Song: Don't Sit Down Because I've Moved Your Chair - Arctic Monkeys

(edited)

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Adelaide

—-

I don't know what he wanted with me but whatever it is, I couldn't do it.

I just needed the money.

With that money, I could finally know what it meant to create instead of take.

—-

"Are you ready?"

Jamie's voice sounded through the door as I wiped my palms on the waitress outfit I had on. 

My hair wasn't perfect but it would do. 

My blonde roots had started to show and I needed to hide them before we left to kill this American man. 

Even though it wasn't necessary to dye it because he probably wouldn't know that it was the server with the bad roots that poisoned him, I felt like I had to do it.

Jamie and Jaekyung had offered to come up to my bathroom to help with the process and I had reluctantly agreed even though neither of them had any experience in dyeing hair. 

By the end of the session, there was black hair dye splattered everywhere from the walls to the floor, to the ceiling.

The goddamn ceiling.

In the end, I had to take control, making them wait outside in my bedroom, them laughing their butts off and me annoyed at their childish antics.

I grabbed a few smaller knives and pulled up my shirt, strapping them on my stomach and stuffing them in my bra before tucking my button-up shirt back into the mini skirt I was being forced to wear.

Recently, Jamie had been warming up to me again, speaking to me now and then andI'd be lying if I said that my heart didn't flutter a little at the sound of his familiar velvety voice. 

As much as I would like to hate Jamie for the fact that he faked his death, in the end, we were working as a team and we needed to act like one if we wanted to finish the job and go our separate ways. 

I wasn't ready to let him back into my heart yet. 

For the time being, we could just coexist.

"Yeah," I replied.

He nodded curtly before making his way over to me and resting his hands on my shoulders. 

He looked into my eyes, dark to light.

"You'll do great tonight, Ads."

I didn't smile at his words, they didn't comfort me in the slightest. 

But then again, what exactly does one say to someone the night they're supposed to murder a person?

He sighed and his cheeks flushed a little before he said, "you need to undo some of the top buttons on your shirt."

I shrugged his hands off my shoulders, leaving the room before he could embarrass himself any further. 

I walked down to the entrance of the mansion where Romano and Jaekyung were waiting.

When walking down the winding staircase, I could feel the gaze of not only Romano but Jaekyung, looking me up and down, taking in my appearance. 

I don't blame them. 

The skirt I wore could hardly be called a skirt and my white button-up shirt already had multiple buttons undone, even though Jamie suggested I undid more. 

This outfit hardly left much to the imagination and yet I still managed to conceal three knives on my body.

I'm so good at my job.

"You need to undo more buttons, cavolo," Romano stated, not looking up to meet my eyes and gazing elsewhere on my body.

I cleared my throat and his eyes connected with mine.

"Eyes up here, Casanova." I teased, undoing a button.

His eyes flitted back down to my breasts.

"Another."

I undid another button.

"Another."

I scoffed at his suggestion and he looked back up at me with a smile on his face. 

"Worth a try." He muttered under his breath, leaving the house and making his way to the car.

Jaekyung was deathly silent before stalking outside after Romano. 

God, I thought, I wish I was wearing what she was. 

She was clad in a long elegant red dress with a sexy slit that reached halfway up her thigh. 

She looked smoking.

I looked like a tramp.

Jaekyung had been a relief for me in this group. 

Being stuck in a room with two men who had their heads up their arses and the biggest egos to exist wasn't as pleasant as one might think and Jaekyung being there, even though it seemed like she still hadn't warmed up to me, kept me sane.

She played an important role, being my eyes and ears of the night, feeding me information about anything suspicious or out of place.

 I would take her cold demeanour over an emotional amateur, she was truly a professional.

 There was no room for mistakes and we all knew it. 

Jamie had been tracking Fawker all week and yesterday Romano had gotten his hands on the drugs. 

All that was left was the follow-through.

I sighed making my way to the car, It's just one night, right?

The car ride was shorter than I anticipated and comprised of complete silence. 

The calm before the storm.

