Life Without Laughter

Eleven - Delilah - Keep It Discreet

When a person is being blackmailed, the culprit looming over them usually makes them do tasks for them, acting like puppet masters. In poor ol' Delilah's case, that was precisely what Ashley was doing. However, Delilah was currently cooperating with her, performing Ashley's menial missions without question, much to her dictator's bewilderment.

It had been almost a week until she'd last seen Marcus outside her work, having to remain devoted to her ruse over Ashley. Today, she had been tasked with embarking on a long shopping haul, complete with a paper checklist of everything she had to buy. With her own, money less. So, not only was Delilah being blackmailed, she was being robbed, and she could do absolutely nothing about it.

You may ask why Delilah is being patient, instead of just reporting Ashley to the cops. For one, Delilah wasn't taking any risks after her being framed and the ticket last week. Also, she wanted to rat out Ashley at her most relaxed and vulnerable. This was as much as a game for Delilah as it was her nemesis.

Blackpool was sparse in malls, with having a main one, and two smaller ones at the northern part and eastern part. Delilah had so many meaningless items on her list that the city centre was the only place viable. She was carrying four bags packed with clothes, each ridiculously expensive, and lifted them up slowly to the till. Behind the plastic of the bag, she could see the checkout lady's face pale. "Wow. What a first day." The employee muttered under her breath, forcing out a weak smile. It took a lot of woman power and motivation from co-workers to sift through all of Delilah's things, and was perplexed herself at the sheer volume.

Delilah glanced behind her and began panicking. She had formed a long, frustrated queue. Ashley, that cunning bitch. She knew Delilah hated long lines in any scenario, but causing one was so much worse. The child behind her started to whine at the time, and she wanted to urge the workers to go quicker. She really wanted to kill Ashley at that moment.

Finally, all her clothes had been paid for and Delilah had to spill the contents of her purse to the rookie employee, whose name tag read 'Indigo'. She flashed a nervous smile of appreciation and rushed out the shop.

Delilah searched through the car park for her car, which Ashley was now commandeering as part of her new role over Delilah, and had once again changed parking space, thinking she was so funny. Delilah had to print to her car when Ashley caught sight of he and started revving up the engine. She got in and shoved the bags of shopping to the bag, not bothered about whatever look Ashley was giving her. "You took too long, I got bored." She said simply, driving them down the car park levels. Delilah felt her seat get slightly warmer overtime, and began to relax into it. Ashley stared at her and smirked.

"For a bitch, you don't look so bad." She said. Delilah was shocked, did she just revive a compliment disguised as an insult from Ashley Adelstein? She knew she hadn't been to any recent bars. Was she high?

No. But her blackmailer was. And Delilah started to catch whiffs of it. She retched, revolted, pulling down her window frantically. As much as she wanted to get out, she knew Ashley would easily drive off without a second of thought. Delilah would still ask the questions, even if they were muffled by her coat.

"So. How did you plan on arresting me?" She asked without looking at Ashley, worried the stench of illegality would come back. Ashley chuckled devilishly. "Well, you'll be surprised to realise that I have a sister, Ariana, who lives here in Blackpool. She also happens to work in the local police department. And she just so happened...to appear at your doorstep twice, with me feeding the lines." Ashley said, smiling as she awaited for Delilah's reaction.

"I knew the ginger was a bitch like you." She stated.

Ashley suddenly exploded in rage. "How dare you?—" But before she could make any more splatters, Delilah's phone rang. She answered it nonchalantly, and greeted Marcus. "Hey Marcus, what's up?"

"Delilah. I have some important news that I feel you need to know now."

"What?"

"I quit my job."