It's been hours since we got to the address Arthur gave us and he's still not here. Darrion doesn't talk to me and every time I talk to the boy, all he does is cry! I'm booooooored and I want to go see Miss Melanie but I can't until we kill Bianca!
"Uuuugh. Alright, I'm going in!" I grab the boy and pull him outside so we can finally go to work. Darrion was told to park on the street in front of the building, so this must be the place.
At its base, strange people stumble out the door and fall to the edge of the sidewalk. The whites of their eyes are shaded bright pink and one woman even looked ready to throw up!
The building itself is a colorful reef. So many colors and lights decorate the outside walls and reach up to the sky. The windows at the lower levels shoot out neon lights that brighten up the whole block and project along the nearby buildings. Inside those windows, shadows move like fish in a tank.
Further up, blocky pieces of the skyscraper jut out into the open. Maybe they're like dance platforms or balconies. Or maybe wings! And the lower half of the building could detach while the upper half flies into the sky! But that'll make it hard for us to get down when it starts flying. We'll have to find the pilot room before we kill Bianca. Or maybe we can…
"Vilma you're daydreaming." Arthur magically poofs out of nowhere in front of me.
His pair of gold-bottomed white sneakers glow like a jellyfish in the dark ocean. A slim white tee is hidden behind a black jacket glimmering with golden hoops that drapes over his black pants. A black sheath covered in a complex gold design clips onto his belt and carries the black handle of his 'King's Edge. I've never seen Arthur leave home without its nose stuck out of the sheath. Two gray duffel bags hang off his upright shoulders and sway heavily whenever he moves. One had my name written on a strip of tape, and the other was marked 'Kid's'.
"Arthur! When did you get here!?" I never knew Arthur had an Antique that could make him invisible!
"I've been trying to get your attention for the past 2 minutes. You've been drooling at the sky the whole time."
"Sorry. It's my first time seeing a building like this in New York. It's soooo bright."
It's the flashiest building in New York City, The Observatory. Bianca has always been a sucker for things like this."
Arthur turns to the boy who is staring at the sky like I was, but instead of excitement he's on the verge of tears. He walks up and softly rests his hand on the kid's head. "Kid. We'll go in there, take care of some business, and get you back home safe by tonight. Don't worry."
"I want to go home." He sniffles.
"I don't get why all he does is cry and say he wants to go home." I add.
"It's because you kidnapped him! How else is he supposed to act!?"
"He could at least be a little less whiny about it. He's not dead."
"And you better work your ass off to keep it that way when we go inside. But before that, I need you and the kid to change into these." He said, tossing the duffel with my name on it to me.
"What is this?"
"It's more stylish clothing. Bianca's obsessed with fashion, so our clothes are going to play a role in getting her to even pay attention to us."
"Hm, alright." I unzip the bag with my name and prepare to climb out my tee so I can start changing into what Arthur brought.
"Vilma!!" Arthur yells.
"What?" I pull the shirt back down so I can see what was wrong.
"Don't strip in the middle of the street!"
"Where else would I do it?"
"Do it in the car! Do it anywhere people can't clearly see you naked!"
"But Darrion is in the car."
"Who in the world is...?" He walks to the passenger side window to see Darrion, banging his head in the air to whatever song he's listening to. "How old is he?"
"17 I think."
"What is with Mel and hiring children?" He huffs and walks to the driver's side door where he knocks on Darrion's window. "Get out so she can change man."
Darrion ignores Arthur like he always does to me. It's like he's… oh yeah! "Arthur, Darrion is deaf!"
"Melanie..." He opens the car door, touches Darrion on the shoulder, and motions with his hand for Darrion to get out of the driver's seat. "There, now you don't have to change outside. The kid can go after you're done."
I empty the bag onto the backseat floor, switching out my old clothes and trying out the new ones Arthur brought me. I thought it would be a struggle getting on with my size, but surprisingly it isn't! Everything fits just how it needs to! I open the door and walk out in the most beautiful thing that's ever touched my body! A soft pink dress that drapes just above the floor and blooms around my waist like a pretty flower. Speaking of pretty flowers, the dress has a streak along the base of the skirt that's decorated in an assortment of different flowers in all types of warm spring colors!
