NINE – COSTLY MISTAKES

MASON

"Where the hell have you been?" I ask Anna as the bell signals her arrival into the store. I take a quick scan of her body to make sure she's okay.

"It's almost eight pm. You never go out this late. What happened?"

She finally meets my eyes and I almost do a double take. Her eyes are red rimmed and puffy from crying. My heart drops to the bottom of my shoes.

I take her arm and lead her to a chair, forcing her to sit down. I cup her chin, lifting her face to the overhead lights.

"You've been crying." I whisper, almost as if I cannot believe it myself. "What happened? Who hurt you, Anna? Talk to me."

She holds my gaze,

" It's nothing, Mira. Just some stupid boys at school."

My pulse leaps,

"Did they hurt you?"

Her eyes snap to mine in surprise.

" What, no? They didn't hurt me physically. Just orally."

" Oh, my poor baby. What did they say to you?"

She leans back in her seat and asks instead,

"If you had the opportunity to sell the store off to an extremely wealthy man, a man not