Daisys Undoing Ch 02 Long Weekend 01

"Look, I don't want to be a problem customer, but you guys were way out of line."

In a tasteful overcoat, Daisy, ran her fingers along the selection of white wine on the shelf of the liquor store. She rolled her eyes and switched hands, holding the cell phone to her ear. "Yeah, I know I said 'surprise me,' but that doesn't give you license to-" the voice on the phone interjected. Daisy sighed, rubbing her forehead with her free hand, shaking the long locks of wavy black hair hanging down her shoulders. "Yes, yes you were clear about all the consent stuff and being clear about my needs, but come on... drugging and kidnapping me from my office? That's over the line." The voice piped back, calm and steady. Daisy rolled her eyes and grabbed a sensibly-priced sauvignon blanc and walked to the register. "Yeah, fine, I should have read the contract more carefully. I'll be sure to do that next time I'm in my office." The voice mumbled a short question. "Oh no, it's not like I'm complaining, it was totally great! Still, for the money I'm paying, I should be able to nitpick about the details. I just want you guys to dial it back a notch, okay?"

She set the bottle on the counter, but the clerk, a stocky, grizzly-bearded man, kept his back to her. "I'm all set," she said, trying to get his attention.

The voice on the phone called her attention. "What am I doing this weekend? Eh... I was gonna catch a movie, take a bike ride, try and catch up with a few girlfriends... It's a holiday, so I have a long weekend and I want to relax a little."

The voice muttered something, and Daisy furrowed her brows. "The time? Why do you want to know what time it is?" Another mumble, and she shrugged. "Okay, let me check my phone." She held the phone in front of her and glanced at the screen before putting it back to her ear.

"It's 8;11."

click

The line cut off- she'd been hung up on. The clerk put something on the counter. "Nineteen oh five is your change."

Her face stuck in a blank stare, Daisy looked down. There was a shiny nickle sitting on a crisp twenty dollar bill. She looked at the clerk. He was staring at her, his curly long beard and hair draped on his shabby clothes, tacky round-rimmed sunglasses sitting on his bulbous nose. She'd missed it at a glance, but with some attention it was obvious that his hair, his beard, even his nose was fake. She looked around the liquor store- it was totally empty. At this hour she'd expect at least a few other customers. She turned to the clerk and weakly said, "Uh, um... I haven't paid. And that's a twenty."

He never looked away from her. "So it is. Store policy is, if you get incorrect change you get a bottle for free. Whatever you want. You can check the whole store," without looking away from her he raised his hand and pointed sideways, "but the selection is even better in the back."

She turned to where he pointed. Right on the back wall was an open door, letting light shine into a dark, cluttered room. She stared at the door, then turned to look at the store's entrance. I could walk out right now, she thought. I could go and see that movie, and go for a nice bike ride, and catch up with my friends and have a nice, relaxing long weekend. She looked from one door to the other, chewing her lip. It was only Friday evening. She looked defiantly at the clerk, then put her purse on the counter, before taking off her jacket and tossing it on top of the purse. She stood there in a tight-fitting gray T-shirt, a short black skirt and fine nylon leggings. With one last deep breath of resolve, she turned on the heel of her flat-heeled Chelsea shoes and strode confidently across the floor and through the back door.

The air was cold in that room. As soon as she'd taken two steps in, she gasped as the door slammed shut behind her, leaving her in total darkness. She gulped as she heard a click of the door latching shut. Her knees started to tremble as the skin all over her body started tingling in anticipation. Ah well, she thought, TGIF.