Haunted Mirror Ch. 03

After leaving the plaza where she had done her unusually daring photoshoot, Vivian continued onto her next destination. Despite the danger she had just been through, she was currently feeling a bit exhilarated. If she could survive what she had just done and felt good about it, what she had planned now would be nothing!

She made her way to a trendy department store she had picked out, and made her way to the customer service desk. It certainly wasn't peak hours, which meant the middle-aged lady sitting there had nothing better to do than answer her questions.

'Remember, Viv, you're dressed to kill today,' she said to herself as she walked up. 'And she has no idea you aren't wearing panties under that skirt. That's your naughty little secret, so own it!' She took a deep breath to gather her courage.

"How can I help you," the woman greeted her with what sounded like false enthusiasm.

"Hi, good morning! My name's Vivian Black. I'm just wondering if your store is hiring right now."

"Oh... let me see... I don't think we are, but feel free to check back later. New spots do open up."

"I will, thanks, but is there any way I could talk to the manager of the store, or whoever would be in charge of new hires? As you can probably see, I take fashion very seriously, and I have a presence that would be perfect for sales! If you put me in the clothing department, I can guarantee you I'd sell all your best items!"

"All right, let me ask," she agreed.

But after a very brief conversation, she hung up the phone and said, "Sorry we aren't hiring."

"Oh... I was hoping I could talk to him myself. There's one other thing: I'm a fashion influencer on Instagram, and if you don't have room for me full time, I'd be happy to promote some of your store to my followers for a fair commission. Please, if you could call him back, this could be a great opportunity!"

She had a confused look on her face. "I don't think that's something we do here. We don't really handle out-of-store advertising. That would be corporate."

Vivian wasn't quite ready to give up. "Okay thank you, but if you could get me in touch with... uhh..."

She paused, as she felt her nipples being tweaked inside her blouse. It felt like delicate, invisible fingers were pinching them from the sides and gently twisting and tugging on them. She dared to look down, and out of the corner of her eye, and could see the smallest bit of movement, as if her nipples were wiggling around on their own. Quickly, she crossed her arms across her chest before the woman noticed, but decided that was too defensive of a posture, so she lowered one arm, while grabbing her upper arm with the one she left up. Maybe that was a little more natural.

"I mean..." she stammered, as she tried her best to ignore such a distraction, "if you could put me through to someone who is in charge of that, because... you know... it would be such a great opportunity for your company to... (gasp!)"

"Ma'am, are you all right?"

"Yeah! Sorry, must be allergies. One of those sneezes that won't come out!"

"Oh, don't I know all about that! That time of year. But, sorry, no, I really don't know who you should talk to about that. Feel free to take an application, though. We'll be sure to look at it when we have an opening."

"Uh, thank you for your time. Have a wonderful day."

Vivian grabbed an application with her free hand, and as quickly as she could, she turned and hurried out of the store before she lost all control of her composure.

"Abigail!" she cursed in the quietest voice she could manage. "Why are you doing that? Do you have any idea how distracting that is?"

"Oh, sorry, should I not have been playing with you just then? Your nipples seemed to like that," the voice in her head answered.

"Hey, you were the one complaining about my income situation! I'm trying to find work, and I would have had that if I could have concentrated!"

"Oh, right. You had complete control of that conversation," she answered, sarcastically.

"Why don't you leave finding a job in this century to people actually from this century? I know what I'm doing!"

"I thought you wanted to be famous. So why would you want to be some worker-bee at this gigantic general store?"

"Because I need money, okay?"

"I told you, I can help you with..."

"I ALRADY SAID NO TO THAT!!!"

...

Vivian made her way through several other stores, including more clothing stores and a cosmetics store, but had no more luck besides a small stack of blank applications. Next, she tried inside a locally owned coffee shop, and Abigail actually seemed pleased, for once.

"Now there's a good opportunity if you want to make the social rounds! Coffee houses are where enterprising people meet up to find business partners... or a pretty woman like you!"

"You're being sarcastic again, aren't you?"

"Actually, not this time. Most ladies of the night will try to solicit for clients at taverns, as anyone would expect. But I'm telling you, some of the highest paying customers I ever got I met at coffee houses. And even if you're not looking for that kind of work, this will still be a great place to get your name out there, or just keep your ear to the ground!"

