Julia
I turn to face the woman and for a moment I am thrown. The woman looks to be in her late 40s and she is absolutely beautiful. She has red hair pulled back in a bun and bright green eyes, she has a beautiful dress on but her clothes along with her jewelry scream money. However, she works in a charity shop, so there could be more to it.
"Yes?" that's all I say. I am standing here with stolen property in my hands and that's all I can come out with. "Miss, I think you may have forgotten to pay for those items, but not to worry, it can happen. How about we head to the counter and get you checked out?" she smiles, and it feels like her smile alone could light up the entire place and her expression is warm and motherly, which makes me sad for a moment.
She knows full well that I wasn't planning on paying, and yet she's giving me a chance to correct my behavior, without any judgment and God knows I wish I could do as she asks. I felt bad stealing these clothes before, but now after how she is treating me, I feel even worse.
I... I can't", I struggle to explain, and before I know it I'm a sobbing mess. She comes up to me and wraps her arm around my shoulders and starts guiding me towards the back of the shop. I know that I shouldn't let her, that I should run or even fight my way out if I have to, but my body doesn't seem to get that message as I just continue to let this lady guide me.
We get to the back of the shop and enter a small room where she leads me over to a chair before taking a seat next to me. She leans to the other side of her and pulls some tissues from a box that's placed on a small coffee table in the corner of the room. "Thank you." She gives me a warm smile but doesn't say anything. Instead, she just sits there while resting one of her hands on my arm, offering me comfort. I tried stealing from this woman, and here she is offering me comfort. What the hell?
She leans towards me and takes the stuff out of my hands and then reaches out and holds on to my hands while I start crying harder because all I feel right now is shame washing over me. "You weren't planning on paying, were you, sweetheart?" I don't want to look up, I don't want to see the look in her eyes when I answer, but that would be the cowardly thing to do, and after how she has treated me so far she deserves so much more than me acting like a coward.
I take a deep breath and I try with all I have to stop the tears, but they still fall down my face as I look up at her. "No, I wasn't, and I'm so, so sorry! I swear it wasn't because I didn't want to!" I feel myself start to panic and take slow breaths. As she goes to speak, the door to the room that we are in opens and a man walks in, fuck it's that guy. I'd never seen him before, and then I saw him twice in one week. That was three weeks ago, but I haven't been able to stop thinking about him. I don't know what he's doing here, but now he's going to know that I'm a thief. Great!
I can't bare to look at him for some reason, so I lower my head and look at my hands where the woman is still holding onto them. "What's going on, Mom?" Mom? Oh, fuck! I hear movements, and then two shiny brown shoes appear in my side view right before he gets down on his hunches, and I'm now looking at his chest. I watch as his hand comes towards me, but instead of feeling fear like I should, I don't.
He hooks one single finger under my chin and lifts my head while turning it to the side, so I have no choice but to look at him. "What's happening?" he asks me. His voice is strong and holds a no-nonsense tone but still, for some reason, I feel like he's holding some of his true self back, it's as if he's angry but not showing it.
"I tried... I tried to steal some clothes." I hiccup. While I'm talking, the nerves kick back in at him holding me in place and not letting me look away. His eyebrows climb his forehead while a look of confusion graces his insanely handsome face and I get it. Who the hell would steal from a charity shop? He looks over to where the clothes are, then gets up and moves over to them, picking them up and checking them out.
"I'm so sorry, please, I promise I didn't want to do it... I just... she is so cold, and I can't do a dam thing about it. I swear I would pay if I could. Please don't call the police, she only has me!" My panic has reached boiling point, but how can it not? If they call the cops on me, I'm fucked and so is Nina.
My breath starts getting tight, and I feel like I'm doing all I can to take just a simple breath. "Sweetheart, calm down. It's going to be OK, we are going to work this out." the woman comes to sit in front of me and even though I can hear what she's saying, for some reason, I can't seem to take it in. "Mom, go and get her a glass of water." I watch her nod then disappear out of my view.
I keep working on my breathing, but I feel like I'm going to pass out, then he appears back in my view as he once again gets down on his hunches. "Look at me." I ignore his words as my heart pounds even harder. "Look at me now!" I don't know why but something in his tone makes me listen, and my head snaps up to look at him. "I'm sorry." I know I've already said it several times, but I'll do whatever I can to keep the cops out of this and Nina safe. I have to get her away from this place soon, and I can't let her down.
