It was six thirty in the evening. A tall handsome man walked down the street and passed by a corner finally slipping into a deserted alley. He paced around for a while and stopped, glancing at his digital watch. The alley was quite dark. "You are late!" he heard a voice say. He looked up and a petite man emerged from the darkness wearing a black hoodie over a pair of blue jeans. "It wasn't easy dodging my security." The man explained. "Mr. Gerald Moreno." the man said grinning. "Reginald Wright." He said back. The countenance of the little man suddenly changed to that of a grim expression. "How did you-how did you know, my, my name." the little man asked stammering. "You forget who you are dealing with sometimes. It doesn't matter it's just a safety measure to put you in place, you know what I mean. What I don't understand is how you managed to wipe away your entire existence. Tell me, what is your reason?" Gerald asked him still maintaining his sinister grin. "I should be asking you that question." Reginald stated. "Well, nothing much. Just to check your loyalty to me." Gerald said. "Stop playing games, what exactly do you want?" Reginald asked. Geralds grin immediately vanished. He fished out his phone from his pocket and handed it over to him. "What is this?" Reginald asked staring at a photo on the screen. "Your new target. Just do what you do best" Gerald responded smiling again. "Why him. He doesn't look relevant to you in any way." Reginald said handing the phone back to him. "Indeed, but he has proven himself to be a worthy obstacle. He must go." "Be careful what you are asking for. you don't want to ruin your pretty CEO life, do you?" He asked. "Well, it doesn't matter as long as I get what I want." "You mean you pretty assistant, Is she the prize for your bloody toil?" "shhhhh, how did you know... wait, did you... you imbecile." "Save your breath. She is of no use to me, for now. Now hold your end of the bargain and I will hold mine too, try to act smart and I will not hesitate to expose you." Reginald threatened. "Yeah, me too. Don't worry, you will receive your payment as soon as you are done. Deal?" "Yeah, whatever. See you when I see you." Reginald said and walked away leaving Gerald behind. He hailed a taxi, entered and drove off. Gerald smiled with content, his mind, imagining the turn of events per his meeting. His phone dinged and he glanced at it. It was a message. He smiled even broadly this time. He shoved it back and walked over to the street. He hailed a taxi and sat in. "LC mall please." he told the driver fastening his seatbelt. The innocent looking driver nodded his head and drove off speedily. The taxi screeched to a halt in front of LC mall. Gerald got out after paying his fare and walked towards a Fastfood restaurant. He entered and began to scan the area. He spotted a young woman in a brown suede jacket. He smirked and walked over to the table she was at and sat down. "Hello Miss Lanson. to what do I owe this meeting?" he asked. The young lady wore dark shades and a scarf which dangled on her face. She removed it and revealed herself. It was Earlene. "This wasn't what we planned. " "I know, things just got out of hand." he explained. "Things? My friend is not a thing. You took advantage of the situation." "Maybe. what did you expect me to do, allow a beautiful opportunity to pass me by?" he asked her. "Wow! Having sex with my friend was your beautiful opportunity?" "Look, however this goes, it still won't change anything. The plan is still in motion." "Best thing you have done so far." she tried to say inaudibly but he heard it. She rubbed her hands with frustration and sighed "when are you going to tell her the truth?" he asked still smiling. She glared at him in annoyance, but his cute and innocent face topped with his dimples melted her heart in an instant. "I don't know yet. Maybe when you get him out of the way." she replied. "Where is she now?" he asked snapping his fingers. A skinny waiter came along and asked for their order. "I will have a bottle of Giuseppe Quintarelli" he told him "What about you, my lady?" he asked Earlene. "Same as him." She replied somewhat shy. The skinny waiter immediately left and the two went back to their conversation. "Where is she now?" he asked. "At home. Gosh it was so difficult lulling her to sleep. she just wouldn't stop crying." "Then I need to see her." "Bad idea Romeo. if you go in now, she might develop hatred for you." "Why?" " She thinks you raped her. Let's keep it cool for now until I change her mind about you. Right now, her mind is corrupted, and that Francis of a guy is not making it smooth at all." "Fine." Gerald said. The waiter brought in their order and skillfully poured the wine into the exotic wine glasses. He smiled at them and left. Earlene picked up her glass and tasted it. "Sour!" she said placing it back down. Gerald glanced at his watch and gasped. "I have to go; my staff will be worried sick if I don't show up. Come on, I will drop you off." he said rising to his feet. Earlene rolled her eyes with disappointment and also got up, leading the way out of the restaurant. As they got onto the escalator to descend to the ground floor, they spotted Francis at a secluded area of the mall talking to some strange men in black. They immediately locked eyes and Francis opened his eyes with bewilderment and rage. "you imbecile...I am going to kill you today." he roared as he neared them with full speed. He pounced on Gerald and began throwing punches at him. Gerald managed to dodge some of them but sustained serious blows to his ribs. He aggressively pushed Francis, and he fell on his back. He threw a punch, but Francis ducked and reciprocated with a powerful punch to his stomach. Gerald fell on the ground and winced in pain. Francis got closer and he used the opportunity to trip him to the ground. He fell with a loud thud. Gerald got up and kicked him in the stomach. he grabbed him by his collar and headbutted him breaking his nose in the process. He yelled in agony attracting the attention of several people nearby. They began to crowd around them. Some of the men tried to stop the fight but they were too scared to intervene. "Somebody please stops them" Earlene screamed. "Where is the security, call security now!" someone shouted. Francis managed to the upper hand in the fight. He kicked Gerald in his groin and punched him in the face. he dipped his hand into his pocket and brandished a knife. "This is your end today." he said breathing heavily whiles pointing it at him. Gerald smirked and rushed towards Francis allowing himself to be stabbed in the stomach He suddenly fell down clutching on to his stomach in pain. He secretly smiled to Francis whiles coughing up blood. He soon blacked out. Earlene immediately rushed to Gerald trying to help him whiles screaming "you bastard... murderer, you will pay for this." Francis looked at her perplexed. He shook with fear and dropped the weapon. He looked around him realizing the faces and the people recording the scene with their phones. "Oh God, what did I just do. Shit shit!" He said and immediately ran away. "Somebody, call the ambulance, quick." Earlene yelled. within the twinkle of an eye an ambulance pulled up in front of the mall. They whisked Geralds unconscious body into the ambulance and speedily drove off to Red Ace hospital.