Carrie

     The man whose name I later found out to be Gus looked at me with accusation in his eyes making my heart bump twice as fast.

     “You’re the one I saw in the elevator with Mr. Don…” he trailed off, seeming to forget exactly what he was trying so hard to remember.

     “Nice to see you” I said immediately and sat down, avoiding all eye contact. For a moment I thought he had recognized me from the days I had spent in the dark and done things I still dreamed of at night.

     He was about to say something when his friend nudged him, he huffed but didn’t look away from me. He could swear it wasn’t in the elevator he had first seen me, but I hoped on the big guy upstairs that he didn’t remember.

     “Order something, they have a really mean lasagna, you’ll love it” Frank said, I smiled and said thanks before picking up the menu casting Gus a side glance.

     The chatter resumed, everyone laughing at something the other said. It wasn’t until the said something about a package that my interest peaked. I let my eyes wander across the menu pretending to be deep in thought while my ears hung on every word they spoke.

     “They say it’s coming today, I don’t know how true that is” another with curly blonde hair spoke, trying to whisper but failing at it because even someone two tables away could hear him.

     “Say what it is this time?” Gus asked, finally turning his attention away from me. I breathed out in relief.

     “I don’t know, Chris didn’t say. I don’t know who’s going to pick it up” the blonde guy said. Gus nodded as if in deep thought over what the guy said.

    “Maybe it’ll be Car this time, he’s the new assistant” Frank said, turning everyone’s attention back to me.

     “You can’t keep something to yourself, can you?” Gus hissed at him. “What if he didn’t know about the package, now you’ve spilled the entire tea.

     “I’m Mr. Don’s assistant” I said simply, hoping that the vague answer will somehow make them think that I was already aware of the package.

     “You see” Frank mused “she already knows what is going on” he crossed his arms across his chest and glared at Gus who didn’t seem content with what I said. I had to be aware of him now, the last thing I wanted was someone snooping around and finding out my secret and that I was actually a girl.

     “I heard it’s firearms this time” the blonde guy said, stealing their attention and my ears once again. “I heard Mr. Zaverelli is expanding his base, the coming weeks are going to be even busier” he continued. While he was talking Gus stood up, it was only then that I noticed the small, wrapped parcel that he was now holding.

     I waited a few minutes before I excused myself and followed him to the restroom. When I entered the otherwise small space, I felt someone push me and in a second my back was slammed on the wall, knocking the breath out of me.

     “What do you think you’re doing?” Gus asked in an angry tone, almost baring his teeth at me like he was some sort of animal.

     “I just want to relief myself” I answered him calmly “Why do you think I entered here?” I asked him this time around. He looked away and released the hold he had on me.

     “Do your business and get the hell out of here” he said. I straightened my shirt and entered the restroom, watching Gus cuss under his breath as he watched me.

    I squatted on the floor as I heard another set of footsteps enter the restroom and the main door close shut. I peeped through the keyhole but was only able to see nothing. I bent on my knees and looked through the small space between the floor and the door.

     I saw another man whose back was turned to me, talk to Gus in a hushed tone. It was hard to make out what they were saying with all the whisperings. After a lot of hushed argument between the two, Gus gave the man the parcel he had been holding earlier.

     The man examined it, properly checking for any type of damage before nodding his head in approval. He was about to leave when he turned towards the stall I was in and looked down, straight at me. Like he knew I had been there all along. Then he left.

     Gus cussed before leaving. Whatever that exchange and the package they were talking about was, it held the key to the secrets I wanted to uncover. Then there was the look the man had given me which made me feel uneasy. It was a good thing I hadn’t taken my lunch yet, I would’ve probably thrown up from the chill going through my body. Something was going on underneath my family business, it was something illegal and something I wanted to expose.

     I flushed the toilet for good measure before stepping out of the stall. I was washing my hand when Frank entered looking worried.

     “Did anything happen?” I asked him immediately, all my sense becoming alarmed as I dried off my wet hands.

     He laughed nervously “No, it’s just… for some reason it feels like Gus does not like or trust you. Then you were both in the restroom and you still wasn’t out several minutes after him. I thought he did something to you”.

     I laughed at that, for a moment I had been really scared “You have nothing to worry about. I can take care of myself” I assured him.

