He Didn’t Kidnap Me. Not Exactly novel Chapter 63

Chapter 63

“I’m sorry,” I said again, this time quieter. “It won’t happen again. I really need this job, and I meant it when I said I was grateful

you gave me a chance. I’m not taking this for granted. Yesterday was… a mistake, and it won’t repeat itself.”

I held his gaze, and for a moment, he said nothing.

Then:

“I’ll hold you to that.”

Relief hit me so fast I almost swayed.

“Thank you,” I said quickly.

“Your apron is in the staff area. Get changed and start.”

“Yes, sir.”

I didn’t wait for anything else. I stepped out, found the apron, and returned to the counter- this time on the other side.

The space felt smaller from here.

More functional.

Three workers. A tight arrangement. Machines humming softly. Cups stacked neatly. Everything in its place.

Except the atmosphere. That was… off.

“A good day to brew, am I right?” I said, choosing to joke around in this moment.

I probably shouldn’t have because no one responded.

I stepped closer to the girl I recognized now.

“Is everything okay?” I asked her.

She looked at me. Then at her phone.

Then back at me.

“We didn’t know you were the crack-me girl.” she said and my chest tightened.

She then unlocked her phone and turned the screen toward me.

A video.

Mabel. Her girls.

Me, standing there, surrounded. Labeled and talked over by them.

I watched it for exactly two seconds before looking away.

I had said I escaped earlier. But it was not exactly true. They did have a moment of ridicule before the strict lecturer had stepped in.

So they had gotten a duration of their cruelty; a video. And, of course it spread.

I exhaled slowly.

“Right,” I said, more to myself than to her.

There was nothing to explain. Nothing to fix.

So I worked.

I kept my head down, focused on the machine, on the orders on anything that required my hands and not my thoughts. If I pretended long enough that nothing had changed, maybe it would start to feel true.

It didn’t.

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