Sharon did not recognize the voice on the other side. She had never heard it before, that, she was certain of. And the only thing that felt normal, the only thing that could be discerned from it was its gender, and it was male. But it was heavy, metallic, and flat. In short, it was a voice that had been distorted.
But despite that, despite only hearing it for the first time, despite it having only said one seemingly casual sentence, Sharon's heart skipped a beat, then tightened, then it started dropping slowly, ever so slowly, but relentlessly.
"Two choices: watch everything you have built come crashing down, including your life, and take a trip to taste the food and the atmosphere in the women's prison, or succeed, no matter what you would have to do. The requirement remains the same as before, and the choice is yours. But no more delay, only results."
*Beep*
The call was cut off, leaving Sharon frozen as though the world had stopped. A whirlwind of emotions swirled inside her, the only one absent among them being surprise. Somewhere in her mind, she had been expecting that sword to drop, so she was unsurprised. However…
Slowly lowering her hand, Sharon looked down at her 'friend' who remained crouched beside her in the rather desolate café. Taking a deep breath, she schooled her expression, and ignoring the expectant look beneath the pitiful display, she spoke as she turned to pick up her bag, her voice devoid of any fluctuation:
"Go back, and behave yourself. Close any position that seems dubious and take no new one. No, actually, close any and all positions we can disengage ourselves from. Stop any further activity and wait first. I will take care of everything. We will talk about the rest later."
With that, Sharon stood up and walked out of the cafe without so much as a glance back at her friend again.
Sheila remained crouched beside the seat the blonde left and watched her back until the latter disappeared, and only then did she stand up. But as she stood up, her pitiful, tear-streaked face changed into one of calm indifference. With one last glance at the door, she returned to her seat and calmly took out a tissue to wipe her face.
As she took a sip of the now cold coffee with none of the previous tremor besetting her hands, she looked like a different person. Gone was the desperate wreck. The only feeling she was giving now was that everything was under control.
Raising her hand with poised and practiced grace again, Sheila drained another sip of the mix of coffee and milk. As she put the cup down, her phone on the table rang.
*Ring~ Ring~ Ring~*
Turning the screen up, a ripple passed through her hazel eyes, before she answered with a smile:
"Dear."
Though the voice was calm with no sweetness at all, the one on the other side didn't mind as he went straight to the point:
"Has she left?"
It was a young man's voice, clear, and without the emotionless maturity of the voice that spoke to Sharon earlier.
Raising her other hand to look at her nails, Sheila let out casually:
"Hm, she has left."
"Did the plan work? Will she take on the noose willingly?"
"I suppose? Though she wants to minimize the consequences should things go wrong and the worst happen."
Though she replied with uncertainty, Sheila didn't seem worried at all, and the young man on the other side noticed it.
"It doesn't matter, that's a good enough result. I will see you tonight."
"Oh~ I miss you already~"
*Beep*
Lowering her phone, Sheila's smile deepened. She drained the rest of her coffee and stood up while picking up her bag. Without looking back either, just like Sharon before, she walked out of the cafe, only, with a satisfied smile on her face, one that grew when she noticed the many gazes she made turn on her way.
_ _ _
_ _ _
Sharon didn't know how long she had walked. She could only thank the clouds above for having dulled the harshness of the sun rays and allowed her to lose herself in the labyrinth of her trouble.
Walking slowly, she searched the ground for a stone to kick so as to distract herself, but nowadays, only in the countryside were those easy to find. Or on work sites.
The corner of her mouth twitched at the childish thought her mind came up with, but the smile failed to materialize in the end. Instead, it turned into a bitter ripple that left her sapphire blue eyes dim with exhaustion.
She could call the police, try asking it to help her out of the unfair situation, but though she might or might not gain anything, much less be saved, she would certainly lose everything, and most probably, without even managing a state of mutual destruction with the source of all her troubles.
It didn't even matter if those on the other side had no influence inside the police, or if they would use it to suppress her. What mattered was that she was in the light, and they were in the darkness, armed and powerful enough to destroy her, as that voice said on the phone. It was so suffocating. It was like drowning, but with a stone tied to her feet and dragging her down, a heavy stone that gave her no way to even see hope of saving herself.
As for getting saved by someone?
"Heh…"
Sharon let out a bitter smile. There had always only been her, and her mother. And the latter…
Now, would she have to take the path she had been refusing to even consider? Would she have to do what she had always disdained? Actually, her bitter smile grew, even if she were to accept the fate of using her body to reach her goal, even if she were to try to honey trap Alex Lenner, heir of one of the most powerful families there was, would she even manage to seduce him? That guy was a playboy who had seen it all and tasted it all. What did she have that would even get his attention? Moreover…
This time, Sharon felt like crying, but not for anything other than the embarrassment just at the memory of what happened that night a month ago. It was mortifying. She would not even be able to try and deceive that man after the catastrophic failure of that night. And without deception, would that even be a honey trap or gift, a surrender?
Sharon blushed so much that she wanted to find a corner to bury herself away from sight.
*Ring~ Ring~ Ring~*