Such a Beautiful Lie to Believe In

That probably was the most painful ride to work I’ve ever experienced. Matt wasn’t even trying to hide the people who were hired presumably to follow me. I mean it was so damn obvious that I was almost tempted to just not go to work and see what they would do. All of the thrill is gone now that I know they’re there. I guess it doesn’t really matter either way – seeing as I’m going to escape today.

Already I had pulled a fast one on them, and they haven’t even noticed. I said that my shift went from 11 to 7, but in reality it only lasted till 5, giving myself two whole hours to myself without having to work, even though I guess I’d still be stuck here. I shrugged it off and chilled over by the front desk where Kathy and Alex were chatting. The restaurant would be opening in a few minutes, so all we could do was wait.

I wanted so badly to tell them the truth about where I was last night, but now wasn’t the time. Remember those obvious stalkers I mentioned earlier? Well they were right across the street, pretending to wait around at the bus stop. The whole front of the restaurant is glass, so they’d be able to see everything. I’ll have to tell them later.

“Oh I was with Brian last night,” I nervously smiled, telling only half of the truth. “Sorry I forgot to call you.”

“It’s ok, I’m just glad to hear you were with a man last night. Britney figured that’s where you were, but you can never know for sure,” she sighed.

“Ugh, looks like we have customers,” I groaned looking out the window.

“Time to get to work then!” Alex shouted excitedly…I swear, he’s too much of a workaholic for his own good.

Cooking, being my favorite hobby, was definitely a great way to keep my mind off of the mess I was in. But orders don’t exactly keep coming in all day, and I was out of food to make at this point, seeing as it was 3 PM – that time right at the end of lunch and right before the dinner crowd.

Normally, I’d be thrilled to have no work to do and get paid for it – but that’s not how I felt this time. Being alone with nothing to do only gave me more time to think. How could I have been so stupid to get drunk with strangers anyway? That was just stupid on my part, and now look what came from it – I’m locked inside that house. Who the hell is sick enough to come up with a legit contract binding someone to live in that house? And more importantly how the fuck am I going to get out of this?!

“Whoa hey Joie are you alright? You look really pale,” Kathy said sneaking into the kitchen.
I felt myself jump a little at the sudden new presence. I swallowed the lump in the back of my throat and looked at her warily, wondering if I should tell her.

“I-I’m scared,” I whispered.

Her eyes widened in concern and she quickly led me back to the secret longue behind the storage room. I loved this place…it was so secret that even Alex, the manager, didn’t know about it. We sat down on the couch together and she turned on the radio, knowing it would calm me down. “What’s the matter?”

“I don’t think you’d believe me even if I told you.”

“Oh c’mon now Joie, if it’s got you this freaked out then I’d have to believe it!” She says that now…but I wonder if she really means that?

I sighed, “Alright if you insist. So I’ve met Brian’s friends by now, and there was just one of them who I could tell from the start was going to be trouble. Apparently that psycho convinced me to sign a contract while I was practically passed out from being wasted. The contract basically said that I’d live with them all of the time, and the only time I could leave would be when I have work…”

In all honesty, her primary silence was killing me. Shouldn’t she be freaking out by now about the fact that I’m basically being held captive?! Her next response was not the one that I was expecting. She started laughing. “Damn I’ve got to give you props, girl. Your acting skills have flown way through the roof since our junior year theatre class.” She thought I was acting?

“Wait, so you don’t believe me?” I asked shocked.

“Are you kidding me? What kind of wack-o’s would make a girl such as yourself sign a contract saying you’ll live there for forever? I mean…really, what would they gain from that?”

Although she did have a good point there…it doesn’t change the fact that it’s true. She started laughing again and I just shook my head disappointedly as I stood up and left the room. “Thanks for nothing,” I mumbled picking up the bags of garbage by the door. I guess I might as well take these outside since I have nothing better to do.

I groaned to myself as I lifted the heavy bags and dragged them out to the alley nearby where the dumpsters were. The alley was quiet, and I had stolen quick glances outside at the parking lot across the street to see cars slowly drifting in. Good, maybe when I get back inside I’ll actually have something real to do.

The dumpsters were closer to the edge of the alley, and obviously, further from the door as a result. A shadow was cast over the brick walls, for some reason sending chills down my spine. The door was my safety, seeing as when I’m in the restaurant I’m safe…and well, when I’m outside I’m really not. As I lifted the lid I became distracted by a black escalade parked on the side of the street. Maybe it was just my imagination, but that car seemed out of place. Who the hell parks in the middle of the side street like that? …Well a lot of people do. Alright, calm down Joie, you’re just paranoid. I took a deep breath, turned my back to the “mysterious” car, and finished pouring out the trash.

