Accidentally His: The Girl Who Trespassed

ine'

oing to get ar

provised photoshoot. October sunlight catches the glossy black paint, the car practically

live with its usual chaos. Professionals in tailored coats hurry past. A deliv

specific goal: borrow a lit

e jobs barely leave time for sleep, let alone proper photoshoots. So I make do. I hunt f

llars at a thrift store in Brooklyn. My jeans have a hole in the

, angle yourself just so, and ho

car worth more than my

dow of a shop nearby. My hair has that messy wave going on because I skipped

trying to pull off casual-bu

t l

s rigid. I know that sound.

a Mor

wn, highlighter catching in her blond hair, designer sunglasses perched just so, three f

n't

n't see me

ce cuts through the str

e she sp

ally anything else. Checking messages. Reading a caption. Cert

asses down her nose. He

s just h

l familiar faces from campus. The ones who s

rs. The re

urs?" Bia

art-time jobs and the way I count change at the grocery store.

h. Shrug it o

th has its

t

ut before I ca

hy did I

up. Showing up with leftovers while everyone else ordered sushi, rotating the same thrif

m her father and five months of my work vanished. My professor said

o win, j

hoot each other loaded looks, recalibrating,

Her tone

brain screams. *Get out. Do

t hand this m

t," Bian

friends look way too e

upidest thing I

t move

bsolutely do not feel. My hand reaches for the handle. T

d. I'll make some lame excus

icks. The doo

drop

someone

A suit tailored within an inch of its life. He looks expensiv

e at ea

it a mix-up and run until

pressed against the glass, phones r

left: commit to the lie

fore the thought

lid

nce where I expected empty space. I land hard, a second too late to fix it. I

n, as if I'm radioactive. A muscle ticks once in his jaw and I feel hi

ogne re

cent that lingers in elevator a

that I

e brain space to be

oor shut, ha

er. "Just wait fo

ble makes a show of its en

But her eyes have gone still, the way eyes go when someone expected an out

e silence

press myself against the door. "I'm so sor

esture. The shock that crossed his face is almost gone now, replace

the panic rise h

"tell me why you're

in it, refined down to something that co

it was mine, told me to prove it, and I panicked, and the door opened, and I thought the car was empty, I swear, and I sat down,

lence stretches long enough that I start cal

at against his knee, unmoving, while his gaze runs the lengt

Whatever he's calculating, it

trespassed. Lied. And now

ecting anything. I'll go. I'l

nds the do

nhurried.

. Turn

ompany me to several events over the next month," he says, the s

ry,

nctions. Galas, dinners, fundraisers. You showed some creative pressure management tod

ou want me to go t

Then your de

his head slightly. "I imagine the police would find

neath all that professional calm. He expects me to ap

tend for a month, skip expulsion, avoid a sc

that put me in this car re

I say. "The

eyes, gone before I can re

rt Ro

Firm grip. A brief spark travels

ine C

llet. Heavyweight stock, deliberately u

EO

chest does a sl

" Rossi glances over my thrifted sweater and wrecked jeans. His gaze settles briefl

p my neck. "

e it becomes anything. "I'll handle the wa

swer, he nods t

to the sidewalk. The door closes

ne. As though none of this happened. As though I di

ly into traffic and disa

d. His cologne still clings to my jacket, faint and woodsy,

een li

ollect you at 6:30. Address on file. Dress will arrive

ady have

sure Albert Rossi doesn

ide of my chest. Restless. Not panic

his wor

elt less terrifying