Two.

Elle POV. 

Another day off in less than three months, that’s a miracle and the other miracle was going on right now, I’m getting ready for my date! For the first time in my very short life, I’m going out on a date, a real one, where someone picks me up, takes me somewhere special, and maybe give me a kiss before bringing me back home. 

And my first date ever was with the Devil, yes a date with her, she said our first meeting would be a date that a princess like me deserved to be taken out for a night to make me feel special and one of a kind for the night. I was scared at first I had some insanity inside of me, but I’m not that insane, she’s a hitman, a total psycho, she said so herself and I stand witness to her being not too sane in the head, she refused to tell me details to why or how she became the thing she is now. I really wanted to know why and how she ended up as a hitman, it’s a really interesting choice of job, but how do you end up there, maybe she’s just lying and she’s an online liar. 

Being worried about my own safety, I’m not that naive, I’m an author, and I have the most active imagination ever, I know how to kill someone in twenty different ways without anyone knowing, I’m not paranoid, I know those things don’t happen in real life, and in my brain they happened before in different scenarios. There are stories witnessing those ways to kill some people, even in a very public place, things could go badly, have you ever watched any kind of police shows, they all show you not to believe anyone, you are never safe, and I grew up knowing it’s real, you’re never safe, no matter what. 

I know what feeling unsafe is, I know the fear, to living in complete fear, the risk of losing everything, the risk of getting killed, or maybe just the risk of being hurt, badly hurt and wishing for death, I’ve been through it all. I still have my own nightmares, the ones that leave me speechless, that have me crying at night, and having accidents, it’s not a nice experience to go through but neither is life and still, we push through and keep going. 

And now for my first date ever, and it might be my last one, I had to look pretty, I had to dress up, I had to put some make-up on, I’m not that good with make-up, but I know how to do the basics thanks to youtube and the help of the girls in work. I knew how to put a decent base with some eyeliner after a lot of trials and errors, I could finally manage one decent line, and some mascara, I loved playing with colours, but the eyeshadows are too hard for me, I don’t have the stable hands for that, nor the judgment of when to stop. 

I decided to go with a dress, you could never go wrong with a dress everyone online wear a dress when they go on dates, it’s not too short to make me feel unsafe or unable to walk on the streets, my usual go-to is a jeans and a tee. But this is a special night, I wore my one and only dress, it’s not even an evening dress, just one that could be dressed up with some heels, in my case sandals, I don’t have the balance for heels either, I never had enough training in wearing heels, so I better avoid those. 

I looked at myself in the mirror and although I tried, I didn’t feel like I was good enough, I was just filled with disappointment after another disappointment, I’m anything but a princess, I’m more of a loser, someone who likes to pretend a broken soul that’s not completed. I sighed and decided to leave, there’s no use in trying to change my clothes or try to make myself look better, this is the best I’m going to get. 

I left my house and walked toward the bus stop, I always preferred the bus over the trains or subways, it makes me feel the safest, easier access and easier to leave and run whenever it’s needed. Devil wanted to meet over at an Italian restaurant, she tried to tell me she has some Italian blood in her, I joked and said she’s in the Italian mafia. She got really mad at that, she works for no one, she has no loyalty, and refuses to have any, she’s a free spirit, I respected that, but calling her a part of the Italian mafia was very funny and fitting, I enjoyed it, it’s like an inside joke. 

I called bull, she was hurt, no one refuses to have any loyalties unless they lost theirs before, she was hurt once upon a day, just ask me, I know the feeling, I like to call myself a free spirit but the truth is I was hurt and abused by my own family. And she refused to tell me why or how it happened, which meant something did happen, and  I’ll get to the end of it. Or maybe just make a story up, she loves it when I do that, she said I’m really good at making stories and backgrounds, even the ones stolen from stories or movies, I’m a big police/mafia action movie fan. 

The ride to the restaurant was long and slow the bus isn’t the fastest, I had to walk the rest of the way too, good thing I went with my sandals instead of heels, I own one pair of heels for special occasions only very special occasions, I wanted to be like the cool kids and wear heels all the time, but it was really hard to walk in them, after almost breaking my ankle I gave up on my dream and put them in the back of my closet, I didn’t have the heart to throw them away. 

I made it to the restaurant shaking, I couldn’t breathe, the walk was too damn long, my bones were freezing, and the night was starting to get chilly, but the dress and sandals were my best option but they didn’t help with the colder weather. I couldn’t skip the good looks, not that they worked that well but I tried, and if the Devil is going to kill me, at least I want to look cute during it. I didn’t have a name to give the hostess, what should I say the Devil is my date, I was too shy to say that, instead Devil said I’ll have to give them another code name. 

“A reservation under the name of Cinderella,” I say blushing red, it’s weird to give them my favourite princess name as my reservation. The hostess didn’t even bat an eye at my strange name, she just nodded and walked me to a table, it was meant for two, but only I was there. Maybe the Devil was running late? In my stories, the hitman is always there on time but I guess this one is an exception, I really should stop comparing real-life events to stories but that’s easier said than done, after everything that I’ve been through, hiding in the world of dreams and imagination makes life a bit easier, make it passable.  

I took my seat and waited, then waited, and finally waited some more. I ate the whole bread plate on the table, I was hungry and had been promised a nice dinner, I’d take what I could get, better than going home hungry, plus the carbs would keep me warm for the night. After some self-debating, I got up and ready to leave, she’s not coming, she just ditched me, it hurt just a little bit but add it to the list of things that were ruining my soul. 

I walked toward the door ready to leave, and that’s when a woman walked toward me, a big smile on her face, her skin was perfectly tanned, make-up on fleek, high heels, and a fancy dress. I looked like a kid, poor kid compared to her, I avoided the eye contact and got ready to leave, I could catch the bus back home hopefully, this is the kind of people that belong to a restaurant like this one, not me. I should just go get some MacDonalds, I’m dressed fancy enough for it, my shoulder hit with the fancy woman, great I couldn’t even walk. 

“I’m sorry” I mumble walking away, but her hands stayed on my shoulders making me turn and meet her eyes, the gorgeous black eyes, they held the whole galaxy in them, the smile on her face, it could lit up a whole building, the short black hair, styled in perfect waves, she was beautiful. 

“Sorry for making you wait for me Love” she says in a voice that I knew, the melodic voice of my friend, my hitman friend, the one who ditched me!

My smile fell quickly, I just shrugged, trying to get away from her, I wanted to leave, she didn’t want to meet me, and she didn’t want to see me, this was all just a way to embarrass me and I felt for it. It’s high school bullies but on a higher level and more resources. 

 “I got to leave,” I say ready to cry my misery into my pillow tonight, I would not cry in front of her, even if I did count her as my friend, I would not embarrass myself anyway than I already have or much more than needed. 

“Elle, I’m sorry for making you wait, love,” she says again, in a perfect British accent, I had a thing for the sexy accent, it made my heart melt. 

“No it’s okay, enjoy your dinner” I say making up my mind about leaving. 

“Oh no, Elle, we going to sit down and eat” she says holding my hand and dragging me back inside the restaurant. 

To avoid any commotion in the restaurant I went with her willingly, if I screamed, it’ll always end up badly for the poor kid.