Warning: This episode contains scenes that might be upsetting for some readers, please be advised.
°°°
'I have a job for you'
That cannot be good.
"Who am I seducing this time?"
"No one. You're simply going to act and let us just say it will give you a head in your line of work"
"Okay? So what am I doing?"
"CEO of Goodwill farms recently hit jackpot–"
"We're going to steal from him?"
"Why would I steal when I could offer him a contract that makes me win?"
"So why not go on your own? Talk to him face to face?"
"He's not a fan, that's where you come in"
"I don't even know what I'm supposed to do"
"Sell it"
"Sell what?"
"The contract"
"I'm supposed to make a man that hates you sign a contract with you"
"Yes, that's pretty much it"
"Why? I mean, why Goodwill farms?"
"I've done my study, my calculations, and in approximately a year, I should make around fourteen million dollars every month, more if you negotiate well"
"You're putting sensitive work in my hands, how are you so sure I won't screw it up"
"I'll kill you myself if you do"
"Just give it to someone else, I might get jittery and say nonsense"
"There's nobody better for the job than you. Now, get out, I'll see you on Friday, you'll see him on Saturday"
"Jason..." I whine, "I don't have a death wish"
"Go or I'll drive you to my place"
Not very tempting at the moment.
He zooms off immediately after I step out.
"Arse"
Why did I agree? I'm not supposed to be doing this. My last job, this is the last one.
Time flew by like it always did, one day it's Monday, you blink and it's Friday.
Where is the time running to for God's sake?
I follow the crowd of students pouring out of the building after the day of learning.
A car honks and flashes its light.
Expensive, probably a guy waiting to pick up his girlfriend, so romantic.
The car starts and soon is bulldozing its way through the crowd until it gets to me, it honks again and doesn't stop honking until half the crowd has their ears covered and people swearing.
Definitely Jason, not so romantic.
I bend over and knock at his window, it slides down slowly. For someone that's always dressed in black, he had an impeccable fashion sense.
"Can't you tell it's me or did the color confuse you?"
"Blue is not your thing. I was just about to head on to your office, never thought you'd come to see me yourself, your majesty"
"Get in"
"Free ride, yah!"
Jason stomps brutally on the accelerator, the car tires squeal, people jump out of the way, and a boy bravely or should I say foolishly jumps on the hood of the car.
Jason doesn't stop instead he increases his speed, the boy is screaming something outside, and Jason simply activates his water sprays and wipers.
"Won't you stop?"
"He should have thought of the consequences before he hooked on like a starfish"
The boy holds on for his dear life as Jason zooms down the road.
"He's not going to make it. Stop the car"
Jason pulls the handbrake, the boy rolls off and slams into a lamppost, he doesn't move, people gather around him. Some men tap at Jason's window.
Jason thumps his steering wheel aggressively.
"Those motherfuckers better be prepared 'cause I'm gonna shove my guns up their ass and cause them to vomit their kidneys"
"Okay. Woah, woah, woah, easy tiger", I grab Jason's arm before he leaves the car and starts shooting people. "I'll handle this"
I step out of the car and head towards the crowd of bystanders and first-aid givers.
A man violently grabs me by my jacket.
"Your boyfriend did this, didn't he? Are you protecting him? Tell him to come out here"
"You don't understand, this boy jumped on his car, it's not his fault–"
"Not his fault? The boy is unconscious, he could have died"
The man shakes me roughly.
"Calm down, calm down" A policeman separates us. "What happened?"
"This girl and her dumb boyfriend drove this boy like an entertainment show, look at the boy, he's unconscious"
"It's a misunderstanding, okay? He's from my university, jas... I mean Jase came to pick me up and this guy jumped on his car and wouldn't let go, so Jase drove him here. It's not his fault"
"I'm sorry lady but you and your boyfriend will have to come to the station"
"On what charges?"
"Endangerment to health"
"How is that endangerment to health? Aren't you overlooking the fact that the boy jumped on the car when others were moving aside, he was being reckless and suicidal"
"I'll still need you at the station"
The atmosphere chills suddenly and the crowd suddenly disperses.
Jason bends over the boy and tucks money into his pocket.
He grabs my hand and proceeds to drag me back to his car then he stops suddenly.
"You know the code"
"Not a single word" they both stutter out.
"Good, keep that in mind if you want your families safe"
Jason helps me into the car like a gentleman and then enters and begins to drive.