I don't know how Arthur did it, but it's like the dress is made specifically for my body. The shoulder straps aren't too tight, it covers everything it needs to while looking pretty, it's not sweatpants! It's not too poofy so I can still fight, but still dainty enough to make me feel like a woman. I've been a woman my whole life, but this is the first time in my life I've felt like one. This... This is...
"Why are you crying? If you hate the clothes that bad, we can figure out a way to-"
"Thank you!" I pull Arthur by the arm close to my chest and swallow him in a passionate hug.
"Mmmmff fmbbmf ffb!" He muffles against my dress while smacking my arms. Then the smacks became less frequent and shallower...
Oh, I should let him go before he suffocates.
"Vilma... never... again..." He heaves trying to catch his breath.
"Sorry, it's just that everything is perfect!" I wipe my face clean of tears so I won't get anything on the dress. "The outfit makes me feel like I've always wanted to. There was even a gorgeous pink claw hair clip too! But... I don't know how to tie my hair up. I can't use it."
Arthur tosses the bag to the boy without warning, almost crushing him. "Go into the car and change. If you need help call me." The order startles the boy for a second before he follows his directions and climbs into the car.
"Now," Arthur turned to me. "While he's changing, do you need me to help you tie your hair?"
"You know how to tie hair!?"
"I used to tie my mom's before she passed. Black hair is unique, but it's all just hair at the end of the day. I can do yours better than any hair stylist in the city." He sits me down on the side of the street, reaches into the mess of hair creeping down my back, and does the best he can do.
He's so cocky with his promises, but he always keeps them either way. He's like the opposite of me. He's able to quickly think of solutions that don't involve punching someone, doesn't let anything stop him from getting what he wants, and sure he can be kinda rough sometimes, but Miss Melanie trusts him, and he spends time with me when Miss Melanie wants time alone. Sometimes I wish I could just be him for a day.
"Perfect, it's tied." Arthur sighs, handing his phone over to me.
Through the camera reflection, I can see Arthur didn't entirely live up to his promise. It wasn't anything fancy or stylistic like he promised. All he did was wind my hair in the back up into a coiling ball and then clip it together.
"Do you like it?"
"I love it!" This is the best I've ever looked! If Miss Melanie saw me like this, she'd love me!
"Vilma wai-!" I squeeze Arthur again and twirl us both in the street until I get too dizzy and put him down. After taking a second to recover, he says, "I'll cut you... I'll do it."
"Sorry! But you did such a good job! Can you teach…"
The sound of the limo door interrupts my apology, and my puffy-eyed captive wearing a new pair of joggers and a sweatshirt looks at us like we just tortured him.
"You didn't give him something nice too? Wearing something like this would improve his mood."
"I just picked the first thing I saw from the store Vilma. The order to my tailor was already such short notice, and Bianca will be more concerned about a grade school child being here rather than what he's wearing."
"Alright, but now that he's dressed how are we getting in? Bust the tower up floor by floor while guards chase us the whole way through!? Or sneaking around halls ducking behind corners until we reach the top!?" We can blow the whole tower up if it means Miss Melanie gets to see me in my new dress quicker!
"Hell no, we'd be here all night if we did either of those. We're going to calmly walk in and ask to meet her. She and I have... history, so she won't be suspicious about me asking to see her again. It was smart of you to consider asking me for help with this. Uncharacteristically smart almost."
"Actually, at first I didn't come here to meet you, I was thinking about just asking everyone in New York if they've seen her anywhere. But this saved me the trouble of looking!
Arthur stares through me for a minute, holding up his hand every time I go to speak.
"I... wow, you're stupid." He finally says.
"Hey!"
"It's true. I knew you were dull but this a level beyond stupid. You don't realize how lucky you are to have someone like me looking out for you, because that is almost the stupidest thing I've heard you say."
"What's the stupidest?"
"Don't worry about it." Arthur puts his hand on the boy's back and pushes him towards The Observatory.
"Wait! You can't just say something like that and not tell me!" I scream, passing the people sleeping on the street and following Arthur through the hotel-style revolving door. "What's the worst thing!? Arthur!!"
