3:55pm: manhattan, new york
A young woman stood in front of her mirror trying to figure out if she should apply lipstick or lipgloss.
Iipstick
she shrugged as she applied the cherry red colored llipstick. She looked at herself one last time. Black coat,Black Suede Flared Heel Knee High Boots, a pleated skirt ,her hair styled in a silk low bun.
Perfect.
and with that she was out the door making her way through the busy streets of Manhattan, her hands buried in her pockets to seek a little bit of warmth.
She finally arrived at a small bar,
"The Red door Bar".
She chuckled softly and slightly shook her head. Ofcourse, leave it to him to choose a bar with such an ironic name.
She pushed open the heavy door, entering the rustling and bustling bar, letting the warm air bring a little more color to her face. Scanning the bar as she removes her coat, She spotted him sitting close to a window.
Franky Hugo.
A 50 year old short statured man, around 5'4 with a rounded face, slightly paunchy, with a rounded stomach, and thinning, receding hairline with a very noticeable blading top,his grayish dark hair combed back to cover his balding spot. She walked over to him.
"Hello Franky". she kissed him on the cheek. "Red door, huh?, You're such a character, aren't you?" she said sitting down, straightening her skirt as she crossed her legs.
"Oh well you know, red bar, you're red. I thought it was really good,have a sense of humor red, always so serious", he smirked lifting his vodka to his lips. His pinky finger decorated with a huge, crested gold ring. He offered her his drink, but she shock her head.
Pulling a blunt from a casing in her handbag, she lit it and began smoking it.
"Still don't like alcohol?" He asked, eyeing her through his glass. "nice to see some things didn't change while you were away. You know that stuff will kill you one day".
"Not if alcohol kills you first", she smiled. " You know, some people would considered marijuana medicinal, but I've never heard the same for booze".
He shrugged. "it keeps an old man sane and warm, and you know George Bernard Shaw once said 'Alcohol is the anesthesia by which we endure the operation of life'.
She joined in unison as he said it, making him chuckle.
"I know love, you've said it over and over and over and over,it's literally burnt into my mind. And Franky you're not old".
"Good to have you back, Red. I was beginning to think you were considering retirement", he raised his glass to her.
"When it's just getting good? Come on, I love my job. It's therapeutic",she exhaled loudly smiling, with her eyes closed as she relaxed into the chair, taking another drag of her blunt.
"Only you would consider stealing from people therapeutic", he scoffed.
"What have you got for me, because I know damn well you didn't call me just to hangout", she sat up, putting on a serious face, as stubbed out the blunt in an ash tray on the table.
Franky got serious too, picking up and proceeding to open a brief case he kept by his side.
"Ever heard Ḥajar 'alf lahab?"
"Very little to no information. The stone of a thousand flame?" She asked, and he nodded.
"Go on".
"Yes, well apparently an article on two diamonds weighing about 189.62 carats, a white and a red diamond, was first published in the 1578", Before going on, he handed her a re-print of an old newspaper dated 1578.
"it's first public appearance, along with the white diamond that is; orlov diamond, where it was believed to have been minned around that time in india. Both Stolen by a Hindu priest around 17th century, later sold to a merchant named Afanasiev. Now, the thing is, it didn't say if the priest sold both the diamonds to the merchant. Only the orlov diamond was accounted for. Everyone forgot about the red diamond, that is the Ḥajar 'alf lahab diamond, until April 10th 1912".
Red looked up from the newspaper she was studying, "Titanic?"
"Yes, amazing isn't it?", He said, handing her another old newspaper print of a group of people posting for a picture close to the Titanic. He used a marker to circle out a young woman from the crowd; she was wearing a huge neckpiece with an enormous stone.
"That it?" Red asked, pointing her manicured long finger at the jewelry hung around the woman's neck.
"Yup,miss Rosemary Watsons Muñoz, daughter of a very wealthy Spanish nobel family. Apparently, it was gifted to her upon her betrothal to an Arabian prince; how they came to own it, no one knows. Sadly, she was on board the Titanic when it sank; the jewelry apparently was lost again.
"Let me guess, it's found again" she raised a brow at franky.
"Apparently, the Arabian prince who lost his beloveth became distorted with grief and madness, found a way to reclaim his beloveth Rosemary Watson's remains, along with the Ḥajar 'alf lahab, during the many several expeditions that followed after the Titantic sank, probably around 1930-40s", he paused, taking a sip of his drink before continuing.
"So, the diamond returned back to the Arabian prince around that period. But within that period, he was so grief, he took his own life. The diamond,apparently, since then has been past down through far-flung family member and relatives around the world".
Frankly pulled up another news paper, but it was a current newspaper this time, a cut-out of a picture of man standing on a Podium.
I've tracked the diamond to him", Franky tapped on the picture of the man.
"Mr. Aiden Asghar Wells"