Terribly So

Jess wakes up with the uncomfortable feeling of sand everywhere. She moves to brush the sand off her body but her arm won’t move. Her eyes open reluctantly only to widen as she sees nothing but sand in front of her.

“Have a nice nap, Summers?” asks a mocking voice.

Jess looks up and sees a woman standing above her. She wears a dark grey suit jacket with a matching pencil skirt and a white blouse. Her black hair is long and wavy with a sheen to it like she had just come from the salon.

“I don’t know who the fuck you are, but when I get out of here you are going to be sorry.” Jess tries to struggle free of her sandy prison but she’s firmly stuck.

The woman smiles, “Of course, I haven’t introduced myself. Lucia Marvel, you might have heard of me.”

Jess stops.

Lucia Marvel: owner of the auto-shop chain Marvel Mechanics and the biggest rival and threat to Jess’ burgeoning business.

A couple years ago, the first Marvel Mechanic shop popped up out of nowhere, offering rates for repairs and other services at a disgustingly low price. This sucked up all the business around the shop leaving the smaller auto-shops in the area with nothing to pay the bills with which resulted in all of them declaring bankruptcy. Marvel Mechanics repeated this process throughout the area till there was basically no other place to go to than them. Once they dominated the repair service, their low, low prices skyrocketed. With no other place to go, people had no choice but to swallow the financial bullet when it came to repairs.

Jess’ auto-shop would provide a cheap alternative to Lucia’s business, and in a part of town where Marvel Mechanics hadn’t sunk its teeth into yet. A good business decision for Jess and a bad one for Marvel Mechanics’ goal of dominating the area’s auto-shop industry.

“Looks like you have heard of me. That saves me a bit of explaining. I heard you’re trying to get some prime real estate to start your pitiful excuse of an auto-shop. I came down here to put a stop it, but I never imagined you’d waste your time napping on the beach before your important meeting with Perez. You looked so carefree that I decided to help you be a little more free. Free of this that is.”

Lucia holds up Jess’ bikini with one hand. Jess’ stomach sinks. It is now she realizes she the only thing covering her is her sandy prison.

“Listen you corporate sell-out barbie, if you think some dumb prank is going to stop me from getting to that meeting you’re dead wrong.”

“Oh, I think you’ll find it quite difficult to attend a meeting butt naked.”

“I’ll just wear-“ Jess stops as she looks for her bag and towel but finds neither of them to be in sight.

“Wear what? You’ve lost all your clothes Summers and I don’t think a birthday suit is the professional look Ms. Perez is looking for in a client.”

“I’ll find something when I get out of here.”

“Good luck with that and when you fail to show up for that meeting I’ll just happen to run in to Perez and show her how a real professional does business. Tata for now, Jess.”

Jess is helpless to stop her rival as she walks out of sight. The sand mercilessly holds her down. She struggles for who knows how long before finally breaking free, but the damage is done. She has no wallet, no phone to call for help with, and an important meeting coming up with nothing to wear to it. Literally nothing.

Jess could run all the way home, but that’s on the other side of town. By the time she gets back, her meeting will have passed and Lucia will have swooped in to take the rental spot. If Jess wants the right spot for her business, she needs to show up to that meeting on time and looking presentable. The only question is how.