When she got on the public shuttle, she sent a message to Deena that she would be there within about half an hour. Then she sat and leaned back in her seat taking a deep breath. Being out in public was still a bit daunting to her - though of course nowhere near as much as it had been the first few times.
An objective observer would note that absolutely no one took any notice of her apart from moving away from the entrance when she entered, so she could get on. It was her own mind playing tricks on her, she realized. But knowing something intellectually and FEELING it, were two very different thigns.
Amirah spent the time on the shuttle, looking at her phone. The basic concept of phones hadn't changed much in the past 30 years. A point had been reached where a functional limit of what could reasonably be added to the device's increasingly long list of functions, before it became cost-prohibitive. By now, most phones were more or less the same device, the differences between brands coming down to design, branding, and some smaller differences as to desired functions. Some - like Amirah - valued camera performance and storage space. Others valued durability. It had become much less of a hysterical matter than it had been in decades past.
Obviously, ads were still abound. She passed one such billboard as the shuttle pulled into the parking lot of the mall, after all.
When she got to the designated meeting point, she hugged her friends, and they entered the place, all ready for a good long shopping day.
And indeed it was a long one, and time sure flew, because by the time Amirah checked her phone, it was past dinner time, and she had several calls.
She paled a bit. She never liked disappointing Daddy, and she had tacitly promised to be home for dinner.
[OMG I'm sorry, be home as soon as I can] she quickly messaged, and then made her apologies to her friends. Not that those were needed - by the looks on their faces, they were in a similar predicament.
[On the shuttle now
] she sent to Hamid as they got in. The trip was spent trying to talk, but none of the girls were in a very talkative mood. A few of them, Deena included, were downright squirming, but Amirah was intelligent enough to not ask why. Deena had confided in her some time ago that she got spanked, and that had taken Amirah by surprise, because...well, they were 13, after all! Deena was almost 14! Even if such a thing happened to little kids, they surely were much too old? But by the look on Deena's face.....not so.
They parted at Amirah's stop, and she rushed homeward. When she opened the door, she called out:
"I'm home, Daddy. Sorry I'm late!"