Captive - part 2.
Apr. 5th, 2012 05:01 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
thekeyholder91Author:
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thekeyholder (Brigi)Pairing: Belldom
Rating: PG
Beta/Support: The lovely
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millionstar ! Thank you and laurad2609 for the encouragement! <3Summary: Dominic is a student who decides to work in his summer holiday in a clothing store, after he mistakes a pretty mannequin for a real man. But what if the blue-eyed doll is not an ordinary one?
Feedback: would be lovely if you have some time! <3
Warnings: Nada.
Disclaimers: As you probably know, I don’t own Muse, but original aspects belong to me. So don't steal, please!
Author's note: I've never worked in a clothing store, so I guess there are some inaccuracies in the story. Please, close your eyes to them. :) Enjoy!
Previous parts: PART 1.
Captive – part 2. Behind Blue Eyes
Dominic was amazed that he was hired even when he got home. The boss didn’t even read through his CV, how did he know if he was the man he was looking for? Mr. Wolstenholme didn’t seem like an impulsive man who rushed into bad decisions, so Dominic liked to think that he looked trustworthy.
The next day he arrived in an excited state at the C&K store. Lucy was already there and greeted Dominic kindly. She seemed to be a sweet girl; when Dominic left Mr. Wolstenholme’s office the previous day she asked him if he got the job and after Dom nodded, she smiled honestly and winked at his new colleague.
“Hi, Lucy! You look pretty today!” Dominic greeted the girl.
She had long, black hair, hazel eyes and a body that even a supermodel would envy, yet she was wearing tasteful and decent clothes.
“Oh, stop it! I have a fiancé anyway, so no chance for you!” Lucy replied laughing. “He’ll kick your ass!”
“I don’t intend seducing you. Your fiancé can relax, I swing the other way,” Dominic confessed, curious about Lucy’s reaction.
“Really? You know, I have this friend, Adam, and I think you two would look ador-“
“Whoa, I didn’t know you’re a matchmaker! Stop right there, I don’t need any guy in my life right now,” Dominic stated firmly.
“Oh, Mr. Mysterious, tell me more!” Lucy placed her chin on her right palm and fluttered her eyelashes in Dom’s direction.
“Maybe another time,” Dom said seriously. “You must show me how things work here.”
Lucy felt that she touched a sensible chord, so she was relieved to change the subject.
“You’re right. Come, let me show you the deposit.”
By ten o’clock when they had to open the store, Lucy had shown Dominic around. The blond found out that he had to put on new clothes on the shelves every morning, gather the pieces left in the changing rooms and fold them neatly, while also helping out customers and working at the cash register. Just thinking about it, Dom felt a knot in his stomach because he didn’t feel like he could handle all these tasks. How was he supposed to do everything with only two eyes and two hands? Lucy just laughed at his concerns and told him he’d be fine.
“In the first week we’ll work together and I’m sure that afterward Chris will help you too.”
“Chris? You mean Mr. Wolstenholme?” Dom asked with wide eyes.
“Yeah, he’s an awesome bloke. Most of the time I forget he’s my boss,” Lucy said with a smile.
“Really? But he seems so serious and during the interview I had this feeling that he could see inside my head,” Dom whispered, looking in the direction of the office.
“Yeah, he’s a tough businessman and all, but he’s really nice. You should see him when the kids visit him – he’s the perfect father. No wonder Kelly keeps making him babies,” Lucy said between giggles.
“Wow, how many children do they have?” Dominic was eager to find out more details about his boss.
“The sixth is on its way and no, they don’t have twins.”
Dominic whistled: “I’m impressed. I like children too, but raising six must be really hard.”
“Tell me about it! My father remarried and my three-year-old half-sister is the devil itself. There’s no logical reason for her inexhaustible energy to destroy things, so she must be the princess of Hell,” Lucy muttered while putting on her name tag.
“Oh, come on, she can’t be that bad!” Dominic laughed.
“You don’t know her, mister!” Lucy cried out and wagged her finger at her colleague. “By the way, Chris said you should wear one of the t-shirts we’re selling, so you’ll be a walking advertisement, just like me,” the girl pointed to her turquoise shirt and then to the mannequin in the window who was wearing the same shirt. “Let’s go in the deposit and choose you something pretty!”
