Sophie’s POV

The birds are chirping loudly. I squint my eyes to see the brightness of the morning. I’m not happy I didn’t get some sleep, but I have to keep going. I take a fresh set of clothes and grab my toothbrush, heading to the public bathroom.

I need a good bath to be able to think properly. I rush it because there is no privacy, and anyone can just walk in and get a free peep show from me. I don’t want that. It won’t take me so long to finish bathing and hurry back.

I grab my backpack and head out, knowing I will be back to this place in no time because life is just that unfair. I don’t have any breakfast because I don’t want to waste time focusing on the wrong things.

I need to do this before I chicken out; if there is remotely a way of Antonio catching me up, then it’s through this. I stare hard at the cellphone in my hands – it looks more like a torture device now. I don’t believe I wasn’t smart enough to catch on that the chip might be a way of tracking me.

The road to the airport is long, but I have to manage the walking distance; if I’m going to do this, then I’m going to do it right. The sun isn’t out yet, and I thank goodness for that. Walking under the heavy sun with nothing but an empty stomach is just not fair to me at all.

Heavy thinking and determination do to the mind.

Finally, I’m at the airport. I look around – there are a lot of travelers, and they all seem to be waiting for the next flight. I spot my mark. She’s looking expensive, all dressed in designers. I walk up to her, nodding when she looks at me. I sit down immediately, pretending to check something on my phone. She’s back to speaking to who she was on a call with.

She ignores me as I ignore her, but I’ve already seen what I want – her tote purse is open, and her wallet is hanging out from it. I make sure her plane ticket is safe in her hands as she was clutching it. I gently take out the wallet from her purse, quickly grabbing her money and the credit card she has there. She has a lot of money in there. I make sure to leave her some. I place her wallet safely back inside, along with my phone.

The people tracking me will think I’m on the next flight out of New York, but I stay here. It’s enough to buy me some time and make some extra money to take care of myself. I stuff the cash in my hoodie, looking as innocent as ever.

“Hey, excuse me,” I say to her after she dropped her phone.

She stares at me as she zips up her bag.

“What time does your flight leave?” I ask her.

“10:30,” she says, going back to minding her business.

I nodded my head, checking the time on my watch, she had just thirty minutes to be on that flight, it was enough time for me to withdraw the money from her card. I am not proud of this but it doesn’t look like I have a choice right now. I hated doing this but this is what survival has turned me into.

I stayed till her flight was called, but she left without saying goodbye. Somehow, that made me feel less guilty about stealing from her. She was a rich bitch.

Once she disappeared, I waited and then left after a while. The first thing I needed to do was get myself breakfast. I counted the money I took from her purse and it had my mouth hanging open. Who walked around with this kind of money?

A whooping sum of three thousand dollars?

That is huge, if I left some, it would mean she had like about five thousand dollars there, wow!

I divided the money into three, a thousand in my backpack, one in my socks, and the rest in my jean pocket with the card. I wanted to be careful, I walked out of the airport, my destination already in my head.

I needed food, so I can only walk around till I find somewhere I can eat. I was busy celebrating my newly acquired earnings that I didn’t notice the figure following me in the shadow.

I have just crossed a glass door when I noticed him staring at me opposite the building, my heart thudded in my chest as I stared at him through the mirror.

Okay, Sophie. Calm down, he is not one of his men.

I chanted to myself hoping it will calm me down but it didn’t, I increased my pace as I walked, and I turned my head to the alley, I had no idea where I was going but I had to get away from the creep.

I turned to my left and came to a stop, the man was dressed in black. His teeth are almost yellow as he leered at me. I backed up against the wall, my hands desperately searching for a weapon to defend myself with.

“S…stay away from me.” I managed to say, cursing myself for stuttering.

“What’s a pretty lady like you doing all alone in the streets?” he asked, the glint in his eyes a little bit familiar.

Predatory.

“Nothing, leave me alone,” I said, without a warning, I turned my back and ran.

You would think the time I spent running would toughen me but my heart pounded in my chest as I struggled to keep a good distance between me and him.

His heavy footsteps chased after me, deep down I knew nobody was coming to save me.

My foot intertwined with each other and I went crashing into the ground.

I knew I was done for when his hand caught mine, “now, look what we have here.” He grinned as he peered at the fear in my eyes.

He grabbed my leg, I lashed out.

“Fuck!” he yelled,

I set out to run but he grabbed me again, this time pulling out a knife. My eyes widened as he turned the metal blade around for me to see.

“Not so feisty now, eh? If you behave then I might not have to hurt you.” He said.

I closed my eyes, I prefer death right now.

I waited for the inevitable to come but all I heard was a thud, I cracked an eye open and the creep was laying unmoving on the ground.

What just happened?

I opened both eyes and I found a girl peering down at me. I didn’t say anything and neither did she.

That was until she opened her mouth,

“So, what is your story?” she asked, leaving me gaping at her.