"I want you to listen to me. I want you to copy me and take small calm breaths." he starts showing me what he means and somehow my body just automatically follows him, but I'm glad because just a few moments later I finally get a full breath and feel so much better for it. The door opens and the woman... his Mom walks in with a glass of water and hands it to me. "Take small sips or you'll make yourself sick." I give him a nod as I'm handed a glass and for a moment I find myself frozen. I can't remember ever holding a glass, not a clean one anyway.
"Thank you." I give her the best smile that I can, but it soon falls once more. "Are you going to call the cops?" before she can answer he jumps in. "No, as long as you tell us what's going on and why you tried to steal children's clothes and shoes." I look toward him, and while he may sound stern, he looks a little sad, and it's confusing to me. I try to speak but nothing comes out.
"The choice is yours, but if you don't want the cops involved, then I need a good reason not to call them." I don't think it's up to him, I'm pretty sure this is his Mom's shop, but either way, I'm not in a position to argue right now.
"I... I... I can't, I wish I could, but I can't." as soon as I start speaking, I realize that I can't tell them the truth, because that means telling them about Nina and that means there's a risk that I could lose her forever, But if I face the cops without her name coming into it then I know that the others will look after her and at least that way I'll be able to come back to her. The woman walks over to me and leans down so that we are face to face. "What's your name, sweetheart?"
"It's Gemma, Gemma Longgate." both of them look at me and I know that they both know that I'm lying but I can't risk anything. "You're lying, but I guess that the cops will find out your real name anyway." he sounds pissed, and I don't blame him. Most people would have called the cops by now but neither of them has. Instead, they have been nothing but nice to me. I'm scared, and he knows it, but still, I remain quiet as he picks up his phone ready to call the cops on me.
Riley Seeing her here was such a shock to me, but to find out that not only had she stolen clothes but that she had stolen clothes for a child, well, that just blew me away. The stuff that she stole came to a total of $11, so if she can't pay for them, fuck things must be bad for her. I've tried all I can to get her to talk to me and so has my Mom, but she won't. She won't tell us a Goddam thing, and now I'm pissed! So fucking pissed! She's lying to us about her name. I know she is, and she won't tell us why she has done this. Even when I threatened her with the cops, she didn't waver. We rarely have anyone steal from here. It's a charity shop after all, but it does happen. Usually, when it happens, the threat of me calling the cops is enough to get them talking, but not this time. I don't do it to be a dick. I do it to get them talking because if there's one thing that I've learned since my Mom opened this shop, it is that if someone steals from here, they are usually desperate an
Julia I'm still so ashamed that I was caught stealing from a charity shop and I swear the moment that he walked in I wanted the floor to open up and swallow me whole. I know that a man like him would never be interested in someone like me, but that doesn't mean that I can't daydream about it on the cold sleepless nights that I often face. However, after my antics today, even I'm going to struggle to daydream about him wanting me after what he saw. Despite all my mixed emotions, the look on Nina's face when I got home with a coat, jumper, and boots for her made every single embarrassing moment worthwhile. After being caught once today, I'm not up for any more stealing, so I'm staying here tonight with Nina and the others rather than going out on my usual nightly hunt. Thankfully, I managed to get a large amount of food last night, and we've kept enough for everyone to be able to eat tonight. Well, everyone except for me... I won't eat tonight. I'd rather keep my potion for tomorrow.
