Mrs.Leroux

Chapter 18

She took a while to make her next move, ever since that morning it seems Adonis had been avoiding her. He had avoiding her so much so she started reconsidering her plan. Maybe she should just run away without the money, but without the money she wouldn't have so much as a piece of lint in her pocket. She wouldn't survive a day unless she happened to meet some kind stranger. The chances of that happening are extremely low and she'd rather not take risk.

Just before she could finished rethinking all her options, she'd heard Adonis walk through the door. She tossed the covers away and jogged downstairs hoping he had bought her some food. Adelaide had grown tired of eating chips and string cheese all day. It was surprising to find that he brought multiple grocery bags.

"What's all this?"

He huffed before answering her question.

"How would you like it if I cooked dinner for us tonight?"

"Oh?" she said tilting her head in amusement. She could actually see the nervousness in his body language.

"Yeah," he said wringing his hands, "only if you want to..."

She notice he quickly he tried to hide his nervousness with the last part, he tried to to say it cooly but simply failed.

"What will you be making?"she asked. That seemed to make him feel at ease. He started to act like his usual self. She even caught a glimpse of his lips subtly starting to curl.

"So that's a yes?"

She leaned against the wall and rolled her eyes before answering. "Yes, now tell me what you're making."

"Well it's Greek food, I don't think you'll know it by name. Why don't you just wait until it's ready and try it."

She raised an eyebrow. "Can I really trust you to not burn your kitchen down?"

He playfully threw a kitchen rag at her before turning away to prepare for cooking. Adelaide laughed while walking away, not just to play along with him, but because she knew she already had him wrapped around her little finger.

***

While Adelaide was  busy trying to seduce Adonis, there was a young woman the same age as her that lived about a mile away. Her name was Beatrix. They were technically neighbors, but not really. They lived in an area with huge houses far apart secluded by forests. She lived with her parents and her 2 siblings who she never got along with. Her parents always blamed it on her being a problemed child who had a terrible childhood in foster care, but Andrea,and anyone who could see, would know it's because her mom was a WASP mom and the rest of her adoptive family followed suit.

Beatrix was sitting at the kitchen counter minding her business, scrolling through social media. Her mom started cooking her "famous" meatloaf while spewing hate about an Asian woman she had an encounter with at the grocery store, as if her very own daughter sitting in front of her weren't Asian.

Beatrix quickly became irritated and decided to leave without saying a word. She didn't even bother with the woman she could only acknowledge as her former guardian. She only still stayed with her because she still needed the support while going to college, otherwise she'd be long gone.

She grabbed her car keys and decided to go for a drive. She didn't know she would end up, but anywhere was better than with her foster family.

Beatrix took the scenic route rather than the highway, she took time clearing her thoughts while listening to her music. Soon enough she eventually found herself at a luxury mall. What better way to make herself feel better than some retail therapy. She wouldn't feel bad either considering it was all her parents money. She had end up spending hours there when she ended up at Nordstrom. She had seen a bag she liked. Without looking around she beelined straight to the bag. She immediately went to snatch it when another hand also went to grab it. She looked up to see a woman a little bit older than her with curly hair that was orange at the ends.

The girl gave her a smug look and gripped the bag harder. Beatrix raised her brow and yanked the bag towards herself. Just as she was about to say something, they heard the sound of items and store furniture being aggressively moved. They turned their heads to see multiple men in ski masks and holding large duffle bags.

"Nobody move!" one of them shouted.

The girl quickly let go of the bag and got down on the ground. Beatrix was in such shock she just stood there holding the bag. The girl on the floor quickly yanked her down to the floor with her.

"What are you stupid?" the girl loudly whispered to her.

Beatrix was silent, she was still in shock. Beatrix wasn't speaking. The girl rolled her eyes at her as soon as she'd realized what was going on with Beatrix. Why was she rolling her eyes at her? She's so nonchalant about this. Had she been through this before? Is she part of this robbery? All types of thoughts were running through her mind.

The girl sighed and decided to be more kind.

"Hi, my name is Imani, what's yours?"

Better late than never - T