     “You’re sure? It sort of feels like you’re my junior brother, you know ” he fiddled with the button on his shirt “I have this strange urge to protect you”

     I almost laughed at that, but I didn’t want to hurt his feelings. I didn’t need anybody to protect me. “You have nothing to be worried about” I said again, with a nod I left him in the restroom. My tummy grumbled just as I sat down at the table, maybe it was time to have that lunch I have been putting off.

     I was about to order when the chatter around me suddenly stopped. I looked up only to meet the steel eyes of Don. He just stood there, watching me. For a split second I wondered if he found out my secret, with how cold he felt it was almost like he wanted to kill me with ice.

     “Hey” I said with an awkward wave.

     He mouthed only one word that had me scrambling from my seat and following him out of the café. We got into his car that was parked across the street and we drove off.

     “Where are we going?” I asked when nobody spoke. My question was ignored as expected. I looked out of the window in order to occupy myself with something. The car finally came to a stop after 30 agonizing minutes.

     When I got out, we were standing in front of one of the most expensive restaurants in the city. Even I had a hard time getting a reservation here. I wanted to ask Don as we walked inside, how he had managed to get an opening in such short notice, but I kept the question to myself, he was going to ignore it anyway.

     Our table was at the farthest space out on the patio. I could see whoever entered the restaurant from there, but they couldn’t see us. That was when I realized that this the table had been chosen deliberately.

     “Order” Don said, putting one elbow down on the table and resting his jaw on his hand. He watched me intently as I picked up the menu. I ordered mac n’ cheese when the waiter came up and after that, we waited.

     He said nothing to me, he didn’t even order. He just sat there watching me eat, eating had never been so uncomfortable until this moment. When I was done, he paid then we walked back to the car. Did he find me out, then feeding me so I would be a good kill? I just wanted him to say something badly. To know if I was safe or not.

     It wasn’t until I turned back to the window that I recognized the neighborhood. It was the same one Don and I had stopped at earlier. The car rolled to a stop in front of the same old building that had chipped red brick walls.

     I watched Don bring out a package that was similar to the one Gus had been holding and give it to a figure whose face was covered by a hoodie. The car drove away after that and it hit me, not literally. Gus had been a decoy, this was the real transaction going on in this side of the town.

     Anybody really looking would follow Gus as a lead but at the end of the day, it were the bosses that was doing the real work. They were the ones that played with their hands dirty. That was actually well played, good thing I was on the inside.

     We got back to the company with Don looking at me all the way to his office. He motioned for me to lock the door when we were standing few feet apart in his office and I did so with trembling fingers.

     He tilted his head to the side whilst still looking at me. All the staring was beginning to make me nervous as hell.

     “what are you doing here?” he asked.

     My eyes widened at the question. “I don’t understand” I Squeaked.

     “I know who you are” he said.

     I froze with fear. How on earth did he even recognize me. I touched my glasses to make sure they were there still concealing my eyes. There was no way he would have recognized me, not with all these disguises.

     “I don’t think I get you” I said, much slower this time to prevent the fear I was feeling from revealing itself in my voice.

     He cracked his neck and walked farther away from me, circling his desk as he trailed his index finger along. “Who are you spying for?”

    Okay, now I was even more confused. “Spying?” I stuttered.

     “Going around, asking the boys of packages… I heard you. The extra interest in your eyes when you see me delivering parcels, that’s suspicious”.

     I sighed in relief. He didn’t know who I really was yet. “That was nothing sir, it was merely out of curiosity” I said, keeping my voice as deep as possible.

     “What did you do before getting employed here?” he asked.

     “I worked at a café on my street, downtown” I let the lie glide easily from my mouth as I maintained eye contact.

     “You seem to know the darker side of the city all too well” he said, he finally stood still in front of his table “I see the look on your face, it’s like you’ve been a part of it and you’ll like to forget that in a haste.

    He was partly right, I give him that. That had been my life a long time ago and I didn’t want to remember it. “That’s true sir, life hasn’t always been kind to me” I told him, playing the card he was dealing me with.

     “Can you fight?” he asked, throwing me off balance with the unrelated question.

     I shook my head “No sir”.

     “That is a lie” he said, laying emphasis on every word. “There’s something about you that I can’t quite figure out. You’re hiding something, I don’t know what it is, but it is dark and ugly” he said, his eyes steel cold, peering deep into my soul.

    I felt a chill as he said those words, I took a step back. He was doing something to me, and I didn’t like it one bit.

   “You wear these clothes trying to fool everyone” he continues, reaching for the empty flower vase that stood tall on his table “But, you don’t fool me”.

    He threw the vase.