Dom followed the girl in the dark room and he marvelled at Lucy’s easiness of finding clothes.
“What’s your size? M?” Lucy asked and Dom nodded.
“Here, this will be perfect!” Lucy stated with a victorious smile and ushered Dom out, leaving him no choice. “Tah-dah!” she unfolded the dark pink t-shirt and showed it proudly to Dom.
“I thought you didn’t stereotype people. Just because I’m gay it doesn’t mean I love pink,” Dominic said and folded his arms.
“What? No! I just think you’d look great in this t-shirt! It would bring out your tan,” Lucy persuaded the boy with a wink. “Please, Dommy!”
“Okay, okay, but only because you asked me nicely,” Dom puffed and went to change his t-shirt.
When he came back, Lucy was checking her make-up.
“You look fantastic, dear!” Lucy grinned when he saw Dom blushing. “Are you ready?”
Dom nodded, excitement rushing through his veins.
“Oh, one more thing: the music. Chris insists that something it’s always playing in the store. He says people tend to buy more if awesome music is on,” Lucy said while she turned on the radio and a catchy song started playing.
Dominic became so nervous that he felt the need to arrange clothes every other minute.
“Relax, we rarely have customers at this hour. Most people are working and those who aren’t working, well, those wake up later. You should bring a book with you, like me,” Lucy advised Dom, showing him a copy of Northern Lights.
Lucy was right: there were only a couple of old ladies entering the store and only one of them bought a shawl. However, the afternoon brought more and more customers. Dom preferred to gather the clothes left in the changing rooms or arranging them on the hangers than scanning the products at the cash register and actually interacting with the customers. He knew he’d have to learn it soon, but he decided to watch and learn from Lucy on his first day. However, he already loved the atmosphere of the store: it was dynamic, people were smiling and Dominic felt content.
Lucy suddenly put a stash of jeans in his arms and asked Dominic to arrange them according to their seize. As Dominic crossed the store he looked out the window, curious about the crowd outside, but instead he saw the reflection of a pair of blue eyes staring at him. Dominic almost dropped the pairs of jeans. It was that mannequin again! He didn’t know if it was unnerving or ridiculous that he mistook the mannequin for a real person for the second time in two days. He pushed the thought aside and went back to help Lucy.
After closing the store, Lucy and Dom went to the room kept for the employees and plopped down on the sofa.
“You still alive, Dommy?” Lucy asked with a smile, nudging him playfully.
“Yeah, I’m a bit tired, but I’ll get used to the hustle,” Dominic replied.
“That’s good, ‘cause I don’t want to change my colleague again. I think you’re the third this year,” Lucy said as she got up.
“Oh, I didn’t know that,” Dom muttered, deep in thought. “I hope Mr. Wolstenholme didn’t only hire me because he was desperate. Why did the others quit anyway? Or were they fired?”
“No, they both quit. I guess they just didn’t fit in or they wanted to do something else. I think it’s a pretty good job and is paid relatively well – I can pay my college bills working here,” Lucy concluded.
They exited the store and Lucy activated the alarm, sharing meanwhile the code with her co-worker too. Dominic looked at the left window where two male mannequins were exposed and noticed that the one with the blue eyes was staring again at them and had his right arm slightly raised, as if waving goodbye to the shop assistants.
“Hey, Lucy…have you ever had the feeling that these mannequins are looking straight at you?” Dominic asked with a frown.
“At the beginning, but I soon got used to their creepy faces. I must admit, though, that I don’t like to look into their eyes. I don’t even notice them these days, only when Chris asks me to change their clothes.”
“Speaking of Mr. Wolstenholme, where is he?” Dominic asked curiously as they left the mall’s building.
“He went to a meeting with all the other C&K managers in London. He will surely show up tomorrow morning, so don’t be late!”
“I won’t. See you tomorrow, Lucy!” Dom waved goodbye and went to the bus station.
