Thalia

I felt a wave of misery surge over me as Fiona walked into the room in her sports bra and leggings. That's all I'd been seeing her in for the past week. Leo was not joking when he'd told me about training. Fiona was literally WORKING me. All we did from sunup to noon was various training and sparring exercises. I don't even remember doing this much exercise back in high school P.E. But everyone told me that it would pay off when I could drop kick and asshole in my sleep.

I didn't believe them.

"Okay!" Fiona said, placing down the kale smoothie she was holding. She tightened her ponytail and clapped her hands together. "Don't look too excited, now." She frowned as she saw my tired expression.

"Oh, I'm ecstatic." I muttered.

"Come on, Tal! This is great! Two girls chilling and working on their abs and hot bodies! I think you got lucky! You could have gotten stuck training with Rhys, Corey, or one of my bonehead brothers first. And they're not as mellow as me when it comes to stuff like this. They literally make everything a competition. A rough, rowdy, stupid competition." Fiona said, trying to lift my spirits.

"Okay, first off, Fiona, usually, it's just me working on my abs. You literally already have not only abs, but toned calves and arms too." Fiona looked down at herself as I spoke before sheepishly rubbing the back of her neck.

"I mean, look at us, Fiona. You look like a goddess and I have hip dips, a slightly pudgy stomach, and a baby face. The only one working on their hot body is you! I'm just doing this for protection purposes, and I can barely manage that! I can barely even keep my initial stance right! How the hell am I supposed to hold my own in a fight at this rate?" I ranted, running my fingers through my hair.

Fiona was silent for a moment before she walked over to me and placed a hand on the small of my back. "Thalia, I'm so sorry. I didn't know that you felt like that." I turned my head away. "But look, baby face, hip dips, and a pudgy stomach look great on you!" Fiona beamed. I gave her a deadpan look and she shrunk away. "Sorry. I'm not great at talking about insecurities." She muttered.

I turned away. "It's fine." I replied softly.

It was quiet between us again before I heard some rustling behind me. I turned around to see Fiona gathering her things together. "I may not be good with talking about insecurities, but I sure as hell can send that bitch back where she came from. Leo didn't say we ONLY had to teach you how to fight. He said we can teach you our skills too! Well, guess what? I'm going to teach you my trade!"

She extended her hand to me and I slowly took it. "I'm going to teach you how to be a master manipulator, using your looks!"

She began to drag me towards her room and it was then I realized why. She was changing.

"Are we going out?" I asked as she opened her closet door.

"Yeah. we can't do field training in this house." Fiona cooed as she walked into her maze of a closet, me following suit.

"But Leo said I was supposed to be on house arrest." I protested as Fiona began to shuffle though her clothes.

She turned to me with a smirk. "What Leo doesn't know won't hurt him."

_ _ _ _

"This looks like a good place!" Fiona grinned, pulling into the parking lot of a familiar club. My heart stopped for a moment as I recognized it as the place I met Peter and the boys. It was also the place where Toni worked, and the last thing I wanted was a run in with her.

"You good, Thalia?" I turned to Fiona at the sound of her voice and nodded.

"Yeah. Just...scared I guess."

Fiona smacked her lips. "Because of what, girl? You look like a bad bitch! I mean, gold is really your color!"

I looked down at my tight-fitting gold dress that Fiona had picked out for me. It was indeed beautiful and hugged my figure in all the right places, but I couldn't help but feel nervous. Why were we at a club of all places? What was she planning?

Fiona and I excited the car and walked into the club. The pounding music reverberated through our bodies and Fiona's grin grew wider. "You want drinks, girl?" She asked.

"I thought you were training me how to manipulate." I deadpanned.

"And we are!" Fiona chirped. She tapped her chin with her finger as she surveyed the crowd. Her brown eyes narrowed, causing her to look more like a lion looking for its next meal than a woman at the club. Suddenly, she snapped her fingers.

"Aha!" She exclaimed. she pointed across the room to where a man was sitting at a table by himself, an alcoholic beverage in hand.

"He's your target."

I looked at Fiona with a furrowed brow. "What are you–"

"Get him to buy you a drink." She said bluntly. Her eyes sparkled with mischief and she was smiling as though she hadn't just made such a bizarre request.

"Wait, what?" I demanded, my voice cracking a bit.

"You heard me." Fiona grinned. "Go on, little butterfly! Go spread you wings and exploit your good looks to get what you want! That's the premise of manipulation, using what you have to get the other person to do whatever they can to get what you want for you."

"That...that doesn't make any sense." I said.

"Yeah it does! Fiona refuted. I opened my mouth to protest her statement again, but she promptly shoved me in the direction of the man's table. "Go!" She stated again.

"Okay, okay, I'm going." I huffed. I sighed and stood up a bit straighter. 'Use what you have.' I thought. 'But what do I have?'

