A lady woke up on her bed dead afternoon, she fumbled and wandered around the house. She found her shirt to be a bit wet and noticed she wasn't wearing anything else aside from that. That wasn't how she recalled things had gone last night.
'That bastard… piece of shit. Hit and dump, huh!' She cursed her now ex-boyfriend, Jonathan.
Veronica Andrews took a cup of water but the ire was so much she fiercely trashed it against the floor and clenched her forehead, resisting the urge to cry. Not wanting to shed any tears for that 'bastard'.
The glass shards flew all over, stabbing her leg, but it didn't even hurt. Her thoughts drifted instead, recalling how she was currently dressed and trying to put the pieces together. She knew it was Ray, her son, who had done it, but she didn't understand why until she went to the kitchen and noticed a rather putrid smell.
Not only did the mop exude a gross smell mixed with bleach but even in a bucket her clothes lay there in a mixture of green water and bleach.
"V-Vomit... ugh, I threw up on myself... and he... cleaned me".
She bit her lips, it was not the first time it happened. It wasn't the first time she arrived drunk at the house and passed out anywhere, mostly on the sofa. But without exception, she'd always be covered by a blanket or carried to her bed.
'I don't understand... why do you do it? why do you treat me so well... I have done nothing but hate you and treat you like shit, I have ignored you. W-Why are you so good to me...?' The realisation felt like her heart was being clenched, the better Ray was to her, the worse she felt.
It was a pain that was equivalent to a vicious circle. Unable to apologise, unable to correct.
'How stupid… I'm so stupid…' Veronica mocked herself inwardly, watching the clock on the wall.
"It's seven in the evening. Where is he out this late on Sunday?" She frowned. Her son was never out this late. But then she recalled she wasn't even that much present in his life to know if at some point he'd come late or not.
She even bit her lips and clenched her hands as several realisations began to dawn one by one in her now sober mind.
"I have never been called by the school for complaints, he's never missed class..."
Veronica didn't bother to treat her injured foot or pick up the glass shards on the floor. She just went to the fridge, served the fastest thing she could prepare… cornflakes, and watched TV, glancing at the clock very often... waiting
**
**
The meal was spotless, Ray only grieved there was not enough food on the plate to fully enjoy it, two mouthfuls and that was it, done... it took him longer to finish the mango juice than it took him to finish the Fois Gras.
They finished at about seven o'clock in the evening, mostly because Emma liked to talk a lot while eating.
"Now let's go and kill that CEO, no time to lose!~" She yelled, scaring the hell out of the waitress who was in the process of picking up the plates.
"Shut up, what the hell's wrong with you!?" Ray only wished that the earth would eat him alive, that woman knew nothing of what it means to stay low.
"What? Who cares what they think? let's go!"
"Ah, tonight?" He frowned, he was thinking about a more reasonable time, like next weekend. But Emma had different plans.
"Of course, if not when? It is Sunday. Who expects to be murdered on Sunday? He's going to lower his guard and that's our chance, I wouldn't be surprised if he's in the middle of a party right now, that would be for the best".
"…"
'I don't think anyone expects to be murdered at any day of the week, but… you're the expert'.
...
In the end, with just an exasperated sigh, Ray decided to tag along and get it done. While riding on her Ferrari towards her place, he pulled up some research on his phone about Carter Banks.
There wasn't much information about the guy except for the fact that he was married to some European model, had a net worth of more than three hundred million dollars and had a degree in business and economics.
Of course, he was also the CEO of Charleston Industries for the last five years, although he was a millionaire before that.
Emma just watched him, smiling.
"Keep your eyes on the road".
"Shut up~"
...
"Just sit down there and wait for me to do a few things. You can get anything you want from the fridge, we will be out soon" She pulled his wrist, sat him down on a sofa in the middle of the room and even did him the favour of switching on the TV.
Her penthouse was located in the south of Manhattan towards the docks, Ray didn't have time to look at it too much. White colours, white furniture, luxury everywhere, marble floor, everything clean.
Clean as if she never spent a day in this place.
"Don't be surprised, due to the nature of my job… I sleep mostly in my car or hotels" she said and went to her bedroom, Emma returned with a phone in her hand and a laptop that she picked up and collapsed next to him on the sofa, making a call.
Somebody answered on the other side and Ray eavesdropped the conversation.
