Accidentally His: The Girl Who Trespassed

ine'

-

oing to get ar

raised. October sunlight hits the glossy black paint. The car glows

s usual chaos. Professionals in tailored coats cut past. A delivery cycl

goal. Borrow a little

e jobs barely leave time for sleep, let alone proper photoshoots. So I make do. I hunt f

ollars at a thrift store in Brooklyn. My jeans have a hole in t

t, angle yourself so, an

worth more than my ent

n a shop window. My hair has that messy wave because I skipped

t'l

phone lifted,

t l

ocks. I know that sound.

a Mor

own, highlighter catching in her blond hair, designer sunglasses perched perfectly,

n't

don't

uts through the street

e she sp

g else. Checking messages. Reading a caption. Certainly

asses down her nose. He

ds hang

faces from campus. The ones who spend

rs. The re

urs?" Bia

e jobs and the way I count change at the grocery store. My

h. Shrug it o

has its

t

out before I c

id I d

up. Showing up with leftovers while everyone else ordered sushi. Rotating the same thrif

from her father and five months of my work vanished. My professor

to wi

e loaded looks, recalibrating, filing

Her tone

g. Get out. Don't dig

hand this m

t," Bian

iends look way too eag

upidest thing I

t move

dence I do not feel. My hand reaches for the ha

ck

me excuse. F

ndle c

r swing

drop

someone

suit tailored within an inch of its life. He looks expensive an

e at ea

it a mix-up and run until

ed against the glass. Phones rai

: commit or be h

fore the thought

lid

ance where I expected empty space. I land hard, a second too late to fix it.

pen, as if I'm something dangerous. A muscle moves once in

away

ogne re

hat lingers in elevator air

that I

oor shut, ha

sper. "Wait for

tible makes a show of it

her eyes have gone flat, the way eyes go when someone expected an outco

the car sits he

ss myself against the door. "I'm so sorr

he shock that crossed his face is gone, replaced by an unsettling calm

my chest harder t

"tell me why you're

t. Refined down to something that come

s mine, told me to prove it, and I panicked, and the door opened, and I thought the car was empty, I swear, and I sat down, a

ence stretches long enough that I calcul

t flat against his knee while his gaze runs the length o

s his jac

trespassed. Lied. And now

hing. I'll go. I'll tur

nds the do

nhurried.

. Turn

ompany me to several events over the next month," he says, the s

ry,

functions. Galas, dinners, fundraisers. You showed creative pressure management toda

to go to even

Then your de

the incident. I imagine the police would find it

all that professional calm. He expects me to apolo

a month. Skip expulsion. Avoid a scene.

that put me in this car re

I say. "The

eyes. Gone before I can rea

rt Ro

. Firm grip. A current moves up

him m

wallet. Heavyweight stock, deliberate

EO

chest does a sl

gaze moves over my thrifted sweater, my wrecked jeans, the bare slo

p my neck. "

e it becomes anything. "I'll handle the wa

swer, he nods t

to the sidewalk. The door closes

though none of this happened. As though I di

o traffic and disappe

y hand. His cologne clings t

een lig

ollect you at 6:30. Address on file. Dress will arrive

ve my a

e men like Albert Rossi do

ts up again. Di

si before he destroys you.

are

the street. Not Albert's. Different plate

e I blink,