The less people involved, the better.
“Lila,” I growl. “I’m being serious. Let. Me. Go. This is your final warning.”
“What?” she snorts. “Or you’ll shoot me with Valerian’s gun or something?”
“Oh, believe me, you’re gonna wish I had a gun by the end of this.” I stick my hands under each of her armpits and tickle her.
Lila laughs and screams, twisting, turning, trying to get me off. But she knows the only way she can escape this is if she lets me go.
She tries to hold it off for as long as possible, but I keep going.
Her laughter fills the entire apartment. Eventually, she flops over onto the floor, catching her breath.
And that is my cue to escape.
“Joy!” I hear Mom rushing after me, but I’m already running through the door.
“I promise I’ll be back!” I shout back. “I always keep my promises.”
I keep up the momentum, sprinting down the stairs all the way to the ground floor. I make it back onto the street, looking left, right, deciding where to go next.
Ubering anywhere felt like pulling teeth before, back when I had a job.
I take out my phone, selecting the Uber app. I hope Valerian has morphine back at his place. I’ll need something to take away the pain after dropping eighty fucking bucks on an Uber.
Maybe I can get it cheaper if I walk to the beach again.
I look over my shoulder, crossing the road. The prices of the Ubers are slowly starting to drop. It’s only a few bucks. But if I can catch one where the last one left me, I could save some money. Every last dollar counts. Especially now, after finding out my bossfired me.
My heart sinks into my stomach again, just thinking about it.
For now, I forget about the sadness, throwing it into the back of my mind. I’ll acknowledge it on a rainy day when Igor isn’t trying to ruin his father.
Because hewilluse me and my loved ones if that’s what it takes for him to win. He’s strategic. Knows how to play people. I of all people can fucking vouch for that.
I turn onto a street lined with palm trees. At the end of it is the beach. Hallelujah. Suddenly, the Uber is down forty bucks.
I’m one step away from booking the Uber when I trip. My phone tumbles to the ground. I follow.
I put my hands out in front of me, coming into a plank variation. Close call. I almost landed flat on my face, which would not be a pretty sight.
I gasp, scrambling back up to my feet, phone in hand.
That’s when someone steals my phone.
“Hey! I was using?—”
The person elbows me in the stomach. Hard. All of the air gets knocked out of me.
And down I go again.
This second time, I’m not as lucky. My face slams right into the sidewalk.
I feel pain in my nose. Coming up onto my hands, I see blood. And that’s when the hyperventilating starts. I cover my nose for one second, finding both hands soaked red.
My breath hitches as I taste blood on my own lips. It’s streaming down my face. My neck. I look down and see some of it drip onto my sweatshirt.
A pair of boots scrape against the sidewalk. A man appears.