RileyIt's been three days since I last saw her, only three days, and yet it feels like it's been forever. She's constantly on my mind. It doesn't matter what I'm doing, whether it's running my many businesses or working out in the gym or even at the club with Josh, she never leaves me, and it's playing with my head.Josh and I hit the club last night as the asshole part of me tried to convince myself that I just needed to get laid, but of course, the moment a woman come on to me, I had absolutely no interest in her and, I shit you not, she was everything that I usually look for in a one night stand and yet, I couldn't get further enough away from her which has pretty much summed up what I already knew, but just didn't want to admit.And so that's why I'm currently sitting in my car with the entrance to the alleyway in full view, hoping and praying that she will come out of there and that I can catch a glimpse of her and... Well, I don't really have a plan yet, I just know that I need
Julia "Momma, will we ever have a Christmas tree?" the sad look in her eyes tugs at my heart. Her request is such a simple one and yet, still something that I can't give her. All children should know the pure joy of a Christmas tree, the twinkling lights, and multicolored baubles. I've only ever had one Christmas tree but I've never forgotten about it. "One year, baby, one year." It's the same line that I tell her every year but it's something that I plan on making happen.... one year anyway. "You said that last year, momma." this girl may only be three but she has an incredible brain and memory. The girl is home-schooled by me and with the limited resources that I have you would think that she would be behind for her age but she's not, she is incredibly talented and makes me insanely proud every day. "You're smart for a 3-year-old, chicken," Helen says as she comes to sit next to us. I swear this woman reads my mind several times a week. "I'm almost 4!" Nina rushes out proud to a
Riley I'm in the car and on my way to downtown New York so fast that it feels like a blur. Thankfully, the traffic isn't so bad tonight so it's a pretty quick ride to the city centre. I quickly find a parking space not too far from the alleyway then waste no time in heading that way on foot. It's almost 9 pm and from what I've learned over the past few weeks of watching her, if she is out then she will be back soon. She doesn't seem to stay out late which makes me happy because I worry about her out there doing God knows what. I stay in the dark and out of sight so as not to frighten her or anyone else who may come here and get impatient as the time goes by and she doesn't return. Maybe she's not out tonight? Maybe she's up the alleyway with her little girl. I decide to give it another ten minutes and if there's no sign of her then I'll head further up the alley to see if I can spot her there. Another fifteen minutes go by with still no sight of her I finally lose it. "Fuck this!"
RileyI shock myself with those words but the moment I say them, I know that I don't regret them. I mean every word and I may not have planned this to go this way but I don't care. I'm glad I said what I said. The sooner I get these two of the streets the better."Don't. Please, don't do that!" She pulls back from me letting go of my coat as she speaks and the saddest look covers her beautiful face. "Don't do what? I don't understand?" she gives me a disbelieving look but I'm still confused."It's mean to tease someone." I'm still confused. "You are fully aware that I don't have anything... have a home, yet you have it all and you're here just teasing me. Is this fun for you?" she starts getting angry again and so do I because clearly, she has had this done to her before. Clearly, someone has rubbed her unfortunate life in her face and that just pisses me off.I step in even closer to her filling in the small gap that she made when she pulled back from me and gently grip her chin maki
RileyI'm pissed! pissed, annoyed, upset, angry, and just plain fucking gutted! I didn't plan anything when I went to see Gemma... Julia tonight but still, I feel like a massive failure and just... fuck, I don't even know what I'm feeling right now.When she finally told me her real name, I felt my heart kick up a beat. Julia... such a beautiful name. I wonder what the little girl's name is. I doubt that she would tell me her real name and I can respect that, she has to protect her and I get it. Tonight was the closest that I have gotten to her and somehow she seemed even smaller than before but still absolutely perfect.Seeing her hurt angered me like never before. Why would anyone hurt her? Those men are sick bastards and if I ever get my hands on them I won't be responsible for my actions!"How's that whiskey treating you?" Josh sits on the empty bar stool next to me as I finish up my drink. My reply is a grunt because I don't know what to say, and don't want to talk but I know Jos
Nina "Momma, momma wake up!" The wind is so cold that my toes are hurting but my mom has got me so wrapped up that I don't feel it as much as I should. The wind got really scary and has broken our tent but my mommy laid over me to protect me and keep me safe because she's the best mommy in the whole wide world but now she's sleeping and I can't wake her up. I wiggle with all I have and keep calling her but she's not answering. Some of the other people who live here are sleeping too but the rest left here ages ago while mommy was laying over me. Finally, after lots of wiggling I manage to get out from under mommy. The wind isn't so windy anymore but she still won't wake up. "Mommy wake up! The wind has gone now, Mommy!" Why don't she listen? I'm scared and I'm cold and I just want my mommy to wake up! Maybe she's not well and that's why she's sleeping. She has told me before that if she's sleeping and I can't wake her up then I have to ask for help and now that it's happening, I'm ge