Satisfying Hunger over Deliberations

Picking her bags back up she headed toward the bakery with light hearted steps. Her speed increased at the prospect of food but she had to maintain her dignity. Even she had no clue why she was so hell bent on food today though her rebirth was the most plausible answer. Arriving at the restaurant she took a quick glance through their glass counters to see what they offered. The bakeries where you are able to pick up the items yourself was the layout she preferred. However, they were on the third floor and the rich never picked up their own food. Part of her laughed at the stupidity of it all but she understood why it had to be that way. The prices of the items reflected the same belief since everything was astronomically high. '$14 for a muffin? Is there gold inside of it??'

There was one clerk behind the counter giving her a professional smile and waiting on her to order. Flashing a polite smile back she maintained a cordial persona before going back to looking at the items. She knew they were not rushing her to chose but she did feel the pressure. There was a weird standard in these places where the wealthy would chose quicker regardless of price and item.

"May I help you miss?"

Looking back up at her she smiled again before responding. "Yes, what do you recommend?"

"Our dark chocolate danish is the chef's favourite."

Looking at the danish it did look appetizing. "Sure I will take one of those, a muffin, and three of our croissants. Also please package two of your sandwiches, my friends are quite hungry haha." There were no friends of course but buying in larger amounts had to be justified. If she didn't speak the last bit of information there would be random gossip that she had developed such a "grand" appetite. Paired with their prices was quick service and she had everything given to her within two minutes. After that, it was a quick swipe of her credit card before she could leave the bakery. There wasn't even a blink when she saw that the bill was priced over fifty dollars, the muffin was cheap at $14 when their finger sandwiches were $25 each. Maybe in her past life would she have been more casual about spending this amount. Now, when every dollar was penny pinched she felt pain purchasing food at this price level. It just reminded her of all the nonsensical purchases she made in the past and the money she could have saved for future use. Her method of gaining cash could have been expanded into many other malls and she would have been able to have more to work with. For someone who spent tens of thousands a week, it was pathetic that she was struggling over five thousand in cash.

She walked quite a distance away and into a secluded corner before stuffing a croissant into her mouth. It wasn't much but helped to calm her stomach. The flaky portions of the bread broke into her mouth softly and was surprisingly very tasty. There was a touch of butter taste added to the pastry coupled with the warmth from just being freshly made. Feeling some of her hunger sate she drank a sip of water to finish.

Dusting off her mouth, she kept the rest of the items aside and reapplied her lipstick before continuing her mission. So far she had gone to a couple of stores but they were not enough. She also did not forget the three stores she wanted to check out - Angelic Threads, Bloom Cosmetics, and Blackbird Couture. Glancing down at her watch, she had estimated three more hours at the mall for what she considered a regular visit. It was best if she spent the next hour buying more branded items and gaining cash. After that, she could sneak in the three stores between other brands so the timing would not look too suspicious. If someone were to check on her, they would just assume she spent longer in each store deciding on what to buy. Which would not be too uncommon for her.

Feeling confident in her next steps she put on her wealthy persona and went about her plan. Since one man had interrupted her in the morning she felt secure in that another incident would not happen. Well at least she prayed nothing else would, "good thoughts only Mei Lin. Good thoughts, good encounters."

The next hour went a lot faster than the morning, it seemed that she had developed a pattern. Pretending to be a filial daughter came like second nature and no one bothered to doubt her words. With seven thousand more dollars in her purse she made her way over to her first 'in-between' store - Angelic Threads. It was located on the second floor on the left side of the mall. Just by the name alone she had assumed it would be a store for fabric and tailor made items, however, it was exactly the opposite of that. The store signage was in cursive script decorated with butterflies. In the inside of the store felt like she had transported herself into a mystical realm. There were vines and plants scattered around the store with fairy lights to adorn them. She wondered if it was the intention of the owner for it to become a fairy like world or an immersive experience for their customers. There weren't items out directly that she could tell were for sale nor were there any posters to indicate what someone should do here.

Part of her wondered if she should leave since it did not suit her purpose but now that she had already come here it was a waste to go back immediately. Dredging further into the store she followed a small trail till the space opened into a rainforest scenery. 'What is going on in this store.....' There was one standalone table with a cashier's till and a debit machine laid next to it. 'So they do sell something but what was that something. I did hear that there were underground stores that said they sold one thing but really sold another. Was this one of them? A fake cover for another operation?' Judging by the forest vibes she was getting, there would be no surprise if the cover was for drugs or spiritual services. Angelic Threads could even be an analogy for the space you enter when high. Like they were the link between earth and to the good "high"? At this point even she knew that these were far fetched considerations. No matter how much she theorized, this was a mall with high standards. For them to have this level of operations flowing inside would be near impossible unless the owner was a perfect schemer.

Seeing no one there after being in the store for three minutes she called out "Hello....? Is anyone there....?"

There was no answer, she couldn't even hear a rustle from the back end of the store. That was usually where employees would keep their merchandise and use it for break periods. So if no one was there there was probably no one in the store at all. 'Well there is nothing to steal anyways....'

Deciding to leave, she took two steps backward and prepared to turn around when she heard steps from behind her.

"How may I help you?"