Tami sighed.
It had been two years already and she still hadn’t been allowed to leave her penthouse, luxurious as it was. Glancing down at the tablet resting on the table she fought the impulse to smash it. However, it was her only bit of anything to occupy her; other than the piles of books her father was constantly bringing to enrich her education.
“Where are you?” She whispered. Her father always came to resupply the kitchen every Friday morning since he had locked her in here, like clockwork. Yet, he was late. Her only link to the outside world was that tablet and all it showed was the news. At least that was all it was supposed to.
About 5 months into her ‘quarantine’ she had managed to tap into the surveillance cameras of the surrounding 10 blocks. None of this helped now.
“Two days late.” She mumbled. “Two days and I don’t have much to ration. Dad, where are you?”
By Monday, Tami was panicking more. So many things could be wrong. What if he had been in an accident or hit his head and forgot she existed? Or he could have been kidnapped. The endless list of possible reasons for his absence continued to spin in her thoughts.
With a deep breath she powered on the tablet. Glancing at the time she rolled her shoulders and smiled. It was her favorite time of day. Evan was going to be walking to work.
The first time she had seen him it was his smile as he passed one of the traffic cameras that had caught her attention. He looked so happy at a time when everyone else was scowling because they had to get to work.
Two minutes later he strolled onto the screen. Tami smiled.
“One day.” She laughed. “Someday I will be free of this place and I am going to meet you and learn your real name.”
Wherever he worked was not within her radius but every weekday, without fail he would walk into view for about 5 minutes and then continue on his way.
Over the last year and a half she felt like she had come to know him as she watched him help out fellow pedestrians, wave to storefront owners, smile and laugh on the phone and more. Over time she had given them all names, all of the regulars. But Evan remained her favorite.
Tami once again sighed and glared over at the door. The high point of her day was past. Now she just had to endure the rest of it. Moving into the kitchen she took careful inventory of all she had.
If something had happened to her father, how long would it be before someone came looking in this place? How long could she last?
She didn’t even know if the penthouse was in his name.
Luckily, she had gotten all of her binge eating out of her system when she had first been locked in. She’d figured that if she didn’t have anything to do she might as well eat. That hadn’t lasted long. She’d felt like a nauseous sick blob for days at a time.
So now she had a decent stockpile of food. And as long as the utilities stayed on she should be able to stretch what she had for a month at least. She might not feel stuffed or even full but she would have enough to not die. In the midst of her emergency inventory the thought occurred to her that the utilities might get shut off and she would be without water.
Immediately she set about filling up every spare container she had with water, even the tub. She was not going to die.
As a last ditch wish she moved to the front door and tried the knob. It was as locked as it ever was.
She hadn’t tried to truly get out in a very long time. It was useless. If it came to it she would find a way out. Dying wasn’t an option.
Next, she made her way to the window to gaze down at the rest of the world moving past her below. She was too high up to get down from here, even if she could manage to break the window.
If she wasn’t in a penthouse she could bang on the walls with the hopes that a neighbor would get irritated enough to report her. Then someone would have to take care of it. But no. She had no neighbors. Only windows on all four outside walls. Windows that were thick enough to keep her in. Just like the door.
She paced the living room as she lay out her options, none of them very good. It really came down to hitting something against the floor until whoever lived below her did something about it or if she could somehow manage to get the front door open.
By nightfall her legs were tired and she was stressed.
When the door clicked open she nearly fainted as she ran to find her father taking off his hat and coat.
“Where have you been?” She cried. She wanted to scream but her father wasn’t very tolerant of emotional outbursts.
He ignored her as he carried in bags of groceries and dropped them on the counter. He still hadn’t said a word.
“Dad?” Tami reluctantly followed him into the kitchen. “What’s going on? Where were you?”
“Things have become complicated, Tamara.” He didn’t look at her nor did he pause in his unloading of her food.
Tami folded her arms. “In what way?”
“I no longer have the funds necessary to see you cared for in the way I would like. You will be required to work at my offices to earn your own wages. After this month you will no longer live here and will be required to acquire your own suitable accommodations.”
“I get to leave?” Tami staggered back.
“Yes. And work.” He scowled, not necessarily at her though.
“What’s wrong with working?”
He ran his hand through his hair several times before he answered. “You deserve more than that. You deserve to live a life of luxury where you are not required to do anything.”
“Is that why you have kept me here?” Tami kept her tone even.
“I will be back on Friday as usual.” He glanced around, not commenting on the jars of water and nodded. He didn’t like messes.
She moved in front of him. “When do I start?”
He growled. “We will talk of this later.”
“On Friday?”
He didn’t answer as he opened the front door and walked out onto the elevator.
“When?” She stomped her foot.
The door closed and silence reigned once again. Yet this time she smiled. In less than a month she would not be stuck in her prison. She would have a job and she could have a life and figure out what would make her happy.
And at the first opportunity she was going to meet Evan.
