I roll my eyes at my overly dramatic boss from the courier service. “Jesus, Marvin do you even know what time it is? You never call me this early. I fell asleep early last night and I must not have heard you call.”
“Well, I don’t care what you were doing last night, all I care about is that you’re here at 7:30 sharp. I have an important delivery I need you to make this morning.”
“Alright fine, 7:30 got it. See you then.”
I shut the phone and crawl out of bed. It’s unusual for Marvin to call so early, and even stranger that he demand I make a delivery. We have about ten couriers fighting for work, so I don’t really get it. I wonder what could possibly be so important.
I make my way to the bathroom and go through the motions of having a shower and brushing my teeth while still half asleep. I apply a few dabs of mascara and my usual Red lipstick-the small amount of makeup I do wear on a daily basis. By the time I’ve dried my long hair and run my fingers through it to tame my wild curls, I realize I have five minutes before I have to leave.
I dart back to my room, throwing on a pair of skillfully shredded leggings, my Cherry Red Doc Marten boots, and matching red leather jacket. This is one of my usual work outfits because my boss doesn’t care what I wear, so long as I get the parcel there on time. I developed my own sort of style when I finally got away from Eleanore, and its one thing I refuse to bend on.
Even though I used to worry that my clothing would make me stand out, I came to realize that people actually look at me less. Nobody wants to make eye contact with the weird grunge style girl, and that suits me just fine.
My clothing is a mix of comfortable yet practical at the same time. I like to have lightweight clothing while I do deliveries since I’m usually running all over the city. I grab my keys, my iPod, and my messenger bag and rush out the door.
When I arrive at the courier office exactly one minute ahead of schedule, my boss still manages to shoot me an exasperated look. He reaches under the desk and pulls out a parcel before handing it over to me. “Here’s the address, now you need to get going right away to make sure you get there on time.”
I take a look at the address and a sudden spark of familiarity shoots through me. When I glance at the name on the top, I shove the parcel back towards my boss like its poison. “Nuh-uh, I’m not doing it, you’ll need to find someone else.” I cross my arms stubbornly and wait for the blowback.
Marvin’s face twists pleadingly. “You have to do it, Victoria, there is no one else. This client paid a large sum of money for this service, and you get seventy percent of the cut. He was very specific about that. And besides he asked for you personally. It has to be you or else the deal is off.”
“Oh, you have got to be kidding me!”
Why the hell would he ask for me? The part of me that wants to be flattered is largely overshadowed by my annoyance. I planned on keeping him a part of my fantasy world, not the real one.
“I’m not a prostitute Marvin, he can’t order me specifically. This is a courier service, how could you even agree to that?”
Marvin shakes his head seriously at my insinuation. “Look, Victoria, it’s not all that unusual with high profile clients to ask for someone specific. They only trust certain people to get the job done and I guess you were it. Trust me I tried to get him to let me send someone else because you haven’t even been here long enough to do a job like this one. With this kind of commission, it’s ludicrous really, but he insisted. And I had no choice but to accept. If you don’t do this job it could ruin my business reputation. You have no idea how powerful that family’s word is.”
I roll my eyes and snatch back the parcel. “Fine Marvin, I’ll do it. Only because I need this job and I don’t want this prick ruining your business over me. But you owe me big time!” I turn on my heel and stomp out the door. As it closes I hear Marvin yell a thank you behind me in his New Jersey accent.
Chapter Four
Victoria
I linger in front of the impressive Maddox Corp building with exactly five minutes to spare. I want to spite this infuriating man and bring his documents two minutes late just to waste his time. But against my better judgment, and out of desperation for one of the only jobs I’ve got here, I step inside.