Sold

I held the engraved necklace box tightly as I sat at the little restaurant and waited for Justan to show up. It still hadn’t been an hour, but it seemed like forever! Jeez, why had I even said an hour? Would he like what I got him? It was sort of cheesy. “My love”. Oh yeah, guys seem so macho wearing things like that.

My hand quickly came up and made a slap sound against my forehead. Man, how stupid could I get?

I heard the chair across from me slid across the concrete ground, and my head snapped up quickly, an expectant smile on my face. He was finally -

“Can I help you?” The man in front of me wasn’t Justan, but he had an air about him that told me that I’d met him before.

“Why yes, you can.” His smile was warm, but I still wasn’t sure; there was something about him that told me he couldn’t be trusted. “Would you please come with me?” By then, I was beyond guarded.

“What for?”

“I just noticed you in that shop over there, and I was wondering if you could help me pick out something for my little boy.” A smile slid its way onto my face. How sweet.

“Sure. That’s so sweet of you.” I slowly stood up, gently lying the necklace box on the table. Hopefully I’d be back before Justan got there.

I sent the waiter looking my way a nod toward my table, hoping to let him know that I wanted him to hold it for me. He gave me a soft smile and nodded.

“Alright, lets go.”

“This way.” This is a bad idea, this guy gives me a terrible vibe.

It’s only to help him find something for his kid.

As we past the shop I was just in, a groove formed in between my eyebrows.

“I thought you said -”

“Oh, not that shop sweetheart, I can’t afford anything out of there.” His laugh was guarded, so I guessed that was a touchy subject.

“Oh, okay.”

We continued to walk until we were far from much of any civilization.

“Where’s that shop you were talking about?”

Realization hit me once it sank in that I was being held up against the dirty brick wall a few moments later.

“It’s nice to see you again Lily”

Told you.