Vice

35: Picked Up

What is Mr. Vice DOING HERE? Why is he outside in my driveway in his crazy expensive supercar? What if my parents see? What will they say? How on Earth would I explain this to them?

Natara gulps air into her lungs - it's so hard to breathe and her chest feels so heavy. Her family sits only just a few feet away in the kitchen. How long will it be before they look over and notice her standing frozen in fear in front of the living room window?

Natara quickly announces she's going to work and scurries out the door, hoping her parents won't see the handsome white male in his mid-twenties waiting to pick her up. Gosh, they'd be livid. Axius Vice was hardly on the front pages of the papers with good news about him - usually it was something about being offensive at a party or ticking off some other business owners, according to Natara's mother. He was the last person her family would want personally coming to their home.

Maybe if she leaves fast enough she can slip out the door and sprint to the vehicle and Mr. Vice will drive away before they see. Clearly he's here to pick her up for some reason, she just doesn't know why or for what.

But, much to her dismay, a quick escape from the property isn't likely. When she steps out of the front door she sees that Mr. Vice has turned the car off, stepped out, and lit up a cigarette.

"What are you doing here? My parents would kill me if they saw someone like you personally picking me up from my house," Natara says. "We need to leave. Right now."

She peeks back at the house. The curtain wiggles just a little bit, as if someone saw her turn around and closed it.

"Why is that?" He asks, raising an eyebrow at the quivering curtain. "Is there something wrong with your boss coming to pick you up?"

"Well, because," Natara stammers. "Yes, there's...kind of...?"

She doesn't know exactly why him showing up outside her home is so incriminating. Because he's kissed her? Because he's held her? Because she's slept overnight with him? Because he's older? Because he's her boss? She feels like there are a lot of reasons why her parents would kill her. She's just glad they aren't aware of any of them.

Well...maybe they are aware, now. The curtain did move.

"We have a conference in Parkan Bay today. That's why I'm here." Smoke trickles from his plush lips. Natara finds herself staring at them for a few seconds too long, remembering the feel of them pressing against her own lips. "There's an outfit in the backseat for you to wear."

Natara cautiously approaches the car, opens the passenger door, and glances in the back. The dress hanging in the backseat is nothing like the dresses Jaquie would have picked out for her, or anything like the outfits sitting in the downstairs dressing area of the Vicecorp building. 

This dress is a deep ruby color with gold accents and heels. It has a neckline more sloping than Natara is used to and looks like it will be tight to her body. A gold, diamond and ruby necklace and two matching bracelets sit on top of the dress. Natara doesn't want to know how much all of this costs, but she knows it's far more expensive than the type of dresses she's gotten accustomed to wearing lately.

"Probably best to change inside. That's why I got out of the car." Mr. Vice shrugs, still staring at the house. "There's nothing abnormal about me picking you up for a meeting."

Natara begs to differ. And when she slinks back inside the house and meets wary stares from her parents, she knows they also see the idea of Mr. Vice coming to pick her up for work a bit differently than he does. They stare down at the expensive items in Natara's arms and then back at her. 

Natara feels like they can probably see right through her. But can they? Or does she just feel that way? Does it really look normal for someone's boss to show up outside their home and take them to work? Is she just feeling nervous because of the things she's done with him, or because it really is unusual?

"Is that Axius Vice in our driveway?" Natara's mother asks. She knows her mother recognizes him from all of the newspapers and magazine covers. Natara awkwardly nods.

"Did you know he was coming?" She raises an eyebrow, pulling open the curtain and peeking through the window. Natara shakes her head. "Should we invite him in? Surely we should. I wish you would have known and could have told me. The house is a mess and the yard is a mess! Is this going to be a regular thing?"

"Um, it's fine. I don't think he really cares about how it looks. And you don't have to invite him in. He's waiting on me so I'm just gonna hurry out," Natara replies, holding her hands up defensively. "I don't think it'll happen much. I think he mentioned needing to get to a special meeting or something."

The last thing she wants is for the boss she sort of made out with to interact with her parents. What a nightmare! What would he say to them if they were in the same room together? And what would her parents and Macey say to him? Natara hurries into the bathroom and changes clothes. When she exits the bathroom, Macey stands in front of the door, tapping her foot.

"Sorry, Macey, but I have to head to wo-" Natara starts but Macey cuts her off.

"Is something going on between you and that guy?" She asks and Natara's jaw drops. How can her little sister possibly know? She surely doesn't know. Natara doesn't realize she's been silent for several seconds until Macey starts up again. "There is! Oh my god. Did you...did you sleep with him? Is that why you were out overnight?"

"No, Macey!" Natara exclaims but the look of certainty on her little sister's face breaks her resolve. "I didn't...I...please don't say anything to mom and dad. I didn't sleep with him but...I-I have to go."

She does not want to have this conversation right now.

"Well, whatever happened with him, that guy is your boss, isn't he? And have you seen the tabloids about him?" Her face twists in a frown. "Just don't do anything else with him, Natara. Don't sleep with him, whatever you do. Okay?"

"Okay," Natara says, slipping past Macey and bee-lining toward the front door. "I won't."