The Sleeping Beauty of Wilshire Blvd.

Adrianne and the Boots

Adrianne lie in the hospital bed with no idea she had a twin sister. At least, that's what her mother presumed. This coma was not a random accident.
The trouble all started the day she had stumbled upon a pair of dirty yellow galoshes at a second hand shop. They were tucked away in a back corner of the store, and wrapped in an old shawl. It had been as if the galoshes were calling her. She felt them before she saw them and was doubly excited when they didn't have a price tag. She took the shawl and boots to the front and after paying $1.25, she did a little happy dance.

There was a reason the Haywards were wealthy. It's because they were frugal. They counted pennies and were grateful for every single one. Of course, her parents splurged now and then, but they never wanted Adrianne to think she was indeed the princess everyone told her she was.

That was Hollygood stuff. Sure her parents were famous but it didn't mean she had to wear Prada. She enjoyed being comfortable.

She slipped the golloshes into her oversized hand bag and hurried from the shop to meet her mother.

That's when the bag lady started following her. At first the toothless old woman was talkative. She told Adrianne all about her sick cat and its rare skin disease, then asked Adrianne if she could spare some change. When the girl tucked a $50 bill into her hand, the old lady stared at her and said, "You're that girl! Aren't you? I saw you when you were just a baby. You and your sister were adorable."
The old woman had mistaken her for someone else which was refreshing. She loved the idea of anonymity and greeted it whenever it came.
"Have a nice day. I hope your cat gets better soon,"she had replied. The old woman had winked at her and glanced into Adriannes bag.
Adrianne tugged it way, but not before the old woman had seen the soft white shawl.
"That's a magical shawl," she said. "Can I touch it?"
Adrianne hesitated but didn't see the harm. She pulled the shawl out and let the woman stroke it. "Soft as a kitten," the old lady said.
The baglady giggled and clapped her hands when Adrianne opened her bag to tuck away the scarf. She had seen the boots. "I knew it was you!"
Adrianne backed away as the lady chuckled, and repeated, "I knew," over and over.
The bulging eyes and the greedy crazed way the woman was touching her arm gave Adrianne the heebie-jeebies. She was all too grateful when a dog trotted up and distracted the old lady and she was able to make her get away.
But blocks later when she glanced over her shoulder, the old woman was following her. Adrianne started jogging. Up until now she had always deflected her fathers advice to have a bodyguard but when the old lady hiked up her dress and quickened her pace she decided it was time.
Adrianne sprinted the next three blocks, ducked through a crowd of tourists, then rushed into the restaurant where her mother was waiting and hoped she had finally lost the bag woman.
"How was your day? Is the shoot going well?" Adrianne asked as she slid into her chair.
"Were you running? You look frightened," her mother said. She scooted around the table and gave her daughter a hug. "The shoot was alright but I want to know what just happened."
Adrianne could see the street over her mother's shoulder. And for the moment, the old lady had moved along.
"It was nothing. I just thought that a homeless woman was chasing me." Although she knew for a fact the woman was chasing her, there was no need to alarm her mother.

But at that moment the waitress inserted herself into the conversation and said, "There's an old woman at the front who says she's with you. Should I bring another chair?"

Seeing the color drain from her daughters face, Mrs. Hayward asked if the restaurant had a back door and could the waitress please give the woman a meal. She slipped the waitress a bit of cash and then she and Adrianne slipped out the back of the building.

It was nice to be inside the locked car. Window tinting had never been so amazing, and neither had her Mother's bodyguard.

She had never been so terrified. "Do you think she'll show up at the house?" Adrianne asked

"You have nothing to worry about," Mrs. Hayward said, but her expression said something else.

"Have you seen her before?" Adrianne asked.
"Once." Her mother replied. She didn't look up from her trembling fingers. Instead she asked the driver to head out of town to the "secret location."
That's when Adrianne knew this was an emergency situation.
"Who was she? When did you see her?"