002. CHEESE 

If Rory could only have one item on her list of things she would never allow herself to do, it would be fearing a man who was drunk off a power trip. Or anyone, for that matter. 

Anyone else would find him intimidating - maybe even scary. But not her. She found it humorous whenever she spotted one of his friends watching her. Cheese - the nickname she gave him while making dinner one night and realizing she didn't know his real name - would always park his car across the street from her apartment or her place of work. He probably thought he was clever; a true criminal hiding in plain sight at night, protected by his tinted windows.

Rory took a puff from her cigarette, leaning against the steel railing of her balcony. The car was parked across the street, just like always. Her mind wondered about what the point of all their stalking was - after all, they only followed her to two locations. Work and home. Did they not care about her trips to the grocery store? Inconsiderate criminals. They didn't even care to know that she was eating a well-balanced diet.

She knew they underestimated her. All men did. When they looked at her, all they saw was a pretty face. It didn't matter how many times she could outsmart them and prove that she was worth more than a trophy on someone else's arm. They would still look at her the same.

That didn't matter to Rory. Instead of viewing it as an obstacle, she viewed it as a strength. She didn't need to prove her worth to any man. Their ultimate stupidity allowed her to stay ten steps ahead.

Men were easy to fool. And men who thought they were the smartest in the room were always easier. And the dumbest. 

"Please tell me you're fucking coming out tonight," Benny whined. "Amber is driving me fucking insane. After this shift is done, I'll need a full bottle of vodka and, like, ten lines all to myself."

"Aw, poor boy," she cooed, "You know she's only going to get a hundred times worse when she finally fucks Johnny."

Johnny, the manager at Sal's and - of course - the owner's son was the walking definition of nepotism at its finest. He tried to sleep with every female he employed with the promise of a promotion. However, much to his disappointment, most girls were smart and turned him down, knowing they made far more money flirting with customers. Besides, there weren't enough showers in the world that would scrub off the feeling of his grimy hands on your body in exchange for a slightly higher wage and having to spend more time than necessary with him.

Rory could hear the flicker of his lighter from the other end of the call.

"You think she's gonna do it?"

"It's only a matter of time." She tapped the end of her smoke, letting the ash fall into the tray. "She's power hungry. I bet she orgasms to the thought of being in control over all our shifts. I can picture someone like her craving that feeling of control. Even if that's only at our shitty bar."

Benny let out an annoyed sigh. "I'm going to fucking quit."

"You say that every week."

"I know, I know," his voice was muffled by what she assumed was his cigarette between his lips. "Anyway, you'll come out and get fucked up with me after I'm done my shift, right?"

"Call me after and I'll see. I have something I need to do first," Rory said, eyeing the SUV.

After a quick goodbye, she hung up the phone and resumed her attention back on her target.

Poor Cheese. He had to be bored sitting in that car. His dedication to the horrible plan they were executing was at least - the slightest - admirable. Every single time she looked outside her apartment window or left the bar, his car was there. Watching. Waiting. But never making a move. How uneventful.

Rory had the urge to change that tonight. Putting out her cigarette, she went back inside her apartment and went towards the kitchen. Grabbing two snacks from her cupboard, she stopped by the mirror at her front door and quickly looked over her appearance. A quick pinch of her nipples to get the girls perked up through her tight tank top and Rory was out the door, skipping down the stairs of her apartment complex.

Stepping outside, she took a breath of the fresh air of the night and crossed the street, knocking on the car window. It slowly rolled down and she was elated by the surprised look she received.

"Hi!" her voice chimed. "I thought you might be hungry since you've been out here for - what? Four hours?" Her eyes found their way to the passenger seat. "Oh! I didn't realize you had a friend with you, Cheese!"

"What the fuck did you just call me?" The man in the driver's seat spat back with anger.

"Cheese!" Rory repeated in a cheerful tone. "I didn't know your name and, well, I felt kind of silly calling you my creepy-perverted-stalker," she heard his friend snort with laughter, "so, I was trying to think of something else to call you and, well, that just stuck!"

The heavily tattooed man was less than pleased hearing his new nickname. Her eyes roamed over him properly for the first time since the bar. Ink marks covered both forearms and travelled up his neck, which Rory assumed continued everywhere else on his body. There was even one just below his eye, in the shape of a teardrop.

Leaning closer to inspect the mark, she asked, "Did you get a tattoo of that to show off your sensitive side, Cheese?" Met with a heavy silence, her eyes travelled back to the passenger seat. "Ah, you were the pretend birthday boy, right? Impressed with your commitment to the bit." Rory extended her hand. "Nice to officially meet you..."

"Dallas," he said, "And this is Colson."

Rory was quick to note the moisture in his hand and the way his skin flushed red when she spoke directly to him. The eyeful of his chest he tried to sneak a glance at was a clear giveaway - a move she normally found distasteful, yet at this moment, saw it as her opportunity. He was flustered by her.

"Dallas," she repeated in a purr. "You must have one lucky significant other."

"I-I'm single, actually."

