Free Love Nip by Mary Whitten Page B

do for the rest of the afternoon when Robert popped his head out of his office as I walked in.
    “Emily, can I see you for a moment , please?” he asked. He wore a button up blue shirt with jeans. He didn’t look a day over thirty. If it wasn’t for the fact that we looked so similar, I would say there was no way he was my father.
    “What ’s up, Robert?” I asked, plopping down in a chair. I was praying he wasn’t upset about me being late.
    “I have a mission for you ,” he stated.
    “Sweet! I am so glad you finally see me as a real agent now. This is great! What is it , a vampire?” I rambled with excitement.
    “I guess you could say that,” he said as he gave me a blank stare.
    “Well , what’s the mission then? That is if I choose to accept, right?” I laughed at my own play on words.
    “Shopping, ” he answered with a straight face.
    “Um, excuse me? I thought you said shopping. Are serious?” I demanded. Was this a joke?
    “ With the Ezra thing going on I completely forgot to tell you that we have a benefit to go to on Saturday and it will be a formal event. I need you to look your best. That means you have to wear a gown,” he explained with his usual bored expression.
    “Ok ay,” I said with a little more enthusiasm. I was a pro at shopping.
    “Of course , the division will pay for all of your purchases. This is a very elite occasion.”
    “Sweet ! Yes, I can do that.” This was sounding like a dream come true.
    “One more thing though .”
    Damn there’s always a catch.
    “I want you to bring Riley with you.”
    Dream crushed. “ Are you kidding? I’d rather hang myself from the ceiling fan,” I whined.
    “ Emily, don’t be so dramatic. I want you two to get to know each other. Just take her shopping. It’s only shopping,” he tried.
    “Fine, I’ll take her .” I rolled my eyes. This was not going to be pleasant. He was ruining my favorite hobby by making me go with Satan’s sister. I stood, and turned to walk out.
    “Oh , and Emily, I’ll be watching.” He pointed his finger at me.
    I gave him a worried look . “That’s just creepy, Robert.”
    Riley didn’t have any objections to shopping together. We walked around the mall in silence. It felt like a very awkward first date.
    “You know I’m really not that bad,” she finally said, breaking the silence.
    “I’ve heard criminals use that very same line before,” I mumbled. I knew she could hear my insult.
    “I care a lot about Ezra, too,” she tried again. 
    “Look , this small talk is great and everything, but I just want to get a dress and get out of here,” I replied. It sounded like she was trying and I felt guilty for being so bitchy, but I couldn’t stand her. If I was honest with myself I was jealous of her. I started walking into a dress shop and she stopped me.
    “Where are you going?”
    “They have nice dresses for cheap here,” I explained.
    She pulled out a shiny silver plastic card from her back pocket. “We have an unlimited spending budget for a dress and you want a cheap polyester outfit?”
    My eyes lit up. Maybe I could learn to like her …
    I had never been in a designer store before. I don’t see a point in paying my entire paycheck for a pair of shoes. If you’ve never been , let me explain one thing I learned: if you show up with a no-price-is-too-expensive attitude and a shiny credit card you are a goddess in their eyes. We got pampered, fed, and complimented on every move we made. After trying on the fourth dress I had to force myself to stop looking at the price tags. We both picked our dresses, shoes, accessories and paid.
    “So how did you meet Ezra?” I asked as we left the store with our treasures in hand. It took everything I had to ask; I was curious, but I knew it would be difficult for me to hear her talk about Ezra.
    “It was about four hundred or so years ago, I lost count. I was feeding on some animals in an old barn; I was kind of a vampire vegetarian back