When we got there, I gave a quick nod to Jaekyung, a signal of respect before we parted ways. 

I adjusted the piece that was discreetly placed in my ear, my only way of communication.

I heard a small crackle as I casually blended in with the other servers in the room. 

The restaurant was large and had many smaller rooms peppered around one large main room, where the target would be seated. 

It was rush hour in the restaurant and many of the servers didn't notice the new addition to their crew.

"Testing, small cough if you hear. Over." Jaekyung's usually domineering voice seemed far away and small through the earpiece. 

She was reserved to sit at a table for one, close enough to Romano's to hear and see the conversation, picking up on anything that could and would go wrong. 

She was my partner in crime.

I coughed into my arm, picked up a tray and headed over to a random table.

"Target acquired. Approaching M.M now. Over."

M.M was the code name that we gave Romano. 

It stood for mafia man. 

The first time Jaekyung and I came up with that, we both broke out laughing, tears coming out of our eyes, but not now. 

Now, I was focused. 

I was here, I was alive, my blood was pumping. 

I was in the zone.

I picked up the water jug, prepared to spike it before Jaekyung's seemingly distant voice cut through my ear again.

"Target is not alone. Repeat, target is not alone. Hold off. Over."

I pulled my hand away from the jug and picked it up, serving water to others in the room. 

What did she mean he wasn't alone? 

To our knowledge, he was supposed to arrive without anybody else.

"Target has brought another man. Tall. 20s. Caucasian. Hold off. Over."

I forced myself to seem casual as if I didn't just hear that a single man could throw off our entire operation. 

The whole poisoning scheme was off if the other man also wanted water in his cup, extra casualties were never something to be proud of. 

Our operation was timed to the second, but with this extra complication, I could feel the possibility of everything going smoothly slip out of my grasp.

My mind was running a million miles a minute, trying to think of ways that we could overcome the small set back.

I could empty the jug so that there was only a little left and poison the small amount and therefore, only tipping up the target's glass and having to get another jug for the other man, but there were too many witnesses to me throwing out a perfectly good jug of water, I didn't need extra attention.

Servers were always oddly attentive.

I could pick up his food and hand it to him, sprinkling the poison on top except that another server had already been assigned to their table and I couldn't take the table over without more attention. 

Whatever I came up with had to be done quickly, we had already lost unwanted time with the confusion. 

There was only one way to get this done.

It was time to take matters into my own hands.

I walked past Jaekyung's table, letting my hand run over her shoulder before leaving and heading to the ladies bathroom. 

It was our signal of distress. 

Exactly four minutes later, she appeared and locked the door behind her.

Her face was worried, emotional. 

Mine was stoic and focused.

"Give me your dress and 5 euros."

Her face contorted into one of confusion but she didn't hesitate before she started to unzip her dress, handing it over to me. 

I stripped my clothes off my body and slid on her elegant dress. 

"There's been a change of plans," I explained, zipping up the dress with ease. 

It didn't fit me as well as it did with her but it would do.

"What are you going to do?"

I ran my fingers through my hair, trying to make it presentable and hopefully, alluring.

"What I do best, trust me." My voice felt foreign, cold, and commanding. 

If Jaekyung noticed, she didn't comment, only nodding at my statement.

"What do you want me to do?"

I looked at her straight in the eyes, "I need you to do what you've been doing already. You're my eyes and ears. Tell me when the target leaves the room, any helpful bits of conversation. Tell me anything you deem important and even if you don't think it is, tell me. I can't communicate back to you through this piece so I need as much information as possible to make this work."

She nodded, her lips forming a straight line.

"I'll be out of range of the earpiece for the next 10 minutes. After that, I should be back and running." I glanced at the door.

"Tell me everything of note that happened in the time I was out of reach. When I'm back, I'll take your place at the table and I will be able to hear their conversation for myself. Continue to report to me through the piece if anything serious comes up. Put the waitress outfit on and start serving." I pushed past her and took a stabilising breath.

I hope 5 euros is enough for this.

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200 views July 11th 2020.