* * * * *
Dominic told his mother everything about his first day and praised Lucy. He was a bit nervous about the next day since Mr. Wolstenholme would be there and he would certainly keep an eye on him. Dominic made sure to get there in time – he was the first – and only allowed himself a single glance towards the mannequins. Lucy and Mr. Wolstenholme appeared very soon and the boss seemed pleasantly surprised to find Dominic there.
“So, how was London? Any news?” Lucy inquired.
“Yes, I actually have news. We might start selling children’s clothes too. One of the stores in London will start and if it goes well, we’ll all follow their example,” Chris replied with a satisfied smile.
“Wow, you must be so proud, Chris! Your business is going great!” Lucy patted her boss’ arm.
“Wait! Are you the owner of the whole C&K chain stores?” Dominic asked dumbfounded.
“In the flesh,” Mr. Wolstenholme answered laughing. “C&K stands for Chris and Kelly, my wife.”
“You see that smile when he talks about his wife? That’s what I told you about, Dom,” Lucy chipped in.
“But how come you’re not in London? I always imagine big bosses sitting in huge leather chairs and just signing papers all day. You’re very involved, Mr. Wolstenholme,” Dom said honestly.
“My family loves this little town and I’d rather raise the kids in a nice, calm place than in London. As for work, I’d hate myself if I was the kind of man you described, Dominic.”
The day passed similarly to the previous one and since Mr. Wolstenholme even helped out his employees, Dominic didn’t feel nervous anymore around him. At the end of the day, before Lucy and Dom went home, Chris stopped them:
“Lucy, could you please teach Dominic tomorrow how to handle the cash register? You can go on holiday from Saturday, so he needs to learn that part too. It tends to be crazy on weekends; I hope you’re prepared, Dominic.”
“I’ll do my best, sir,” Dominic replied promptly, though he became nervous again.
* * * * *
“Thank you for your purchase, sir,” Dominic smiled broadly, despite the typical Friday-afternoon fatigue he felt.
“Dude, you’re flawless today,” Lucy whispered after the customer left, leaning slightly towards her co-worker, her eyes widened with sincere admiration.
“Thank you. I had a great master,” Dominic replied and Lucy kissed his left cheek. “Have fun in your holiday and forget about work. Everything will be fine here.”
“Dominic is right. You can leave us to our own devices, Lucy. Go home, pack your stuff and have fun in Spain!” Chris said and patted the girl’s arm. “We’ll miss you, but I know that Dominic manages pretty well and besides, I’ll help him out.”
Later that day, when Dominic was going home, he noticed that the blue-eyed mannequin seemed to be smiling. There was something peculiar about it, but Dominic felt so high-spirited he didn’t notice that the faces of all the other mannequins in the mall were frozen into a neutral expression.
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Date: 2012-04-05 02:22 pm (UTC)I had thought C&K was Calvin Klein or something. Oops.
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Date: 2012-04-05 02:30 pm (UTC)No problem. :P I didn't want to use a big chain of stores, though.
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Date: 2012-04-05 02:30 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-04-06 04:15 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-04-05 03:18 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-04-06 04:19 pm (UTC)I need to tank up with inspiration...I feel lazy again. *somebody please kick my ass*
Yeah, I stole the title from that song, because you know how much I suck at finding pwoper titles.
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Date: 2012-04-05 03:26 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-04-06 04:22 pm (UTC)I don't know, I can't reveal details, but the next part will offer more info. Thanks for reading it! <3
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Date: 2012-04-05 10:04 pm (UTC)*snuggles*
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Date: 2012-04-06 04:22 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-04-06 05:16 pm (UTC)lol
*snuggles*
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Date: 2012-04-05 10:15 pm (UTC)Great idea, enjoying the whole thing a whole lot
x
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Date: 2012-04-06 04:23 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-04-06 02:49 am (UTC)looking forward to more :)
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Date: 2012-04-06 04:25 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-04-06 06:39 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-04-06 04:26 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-04-06 09:02 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-04-07 08:23 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-04-07 08:38 am (UTC)They were stared and smiled away by the Blue-Eyes Mannequin. *plays-eerie-music*
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Date: 2012-04-09 03:16 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-04-09 10:43 am (UTC)Liking this ;-)
Cheers
Pan
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Date: 2012-04-09 03:17 pm (UTC)