But Abigail's excitement died down as soon as they entered. All of the patrons inside were staring at their phones or laptops, and there were few conversations going on about subjects other than coffee orders.

"What are these people even doing here? There's nothing going on at all!"

"Probably just using the Wi-Fi. People don't go to coffee shops to commission sailing ships or whatever anymore. They have the internet for that, like I showed you this morning."

This time, Abigail actually left her alone as she did her best to present herself. But, once again, they weren't hiring, and Vivian left with nothing more than a tall americano with cream.

"There's another one! And it looks popular!" Abigail pointed out as they passed a Starbucks.

"Oh... a Starbucks?" she answered, nervously. "Sorry, but I can't, um..." Vivian cut herself off mid sentece, unsure of how much she wanted Abigail to know.

"Can't what?"

"I mean... you don't want to work at a major corporate chain like that. Ethical reasons. The local businesses are much more honest in how they operate."

"I see! That's why you were practically groveling for a job at those huge, corporate department stores."

"For the last time, I know what I'm doing!"

That's when she felt something hit the sidewalk at her feet. She looked down and saw her wallet had fallen out of her purse. There was no way it had done that on its own.

"Oops! Better bend over and pick that up before some charlatan makes off with it!"

"God dammit..." she muttered under her breath, and looked around.

The sidewalk was plenty crowded. There would be no way to do this unseen. Better to do it quickly and be done with it. Rather than bending over, she squatted down and reached for it. Right as her hand connected with her dropped wallet, the back of her skirt flew up as if moved by an unfelt gust of wind. She was almost certain her bare ass cheeks had been exposed. She stood up as quickly as her legs could lift her, and brushed her skirt back down.

Embarrassed, she dared a glance behind her. There were too young men snickering to each other and looking her way. Her cheeks flashed red-hot, but she turned forward again deciding to just play it cool. She walked ahead as fast as she could.

...

Vivian's phone rang. She pulled it out of her purse and answered the call.

"Hey, Olivia!"

"Hey, girl! We still on for lunch today?"

Vivian paused. The idea suddenly made her very nervous! Olivia was about her only true friend in this world, and sometimes she wondered if Olivia was really all that interested. She really didn't want to risk Abigail making something weird happen and ruining it between them.

"Ooo, shoot. I totally forgot! I don't know... I've been busier than I thought I'd be today."

"Understandable. I'd love to see how you're doing, though!"

Vivian paused, trying to think of any excuse to not sound like she was brushing her off. But Abigail whispered to her, making it very difficult to think.

"Ooh, she sounds lovely! Where are we meeting?"

Vivian pulled the phone down and covered the mouthpiece. "We're not!" she whispered, harshly.

"Canceling an engagement with a dear friend at the last minute? How uncouth!" she scolded her.

"Oh, you're one to talk about manners! I am NOT having you pull some weird shit on me with her watching, got it?"

"Vivian? Is something going on?" came Olivia's distant voice. She put the phone back to her ear. "Look, if something came up, that's totally fine, but if something bad happened I'm here for you. You know that, right? Is there anything you need to talk about?"

"Don't worry, Olivia, we're still on for today!" said Vivian, as pleasant as can be, then covered her mouth with her free hand in shock.

"Abigail!" She spat, lowering her phone once again. "Don't EVER speak for me again!"

"Yay! See you there at noon?" came Olivia's voice, muffled by her hand.

"Uh, yeah, yeah, sure," she answered, not knowing how else to proceed. "I'll do my best to make it."

Once they had said their good byes and ended the call, Vivian just stood there, not knowing what to do.

"I do love a nice luncheon with friends!" Abigail practically sang.

"I am NOT taking you to meet her!" Vivian insisted.

"Oh, you still think you can refuse me, then? You must be a very slow learner. It's a good thing I'm a patient teacher."

"You will NOT do anything crazy to her! Got it? If you ruin this friendship, I swear to God, I'll break your mirror into a million pieces!"

"The one you spent a small fortune on? But very well. I'll leave her alone today. If... If you promise to never tell her about me. Not her, and not anyone. I will stay your shameful little secret, from now until the day you die at a healthy old age. Are we understood?"