"How did the passive lifestyle work out for you?"
"Not very good. Perhaps you can teach me to be alpha commando like you"
Jason gives me a one-over.
"It wouldn't fit you"
"Of course, that's what you'd say"
Should I tell him? What if he gets mad?
"What?"
"What?"
"What are you thinking about?"
"Nothing"
"Cut the bullshit and tell me"
"I wasn't thinking about anything"
"You want to say something to me"
"How do you know?"
"You were playing with your fingers, signs of nervousness. Start talking Selene"
I take in a large amount of air and then exhale.
"I'm... I'm not... I'm not doing this again"
Jason's eyes don't move away from me.
"You mean you're no longer interested?"
"I was never interested, you pulled me into this, it was never a choice and can you please focus on the road"
"Give me a solid reason, just one"
"Does there have to be a reason? Can't I just want to anymore?"
"But there's got to be a reason, a trigger. Are you scared of something?"
"Look, there's no reason, I just don't want in anymore"
"I'll let you go when you tell me the reason"
I roll my eyes.
"So about Goodwill?"
"Did you eat?"
"Not to my satisfaction"
I had said I was full but now I'm feeling empty, all the stress had increased the rate at which my food had digested.
"Great!"
"What's great about it?"
He stops at a fancy dinner.
"Shall we?"
"No, we shan't. Jason, I'm dressed in jeans and a jacket, nothing about this is presentable for five-star dining"
"You worry too much, have I ever entered a building that's mine through the front door?"
I step out after him.
"You own it?"
"What do you think? I don't eat in random places, what if they poison me?"
Huge security men are stationed on the premises.
Jason goes through the back. If you were thinking it was like the back door of a regular restaurant, you were so wrong. The decoration was more expensive than that of the entrance.
Three chefs wheeling silver trays move to the side to let Jason walk past, they bow as he goes, he doesn't even acknowledge them.
I stop to give them a thumbs up and they return my gesture with a blank stare.
"Walk" Jason's voice boomed in the hallway, I run after him.
"So the chefs here are also in the mafia? Your mafia?"
"Yes. Do you even know the name?"
"Umm... No?"
"How do you not know? You can search it online?"
"Just tell me already"
"Search it"
I whip out my phone and start searching. Jason tackles the elevator.
"The Vipers. As in the snake viper? Why that? Why not Cobra or Constrictor?"
"How cool is that relating to a Mafia name?"
"What of Mamba? Black Mamba?"
Jason checks the time on his wristwatch.
"General gang name, what's with the elevator?"
"Gang?"
"You know children that run around in the street pretending to be bad boys but are scared shit of a gun and mostly fight with wooden bats and the rest, those are gangs. Mafia men like ourselves use those dickheads for our pleasure. Where is the damn elevator?"
The three men hadn't left their spots and had their heads bowed.
"You!"
All three run forward.
"Sir?"
Okay?! That was creepy and synonymous.
"Elevator?"Jason tips his head to point at the elevator.
"I think–"
"You think? You're not sure? What do I hate more than someone wasting my time?"
"False information Sir"
"So?"
"It started this evening, the manager called the technician, he should be here soon"
Hurried footsteps echoed around the hall.
"Sir, you didn't inform me you were coming"
"Am I to tell you of my every move Gui?"
"I apologize"
Only when Gui stepped closer was I able to identify his features and he was wow!
Why did Jason gather handsome men, it wasn't fair.
Gui's most enchanting feature was his ice blue eyes, the brown curls of hair left messy and his skillful piercing brought out a very handsome face.
I found myself switching between Jason and Gui.
Jason was more manly, with an air of mysteriousness, secrets that begged to be opened, a smile frozen in time waiting to be unfrozen, Gui on the other hand wasn't as manly looking as Jason but his looks spoke of dark promise behind closed doors. The kind of boy a high school girl would fall head over heels for.
Gui's eyes meet mine, his confused expression slowly turns to an extra warm smile. The change causes goosebumps to crawl up my arms and neck, not the nice kind of goosebumps like the one you get when someone sings a song with such a melodious voice or you take a hot bath in cold weather, no, I got the chills, the type you get when you read a horror novel or even worse watch one in the middle of the night.
"Guillaume, she's not an experiment, stick to murdering your cabbages"
"Right!" he turns and doesn't even look at me again.