Her eyes lit up with amusement. "Really? Well, this is my lucky night then." Leaning further into the car, her arms pressed her breasts together, teasing the tops of her nipples to be exposed to him. "You should come watch me more often, Dallas. You know, I think we could make this more enjoyable for the both of us - we could have some fun together."

His eyes practically bulged out of their sockets. "Y-you do?"

"Mmhm," she said, batting her lashes at him. "When the weather's nice out, I like to sit out on my balcony and sunbathe. Maybe you could come up and help me with my tanning oil."

"S-sure I could!"

She gave him an innocent smile. "Really?" She faked a surprised look. "Oh, but I hope you don't mind. I hate tan lines. See?" Rory pulled down the straps of her tank top further than necessary to give him an example. "So, I always do it naked. I hope that's okay-"

"Alright!" Colson yelled from his seat, glaring at the girl. "Are you fucking done now?"

Rory pouted her bottom lip. "See, this is why I don't invite you to tanning time."

She noticed the way the angry man moved his attention to his phone. He had an incoming call, and Rory - rightfully - assumed she wasn't meant to be around for when he answered. Which is exactly why she decided to linger around for a bit longer.

"Don't you guys get, like, so bored sitting out here watching me all day? I'm sure you have much better things you could be doing."

"Rory-" Colson warned.

"I mean, isn't there this whole badass crime thing you guys are trying to pull off? Shouldn't you be getting ready to steal candy from a baby or push some kids off the swingset?"

The cell phone rang again and Rory noticed Colson immediately tensed.

"You can answer that."

"Rory, go."

She raised a brow. "Why? I don't mind. I'm sure Dallas can keep me entert-"

Before she had the chance to finish the word, a hand wrapped around her neck and shoved her upward, causing the back of her head to roughly collide with the inside roof of the car with a hard smack.

"Rory, I'm not going to fucking ask you again," Colson sneered, tightening his grip. "Go back to your apartment and don't fucking leave until it's time for work tomorrow. Got it?"

Begrudgingly, she nodded at his request. It was in her nature to keep fighting with him. However, the hit on her head had taken her by surprise, leaving her in more pain than she anticipated.

"Good."

She missed when that was followed by a certain someone calling her a "good girl" instead. At least that made the pain worth it.

Colson released his grip and pushed the front half of her body out the car window.

Swallowing her pride, she forced a smile onto her lips, knowing she had to pretend as if the recent exchange had not happened. "Bye Dallas!" Rory sweetly called out.

The moment she turned, the smile vanished from her face and her eyes narrowed. Rory would never let them see her sweat or break. In her world, that was a weakness. Dallas was easy. Cheese, aka Colson, was not. He was going to take more planning to destroy.

Slamming her apartment door shut, it was safe to say that Rory was enraged. If only she had a picture of the devil's smug face that she could print and put up on her dartboard to practice with. Rummaging through her junk drawer in the kitchen, she collected a few markers and the back page of an old phone bill she probably forgot to pay.

Her own art would have to do. His stupid green eyes had been in her mind since the moment she first spoke to him. The lime green colour she had wasn't a match, but it was her only option. It was more snake-like - it did a better job of showing off his true form. His stupid chiselled jaw was drawn next. She was sure was done by a plastic surgeon. There was no way that was real. To top off her drawing, she added his stupid hair, making sure it went down far enough to emulate how it looked in real life. 

If she was going to draw his stupid face, she had to do a realistic job. 

Her drawing would have been perfect if her hidden artistic talents had finally decided to appear and given her the ability to show that his hair was greasy. 

Instead, she had to settle for writing the word down and drawing an arrow, pointing at the top of his head.

To top off her art, she added his name in big letters at the top of the page.

Haroldina.

Rory held up her drawing, admiring her work. As she walked over to her dartboard and secured the image, she was giddy. Rolling the cool metal between her fingers, her eyes were fixated on the pointed edge. She knew her aim was good enough to throw it at the car Cheese was sitting in. Maybe hit him in the back of the head. Or the cheek. That would be funny.

But she would save that for the next time - because with how their last interaction had just gone, she was sure there would be plenty more to piss her off.

Lining herself up, her eyes narrowed as she focused on her target. With her arm winded back, a grunt left her lips as she threw the dart. Satisfaction washed over her once it landed exactly on her desired spot; right between his snake eyes.

"Bullseye," she proudly whispered to herself.

A perfect first hit made her feel better about her little recent embarrassment.

She despised most people, but especially those who treated her like she was a pathetic, dumb weak idiot. She was far from those things; she was strong and much smarter than the two eggheads and their psycho wannabe mafia boss combined.

All of this over a stupid - quite ugly and rusted - locket? That piqued her interest. She was determined to figure out why the piece of jewellery meant so much to Haroldina.

Rory Young was dangerous when something was of interest to her because she was never one to give up - even if that resulted in her death.

Another dart was thrown at the board, landing right on one of his snake eyes.

Harry had no idea what it meant to mess with Rory. And she was going to make it known.

The Devil had met his match. 

please vote if you enjoyed <3 twitter: @ normiesandwich

here's a little intro as to how Rory operates. i love her hehe.

anyway, because I can't stop making aesthetics, here is colson & dallas...

COLSON (aka cheese)

DALLAS