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If they knew what was good for them, they would immediately rescind their plans to take down Merring Street. If not, they would feel the full brunt of her wrath.
Still, after a terrible sleepless night, Ansley had woken up puffy-eyed and out of sync. But trying to get her balance right with a bout of yoga and meditation was a luxury she wasn’t allowed. Right on time, she had let her favorite local artist into her apartment a mere two hours ago.
She had met Delphinia at an art gallery where the black-and-red-haired girl had showcased her rather odd but intriguing pieces of art. Her pieces were abstract but addictive to look at. Her most talked-about one was a dress she painted onto a model using toothpaste.
When Ansley had called her up, she had been more than happy to come over and help. And another reason that Ansley liked her so much was that she didn’t miss a beat when Ansley laid down the specifications for what she wanted.
Two hours later, she was ready and standing in front of Shlykov Industries with Delphinia, who couldn’t resist being part of her cause.
As soon as the local television crew arrived, and three influencers, who kissed Ansley six times on each cheek, and excitedly told her they were so happy to be a part of her protest, Ansley got the show on the road, so to speak.
She had spent the day before calling up most of her friends, explaining her problem, and recruiting them to come to help her overthrow the three big, bad wolves. And best of all, they brought more friends with them. But even more surprising was that most of them already knew about Cupid’s Toys and were regular customers themselves. That certainly went a long way toward Ansley’s cause when they were outraged to hear their favorite little sex shop was at risk of being demolished by underhanded tactics.
It was showtime.
Ansley nodded and removed her coat, then picked up her placard. Her crew followed her cue and did the same. Her protest was underway.
And yes, she was wearing a skirt adorned artfully with dildos, thanks to Delphinia. How else was she going to protest the tearing down of her sweet friend’s iconic sex shop, special to so many, by those three big and scary Bratva guys? She always, always dressed for the occasion, no matter what it was, and this was no different.
Her friends were all into it and immediately started chanting "Freedom of sexual expression." By trying to take down Cupid’s Toys, the Shlykov brothers were ruining decades of history and love and romance and self-love too.
She gave little bits of information to the television crew. She called on everyone who had frequented Cupid’s Toys, even once, to come down and join her fight.
It was a clean protest. She was careful not to attack them directly. She was saving that for plan B if plan A failed.
She sighed a massive breath of relief when a string of security guards arrived from the building and tried to shoo them away and stop them from entering the Shlykov premises, which was what they had wanted. For a moment there, she thought her entire protest was going to be ignored by them.
Now, all their chants called for the Shlykov brothers to show their faces and explain how they could think it was okay to ruin one little business for financial gain that they didn’t need.
Or her favorite, and what was on her placard, was calling them out for being prudes as their main reason for wanting to remove Marjorie’s sex shop.
So maybe it wasn’t very truthful calling them prudes, for all she knew they could be prudes or not, but it was all about hurting them where it hurt most.
The police had arrived a while ago but had held back as long as the protest remained peaceful.
They protested for hours in the hot sun and the Shlykov brothers made no appearance whatsoever. But Ansley wasn’t going to give up. She could do that all day and all night. Even if she were the only one remaining, she would not give up.
But then something changed. Suddenly the police approached them and threatened them with jail time if they didn’t disperse or go home.
She had half a mind to accuse the police of falling for bribery because clearly, the brothers had had a hand in their sudden change of approach, but she thought better of it.
Sure, it would be awesome to go to jail for her cause, but she still had much work to get done, and she couldn’t be doing that from a cell. And her parents, who normally allowed her antics, would flip and probably ground her for life while forgetting that she was twenty-four years old and just one year away from being in charge of her own trust fund and all the properties her gran had left her in her will.
It wasn’t over.
This wasn’t defeat.
She thought it did exactly what she wanted it to do. It was a downright success, so when they were forced to break up their protest, she did so with a smile on her face.
She looked up at the building, to the top floor, which seemed to be in the clouds, and imagined all three of the Shlykov brothers standing at the window, looking out. Their suits were as immaculate as ever, tall, strong, and way too powerful as they looked down on the girl who was going to crush them.
Yes, her methods would be construed as unconventional, ridiculous even, but it was all about the outcome.
Cupid’s Toys was not going anywhere anytime soon.
Wholly satisfied with her day, she hugged all her people goodbye, promised it wasn’t over, and that she would be in touch soon.
Now for phase two.
