Mask #Wattys2014

Chapter 18 - Shopping Disaster

It's official. We've been here for five minutes and I have hated every minute of it. Charlie dragged me straight into a bright pink shop that was full to the brim with formal dresses and shoes and accessories. I think the sign outside said it was dragonfly or maybe its dragonfruit. Oh well, my point is that it's been six, now seven minutes and all I've seen are dresses, I think I'm about to puke!

As soon as this mission is over with I'll be happy and I can crawl back into a hole in the ground. I will live unobtrusively and no one will know I even exist. Until my month of leave is up and then I shall have to go back to work. Hmm, I wonder how long my contract is. I think it ends right after this mission. So I'll be free, like a bird in the sky. I'll spread my wings and go where the wind takes me. Where's Charlie gotten too?

"Charlie?" I call out.

"Over near the shoes," she called back. I headed in that direction.

"Can you help me?" I asked while I approached her, "You already have your dress and I don't even know what in hell I'm looking for."

"You'll know the dress when you see it, you won't be able to get it out of your head. Let's start looking at the black dresses and the blue dresses, those will suit you and you like those colours."

"Smart thinking let's go." I said gesturing for Charlie to lead the way. Instead of looking in this store like I expected she led me out of the store and down the centre strip of the shopping centre. I almost lost her when she made a sudden left turn into a shop.

"Let's look in here, shall we?" Charlie waved her arm around. This seemed more like my kind of store. We browsed side by side for a number of minutes, Charlie looking with enthusiasm while I just flicked through the dresses.

"I like this one," I muttered.

"Show me!" Charlie squealed beside me. I pulled it off the rack, it was completely me. The soft black skirt fluttered down in layers of thin netting to just below my knees, and the heart shaped top was sleeveless and covered with navy blue sequins, but I could cover my shoulders with a cardigan. This is the kind of dress that I would be able to wear shorts under and no one would notice, I could hide Andy within the folds of my skirt and no one would even guess of his whereabouts.

"I'm going to get it," I said as we walked over to the counter.

"Just this today ladies?" The shop assistant asked. I guess he was cute with his shaggy blonde hair and deep green eyes.

"Yes thanks," I stated handing over a hundred euros as payment.

I caught sight of a movement out of the corner of my eye, when I turn to look no one was there. I passed it off as just another browser. Biggest mistake of my career. First thing that came was the click, I pushed Charlie down and dropped to the floor myself as a bullet fired over our heads and embedded itself in the counter.

"What was that?" Charlie demanded.

"A bullet," I answered, "I didn't realise you were an idiot."

"But why are they aiming at us?"

"Not important right now. Let's just concentrate on getting out of here."

"Right, getting out of here," Charlie said breathing heavily. In all honesty Charlie looked terrible, she was clammy, her face looked pale (even more so than usual), and she was shaking. "Can we sit down for a second?" Charlie asked quietly.

I looked around, seeing no sign of any suspicious activity I led Charlie over to a bench in the middle of the shopping centre, "Okay, I'm just going to grab you some water. You look terrible."

"Thanks, I feel terrible too," Charlie said gratefully sitting down on the chair. She immediately leaned backwards and heavily fell onto the back of the chair, luckily for her it was a nice comfy chair not one of the normal steel ones that are all over New York shopping centres. I turned looking for the nearest vending machine.

"I'll just be over there," I pointed to the vending machine all of three metres away from where Charlie was sitting.

"Okay," Charlie said starting to regain her breath. I walked over to the vending machine and put in a few coins after selecting the bottle of water. The machine dutifully spat out the water just as I had asked, what? I have a weird way of looking at things. I turned around to see the seat where Charlie had been sitting not two minutes ago vacant. Big J is so going to kill me, my first big assignment and I lose the person I am supposed to be protecting, what the hell!

I turned my head looking up and down the centre strip of the mall. Where are you Charlie? My mind kept repeating. If only I wasn't such a failure then this wouldn't happen. Right, I need to call Uncle Greg. I grabbed my phone and quickly hit Uncle Greg's number. He picked up after three rings.

"Rosé?"

"She's gone. They've got her," I managed through my tears.

"My dear, calm down. Now tell me what has happened. Who do they have?"

"Th-they've got her. They've got Charlie. I only t-turned my back for a minute to get her some water and then bam, she's gone," by this stage my years were falling freely.

"It's going to be fine. We've got the location of their hideout," Uncle Greg said calmly.

"Can you give it to me? I need to finish this once and for all," my voice turned steely just thinking about him. About Mr Joblinee, the murderer of my biological father. Now he is going to pay dearly for his past.