What was that? The goosebumps didn't leave my arm.
"Perhaps we can use the stairs?"
"Absurdité, the technician is almost done with his work, faites preuve d'un peu plus de patience" Gui tuts and bends to observe the technician's work.
"Les minutes que nous utiliserions pour attendre, nous pourrions les utiliser pour monter les escaliers et en finir"
"Tu parles Français?" Jason is looking impressed.
Now is not the time, Gui was giving me murderer vibes, and that very smile creeped the whole fiber of my being.
"Oui, pouvons-nous prendre les escaliers maintenant?"
"I'm done"
"See? la patience"
Jason calls the elevator again, and this time it opens, I quickly rush in and Jason follows.
"When your manager comes, tell him to see me"
"Yes sir"
The door closes and I'm glad to be far away from that... that thing?
"Did Guillaume freak you out?"
"Right down to my very bone marrow. Is he okay?"
"His parents made him that way. He had nowhere to run to since his parents lived in the forest, his parents sold body parts–"
"Human body parts?"
"Yes, they would take a fresh human being, carve them up, harvest their organs, and sell them, eventually Gui learned it from them. He may have even learned cannibalism–"
"Like eating another human? I thought those existed only in films"
"Well you've just seen one" the door opens into a huge space.
At this point, I'm going to be taking notes of Jason's preferences. Aside from knowing he wears black and only black, we now know, he's a lover of aesthetic pictures, black aesthetic pictures.
"Why are you standing? Take a seat"
I made myself comfortable beside him on the leather couch.
"So?"
"We wait for the food"
"I'm talking about Goodwill farms"
"We wait for the food"
He lays his head on the neck of the sofa.
I reach out for his tie but Jason grabs my hand.
I shake his hand off and loosen his tie and first two button.
"So they don't hold me for murdering you when I'm innocent"
"They'll know a thin girl like you couldn't even hurt a hair on my head"
"Did you forget they're simpler ways of killing than knives and guns?"
"You won't kill me, Selene"
"Of course not" I brush down his hair with my hand and then hastily withdraw it "Sorry about that"
"You can touch but don't tell anyone. I'll never let you touch it again if you do"
"Yes your majesty"
"Carry on"
Jason's hair is coarse but soft, that hair stylist of his worked wonders, what was his name again? I'd forgotten.
"Not happy it isn't as silky as yours?"
"Mine isn't silky"
"I'm pretty sure it is"
"You only think so because of whatever..."
"Paulo"
"... Paulo rubbed into it, the hair bugs me"
"Don't you ever cut it"
"It's my hair, I can do whatever I want with it"
"I'll sue you if you do"
"On what charges?"
"Self endangerment"
"Which judge in their right mind would believe that?"
Jason's merely scoffs.
"Okay, let's say a judge does believe you, how much will I pay for the crime?"
"A billion dollar, cash"
"Where am I supposed to get that amount of money?"
"Don't cut the hair then, it's simple"
"Raising the bar so high so that I can't jump it, clever"
"I'm hungry"
"Wow! Mafia Jason complained of something. Never did I ever think you would say a word like that, I thought you men found it a weakness?"
"How is saying someone is hungry, a weakness?"
They made us think that way.
"It's a stereotype about Mafia men"
"How many do you know?"
"Only you in real life, millions in novels" I tug gently on his right ear.
"Wattpad babies"
"Are you humoring me 'cause you're hungry?"
"Yes"
I chuckle.
"Must you be honest?"
"Always"
"You're really hungry, aren't you? There, there, baby Jason" I pat his head.
For some minutes, he doesn't say anything.
"Asleep?"
"Conserving energy"
"Seriously, when was the last time you ate?"
"Yesterday night, I think"
"You're not even sure. And what exactly did you eat?"
"What would you eat in the night?"
"Something filling"
"Porridge Selene, you shouldn't upset your stomach with heavy food at night"
"So you ate porridge yesterday and you didn't eat anything throughout today"
"Drank coffee"
"Your negligence to your health worries me"
"Your hair is on my face"
"You wouldn't let me cut it"
I dragged some strands over his face. He opened his eyes and stared at me.
"Did I go too far?"
He didn't reply.
"Why are you looking at me like that?"
He sat up and I moved backward to avoid us entering each other's space but he still moved closer until I was trapped against the sofa with him right in front of me.
"What?"
"What color are your eyes?"