He had instructed her to meet him at a coffee shop downtown. She walked in and ordered a pastry, never having been much of one for coffee or tea. It was nice enough in cold weather, but fucked if she was going to drink coffee on a day like this. She stepped outside the café and sat at a rickety metal table, setting her food on a crinkled paper bag as she did so, hungry, but also too nervous to eat. Instead she picked away pieces from her food, throwing one to a curious pigeon that had landed nearby. She crossed her pale legs absentmindedly, chewing on the ends of her braid.
"Excuse me miss."
Her head whipped around, braid slapping at her neck with the force, eyes wide and heart racing.
Wait, no. That's not him.
"Excuse me miss, could I have a dollar, or some spare change?"
A homeless man with a heavy beard and ragged clothes had approached her. She smiled in sympathy and shrugged apologetically.
"I'm sorry, I don't carry cash."
He staggered on down the road, barely stopping at a street corner.
She breathed.
He said he was coming, why wasn't he here? He was so precise with the time too, 2:18, and she, wanting to make the best impression and start the day by following orders to the letter, had arrived exactly at 2:18. So where was he?
Time dragged by.
She picked away her entire pastry and fed it to the bird. She was starting to think the bird kept her company out of pity, she decided with a half-hearted chuckle. She went back into the café and bought a muffin and brought it back outside. The pigeon cooed softly and jumped up to her table. She broke off a piece and tossed it over to her meal partner. What a strange day already.
The clock rounded four. She was frustrated and antsy and her imagination was starting to get the best of her. The things he said he would do to her, his orders for her preparation...
Her legs closed tighter as she remembered her dress was thin and could blow up in the light afternoon breeze, revealing that she was-as ordered-wearing nothing underneath.
It didn't help that she had no idea who she was looking for. An American, lean but muscular, 175 centimeters tall. But she had no idea what he looked or sounded like. He was mostly a mystery.
"Excuse me miss."
She turned again, jaw clenched. She was angry at having been stood up, and this man had the gall to come again and ask-