic jam. Amina turned on the limo television to kill the time. Jasmine knew what she was doing and remembered her experience with a gadget like that. Quickly Jasmine covered her ears to avoid the high volume.
" It's not on high." Amina mentioned.
Jasmine couldn't hear her hands on her ears. " What?"
" You don't need to cover your ears."
" I can't hear you. My hands are covering my ears because of a bad experience that I had the other morning."
Amina put Jasmine's hands down and away from her ears, " I promise you that you won't get deaf." Jasmine's eyes were squint tight to bear blasting noise. But the volume wasn't high. She peered from one eye and opened the other. " See? It's not that bad."
The young maid turned to a news channel. The picture had a woman sitting behind a desk and announced.
" In today's world news. Tragedy has struck New Agrabah. The Princess of Agrabah was been reported missing since the Rebels began bombing the city Tuesday afternoon. She was one of the youngest people to change the world. There were no signs of a struggle or whereabouts. Sources say that the princess has been under the hands of Rebels of Mozenrath. A notorious guerilla gang that wanted to gain control of the city because of it's nature's natural resources. That is worth over a billion US dollars. We will further update on this tragedy of a brilliant young woman. "
Jasmine saw her picture on the television. " How can I be missing if I am here? Amina, call Rasoul and to tell me what's the meaning of this?"
" Yes Princess." answered Rasoul.
" Turned on the television or this contraption and explain to me what's going on. Why am I reported missing?"
" Your highness. It's just a cover up from your country and the rebels who are after you.''
" Don't you think that they would have figured it out by now?"
" Princess, it's a big world out there. The rebels don't know where to look first. No one there suspects that you are hiding here except for us. "
The limo took a left turn on a street called Rodeo Dr. Jasmine saw people walking in and out of stores with bags, people eating and drinking outside of cafes, \
" Where do you want to go first?" asked Amina\
" I don't know. You choose." Jasmine answered. Her face is was light up like a child in a toy store. \
" Stop here." notioned Amina. The vehicle stopped in front of a trendy boutique. Rasoul came out of the front and went to the back. He notion the girls to roll down their window down. \
" Let us secure the perimeter and talk to the sale associate to close the store for you. "\
" Wouldn't that draw attention?" Jasmine mentioned.\
" There's paparatzi across the street. The limo is drawing attention already."\
Jasmine peered through the window at the other side of the car. There were people with strange contraptions in their hands, aiming at the black limo, flashes were blinking away.\
" Here." Rasoul offered sunglasses and a baseball cap. \
" Thanks for the gift." Jasmine took it and placed it in her lap.\
" No, you are supposed to wear it to hide your identity from the public." said Amina.\
" I thought no one knows that I am here."\
" Let's keep it that way." Amina helped Jasmine put the shades on, tied her hair in a ponytail, and added the baseball cap.\
" Remember, don't let anybody know who you truly are. We need to protect you." Rasoul added.\
They waited for the store empty out their customers. Jasmine looked at the photographers across the street. They were standing there, wondering who's in that black limo and why they had to empty the store for her to shop. Rasoul signaled the coast is clear and Jasmine stepped out the car along with her new friend Amina. The photographer quickly ran across the street to get a closer shot. But the girls made it into on time. Security guards stopped them from coming inside. Peered through the store window to get a glimpse of the mystery woman. All they see is two women who could be anyone. Inside the store, the clerks stared at them and whispered to each other trying to figure out what celebrity had came into their store. \
Jasmine wandered around and looked at the strange clothing. They had beautiful fabrics and designs. Jasmine saw a dress that was hanging on the rack. \
" Excuse me?" She said to someone. " Can you get my size in this dress?"\
" Jasmine?" said Amina\
" Yeah?" she answered\
" That's a mannequin." \
Jasmine laughed, " She looked real."\
Amina also laughed, " Boy, are you deprived from so many things."\
The store owner went up to them, " Are you finding everything okay?" The owner tried to look through Jasmine's disguise to figure who she is. " Have I seen you somewhere before?"\
Just before Jasmine could answer her back. Amina jumped in to answer for her.\
" Actually, it's me that you've seen before."\
" No, I meant this young lady." The owner placed her hand on Jasmine's shoulder.\
" Her? She looks like every other struggling actress or model in this town. Probably at a department store catalog."\
Jasmine had no idea what Amina was talking about. She played along by nodding with her. A memory flashed through her, ' Sadly, yes. She's my sister. She's a little crazy.'
" I hope that you're okay." said Jasmine to herself thinking about the person she left behind.
" Yeah, of course. I'm okay. Why do you ask?" Amina responded.
Jasmine snapped back into reality, " Because of all the attention you're getting. Those paparatzi across the street with those things in their hands that blink lights. The high security that surrounds us and the closing of this store just for you to shop. Don't you wish not to hide anymore."\
" Sadly, this is what I get for being an heiress of the mango empire."\
The store owner had this confused look on her face but played it off as if she knew.\
" Oh. Let me know if there's anything that you like." He left to do his duties.\
" I didn't know that you're an heiress of the mango empire. Why are you working as a maid?" said Jasmine.\
" It was a ploy just to help you out."\
After the girls finished their shopping, they went to the back door of the store where another limo is waiting for them and they went home.\
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