I walked into the place where my lawyer was at an hour later, fiddling my keys as I walked to the front desk. I knew that my lawyer, James Dawson, wouldn't like it if I was dressed like this and knew that I needed to change before I did see him.
The receptionist didn't look up when I cleared my throat, not even giving me the time of day. She was too busy on her phone, playing a game, and I became annoyed. She paused in her game when I cleared my throat again and pursed her lips as she looked me up and down. "Yes, ma'am?" she asked, focusing her gaze on my face. "May I... help you?"
"Yes, what is the code for the bathroom?" I asked, keeping the smile on my face. "I have a meeting with Mr. Dawson in thirty minutes, but I have to get changed out of my school clothes."
The lady looked me up and down and pursed her lips in disgust. Again, she looked at me, and I could tell that she had no idea who I was. "Mr. Dawson is out of the office," she said, lying straight through her teeth. "Shall I have him call you back when he is in?"
"I just want the code to the bathroom, please," I said through gritted teeth. "And I already know that Mr. Dawson is in. He had texted me before I came in to let me know that he could meet me."
"I'm sorry, Ma'am, but he doesn't text people. He normally calls them."
I glanced behind me when I heard a snort and spotted a security guard sitting there reading a newspaper. I watched as he started to tap out a code on the paper, still reading it and pretending not to know me, but I knew him, and he knew me. "Are you sure that you won't let me use the restroom?" I asked, turning to look at the female.
"No, and if you keep asking for him, then I will have him kick you out." She pointed to the security guard, and I held back an eye roll. She really had no idea who I was.
"Now, now, Ms. Carson, I do not want to get into this," he said. "You should let her use the restrooms. I am sure that she ain't going to do anything illegal."
"I'm sorry, but the bathrooms are closed for maintenance. Please come back... never."
I bit back a snort. "Ya, whatever," I said and started to walk towards the bathroom, ignoring her as she called the security guard and me to get me. I tapped the code to the bathroom into the keypad and walked in, closing the door behind me.
There was a knock on the door as I kicked off my shoes and took off my socks before pulling off my pants. "I'm supposed to arrest you when you come out," the security guard, Jeremiah George, said. "But, I'm not going to."
"Good, because I think Mr. Dawson would have your hind if you did," I replied, and he snickered. "How are the kids?" I took off my glasses and placed them in their container before taking off my hoodie and t-shirt.
"Good. Yours?"
"They're good," I replied, unzipping the outfit that I had picked out for the meeting with him. "They're ok with their mother being in another rehab in another state, but they miss her a lot."
"At least they have a stable house with you, Miss Pierce," he said, calling me by my mother's maiden name.
"I'm going to be hopefully moving," I replied, pulling on my tights. I groaned when I made it halfway, and they started to tear. "Stupid tights," I groaned, and he laughed as I pulled them off. "Shut up."
"Where are you planning on moving?" he asked.
"Hopefully, to the big house. It has a gate and cameras, so... I should be safe."
"You sure that you want to do that?" he asked. "I mean, they could know where you live."
I shrugged my shoulder. "Don't know," I replied honestly. "But I'd like the space, and I know that the kids would love to have their own rooms." I tossed the tights to the corner and pulled out my skirt, and placed it on as well as my blouse and jacket.
"Are they all sharing the same room?"
"Yes, Sir. They've been sharing the same room at their mother's place, but they have more space in mine." I grabbed my flats from the bottom and pulled them out of the hairnet I had them in before putting them on.
"You don't have that much space either," he pointed out.
I grabbed my contact case from my bag and walked to the mirror to take out the contacts. "That's because it was just supposed to be me," I said, washing my hands before taking them out. "They weren't expecting me to have kids so soon." I finished taking them out and washed my hands before going to where everything was strewn across the bathroom floor and picked everything up.
"But, you have kids."
"Yes, I have kids and hopefully will be able to gain full custody of them," I said, stuffing everything where it needed to be and zipping it up. I pulled the bow out of my hair and let my hair fall in its natural waves before opening the door and looking at Mr. George. "Well?" I asked, showing him. "Think he'll be fine with this?"
Mr. George grinned and nodded his head. "He should be," he said, moving out of my way as I closed the door and walked back to the counter where the lady was glaring at me. "You look better in that outfit than in those baggy clothes, Ms. Prescott." He bit back a smirk when the secretary stiffened and looked at me with wide eyes.
"Well, it's a good disguise," I replied. "It fools a lot of people, and it had fooled them as well. I mean, I've worn the disguise for a long while and had been in the same place for all of my life. I thought that'd they catch on by now."
Mr. George shrugged his shoulder. "Well, I am glad that they have not," he said, and I nodded. He looked at the secretary. "Now, Ms. Carson, will you tell Mr. Dawson that Ms. Prescott is in for her meeting? That'd be very helpful indeed."
"Y-y-yes, Mr. George," she stuttered. She called for Mr. Dawson, keeping her gaze on me. "Yes, Sir. Your appointment is here. Shall I send her up?" She paused. "Yes, Sir, she has dressed appropriately." Again, she paused before taking the phone away from her ear. "Are you wearing any tights?"
"Tell him that they ripped, and I am not wearing them, please," I said. "Also, tell him that if he wants me to wear them, then he can just kiss my ass."
"I'm not going to say that," she hissed, her face paling. She cleared her throat and placed the phone to her ear. "They had ripped, Sir, and she isn't wearing them." She paused and licked her lips, blushing. "She said that-" She stopped talking when I held my hand out for the phone. Hesitantly, she handed it to me, not know what I was going to do.
"Hello? Ms. Carson? Did she say anything else?" my lawyer asked. "Because, if she didn't, then that doesn't sound like her."
"Yes, Sir, she said that if you want her to wear them, then you can just kiss her ass," I said, and Mr. George covered a laugh with a cough. "Can I come up, please? I want to get this done so that I can get home. I have dinner duty."
"And what is for dinner, Ms. Prescott?" Mr. Dawson asked, not even phased that I took the phone from the front lady.
"I'm ordering pizza," I replied. "But, I'll be having guests over, so I need to order a couple more."
"Well, you may come up. I hope you haven't given her too much trouble."
"I am an angel, Sir," I said, earning a snort from him. "I have no idea what you are talking about."
"Angel my ass," he said. "Hurry up. I'm still in the same office." With that, he hung up the phone, and I rolled my eyes.
"He is going to kiss my ass one of these days," I said, handing the phone over to her. "Thank you," I said, offering her a small smile. "I won't tell him what happened here, but next time, don't let disguises fool you. Mr. George has been here for a while. If he keeps reading his newspaper, then it is safe. If not, then you should be worried."
"Really?" Ms. Carson asked, and I nodded. "Yes, Ma'am. Thank you."
I smiled and nodded my head before making my way to the elevators. I didn't need anyone to show me where it was because I had been in the same office for a long time.
Mr. George used to lead me there before I had said I was old enough to do it on my own. After that, he just made sure that he was there to greet me whenever I came in.
Hopefully, it'll be fewer times now that I was about to turn eighteen, but something in me told me that it wouldn't be not until they got caught for murder and maybe attempted murder.
One of these days, they were going to remember me, and when that happened, then I knew that they were going to try and kill me. Hopefully, the kids will not be in the crossfires when that happens. I was able to protect myself well enough, but with them there, then I knew that I could make a mistake, and it could cost us our lives.