Handcuffed

Who Is Going To Win

Ms. Barker had warned her before they walked back to the car that she believed her car was bugged, so they kept a conversation about the upcoming date and school. Besides, Shirley had her cell phone with her, which she conveniently left in the car during their conversation, so she already knew from Godfrey not to say anything incriminating. They arrived in time for steaming mushroom soup, followed by a nice warm meal perfect for being out all afternoon in the chilly autumn.

She wasn't surprised to have slept so well with everything going on, because she had been up so early and had a busy day. She was nervous and excited, so she found it hard to eat that morning. Ms. Isadora asked her to come to her office alone (looking at Diana) after she finished her breakfast. Mori was talking to her when she got there.

He unlocked a side door into the garage. It had the Marquis and a large van that looked like it was for transporting invalids. Mori led the way to the back end of the garage and opened a door leading to spiral steps that had seen better days.

"Sorry these haven't been fixed up but we don't use this area often enough to warrant spending the money on it," he said.

She followed him up and was handed a key. "Try it," he said. It turned easily. The room had a closet, a full-length mirror, a small desk, two decent looking armchairs and a door leading out the other side. Mori showed her the bathroom, which had a close-up mirror, a full bath and shower curtain next to the toilet seat, and another door.

"This door," he said pleasantly, pointing to the extra bathroom door, "and the door in the room that we did not come in from, lead to no place you need to be in, so please don't go there. When you want to get in here, just ask Ms. Isadora to open the garage for you and you know the way from there. Oh, by the way, you can leave your everyday clothing here, so that when we come back you can change again and nobody will know the difference."

Shirley thanked him as they made their way back through the garage and split up near Ms. Isadora's office. "See you at 5:30," he said quietly.

Shirley met with her basketball team for an hour to practice and spent some time with Diana discussing the play, but she was looking forward to a real honest to goodness bath. The room she had at Ms. Hudson's house only had a shower and the Dorm only offered showers too. At 2:30 she managed to sneak out with everything she needed, and asked Ms. Isadora to open the garage. When Ms. Isadora asked why so early, she said one word, "Bath" and got a knowing smile.

She let herself into the room and ran the bath wishing she could add some bubbles too. Can't have everything, she mused. She kept her watch nearby so as not to lose track of time and it was a good thing she did. Forty-five minutes later she felt very clean and relaxed, but she looked like a shriveled prune. After blow-drying her hair, the creases were gone and her skin felt softer then ever. She couldn't believe time flew so fast. It was five o'clock already and she had just finished her makeup.

At 5:29 she was eyeing herself in the mirror for the fifteenth time and finally couldn't find anything to fix. She had already packed up what she was wearing when she came into the room and now she was going to see if he was going to be punctual. He was. She could hear his footsteps on the stairs. When she opened the door she was glad to see the delight on his face, though she felt like her expression wasn't very different.

"You look great," she heard herself say.

"And that style and color really looks good on you."

They walked arm in arm down the stairs, where Mori opened the passenger car door and Shirley had to pull her dress up to keep it from getting caught in the door. They drove out of the grounds without seeing too many people, besides Shirley was sure she wasn't seen because of the deep tint on the car windows.