"Seriously? No funny business in front of her? None at all?"

"None. I really want to meet her, and if that's what it will take, then I promise to mind my manners."

"Fine! Okay! I'll meet up with her."

"That's a good girl! Oh, and if you ever break your promise and tell a single soul about me, I will punish you severely."

...

Vivian entered their favorite café with trepidation. There was no telling what Abigail could make her do in the presence of the only other person in the world who seemed to genuinely care about her. Well, Abigail had promised to be good, and Vivian really needed a friend to talk to, even if she couldn't tell her about her new roommate inside her head.

"Hey, beautiful!" came a pleasant voice from right behind her.

She turned to see Olivia entering right after. Olivia was at least as beautiful as Vivian. Maybe not as sexy as her, but she definitely knew how to present herself in a way that was both professional and individualistic. She had long, straight blond hair, wireframe glasses, and dressed in a designer jacket that would be fit for either a job interview or a fancy date.

Olivia gave her a hug, which Vivian returned with enthusiasm. Vivian squeezed her and wouldn't let go.

"Oof! That's a tight hug! Did something come up? Something definitely came up. I waved to you, you know, but you seemed preoccupied."

"Can we talk about it over food? We should probably move out of the doorway, anyway."

In truth, Vivian needed a few moments to think up what she was going to say, so they made small talk while they found themselves a table.

"So, what's going on?" Olivia asked, once they had placed their orders. "What's on your mind that's got you so flustered?"

"I, um..." she began, but couldn't think of what to say. So far, Abigail had been completely silent, but she had no doubt she would hear everything she said. "It's nothing, really. Just... tired, I guess," she said, unconvincingly.

"Hey, don't worry about it. If you decide it's anything you need to talk about, you know you can tell me anything." Olivia gook a sip of her wine. "Well, what about your photoshoot? Did you do Hammarskjöld Plaza?"

Vivian's eyes brightened at once! "Yes! Awesome spot! Thanks so much for the idea!"

"Well, don't keep me waiting. Show me what you've got!"

Vivian froze. She remembered that she still had the pics where she had unwittingly flashed her vagina at the camera. Suddenly, she was hyper-aware of her lack of underwear once again. She clenched her knees together and made sure her skirt was still in place, even though everything was safely under the table at the moment. It crossed Vivian's mind that with her still being in the same outfit as in the photoshoot, if she accidentally showed her one of the indecent pics, Olivia could put two and two together and deduce that she was currently commando underneath her skirt.

"Ah... well... I still need to go through them. You know, pick out the best ones, add the right filters."

"Got it! I'll just have to wait to see the finished product. So, how's the job hunt coming along?"

"Ugh! 'We're not hiring, but I'll be happy to give you a useless application if it'll make you go away!' That was the phrase of the day."

"Hey, that's just how it goes. You're going to have days like this. Probably a lot of them before you find something that suits you. Job hunting is basically a full-time job, especially if you have standards. So, you just put in the time. Look at every option you can find, and make sure to call them back from time to time."

"Yeah, good point."

"And how have you been approaching them, if I can pry? Remember what I said: confident humility! Cause sometimes you can come on a little strong."

"Confident humility. Yeah, I think I've been managing that."

"Cause look, no offense, you don't need a repeat of what got you fired from Starbucks. You're a talented girl, Vivian. A talented... and beautiful girl! But you can't say 'Do you have any idea who I am?' to a customer, no matter how rude she's being to you!"

"Oh, come on, that is SO not what I said!"

"I know it wasn't. Still, sometimes you go around acting like you're already the famous influencer you're going to be someday. And you definitely have the makings for it, but in the meantime, your still just one of us."

"I know... I know..."

"And one more thing: how are your finances holding up, lately? Sorry if I'm prying like I'm your mom, but you know it's because I love you."

"I'm doing fine. I just want to be able to live off of what I'm making, instead of using... er, I mean..." For the second time that day, Vivian stopped herself before she revealed too much of her life to a certain eavesdropper.

"Yes, and that's a very good goal. Cause, remember, you're taking a huge tax hit every time you take money out of that inherited IRA from your grandpa."

"OLIVIA! Don't talk about that here!"

"Nobody's next to our table. There's nobody around to overhear."

