There is a certain comfort when solid cash, the rough surface of the currency, passes under your fingers. It is a marker of another day spent with food in the belly and a roof over head. She smiled up at the customer slightly, her dark lips barely moving but her eyes expressed it enough, big and bright, lines in all black, as if permanently etched there.
The girl opposite her smiled brightly, "how do I use it?"
Her smile did not waver as she said, "It comes with an instruction manual, so they should have anything on there."
The girl in front of a quick curt nod, before rushing away.
Perhaps with such a purchase, one was being afraid of being seen by someone they knew. A girl more than most. The delivery girl folded the notes and slid them in her pocket, eyes far away as she went in the opposite direction. It was long time, more than two blocks, before she turned and paused. Two men blocked her path. One had a boyish face. Thick cheeks, big eyes, a battered lip and a lopsided smile made for a delinquent look. The other had a mix of unremarkable and remarkable features, a bony nose and jaw with small eyes and sunken cheeks, something of the handsomeness hiding under the various cuts on his face. He stepped forward first, "how did it go?"
"Same as ever, smooth sailing."
The men exchanged a look and burly guy rubbed his neck, "we found the address of that place you asked us to."
The girl raised a extra dark bow and whipped out her phone, "yeah. I got it. I will head out then."
She had barely taken a step when handsome one blocked her path. "Um… there is something else."
She waited and the men exchanged a nervous glance. She narrowed her eyes, "did you cause more trouble?"
She poked a finger right into the guy's rib and he winched, "you haven't even healed from the last fight."
The other guy shook his head quickly, "no. Noooo. We didn't fight. It is just that… that… that guy who studied with you… wanted to hire us… you… to protect someone."
She rolled her eyes, "no."
"That's the thing, we said NO."
She narrowed her eyes and one of the broke quicker than the other. "We did. We did really. But he had a good reason. The person he want to protect is woman and he has been through enough security agencies. That didn't work out, not to mention, he doesn't want to hire someone unfamiliar. Naturally someone closer to her age would be better choice, or someone younger. Besides, we already took the money."
She glared and two boney hands landed on her shoulder, "Aria. You said you wanted a job, a better job than this one. This is a good opportunity. It pays well."
Aria glared at the man right in front of her and his hands fell, "I don't mind the job, I mind him. Did you forget that live broadcast of my rejection?"
"Who knew the mic was on. Come on. This way you can redeem yourself?"
"Redeem…" she laughed, unable to form words in her exasperation. "Why do I have to redeem myself? Just because the whole college says that I bullied him doesn't mean I did."
"He knows it too which is why he is hiring you."
Aria grit her teeth for a moment, unable to make them understand the problem, "no. I can't stand to see him everyday. Sister or not. I…"
"Please. We need the money even if you don't. Just this month."
She glared at them and bumped past them, trying not to kick her heel into the ground in frustration. She knew they needed the rent. She couldn't be angry at them. She wasn't even upset at the guy she used to like. It more like she knew how much everyone would talk behind her back if she took this job.
PING!
She looked at her phone- text from Loc.
"Uhhhh….." she groaned in frustration but as she opened the text, it was nothing more than the address of the company she was going to.
She texted back, "how much?"
Loc texted back quickly, "20 per month."
Her eyes widened. They could each get their rent sorted in that much money and still have some to spare. As she weighed the pros and cons of working for her past crush, getting gossiped about for the remaining year vs living worry free, she waved a taxi in and passed on the address of the company. She settled back and opened a website backpage, scrolling through the orders section, her thumbs moving faster than possible, filting through pages, left and right, working on some kind of order delivery, pick up and drop, addresses one after another, copying and pasting. It seemed endless but she closed the screen and looked up to find the taxi had stopped and they had arrived.
The area was empty. Her heart kicked at the lone light dangling between two buildings, each looked new and old, in their own way. She looked at the driver, who, instead of looking suspicious, was looking around worriedly. "Madam. This is where the address says. Are you sure, this is where you need to go?"
"Give me a moment," she said, one hand in her bag, wrapped around a small foldable knife while other scrolling through her phone, address already in maps.
"The location is right. Sir. Thank you."
The old man looked about his windows worriedly and Aria looked at him worriedly. "I can wait for you here. These maps and all are not always reliable."
She slid out of the car and quickly out of the door, unsure if she should get back in or not. She needed to get out of such a secluded place but relying on herself would be better than to get back inside a car in a secluded place.
She looked about. The small mountains of construction material and dug out earth piles made the area look secluded when in fact it was between the edge of red light district and city's centre. She check on the map and turned to satellite view. Sure enough it showed a structure, small and rectangular, as if one. She stepped forward and tried the door of one, the hinges cringed and the thing opened up. There was nothing inside, except pitch black. She turned and smiled at the driver, "thank you."
The driver looked about worriedly before turning his car and driving away, looking back a couple times. She closed the door in the darkness, stood for a moment, then came out. The entire space was empty. The small shed adjacent to the door didn't have any visible door, so she walked around it.
Indeed, on the other side, there was a door. As she tried it, it was locked. There was no company here. Her friends had truly made a mistake with the company address. A wrong street or even a wrong number could change the location drastically. Before she could decide between calling her friends or leaving, something skidded on the dirt path. She leaned sideways and looked at the sleek black sedan roll into the spot. Looked like someone else was led to the wrong address.
She walked around the building, heading to the front, straight for the car as it turned around and parked properly.
She wasn't far from the vehicle when the driver stepped out. A suited old man, with greying sideburns and wrinkle lines on his temple and cheeks.
"Wrong address sir." she called and the old man's eyes snapped up, firs surprise and then something else. Something beyond surprise. Shock. He stepped back a moment before his eyes shifted inside, towards the back seat.
Aria had an odd feeling. The feeling of finding herself in a bad situation, a situation she was waiting for with the cab driver crept up on her now. She knew by the dodgy look in the man's eyes.
ESCAPE. Her mind screamed.
RUN. She debated between making a run for it and talking her way out, when the old man smiled with ease, his loose, well worn coat slid off his shoulder.
Aria changed her tune very quickly, "ah. You must live here at the construction site. Sorry. I took you for someone who got a wrong address like me."
She raised her hand and waved it in the air with an awkward smile, while the other hand went into her bag. The old man's eyes followed her weaponed hand. His easy smile vanished into a sharp look, as he looked at something behind her.
"Now." the old man called.
Aria ducked and ran sideways. She looked up over her shoulder to see a tall burly man had slipped up behind her, his face covered in darkness, a hammer in his hand, as it met empty air mid swing.
Kill… they were going to kill her. Why?
"Ah."
Something hit the back of her neck. The hammer!
She fell forward, instinctively throwing her hand forward, fighting against the stars in her eyes and the pain in the back of her head.
Die. She thought she was going to die as the small shine of the lone bulb extinguished from around her.