"Yes, we reached a deal. I'll transfer the money to you first and hope you drop this matter completely, I don't want nonsense from you later".
"… yes, he's nice, young, strong and handsome, just the way I like them~"
"I don't know if he has a big cock yet, Wilson. We're not going that fast and frankly, that's none of your business either. Don't get jealous of me, will you? You and I haven't fucked... not that I'm aware of"
"..." Ray's eyebrow twitched, 'What the fuck are they talking about?'.
"Anyway, I'll talk to you later about him; I'm in a rush now. He and I will take care of Carter Banks this evening for you, so you better know you owe me a big one, okay?~"
"Carter is one of 'his' main financiers? Ohh! I didn't know that. W-What? Boat at the south of Manhattan? that's close to my penthouse- you weren't invited? no... you were?"
"Excellent~ then I'll be off. Yes, I know... but Ray is with me... if it comes down to it, I'll just abandon the kid and run. Bye-bye!~"
*SNORT!*
"..."
Emma giggled and put down the laptop, watching his deadpan and outraged expression, "We just joke all the time, don't take it so seriously!"
"Uh huh... so what now?" Ray didn't complain. If it came down to it, he was planning on doing exactly the same.
"We're lucky, Ray. Carter Banks is currently in an exclusive party at a boat three kilometres from the southern Manhattan docks, we can be there in about forty minutes" She rushed to her room and started throwing things around, when she came back Ray was ready to go, but he gasped in silence.
Emma was wearing a white tight one-piece bikini.
"How does it look, pretty?~"
"Very..."
"Nice, now you... I don't have a swimsuit for you. Do you have boxers under those trousers?"
"Yes".
"Perfect".
She grasped the sides of his trousers and ripped them apart, leaving him just with boxers, a shirt and an outraged gaze.
"Stop complaining about every little thing, you're a millionaire now, just get new ones. That was a cheap brand anyway, don't tell me you're proudly wearing that?" She pouted.
'I can't keep the pace of this woman at all, she's the craziest bitch I have ever met'.
As if it wasn't enough, to prove she was quite enjoying herself, Emma tore his shirt apart too, leaving him just in his boxers and pulling the two of them in front of a mirror.
"Don't we look perfect together, sweetheart?~" Her hand shamelessly rubbed his abs and also placed his arm around her waist tightly, leaning on him.
"I guess... what are you planning?".
"We're going to pretend we're a couple looking for fun to get on that boat, once we're on it, everything will get way easier. Let's go".
Emma pulled Ray downstairs, they walked to the docks, dressed like that... and took one of her private jet skis.
"You know how to ride one of these?" She asked him, turning it on, "If we want the charade to work, you should ride it. It would look a bit awkward if the one riding it is the woman. Am I the one with the pants in this relationship, Ray?"
"I will ride damn it, you're so annoying".
She giggled and held his waist, Ray started it and noticed it worked much the same as a motorbike which he had already ridden before, in his previous life.
"It is incredible how the brain never forgets" He couldn't help but remark.
"What do you mean?" She asked.
"Nothing, so... where are we going?"
"Do you see that faint light there in the distance? that's the boat. Just head over there"
Emma pointed at the distant horizon. Because it was dark, it was difficult to see, but the sea was calm and so... he nodded and rode in that direction. The journey should have taken about twenty minutes.
"I need to be close enough to people to tamper with their minds. There is a chance there are going to be security boats around, although that may not happen... because it is sunday~"
"Sunday is the best day to kill people then-"
"Every single time, dear~ so we're just getting close to the boat. I'll tamper with the security protocol and we're on. I know how Carter looks. It should be an easy job but... Kingpin told me something that may change the game".
"What is it?"
"Carter Banks is a secret financier of one of the most troublesome mutant 'terrorists' out there. His name is Magneto and he's very powerful and annoying. If that man is in that boat... we can forget about completing this operation, we might as well be heading to our deaths" She frowned.
"And even knowing that you're still leading us there?!" He couldn't believe her.
"Magneto is not precisely the most 'party' person out there. This is a party for millionaires to mingle, and he hates non-mutants to death. Moreover, I trust my boyfriend here~"
"I'm not... ugh, forget it..."
"Don't worry, we got this!" She hugged him tighter, pressing her breasts on his back; pressing her whole body against his.
"..."
The trip should have taken twenty minutes... but Ray made it take a little longer.