Before I knew it, I was standing in front of the man's table. Seeing my shadow looming above him, he turned to look at me before raising a brow. "Can I help you?" He asked. His expression was stoic, and he looked slightly annoyed. I felt myself freezing up, but I forced a small smile on my face. "You looked a bit lonely, so I'm here to offer my company." I said sitting down in the chair in front of him.

He looked me over from head to toe before his eyes met mine again. "Huh." He said simply, taking another sip of his drink and turning away from me.

I sighed quietly. I was losing him. "So," I began, hoping he would turn back to me. He didn't. "Why so melancholy?"

"No reason that concerns you." He said coldly.

Oh. Okay then.

I ran my tongue over my teeth before I put on that smile again. "A man of mystery, huh?"

His eyes met mine as he said, "No. Just a man who wants to relax in peace."

I blinked and looked away from him. Now how was I supposed to respond to that shit? This guy was being excruciatingly hard to read! I turned around in my seat to look for Fiona. I saw her sitting at the bar staring back at me. She gestured a thumbs up a me and smiled. I gave her closed lipped smile in return.

If only she knew.

I turned back to the man. 'Use what you have.' I told myself. He was having rough day, right? Maybe I could connect to him on that level.

"If its any consolation to you, I'm having a bad day today, too." I said, not looking up at him. From the corner of my eye, I could see him look up at me. "Things in my life aren't...the best right now."

"How so?" He asked. I turned to look at him and I could see his face remained as stone cold as ever, but his eyes twinkled with sympathy.

He was biting.

I took a deep breath. "My friends are all, how do I put this?" I thought. "Well, they're torn. There's this thing happening and we're all trying to keep each other safe, but we have different ideas on how to do that." I stopped and looked down at my feet. "We're tearing each other apart from the inside, and when the wreckage clears, it's not gonna be pretty."

The man was staring at me, now, fully attentive and hanging onto every word I said. "I feel like, I should be able to do more to stop this whole situation from happening, but every time I think it over, I end up with the conclusion that I'll make it all worse." I turned away from him and looked down at my feet. I had no clue why I was telling him all this. I'd gotten carried away. At least I worded it so he didn't know all of the details of my situation.

"So I'm assuming you believe the issue you guys are dealing with is your fault, then?" The man asked.

I looked back up at him with wide eyes. "Well, I wouldn't word it like that, but technically, yes. I am."

He nodded silently. "I see."

It was quiet between us for a few moments before he spoke up again. "I bet it's not completely your fault."

I turned to him just as he turned to me and our eyes met. "I bet you're just blaming yourself for something you can't control because you have no one else to blame." He turned his attention to his drink as he continued to speak. "I'm doing that right now."

"What do you mean?" I asked with a furrowed brow. Was he...opening up to me? Was it because I inadvertently spilled my problems to him?

"My wife," He began, his eyes darkening, "She has stage four lung cancer." My eyes widened as he continued. "I can't help but think its my fault, you know? I sat by and watched her smoke pack after pack of her cigarettes and did nothing. I tried to help her quit a couple times, but she always relapsed. Now she's dying." He took a shaky breath and continued. "I could have done more. Maybe sign her up for a program or something. I could never force her to go cold turkey. That would be too painful. But now, looking back, maybe I should have." I saw a tear fall down into his drink and he closed his eyes. "The doctors say she's got five months left to live and then," I saw his shoulders shake and I could tell he was trying not to cry, "Then she's leaving me."

My heart ached. This man was really so broken that he was spilling his feelings to a complete stranger. He wiped away his tears with the cuff of his suit and looked up at the ceiling.

"I'm...I'm so sorry." I practically whispered. "I-"

"Its alright." He said, cutting me off. "I've heard enough of the word 'sorry' to last me a lifetime. He smiled softly, but it didn't reach his eyes. "Anyway, I'm the one who should be sorry. I'm over here burdening you with my problems when you have our own to worry about. How selfish of me." He mumbled the last part, but I was still able to hear it.

"No, your problem is an issue that no one should have to burden on their own." I said before I could stop myself. "I don't know much about you or your wife aside from what you've just told me, but I know one thing for sure, its not your fault that it happened." He looked up at me as I continued. "Sometimes things like this happen and all you can do is accept them as they are. I know that they leave a wound now, but one day, you'll look back on those bad things and realize how much stronger they made you. I know you're upset at your wife's condition, and that's natural, but she'll always be here with you. She won't ever be truly gone as long as you hold her in your heart."

The man stared at me for a while before a small smile, one that was barely noticeable, found its way to his face. "I suppose you're right." He said, looking down at his glass. He turned to me and said, By the sound of it, I guess we both need a drink, huh?" He asked. I could tell he wasn't truly soothed by my words. There was no doubt in my mind that he'd heard them before. But I could tell that I'd eased his sorrows just a little bit. "What's your name, ma'am?" He asked.

"I'm Thalia." I replied with a smile.

"Well, Thalia, I'm Jacob, and I'd like to thank you for making my evening a bit brighter.