"Shhh! Quit yelling before you slip up and shout something that'll give us away."
"I'd never do something like that."
"I know you, Vilma. You absolutely would."
Ok, maybe he's right. That might be why Miss Melanie always says she likes me better when I don't talk. But now is different! My entire future depends on how well I perform today!
The revolving door chases us out from the dark city streets into the inside of a bright lavender diamond. What a fancy lobby! The walls bounce pretty purple rays off one another, shading the various small shrubs and pieces of furniture. Conversations of groups of older, well-dressed people clash with the cheers of people my age who look dressed for a party. Some sit in the lounge chairs sipping drinks while others walk up to three tube-like things that line the wall straight ahead of us and vanish behind the tube's sliding doors. It's a weird mix of people, I wonder why... Hey, I can see myself in the floor's reflection! I look like a princess in a ballroom!
But while I'm standing in awe of fancy walls and fancy doors and fancy people and the new fancy me, Arthur's face looks peeved as peeved can be. One look at all this nice stuff and he immediately has a scowl plastered on. But that doesn't stop him from leading all of us to a desk close to the tower's entrance.
A butler guy with the stereotypical butler face and a butler mustache and hands behind the back butler pose stands inside his glowing receptionist desk. The only other defining thing about him is his hair that coils up his head like a spring. Heh. That looks pretty funny. And his serious face with the bushy mustache is making it even funnier.
An exhale breaks from my nose, and the light gust makes his rocket bounce like jelly. Oh.. this is great.
A sharp pain bruises my arm before I can get out my laughter. "Ow!"
"I need a ticket to the top floor." Arthur requests without acknowledging he just hit me.
Without an inch of movement, the funny butler scans Arthur, then gives me the same glare. "Your attire is acceptable, but sir, customers must obtain permission for certain elevator floors. And for the top floor, I'll need to have Ms. Solaine personally authorize your visit. Can I get a name for you or your party?"
"Just tell her Arthur, King of the Night is here to see here." The butler escapes to a phone behind his desk and dials someone on the other end.
"Who calls you King of the Night?"
"It's a New York thing. You wouldn't get it."
"You could explain it to me."
"Not the time."
"I mean the butler guy is on the phone. I'm curious."
"I saved your life an hour ago and I'm helping you make Mel happy. I could go home right now if I wanted to."
"No no no don't do that. I'm sorry, really… King of the Night."
"That's it." He's turning back to the revolving entrance. Oops.
"Wait wait stop hold on!"
"You can handle this yourself. I'm out."
I never knew he was so sensitive about his title. "Wait, don't leave! I'm sorry, can't you stay!"
"Hm, who are you apologizing to?"
"You."
"Who's you? We have names for a reason Vilma."
"I'm sorry for making fun of you Arthur."
"And what am I again?"
"...Do I have to say it?"
"You don't have to, I have a perfectly good bed waiting for me at home if you don't. Your choice."
I kind of, really need him to stay. "Fine... You're the King of the Night."
"Thank you. Don't disrespect my title again."
"Ms.Solaine will see you now." The receptionist says, holding a gold keycard out for Arthur to grab. "Enjoy your stay, Mr. Arthur."
"Thank you very much." He turns from me, slides the card into his pocket, and leads the two of us to one of the three glossy tubes that shoot through the ceiling. The card slides neatly into a reader next to the middle tube, and Arthur retrieves it from the slot once the door to the tube slides open.
A golden light inside the elevator's ceiling reflects on the massive sparkling circular floor. It's dazzling to look at! I didn't think it could get any prettier, but in this lighting, the dress looks so regal!
Arthur clicks one of the many glowing floor numbers once we were all in, causing the tube's door to close and a weird feeling of weightlessness in my stomach.
Once the door closes, Arthur explodes. "Shithole tower!" He yells kicking the elevator door and denting it, making the boy cower against the wall. "This is ridiculous! She probably doesn't even know how to run half of the things in here! But because she has cash to burn, she can hire people to do what I have to do every day! She's brainless!
Arthur's already stressed, and I think I made it worse by making fun of him. Even Arthur's nickname has enough of a reputation to get us up to the top floor. If he wasn't here I would've had to go on a tear through the tower. "Sorry for making fun of your name thing Arthur."
