The Ten Pines Mall was a place where bad business ideas went to die. The business case was that just off a major freeway with a huge car park, the mall would be the easiest thing in the world to drive to and park. Unfortunately it was built in the middle of one of the most remote parts of South Carolina, nobody wanted to drive hours on the freeway for a mall with very similar shops to an average town high street. It closed five years after it opened, a glass and concrete monolith proclaiming the folly of hubristic spending assumptions from investors who'd never set foot in South Carolina.
When the mall went under, it bounced from one investor to another, each time the pattern was the same, they'd be thrilled that they managed to get a great location for their new conference centre/holiday resort/cineplex, and at such a cheap price as well. Then every time the cost of refurbishment would hit home and business analysts would come in to tell their bosses what a toxic investment it was, it would be sold on at another loss to another suit looking for a location for their pet project.
The most recent investor to go under at least had the stamina to convert a large section of the mall to fancy apartments before they went bankrupt. It seemed the only business able to thrive in the area was Grimsdottir and Skrive, the bankruptcy attorneys earning a sweet commission every time they sold the building yet again.
Hilda Grimsdottir resented her dad using his
connections to secure her a house in the hastily converted housing corner of the mall. Sure she now outright owned a two bedroom apartment that used to be a ski shop and staff room, but the money she saved on rent or a mortgage, she lost on petrol spending half her life driving to Big Mike's, the biker bar she worked at. Even more than that she hated putting down roots in a part of South Carolina she had always been determined to move away from. Now she had an unsellable apartment tethering her to a land of parental disapproval at her lack of "success" (which meant living her life exactly how they wanted), not to mention the locals treating her like a raving maniac for daring to have purple hair in a pixie cut, punk rock clothes that didn't fit the little house on the prairie look they wanted girls of her age to have, and headstrong attitude that didn't fit the little house on the prairie submission they wanted girls of her age to have.
Because of this Hilda spent a lot of time at home watching TV on her off days. One day when her internet went down and she found herself behind the TV fiddling with the tangle of wires that included the ethernet cable, she leant a bit hard on the wall and felt a section fall away under her weight. As she brushed herself off and straightened up, she found herself looking out into the echoing darkness of an abandoned mall.
Hilda stayed silent, she was excited at the prospect of exploring and didn't want any potential security guards or other residents to spoil it too early. As she wandered from one large liminal space to another, illuminating her walk with the torch in her phone, she worked out that she was truly alone here. The legal limbo of bankruptcy and ownership disputes meant the building had no organisation willing to pay for even the most basic security presence, and every other house that had been Frankensteined from the building had walls that were still intact. As she went from one darkened room to the next, she eventually hit upon a mesmerising discovery.
The room was a swirl of churning lights from the cars underneath, it was a glass box dangling appetisingly over the freeway. Originally designed for a car dealership to park their most appealing cars to advertise both their fabulous prices and the glamour of the mall at the next turning, it now stood empty as Hilda walked in and floated above the busy world. The hum of traffic bustling beneath her feet as she serenely sat cross-legged and marvelled at the oasis she had found.
Five minutes later she dropped her serenity as she had just thought of a great way to make some money.
...
Hilda couldn't believe she'd been paid a grand just to put up a large banner advertising a crypto currency website in the glass room above the freeway for a week. More crazy, it seemed to be a lowball offer because they were taking a risk investing in an ad opportunity they found in a random forum post online, with Hilda's pictures from her phone the only proof of her claims that she could perform the task she had been paid for.
Hilda had decided to be extra cautious just in case. She had the banner sent to one of the lobby postboxes for an apartment Hilda knew was unoccupied and the company's crypto systems were used to indirectly pay her. She even wore a beanie hat, some sunglasses and a face mask as she unfurled the banner up against the glass just before heading to work. As she drove past it on the freeway, it was visible and prominent, she was certain her paymasters would be happy with the result.
When she got back home after a shift at the bar, her inbox had exploded with offers to use the space from previously sceptical businesses.
...
For the next couple of weeks Hilda had no scruples in deciding what was in the freeway room, she simply put whatever the highest bidder wanted up there. After the crypto site the next ad was for an online vape shop, then for a dating website.
As the room became more established, so to did the adverts evolve. A music festival actually sent her over a cardboard stage and disco lights that she was allowed to keep after their ad period was over. Despite all this there was one rule Hilda kept to; no matter what, she was the only one who could go in that room. After all, her method of access was the thing these places were buying, if she let their technicians or marketing bods come over to set it up themselves, it would be inevitable that they would try to cut her out. She also starting putting bike locks on the three separate doorways someone would need to walk through to get to the room.
This is why she was so conflicted when she got her largest offer ever from a gambling website, Lucky Rabbit Games, but on the condition that a model dressed as a lucky rabbit be allowed to stand in the booth for three of the days waving at cars. As always Hilda asked if the model would be a deal-breaker, and the website said that without a model there was no deal.
Hilda, desperate to salvage the deal and get the huge payday, made an offer in haste that she would later regret.
'Add a model's salary to the fee and I could do it.' She replied, hitting send on the email before her mind could jump in with what she had just offered. The website was obviously also interested in salvaging this advertising idea and replied with.
'Maybe, the model was going to be in a rabbit mask so looks aren't that important. However they were also going to be wearing a revealing outfit. If you have the body for it we would be willing to bend. Please send us some current pictures of you in your underwear and confirm you would be comfortable in this role and we'll make a decision from there.'
Hilda's stomach let out a little gurgle of nerves as she weighed the offer. She had never been ashamed of her body, and the comments of the patrons at the bar regularly strayed into horny compliments so she certainly knew she would be able to impress the marketing guy she was emailing with. (If she didn't have the body, the kind of bikers who frequented Big Mike's would certainly let her know.) But the thought of modelling, standing in that booth and showing off her body to passing cars, was a whole different matter. She had never been the type to show off and smile, the cheerleaders at her school more commonly the target of her hatred and ridicule than envy.
Her attitude swayed wildly, one moment she was telling herself the money was far better than the next best offer and maybe it would be a bit of fun, the next it was crazy and she didn't want people lusting over her as she showed some skin for their benefit like some exhibitionist bimbo.
Hilda stripped down to her underwear in front of a mirror and admired herself, she turned and twisted to look at her body from all angles and smiled, it had been a long time since she had last slept with someone. It had been a terrible experience with a particularly clingy biker girl which made her swear off sleeping with bar patrons. As bar patrons were the only new people she met, this pretty much hit pause on her sex life.
She then stripped off her underwear and admired what was beneath, her body was pretty well toned from poverty food portion sizes and being on her feet several hours a day serving beers. If she took this offer she knew she would have to shave her legs, armpits, and at least a large part of her pubis. Her stomach was in proportion, but she felt it could be more toned and resolved to start doing some sort of core exercise routine. The brown roots were as much a part of her hair as the purple dye applied months ago, she'd have to grab some more bleach and dye.
As she continued to look herself over, a bolt of revelation struck Hilda. Ever since she had moved into her new apartment, she had stopped caring about a lot in her life, feeling stuck had taken away her passion to do pretty much anything. But ever since she discovered this ad space, she had felt less trapped. With this new purpose had actually grown the resolve to do something with her life. It became clear as she was looking in the mirror and making all these plans that they weren't idle suggestions that she would inevitably not follow through on, she was genuinely in the mood to work on herself. So she decided whatever this business venture was doing could only be good for her, and she needed to jump in with both feet.