'Oh, that's what you think!' Vivian thought in her head.

"I'm not looking for a dollar amount, or anything," Olivia continued. "But how much of it is left, anyway? How long could you live on that, if you had to?"

"I've... gone through about half of it."

"HALF?" Olivia gasped, clearly none too pleased.

"Actually, probably more. I could make it last for a few months, though."

"How many? Have you done the math lately?"

Vivian's head sunk. "Well, maybe three. If I budget it. More likely two months."

"Jesus Christ. And what's your plan if that runs out?"

"I'm gaining Instagram followers every day! Once I hit a thousand, which I'll have in a week at this rate, I guarantee you I'll be able to do paid promotions."

"And do you know proof positive that it will be enough to pay the rent?"

"Well..." Vivian didn't have a quick answer.

"Just to be safe, let's assume the worst. Let's say your starting influencer wage doesn't get you any more than your Patreon account currently does. How are you going to pay for your expenses? Could you ask to borrow some of your mom's cut of the inheritance?"

"Yeah, that's super likely to happen. I'm practically cut off at this point. You know how she feels about my chances as an influencer. I was thinking more something on the lines of getting a roommate."

"Okay, that will... reduce... your expenses."

"Or, a boyfriend."

"Another sugar-daddy, you mean!" she said with a laugh. Olivia was smiling again. "Let's call that a fallback plan. But okay, okay, that's definitely worked for you before! So... any prospects on that front? Did Ben manage to score a second date with you?"

"Ahh... I don't know about him. Ben was nice and all, but I'm starting to think he's got the personality of white bread." Vivian neglected to mention she was also worried his income wasn't nearly enough to support her lifestyle.

"I guess there's Jaden from the gym," Vivian continued. "He was definitely putting the moves on me. He's charming, all right, and that Audi if his? Wow! But... I don't know. Something about him isn't rubbing me the right way."

"RIGHT? I wasn't going to say it right off, but I know exactly what you mean! There's something hidden behind that charm of his. I'll give you ninety percent betting odds he's got a dead hooker in is basement."

'What a coincidence,' Vivian thought silently to herself. 'I've got one in my head!'

...

Vivian and Olivia make girl talk for the rest of their meet-up. They gossiped, talked about guys, talked about fashion, and anything else they wanted. Thankfully, Olivia didn't try to act like her mother again that day. It was stressful that she did that so often, but Vivian excused it. In the back of her mind, she knew she needed a reality check every so often, and Olivia was the only person in her life who bothered to do it anymore.

"Wow, your friend is a cute one! When are you going to fuck her?" Abigail said, once she was barely down the block from the café.

"God damn it, Abigail!" she cursed, not even caring if anyone heard her talking to herself.

"What? I promised to be good, and I was! I didn't even interrupt your friendly chat. Now, you're going to live up to your part of our little deal, and never tell a single soul about me... right?" Abigail finished, menacingly.

"Sure, as long as you refrain from doing any weird shit to me in public I can't explain any other way."

"Well, that was fun! I feel like I really got to know you better today! So... a spoiled little heiress, are we? That explains your stuck-up demeanor perfectly!"

"Like that's your business. Or your concern."

"But alas, your inheritance is running out already, it seems! Your clumsy little fingers can't hold onto money any better than they can hold onto a fog bank. Maybe if you didn't need all these fancy clothes and furnishings made for people well above your station."

"I told you, these are startup costs! I'm going to make that money back, and more."

"Oh, yes, that pretty little friend of yours certainly seemed to believe that. But I'm not worried about your money. As it turns out, you're already a whore! Isn't that great news?"

"I am NOT!"

"Really? You'll take a boyfriend to live off his money. What's the difference between that and taking one every night?"

"Not catching a disease, for one! I'm starting to wonder if maybe it was syphilis that killed you, not the mirror. Or maybe you agreed to that deal with the previous occupant because you were already dying of it? Am I onto something here? Let me know if I'm getting warm."

"Hardly."

"Not convinced. In any case, I'll bet there was a reason dying in front of your cursed mirror seemed like a good alternative to going on living. I have a feeling you didn't have your life any more figured out than I have mine right now. So, if you don't mind, I'm going to leave the life coaching to people I actually trust."