Man, you girlies rock. Seriously. Thanks for reading this!
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If we're so hopeless, then why'd you mold us to be nothing more than soldiers with impressionable minds?
Ashley’s heart thudded in her chest as she tried to make her escape. The inevitable had happened, and the police were trying to bust her in a drug sweep. The girl they had sent looked nervous, and Ashley couldn’t help but notice her slight sidelong glance towards the man to her left as she tapped her fingers to her temple. The glance had lasted a millisecond, but Ashley was trained to notice these things and knew that should she go forward with the trade she’d be in deep trouble.
Thankful for the invention of wigs, she pushed her platinum blonde hair to the side an adjusted her top. Escaping would take skillful observation and cunning. Sidling up to an unattractive blonde man whose face lit up at the thought of “getting lucky” with the blonde next to him, she smiled and asked him to dance. He nodded, eager to be close to her, and Ashley’s smile grew wider at the prospect of getting out of this dangerous situation relatively easy. There was still the inevitable talk with her father that would come, but she knew it wasn’t her fault and things would work out.
Dancing with the man she knew nothing about, she casually surveyed the crowd. Satisfied that she’d lost them somewhere on the dance floor she finished her dance with the nameless man with a shimmy and a smile. She was almost out the door when she saw the undercover police watching her exit.
Walking swiftly, heart thudding in her chest, she thought about the best way to get out of the situation. If she pulled the wig off, the entire disguise scheme would be ruined but if she did pull it off she’d be another faceless person in the crowd, her brown hair not what they were looking for. She slowed her walk when she reached her car, throwing her bag inside and cranking the engine. Pulling out she realized that whatever vehicle they had couldn’t match the speed and power of her baby. But she still had to be careful.
--
Two hours later she finally pulled into her garage, wig cast aside long ago and the faint essence of sweat on her brow. She was confident she hadn’t been followed and grinned at the fact. After all the stress and trouble she relished the rush of relief that flowed through her veins. Now she only had to face her father and she’d be home free, literally.
Ridding her purse of the small packages she’d been meant to distribute to her client, she walked into her father’s office. He was, as usual, on the computer. She never asked what he was doing, assuming it was business she didn’t want to know about. Her father was a very powerful man and she was better off not knowing all of the shady dealings he got into.
“Ashley. Sit.” He instructed, closing his laptop with a snap. “Explain to me exactly what went wrong tonight. As Ashley launched into her long tirade, narrating the story with full detail like she was supposed to do, she couldn’t help but notice the grin threatening to break on her dad’s face.
“What?” she asked, pausing her tale.
“Good job. It was a test. I had to make sure you were doing as well as you claim to be, and you were. Congratulations.” Her father said, extending a hand for her to shake.
Blood boiled in Ashley’s veins. “It was all a setup?” she exclaimed, anger in her voice. “How could you do that? I’m not some toy you can throw in these situations to see how I’d handle it!” She felt like a pawn, used by her father to do is bidding. And though she loved the adrenaline rush, she wouldn’t stand for being used.
“I’ve had it.” She said, standing up to leave the office. “I’m out.”
Before he could say a word, she slammed the door and sprinted to the library, where she knew the majority of shipments yet to be delivered were stored. Grabbing as much of them as possible, she threw them in her purse.
“Where you goin’?” she heard a tiny voice say from behind her. Turning around she saw Lauren standing the doorway.
“’Ren, you’re supposed to be asleep sweetie.” Ashley said, her anger subsiding for a brief moment. “Why are you still awake?”
“I wanted to tell you night.” She said, rubbing her eyes.
“Go back to bed, okay?” Ashley said, hugging her sister tightly. “I’ll see you tomorrow.”
“Pwomise?”
“I promise.” Ashley assured her.
But even though she promised her sister that she’d be there for her the next day, she really didn’t know if she’d be there or not. She needed to lie low for a while, and she drove to the only house she knew her father wouldn’t think to look.