When the lid came flying down and I turned around to walk back to the kitchen, a scream left my lips. There was a man, dressed in all black and wearing a ski mask, which covered his face. Where the hell did he come from?! “W-who are you?” I stammered, backing away slowly.

Before he even considered my question, he quickly grabbed onto my arms harshly and slammed me into the front of the dumpster. The cold, hard metal rammed itself against my back causing me to squeak a little in surprise. “You’re not in any place to be asking questions,” he growled, his deep voice sounding forced, or fake.

I looked up at him with pleading eyes, hoping he’d just let me go. I mean, I haven’t even done anything wrong. It was in my blank confusion that I noticed his eyes…they were brown, which may seem extraordinarily average, but there was something different about his. I feel as if I’ve seen those eyes before. “What do you want, asshole?” I said back, trying to push him off of me, still staring into his eyes.

“You should know,” he replied, playing with the buttons on my uniform shirt, “I mean you were only given a fair warning by Matt, the boss. It’s only fair that I can…”

“What the fuck are you talking about? I haven’t done anything wrong,” I shouted slapping his hand away.

“Oh but you were planning on it. I was just acting before you could get away with anything,” he said smugly.

“Are you insane? I was just taking the stupid garbage out!” I replied fiercely.

He shook his head, “That’s not what it looked like to me. I watched you – all you were doing was staring out at the exit the entire time, looking for the perfect time to make a run for it.” Ok, now I am convinced – this guy is retarded.

“Look,” I said slowly, trying my best to calm myself down, “I wasn’t trying to escape, and I’m not going to escape. So you might as well just do us both a favor and let me go.”

He started laughing, like that was the funniest thing he’s ever heard. Why the hell do people just keep laughing at me all the time?! “You’re really cute, do you know that? But either way, I was told to act upon even the simplest of attempts, so guess what babe, you get a little punishment,” he said, reaching into his pocket to pull out a very sharp looking knife. Now, I was getting a little scared.

“A-all right look, I’m not going to plan on ever escaping ok? You don’t need to be doing this. I promise I won’t leave work,” I pleaded, hating myself for sounding so pathetic.

He moved in a little closer to me, with the knife pointed right at my face. “Aww, I’d love to believe you, but I have super strict orders I need to comply with. Maybe this will teach you not to even think about breaking Matt’s rules.”

“But I didn’t break the rul–.” I was cut off when I felt the cold steel of his knife resting on my left cheekbone.

“It’s alright,” he whispered, resting his free hand on my shoulder, tracing circles on my skin as if to calm me down, “even if you hadn’t done anything remotely wrong, I still wouldn’t pass up a chance to do this to you. It’s just too much fun.”

That comment alone was just enough to enrage me and make me feel sick to my stomach all at once. “You sick asshole!” I screamed, reaching out my hand and clawing him across his stupid little ski mask.

Kathy had just recently made me go with her to get a manicure, and for the first time in my life I was thankful that I did. My nails were sharp enough to break through some of the mask’s material and even leave three nice claw-like scratches across his cheek. But to my surprise, he didn’t yell at me or freak out.

“Wow,” he said happily, “you sure know how to make things get worse for yourself.”

The knife that had previously been resting on my cheek was now being slid down my face, opening the skin behind it and creating a trail of blood to illustrate it’s path.

And then, once he pulled it away from me, he turned it back around and hit me sideways square in the jaw with the hilt of the knife. He did it with just enough force to knock me down to the ground. “Hopefully I’ll get to see you again, babe!” he snickered as he ran from the alleyway into that black Escalade.

*Kathy’s POV*

After Joie abruptly left once she told me what was bothering her, I felt kind of bad for laughing so much at her. I mean, what if she was telling the truth and really was caught up in that horrible, yet ridiculous situation? I better go apologize to her for starters. The big metal door that led outside to the alley creaked as I pushed it open. To my surprise, I heard more than just one voice out there – it was Joie, and some other man.

From my hiding spot I could only hear bits and pieces of the convo, but it was starting to sound a little hostile. Joie’s voice was beginning to shake a little and I could tell that she was scared. Shit, she must’ve been telling the truth then! Oh damn if I hadn’t been so insensitive she wouldn’t have ran outside with the trash in the first place.

A few minutes later I heard a thud and then the guy laughed about something before he took off. Once I heard a car speed away, I ran out into the open and saw Joie sprawled across the ground, a tiny bit of blood dripping from her cheek and a disgusting black and blue bruise on her jaw. This was all my fault! I wasted no more time running to her side and helping her stand back up.

“Shit, I’m so sorry Joie if I had just listened to you none of this would’ve happened!” I cried.

“I told you I wasn’t lying,” she replied, a small faint smile on her face.

From the time it took me to get her back inside and to the secret longue, my mind had been racing with all sorts of escape possibilities. “Joie, listen to me. I’m going to make this up to you,” I told her, placing a band-aid on the gash.

“I have a plan…”