AllFreeNovel
Share Us
A costume?
He doesn’t look like Victor, and yet I can tell that he most certainly is.
“Victor?”
“I want to talk to you,” the man says, nearly whispering. His eyes dart suspiciously and warily around the coffee shop. His prosthetic nose juts out at me. His beard dangles low. “Alone. Properly.”
“What? Really? What are you doing all dressed up like this? Are you doing a role?”
“And I would also like an almond croissant to go, thank you.”
“Sure...”
“Meet me in the park by the statue in ten minutes,” the disguised actor says under his breath. “Okay, Josie?”
I hand him an almond croissant in a brown paper bag.
“Okay...”
And once he’s got his croissant, Victor-in-disguise immediately spins around and leaves.
Yeah... what the hell just happened?
I let myself pause for a moment, taking in a deep breath, before I step into the back office. Amanda looks up at me from the messy desk full of papers and financial documents.
“Yep?” she asks me.
“I’d like to take that break now,” I say.
13
VICTOR
Josie walks toward me in Crystal River’s park opposite The Oak looking completely and utterly confused.
Yeah, I bet she’s confused. I guess I would be as well if I were her and some asshole actor walked into the coffee shop wearing a ridiculous disguise.
But despite that expression on her face, I gotta admit the girl is incredibly pretty, even if she’s in serious work mode in her barista uniform. I mean, I do like a uniform on a woman. Her curly hair is tied up in a messy work bun. She’s barely wearing any makeup. Knowing her, I bet she’d squawk in humble stubbornness at my description of her as pretty. But she truly is – in a natural, beautiful way. Her brown eyes, however, are currently about to shoot laser beams at me.
Oh, I really do know she is confused, and she’s probably a tiny bit pissed off. Appropriately so.
I’m not wearing my fun disguise anymore. I took it off in the anonymous safety of the park away from the coffee shop and any potential crowds. Sure, I can appreciate that it was on the more wacky side of disguises. I did want to hide myself, though. There is absolutely no need for a repeat riot like the other day outside The Oak – being recognized and all. But I also want the opportunity to tease – annoy – Josie. I just wanted to play with her when I walked into the barista’s coffee shop dressed as some crazy old man.
“You’re an excellent actor for masquerading yourself like that,” the barista announces when she’s finally a few yards away from me. “You should consider getting into movies, you know.”
I fake a dramatic laugh.
“That’s hilarious.”
Josie crosses her arms and stares me down.
Oh, she is definitely not playing.
“What are you here for, Victor Penmayne?” she questions. “Why did you make your way down from your mansion to come to some coffee shop dressed as a hobo?”
“Sit with me,” I reply, gesturing at the bench behind my ass.
Josie continues to glare at me.