"It's fine, I wasn't going to leave anyway." He huffs.
What? "You weren't!?"
"No. I just wanted to see you sweat a little."
"That wasn't funny, I thought you were mad at me! You made me beg you to stay!"
"Yeah, that's what made it funny." He smirked. "I might have to take up acting."
"You're too ugly to act."
"Too ugly!? Just because I don't meet your specif
Arthur always acts so weirdly when I talk about my love for Miss Melanie. Maybe he secretly has a thing for her and thinks it will ruin our friendship if he tells me! Well, it would! I don't want to know that my best friend has a crush on my future wife, so I won't ask about it to preserve our friendship! If I don't think about it, it doesn't exist!
The tube elevator continues to rise for a little longer, and after a while, my reflection on the elevator walls fades into a party down below! Flashing lights reflecting off the dance floor, people having fun, a DJ at the front playing music we can't hear, all of it slowly shrinking as the tube climbs higher into the sky. "Woah, what's happening!?
"It's one of Bianca's nightclub floors."
"This tower has a nightclub in it? That's so cool."
"It's a blatant copy of one of my clubs. But since it's 50 feet off the ground, people think it's more sensational or glamourous." A vein is pushing out on his forehead, I think I touched a nerve. "There's also a library, an indoor pool, a few bars, and a miniature baseball stadium."
"A baseball stadium!?" This place has everything in it! I'd love to go and dance in my new dress if I wasn't on an important mission for Miss Melanie. "Is there a pharmacy here too?"
"On the 17th floor." He grumbles.
"Perfect! Whenever I talk to Miss Melanie, she says I give her a headache! Maybe the pharmacy will have something for that!"
"And you're not going to unpack what you just said at all?"
"Unpack what?"
"Never mind."
The reflective walls return, hiding the parties on all the other floors. The hums of the elevator play over the silence. The minute-long climb feels ages longer, especially the cryptic things Arthur is saying about unpacking something. Thankfully, the doors open up and free me from the suffocating awkwardness.
We've arrived at a hallway made of golden light leading to another elevator at the end. Along the way, glossy doors with sparkly knobs and complex landscape paintings make me feel rich just by standing next to them.
"Woaaaahhhh!" I let out.
"This is the VIP floor, the last level before we get to Bianca and the only way to get to the top floor. It's where rich snobs who think they're better than everyone else stay."
"Does that mean you've stayed here before?"
A hidden vein pops to the surface of his forehead and he reaches for the hilt of his sword. "What?"
"You know so much about this place, I was wondering if you've stayed here?"
"I'd never spend a night in this flashing shit stain if I didn't have to. I've had people tell me about it though."
"Do you think Miss Melanie would like to come here?"
"Let's just keep our lips sealed for the rest of the trip, ok? Before I really do leave."
"Ok!" So, we silently walk to the other elevator, and Arthur's card gets us in like last time. The doors shut and my muscles pulse just thinking about what's about to happen.
Finally, finally, finally! The second I see Bianca, I'll knock her head off of her shoulders! I won't fail you, Miss Melanie!
"I know that face, Vilma. Don't rush into something when we don't need to."
"What, I can handle her!"
"Solaine's worth five fortunes, and her security team is going to reflect that. Walking in there and trying to blitz her will be inviting the entire tower's security on top of us. Let me do the talking and you just wait for my signal."
"You'll go too slow Arthur. Miss Melanie is counting on me to get this done and I want to get back to her as soon as possible!"
"Vilma, this is my territory, my area of expertise so don't try and me how to handle my business. We'll kill Bianca, but we'll do it my way or we won't be able to do it at all. I'll get her vulnerable enough so you can kill her."
"You mean so the kid can kill her."
"Yeah, so the kid can do it." The doors open and Arthur, the boy and I file through. Into Bianca's lair at the top of the world.
ic standards does not make me any less of a 10. I'm a natural lady killer. When's the last time you had a relationship again?"
"You know I'm saving myself for Miss Melanie!" His eyebrows scrunch together hearing me say this. "What?"
"Nothing. Don't worry about it."