KNEEL
1178 Words
"Mr. Ethan. You are awake."
Laura was preparing breakfast
The smell of her cooking wafted his nose. His stomach then rumbled.
As she stood at the stove with her back to him, he noticed his white shirt, too big and somehow exactly right on her. He didn't say anything. He just watched her for a moment longer than necessary before clearing his throat.
She spun around. "I'm so sorry." Her hand flew to the collar. "My dress was dirty and I just, I'm sorry. Are you okay?"
"I'm fine." He was. More than fine, actually. But he looked away before she could read his face.
They ate breakfast across from each other in silence.
"How about having your own bakery. I think you'd do great as a cook too."
This was the first time Laura heard someone compliment her cooking skills. It was only normal that she blushed.
Coming from him she couldn't help herself but smile harder.
"Opening a bakery or restaurant is expensive."
For him it was nothing. But now wasn't the time to show off to her.
"What are you doing today?" he asked.
"I have a job interview."
His eyes moved over her outfit.
He reached into his pocket and set his card on the table.
"Ethan, no." She slid it back. "I'm already staying in your apartment. I can't take your card either."
"You can't go for a job interview in yesterday's dress."
"And you can't go back to the Monroe mansion." He slid the card forward again. "Go to the Glam Girls boutique. My boss told me the first girl I take shopping there gets a discount price."
She looked up. "Your boss said that?"
"Yes."
"He must really like you."
"I'm a good mechanic."
She looked at the card, then at him. She picked it up slowly. "I'm paying you back."
"Okay."
"I mean it."
"I know you do." He stood and took his mug to the sink. "Don't spend too long there."
Outside, his driver was waiting beside a matte black Mercedes-Benz, limited edition.
Ethan was angry. "What is this? I asked you should come with the least car"
"Sir, this is the least car"
"This is the least?"
"Yes sir."
Ethan was fond of buying cars. He loved them so much.
Ethan exhaled. "Go and buy me a cheap car. Something ordinary."
"From now on, you can't drive me like this. Not while she's around. I can't let her know my true identity."
The driver nodded once. "I apologize, sir."
Glam Girls boutique was the kind of place that made you feel underdressed the second you walked in.
Laura eyes checked the price first thing. She planned on not spending too much.
"Laura?"
She turned.
Two faces she recognized immediately. They were her former classmates.
"I almost didn't recognize you." The first one looked her over slowly, top to bottom. "Can you even afford to be here?"
The second one laughed. "Didn't the Monroe's cut you off? And now Benjamin is gone too. So what exactly is going on?"
Laura looked at them both. Sandra and Shelly. The two have always been a pain to Laura.
"You think it's over for me?" Laura clapped back, "Keep watching. Bouncing back is exactly what I'm going to do."
She picked up the dress she had been holding, turned, and walked toward the fitting rooms.
Behind her, neither of them had a word left.
She moved through other racks quietly.
Two work blouses. A blazer. A pencil skirt. Trousers. Then two soft shirts and loose pants for the apartment.
Hoping that Sandra and Shelly might be gone by now, instead she found them doing a live stream.
"Guys, you won't believe who I'm seeing right now." A slow pan across Laura's selections. "The illegitimate child trying to feel among. Look at all that." A soft laugh.
"She gets dumped by the Monroe's and now she's here pretending. So desperate to be like Sally. Let's see how she pays for all this."
Comments flooded in.
"Call the security to kick her out."
"She doesn't belong there."
"She's a disgrace to the Monroe family."
"She's a gold digger "
Sandra smiled and kept filming.
The attendant at the counter had been watching Laura since she walked in.
She scanned each item slowly, and when the total appeared on the screen she turned it just enough for Laura to see.
Sandra took a small step closer.
"Can you pay this amount of money? Or are you here to waste my time." The attendant sounded rudely
The attendant tilted her head. "Walk away Miss. There is a cheaper store down the road. There you can find all kinds of rags that fit you."
Laura reached into her purse, pulled out the card, and set it flat on the counter.
"Try it."
"Yes, try it. And if there is any money in that account I will kneel down to Laura."
" And me too."
Shelly and Sandra said together.
They were so sure that Laura couldn't afford to pay 10,000 dollars. Since the Monroe family cut her off, her account was seized. Sally had told them how broke Laura was now.
The attendant picked it up. Swiped it.
The machine beeped once.
Green light.
Transaction successful.
The silence that came after was sharp.
Sandra and Shelly's mouth closed.
The attendant stared at the screen. Then at Laura. Then at the screen again. When she looked up the second time she respected Laura.
"Let me bag these properly for you." She was already folding each piece with both hands.
"Did you not say you would kneel before me if my card paid? What are you waiting for? Get on your kneels"
"Forget it. We will never kneel to someone like you."
"You only got lucky today."
Shelly looked at her phone. She was starting to lose followers. Her fans were telling her to kneel or they will all unfollow her.
The same thing happened to Sandra. Just that few seconds she has lost over two hundred followers if this continues she will lose her face on social media.
The two girls went on their knees for Laura. They stayed that way until her clothes were packaged.
The girls also crawled on their kneels to the door.
The shame and embarrassment was too much as all eyes were on them.
***
Ethan's phone buzzed.
Debit alert. He looked at the amount and almost frowned. Is this all she bought?
Tom appeared from inside, grinning already. "My sister-in-law is trending."
"What?"
"Some girls tried to embarrass her in a boutique. It totally backfired completely. I like this girl's fire." He paused, squinting. "That card she used, though, looks familiar. Isn't that, "
Ethan gave him a look.
Tom burst out laughing. "And you said you're not in love. Are you both living together now or, "
"What is all this noise?"
Grandma Mai stood in the doorway.
Tom turned immediately. "Ethan has a girlfriend."
Grandma Mai's eyes lit up. "Ethan. Marry this girl and bring her home at once.”
- Writer
