She was in her new room, as she had been for the past few hours. She’d been arranging and rearranging the little things she’d been brought by the police officers who had dropped by her house after she’d been taken to the station. Wendy, her housemaid, had done a good job of getting her essentials and all the things she would want into a suitcase to take with her. She was glad of that. 

She looked at her chest of drawers, at the knick-knacks she’d placed on display on the counter. Her anxiety rose like a wave, and she scrambled off her bed to rearrange yet again. 

The room felt small and claustrophobic. Her room in her apartment was a lot bigger; about more than double the size of the small room she was in now. Her room at home was even bigger. Back home… She sighed, staring down at the little things she was wasting her time on. She needed to do something more productive, but here she was, in ‘her’ new room, arranging for the umpteenth time. 

She looked in the vanity mirror, at her glasses that were too far down her nose, at her lips that were pulled into a slight frown, and her hair that had still held onto the last strand of staying ‘neat’ and ‘proper’; her twin braids looking fresh and sleek. But it didn’t make up for everything else. If her mother was there, she’d have had a disapproving look on her face at Gila’s baggy clothes. Gila had always been a fan of the band Mother Mother, and her big black shirt had the band’s name scrawled over it in red with a black and white fish in a red heart. It was her favourite shirt. Her black jeans were ripped, and she’d discarded shoes for just socks. 

Her parents wouldn’t be happy if they saw her at all. 

Her thoughts ran through her head like a wildfire, growing and spreading as they progressed. 

There was a knock on the door, startling her out of her daydreaming. “Come in,” she said, hurriedly leaning her dresser, trying to look naturally casual, although in reality she felt stiff as a board. 

It was the cop with the long red hair and beautiful brown eyes. Gila didn’t know her name. “Sorry to disturb you,” the woman said, holding up a phone, “But your parents would like to talk to you,”

Of course. They would reach out to her sooner or later, although it wouldn’t be to see  whether or not she was okay, but because they cared about their repuatiation and they’re endless saga of avoiding scandals. 

“Thank you,” Gila smiled, as she walked towards the cop. “Should I take the call here?”

“Sure, but I’ll have to stay here with you for security. Also, the call will be monitored live in the survilleance room and recorded for any reason we might need it in the future. Again, security reasons.” she smiled, handing over the phone.

Gila smiled, nervously; what if she said something that would be too suspicious and then she would get in more trouble?. She barely stuttered out an ‘I see,’ as butterflies flew around her stomach, hitting the bars of their cage painfully, so Gila felt as though she was going to throw up with anixiety. She sat on the bed and tappedthe screen until it lit up.. The call was already in progress, she was just muted. She tapped the green button, before holding the device to her ear.

“Hello?”

“Gila?” it was her mother’s voice.

“Yes, mother,”

“You have greatly disappointed me and your father,” Gila bit her lip as her mother sprang right into the situation, “We are a respected family, we are the owners of Zjarter! Me and your father built the business from scratch and helped it rise to what it is today; one of the biggest companies in the world. That is our life’s work!” She felt her heart tighten in her chest, her parents loved that company, showed it more affection than they ever showed her, “And, you will be our successor. But at this rate? We can’t trust it! For God’s sake, why did you get involved in this… this that will bring down our company?Do you not understand how important Zjarter is? Do you, Gila?” her mother was agitated, basically screaming down the phone. 

“Mother,” Gila whispered, “Please calm down,”

Hmother grew silent for a few seconds before continuing in a lighter tone, as though they had been discussing the weather, “As my only daughter, don’t you dare ruin the company,” and with that, her mother hung up.

Gila sighed, dropped the phone into her lap and stared at the contact’s name that flashed on the screen ‘Zjarterberry’. Romanof and Julia Zjarterberry were her celibrity parents, and were golden in the eyes of the world. They were terrible people under their masks of money and charm.She’d grown up with her nanny, Tamnhi, before her parents have finally decided to start noticing her when she was 13, because it was time for them to groom her into their successor. Her stressful, grueling days after school, studying for hours at a time, about things she barely cared about. Working towards a future she didn’t want. 

“Hello?” the red-headed police officer called her back to earth. “Are you okay?” 

She’d been spacing out per usual, “Sorry,” she stood up and handed the phone back. The woman took it with an almost grateful looking smile and turned towards the door. “Oh, wait,” Gila called, unconsciously grabbing the cop’s arm. The woman stopped, one eyebrow raised. Her paranoi told her that it was of annoyance. She let go, sheepishly, “I was just wondering if I’d still be allowed to attend classes virtually. I’m in my first year of college,” 

The woman smiled tightly, “I’ll ask and try to get it to happen,,” 

“I see,” Gila nodded. “Thank you,” she began but Rickila had already swaggered out, the door closing behind her. Sh sank to the floor and rested her head comfortably on the door, sighing.