Sheltered(5)

“Of course,” I say, already assuming that.

“So if you are at an event and you hear the name of a buyer, or someone mentions this gallery, I need you to keep silent. Anonymity is very important to this gallery and to me. Fritz said that I could trust you, and I don’t trust easily.”

I think for a moment how to ease her mind and decide to go with honesty.

“Lilith, I don’t have any friends. And I don’t mean that as in I have one or two. I mean I have zero. College wasn’t a game for me and I focused on that. Fritz is the only person I have left within five hundred miles, and past five hundred miles there’s no one I care to talk to.” I give an ironic laugh. “Even if I thought about telling someone, I couldn’t. And this job means more to me than sewing circle gossip.”

Lilith nods and I see a smile pull at her lips. “All right. I’ll leave you to it,” she says and turns to click her way down the hall.

I let out a breath I didn’t know I was holding and flop down in my seat. I can actually feel the stress sweat in my armpits, but I think I might just have made it through my first ring of fire.





Chapter 3





Blair





I wiggle my toes inside my heels, praying for some relief. This morning I made the walk to work just fine, but after running around in these shoes all day I had to take the bus home. My apartment is only a little over a mile from the art studio, but my feet are dead. Bringing two sets of clothes to work makes sense now. There’s no way I could last in that warehouse on heels all day. I need to dig through my closet and find some sneakers.

I’m still in awe of the art studio and how big it is. I barely even made a dent in some of the inventory Lilith had me go through. The place is chaos. I’m not sure how someone with a personality like Lilith has let it get so bad. My only guess is because she’s too busy to have time to deal with it. Which is true. I watched as orders came and went as fast as I could find them. I had no idea an art studio could be so busy, but it was.

I open the to-go container I got from the restaurant next to art studio and sneak a French fry out, popping it into my mouth. I have to bite back a moan. I’d been so busy today that I’d forgotten about eating lunch altogether. But I noticed no one else ate lunch either, so maybe that’s just the way it is. I’m glad I indulged in a second coffee this morning to hold me over. I don’t function well when I don’t eat. It’s a feeling that takes me back to a place I hated.

Tomorrow I’ll pack a few snacks in my purse in case I’m running around like crazy again. I was too scared to ask for a lunch break. If I was told to take lunch, I would, but I wasn’t going to go be the only person talking about food. I was lucky to have this job to begin with. I’m already trying to prove that I’m worthy of having the position and that I didn’t get it only because of Fritz. I want Lilith to see me as an asset. And as strange as it sounds, I want her approval. To feel like I’m needed and actually helping.

At the reminder of Fritz, I pull out my cell phone. When I don’t see a text from him, I’m not sure if I should worry or not. When I was in school we could go days without texting, but normally he’d let me know he was working. Today was kind of a big deal to me, and I haven’t heard a peep from him.

I know Fritz can’t always be here when I need him, but he usually makes some kind of effort to let me know he’s thinking about me. Maybe I’m just needy. I hate that. My mama was always needy of men. She always had to have one around. She went from one boyfriend to the next.

When I moved from the dorms to my new apartment he was too busy to help, but he sent over a few moving people to help me. Not that I needed a ton of help. I didn’t have a lot of things, but it was still sweet of him to find a way to be there for me. Even if he couldn’t be there in person.

I put my phone back in my purse thinking I’ll text him when I get home. Standing up, I grab my food and start to exit the bus. When I get to the door, a woman steps on, frantically looking through her purse.

“I can’t find my pass,” she pleads, a look of panic on her face.

“Sorry, ma’am. You’ll have to get off,” I hear the bus driver say to her.

I watch the dark-haired woman’s eyes water. I shake my head at how dismissive the bus driver is to her. She’s in a waitress uniform, and from the looks of her she’s heading in for her evening shift.

“I can’t be late. Plea—”

“Off now. You’re blocking other passengers,” the driver snaps, cutting her off.

The woman turns, and I dig into my purse and pull out a five-dollar bill.

“Wait.” I place my hand on her shoulder. She turns to look at me. She’s probably my age and she looks as tired as I feel. “Here.” I slip the money into her hand.

She looks down and I can tell she’s not sure if she should take it or not.

“Just pay it forward,” I tell her, giving her hand a squeeze before stepping off the bus.

“Thank you,” I hear from behind me. I give her a smile over my shoulder before continuing on towards my apartment. I never understand how people can be so mean to one another.

I really hope my roommate Roxy isn’t home tonight, but I have a feeling I’m not going to be that lucky.