The next day, Lucy got ready. She put on a good formal clothes and a black watch, gifted to her by her father. She was excited and happy when she put up the card and repeated the name,"Ken Gottfried" and then rehearsed,"Hello sir, Nice to meet you! I'm Lucy Stephen. You must have heard about me from Jack sir, from MMA association."and then she marked," Okay, I'm ready!"
AT THE FIRM
The firm was a gigantic 25 storey building which looked rather dusty and old to be called a new firm. It was all painted in rusty maroon colour. The people on the door didn't look like any official. They were particularly creepy. Lucy got confused by their looks and the strange smell from the buliding that she decided to confirm the address by some local. When she tried to confirm the address from a person walking by,
" Hello sir. Can you please help me with this address?"
"Are you dumb?" Said the man with a clear disgust.
Lucy couldn't understand. She stood at the place and tried to see anyone else but the place seemed so abandoned that no on epassed by. So, at the end, she decided to go into the building.
Entering the building, she found no reception but many different rooms, all old with a big hall in the middle. She didn't know where she would find Ken, so she peeped into all the rooms she could see.In one of the rooms, people were cleaning guns and other weapons, when she peeped inside, she got a deadly stare by all of them. Other rooms, there were other illegal works going on like the packaging of drugs and other narcotics. She even looked into a locked room with a glass window where a handful of people were being tortured and were interrogated about something. She stood in the middle of the building with all the people staring at her. She was sweating heavily and deep down she knew that she was at some wrong place where she should never have visited. She regretted the decision of her entering the building.
Suddenly, she saw a old man approaching towards her with frowned eyebrows. Despite the fact that he looked less creepy than others, she was still frightened and would have tried to run away but he was coming from the entrance so, she couldn't help but stand still.
The old man came close and asked in a lower voice,"I think you are at the wrong place, miss! Do you need some help with any address? I saw you asking for it outside."
Lucy hesitated," Y-yes sir, I am quite certain that it's the same address but let me know if it's not!" and she handed over the business card.
The old man took out his specs from his pocket and squinted a bit to look into the card.
" Where did you find this card from?"
"My coach at the MMA association gave it to me. Is there any problem?"
" Ofcourse not,I see that you are here at the correct address but may I know whom are you trying to find?"
" Ken, Ken gottfried"
"Never heard someone else take his name! Do you know who he is?"
" May be, I was told that he is the owner and the Presind of the firm "BOXERS' ", isn't it sir?"
The old man was not quite surprised but rather he laughed and said,"Kid, you may take a left turn to find the elevator. Go directly to the 13th floor, there you'll find a room enclosed with a black- green door which would look rather distinguished. You'll find you Owner cum President there!"
Lucy was confused and took few minutes to decide whether to believe him at that scary and crrpy place or not but thinking that she was left with no other way out, she moved on.
But she got interrupted by the old man's voice again," Lady, if I'm not wrong, Are you Lucy?" "Yes sir, but how do you know it?"
" Your president told me" and laughed again. It looked more sarcastic than a real one.
Lucy replied," Oh, I see." And whispered to herself," Creepy".
She found the elevator in no time and marked her destination- 13th floor. Getting out tof the elevator, she found the black-green door right in front. It was rather a taller one and well maintained, as it seemed to be.
She looked at the business card right before entering the room and with a sigh, she entered. She spoke just as she rehearsed,"Hello sir, Nice to meet you! I'm Lucy Stephen. You must have heard about me from Jack sir, from MMA association."
Ken was dressed in brown jacket and black leather pants. He was smoking facing the window opposite to the entrance.
" Oh, Lucy "
The voice felt familiar but she just ignored it and said," Jack sir must've talked about my job, isn't it? I need this job die heartedly, I vow to be the best boxer in your team, you may take any fitness test if you want to!"
" Of course you'll be!" Ken replied and turned around and continued, "because no one else is there into the team!"
"You?"she screamed out of surprise.
Ken replied with a savage smirk.
" I knew you were a spoiled son but I never knew you would end up being a stalker!" Lucy said.
