Mick sat patiently in his car smoking, he knew the routine of the people in the shop behind him. He'd been formulating his plan for almost a whole month and he was confident he had it down to a tee.
The kitchen shop opened at 9am every morning, 6 days a week. He knew that the people inside arrived approximately 10 minutes before 9 and he was stationed, as he had been so many times over the last few weeks, across the road in the pub car park. He knew that the older guy who owned the shop would leave around 9.30am with his son and spend the day fitting the kitchens they sold, he also knew that they would leave the daughter, Emma, alone for the day to deal with any customers that visited the shop.
When he'd been in the shop almost 8 months ago he could have spent far too much because of Emma, she'd flirted with him for the whole time he was there and had teased him until he would have paid well over the odds for a kitchen. He'd been really put out when she refused to go out with him and he'd regretted even entering the shop apart from seeing Emma.
He was going to ask her to be his today and there was no way she was going to refuse him this time.
He knew that Emma was mid-twenties, around five feet tall, she had blonde shoulder length hair, green eyes, a slim athletic figure, nice breasts, a curvaceous bum and a lovely smile. She was funny and they'd laughed together as she'd almost persuaded him to buy a kitchen and all the added extras that would have cost him so much. They would be perfect together if only she realised that.
It was just after 9.30 when the dad and his son came out of the shop, climbed in the van and drove away, Mick lit another cigarette and waited some more. No need to rush, he knew they wouldn't be back till after 4pm, he had plenty of time to talk to Emma.
He waited until a shade before 10am before exiting his car, he picked up his sports bag from the back seat and crossed the road toward the shop. He opened the door and made his way inside. He'd walked around the shop with Emma before, there was a large square showroom with all the kitchens on display, nothing more than little booths really with the kitchens all pre-built, they obscured the view of the back of the showroom.
Towards the rear of the shop the showroom went off to the left from his position into a smaller area which also had some display kitchens in and then beyond that an office where he'd discussed ideas for his kitchen. It was set out like a large upside down, back to front letter L. This had originally been 2 shops that had been converted into one huge shop and the bit which went to the office was behind the newsagents next door. He knew that if he was there he could talk to Emma without anyone seeing from the road outside, there were no windows in that section.
Emma was sat in the little office out in the back of the shop when she heard the front door to the shop open, she'd been busy texting her boyfriend since he'd woken her with a phone call on his way to work at 7am, she had been waiting for a reply for about 30 minutes, this wasn't unusual, her boyfriend was at work and he had an important job so she knew he'd probably be busy with something and would text her when he could. She was glad of the distraction of the first customer of the day and made her way out of the office and into the showroom.
She spotted the tall, well-built man looking about, switched on her best dynamite smile and spoke confidently,
"Hi, Good Morning, can I help you?" she said
Mick turned towards her "Hi, yes I'm sure you can, do you remember me? I was here looking to buy a kitchen from you about 8 months ago." he swiftly looked her up and down, Emma was wearing a pair of light blue denim jeans and a plain white shirt, her blonde hair falling loosely around her shoulders.
Emma paled slightly, she remembered the guy, he'd chatted her up while she'd showed him kitchen designs and then he'd asked her out on a date. He was a nice enough guy and she'd got on okay with him but she had a boyfriend whom she was madly in love with and would never do anything that would jeopardise that, she'd told this guy the same thing but he'd not been happy when she refused his offer of a date. She wasn't one to mix business and pleasure anyway. She didn't want him to see he'd rattled her slightly so with her best saleswoman voice said,
"Yes, I remember you, how's it going? Did you want to place an order for your kitchen?"
"Yes, I came in to talk to you about the kitchen, when would your dad and brother be able to fit it? Actually that's a bit of a lie, it wasn't the kitchen I came in about if I'm honest."
"Oh I see, was there something else?"
"Yes, actually there was, I came in to invite you out on a date with me." Mick said
"Oh" Emma replied "Erm, I'm sorry, I have a boyfriend. Did I not make that clear last time we spoke?"
"Yes, you mentioned the boyfriend, you never said it was serious though. I just thought I'd come to see if you would accompany me for a meal and maybe some drinks afterwards?"
"No, I'm really sorry, I have a boyfriend, I really don't think that would be a good idea." Emma said.
"Look, I know you fancy me, you spent a long time flirting with me when I was here last, I've seen them looks before, you want me, I know you do." said Mick.
"I most certainly do not fancy you and I definitely don't want you," Emma retorted "I have a boyfriend who I love dearly and I'd not cheat on him with someone like you."
"Oh, listen to miss posh hoity toity bitch," Mick spat "Someone like me? Who the fuck do you think you are?"
"Ok, that's enough!" Emma said "I think you should go!"
Emma suddenly realised that during the conversation Mick had edged closer towards her and she began to panic slightly, this guy was obviously a complete nut and here she was having an argument and she was all on her own for at least another few hours.
"My dad and my brother will be back soon, you should go before they get here and find you, there will be trouble when they see you're upsetting me."
Emma sensed that Mick was getting ready to make a move and she turned to run back into the office, her plan was to shut the door quickly but as she turned Mick grabbed her by her hair almost pulling her back off her feet, he dragged her back towards him causing her to cry out with the pain. He clamped his other hand over her mouth and turned slightly pulling Emma off balance, her slim frame no match for Mick's six-foot-tall and powerfully built frame. He carried on turning until she lost her footing and he quickly put her face down on the floor, he kept his hand clamped over her mouth but used his weight advantage to pin her to the floor. He reached for his sports bag and unzipped it, reaching in for some duct tape he placed it by his side. He shifted his weight and grabbed one of Emma's arms pulling it round straight up from her body.
"I'm going to move my hand," Mick hissed into Emma's ear "If you scream or make a sound I will shut you up another way, do you understand?"
Emma made a noise that she hoped would pass for agreement and Mick removed his hand from her mouth, she breathed deeply and began to scream as loudly as she could, it wasn't more than half a second before Mick clamped his hand back over her mouth quieting her in an instant.
"You fucking bitch!" he said "I knew a fucking lying slut like you would scream."
He reached over to the sports bag again and produced a fearsome looking knife, he rested the tip against Emma's cheek and her eyes widened with fear.
"See this?"
Emma did her best to nod
"Scream again when I move my hand and I'll make sure you never scream again, OK?"
Emma nodded again and this time when Mick removed his hand she stayed silent, he pulled her other arm straight out in front of her and swiftly wrapped duct tape around her wrists, kneeling slightly he shifted his position, placing one knee in between Emma's shoulder blades keeping her pinned down, he turned and swiftly wrapped a length of duct tape around her ankles and then her knees. Now she was immobile he sat back and examined his handiwork. Things hadn't gone exactly as he planned, she was supposed to say yes to his offer of a date but that hadn't happened, so this was plan B.