Page 124 of A World Apart
It wasn't just the clothes, though. The whole city was suddenly bedecked in autumnal foliage, fake orange and red leaves draped all over store fronts, pumpkins and hay bales crowding pavements that now smelt like pumpkin spice and vanilla, instead of… well, hot trash.
It was like the whole city and everyone in it was trying to live out their Gilmore Girls fantasy. I was kind of here for it.
“Is it today they’re filming?” Becka’s question brings my focus away from a chihuahua dressed as a hotdog and back to her.
“Yeah, today and tomorrow, done by Friday.”
“In Long Beach?”
“In some industrial park, yeah.” Jihoon had sent me some selfies last night, but as far as I could tell, it was an abandoned lot. The magic of post-production had a lot of work to do.
“And you remember I’m heading out right after work on Friday?”
“Yes, Mother, I remember.” I rolled my eyes at her. She’d reminded me every day this week that she was taking the bus up to Oakland to spend the Halloween weekend with her parents.
“I’ll mother you in a minute.” Becka shot back at me as we crossed over the street to head back to work, the lunch hour being nearly up.
“Oh, you already do.” It was probably lucky she hadn’t heard me, already half-way across the road. Sighing, I increased my pace to catch up with her.
I said goodbye to Becka as she took the lift back up to her office. I didn’t have any assigned tasks left today, so I lingered in the reception, fiddling with my phone.
“Haven’t you got anything better to do?” I looked up in surprise. The only person in the bright lobby was Donna.
“I’m sorry,” I started, “did you say something?” I really don’t think she’d ever addressed me before.
In answer, Donna rolled her eyes and sat back down on the tall office chair behind the desk. She picked up a nail file and began to shape her already-perfect nails.
“You seem like a little duckling, these days, kid. Lost your mama, you?” My eyebrows furrowed so deeply I felt the muscles in my forehead straining. How have I neverheard her accent before? She spoke with such a distinct not-quite-French twang that her words took a hot minute to filter through to my brain.
“I guess I’m just feeling a little useless, these days,” I admitted.
“Smart girl like you needs a purpose.” Donna nodded sagely, not lifting her gaze from her nails.
You could have knocked me over with that nail file. First, she speaks, then she calls me smart?
“Moi?” I said, holding a hand to my chest, as if I couldn’t believe my ears.
Donna halts her nail file and looks up at me, raising an eyebrow. “Tu parle francais?”
“Oui,” I responded automatically, “un petit peu.” I’d gotten a B in my A-Level French, although I’m sure much of it had already fallen out of my brain.
Donna smiled at me, but it wasn’t the normal smile I’d seen her give to clients; there was something a bit wolfish about this smile. She seemed to have entirely too many teeth.
“Knew you was a smart girl, you. Now git.” She jerked her head and went back to filing her nails, a dismissal as clear as day.
Needing to go somewhere, I headed towards the storage cave. I could always alphabetise the music sheets left over from the orchestra we’d had in a few weeks ago.
I was just tapping out a message to Becka to tell her about my encounter with Donna, sitting on the floor and surrounded by different musical arrangement sheet music when the door creaked open behind me.
“There you are,” the voice so unwelcome that it slithered down my spine. “I’ve been looking for you.”
I spun around on my ass to find Trevor Kyle standing in front of the now-closed door.
The storage cave was not small, by any means, but with me on the floor and him at the door, it suddenly felt cramped.
“How can I help you, Mr Kyle.” Keeping my voice even was an effort.
“Let me help you up, Kayla.” He extended a hand to me, but I shied away from it. He might as well have been holding out a fistful of snakes, for all the inclination Ihad to reach for it. Instead, I scrabbled to my feet, swiping my finger over the screen and pocketing my phone.