Ken came forward to pick up a document and began to read, " Name: Lucy Stephen, Age: 23, Address: Diamond road, flat number :13B, Oh look! You don't have a father just like me! No comments on that. You even left the earlier job? Interesting."
Lucy stepped forward and grabbed the documents," Where did you get this all from?"
But as she looked into it, there was nothing written, it was all blank.
Lucy looked at Ken as if trying to get some explanation.
" You're not only chaotic but also dumb. You really thought I would make an entire document devoted to you and your life? It's all just just fitted in here( Pointing towards his brain) " Ken commented.
" You! Where did you get this information from, do you think I'll be afraid of you just because of the address. Nah, man I am much more than you think. " Saying this, she moved forward and tried to punch on his face but Ken was way too smart to get punched, he turned aside and gripped over her hand.
" You are still unaware of the fact, Who I am? right?"
Lucy tried to take her hands of his powerful grip but failed so with a sigh ," I assume you are neither the President nor the owner of any firm. I got it just by the firm's name but wait, how did you get the card sent to my coach? How did you reach him?"
" ARE OU REALLY DUMB?he replied " Everytime I ask yoi something you just put forward another question, don't you know how to reply?"
" Ok then, I don't who you're apart from a pervert!"
"Didn't you see the activities in the other rooms or may I say that you're blind?"
"See, you aren't any different from me? Are you?"
He threw a document on the sofa just besides her and said, " Do you think I need to give you any more introduction?"
Lucy picked up the folder and saw many paper cut outs with headlines such as, " Who is Ken? The mafia or the government itself?", " Another murder by the mafia, Ken Gottfried", " Why is the system silent, do we need more evidences?", "Ken is more powerful than the government itself, says the state head."
Lucy was surprised yet frightened as she flipped the next page which said, " Ken is not a natural villain but a made one" Upon which Ken thrashed the document from Lucy's hand.
" What do you think, Lucy? Do you think you should apologise?"
After an awkward silence, Lucy said," No, I would never apologise to someone like you, a pervert!, stallink and thereatening others."
" You've got some guts!, Impressive!"
" I have got some brain, unlike you! If you had to kill me, you would have been done with it! But see I'm still alive."
" So do you want me to kill you?"
" If you want it!"
" Nah, I'll not"
" I knew it!"
" But I promise to make life the worst. Worse enough that you'll want me to kill you or you'll kill yourself!"
" Oh really? I think I got afraid!" Lucy said sarcastically. " I think that I don't need to waste my time. Hope to never meet you again, sir!" Saying thins, Lucy turned towards the gate.
" Wait! You need to see this before leaving. "
Ken put forward his phone on which a video was being played in which Coach John was being beaten up badly by some goons.
Lucy grabbed the phone from his hand and asked him, " What is this? You really had to do this? You spoiled.."
" Hey kid, Look into it, it's a video call. Everything you say here will be heard by your coach!"
" What? Ask them to stop, right now!"
" What if I don't?
"What do you want in return?"
" This is good" he then took the phone from Lucy's hand and ordered the goon," Hey, stop it and give the phone to our beloved coach, isn't he?" Ken then handed over the phone to Lucy.
" Sir, are you okay? It's all my fault!"
" Y- yes , I am but please Lucy, I never asked for anything other than your good but this time I'll ask for you to join him in his team. I'm sorry!" cried Coach John.
The phone was taken away by the goon from the coach's hand.
Lucy gave a deadly stare to Ken and argued," If there's no team to join, what do I do?"
" There is, not the boxing one but the mafia gang. I know you hate the black world that's why I want you to be in this place only."
" Why me? Just because of that one incident?"
" What do you mean by just? You were the first person ever to touch my collar and threaten me, do you think I'll spare you? Never!"
" You!"
" Watch your mouth, now I'm the boss. You know me now, don't you?"
" Okay" Lucy screamed out of anger and asked," What do I need to do?"
" That's a good question!"
Ken put forward a page which looked like some contract.
" Read the contract carefully and then sign. Even if you don't, it's fine beacause I know my ways!"
Lucy read each line carefully and then screamed, " So you want me live how you want to? Right?"