0.13

she felt dead.

ever since seeing those pictures, a fire was lit under her ass. the more she stayed working in her office, the less she slept. the more meetings she attended, the less she ate.

anyone who had the daunting task of stepping into her office would be greeted with the overflow of empty coffee cups, papers sprawled on the floor, half-eaten ramen cups, and her overflowing trash can.

karla's office had gotten messy before, but never this bad. even the air freshener couldn't mask the stale odor of old food.

"oh my gosh, karla. you're disgusting." ezra said in disgust. "get your ass up and come hang out with me."

"no. i've got to finish this last—"

"touch one more piece of work and i'm kicking you in the throat. there's a reason why i'm your assistant, dumbass."

which had led her here: at the gun practice range with an extra 'friend' of hers that ezra decided to bring along.

scarlett.

karla was sick of the way the red-head constantly grinned and joked around— like she wasn't concerned that the mafia was at risk of going into a serious conflict with this unknown person.

she hated that scarlett was so well-liked around here. why did everyone like her so much? she was loud, obnoxious, and annoying. extra emphasis on annoying.

and worst of all: karla hated the way scarlett was so close to gwen.

it pissed her off.

sure, they had met when scarlett was on a mission, so they became friends— so what?

that didn't mean scarlett had to hang around her all the time by bringing her favorite food, buying her (mostly) everything she wanted, and complimenting her on everything.

that was her job.

"jesus, karla. you're going to break the trigger of that gun," ezra remarked.

karla looked down at her finger holding onto the trigger, slowly turning white. "mind your business. i'm just stressed."

ezra opened his mouth to say something, yet scarlett cut him off. "i can't see why, we're just getting things ready. we haven't even done anything that crazy yet."

"easy for you to say that when you're not the work doing the hard work." karla gritted her teeth before continuing. "i should've cut your damn finger off when i had the chance."

scarlett feigned a laugh. "and what would you gain from that? what use do i have with a missing finger or two?"

"maybe you'd keep your mouth shut a little more."

"both of you. cut it out." instructed ezra, watching the two.

"please, you wouldn't do anything in the first place." scarlett slyly said. "besides, what would i tell gwen? that her little 'girlfriend' cut one of my fingers off? she'd be so concerned about me."

"the fuck did you just say?" karla narrowed her eyes at scarlett, lowering her gun from the target in front of her.

scarlett smirked. "imagine how gwendolyn would feel. the look of disappointment and anger she'd have towards you for hurting me. her friend."

karla glared at scarlett dead in the eyes, a burning feeling in her chest. she threw her arm out and clutched it around the collar of scarlett's shirt, pulling the red-head up to her face to the point her feet were barely touching the floor.

"keep her name out of your fucking mouth." karla hissed, accent slightly coming to the surface.

"ha, why not? you jealous of—"

before scarlett could escape the grasp, karla slammed her fist into the side of scarlett's face.

karla reloaded the gun in her hand. "one more word, and this bullet will go in your head."

before things could escalate, ezra tore scarlett's shirt from karla's grip. "calm the fuck down. put that energy into something else." he quietly examined scarlett's red face, the imprints of karla's fist still on her face, and shook his head.

"actually, i think it's better if we get up and leave."

karla shoved the gun in her back pocket and stomped out the door, leaving scarlett's discarded body on the floor and ezra following behind her.

they walked to the car in silence, and finally, ezra broke it. "be lucky, i let you get one hit on her. she's important for the future, we need her."

"important or not, she needs to shut the hell up. who does she think she is?" karla shot back.

"don't let her get under your skin. she's just being a bitch, you know that. once we get this under control you could kill her if you want to."

"never invite her annoying ass again." karla pulled the seat belt across her chest. "besides, why the hell would she bring up gwendolyn? do you think they've done anything?"

ezra sighed. "do you hear yourself right now? out of all people, what makes you think that gwendolyn would... how do i say this... 'cheat' on you? she's one of the nicest people i've ever met. scarlett's just trying to make you mad and it's working, you idiot."

"you're right, i'm stupid as hell. " admitted karla.

"yeah, took you long enough to notice."

▢▢▢

lips set in a focused pout, gwendolyn patted the wet soil against the plant's roots gently, making sure the plants were refreshed.

it was the usual site karla saw almost every day: gwendolyn taking little packs of seeds and planting them in the once decorative vases around the hallways.

and honestly, karla didn't mind. it made everything brighter, the whole place was in desperate need of colors.

she came up behind the busy bumblebee and pulled her in a tight embrace, her head staying in the crook of gwen's collar as they swayed back and forth.

"hi, karla!" gwen shyly grinned, familiar with the strong arms hugging her from behind. "isn't the flower so pretty?" she pointed to the red begonia.

"they all smell good and are pretty, but you're much prettier."

"such a sweet talker," blushed gwendolyn. "what'd you go out and do? you didn't stop by like usual."

karla bit her lip. "we went out for practice gun shooting. me, ezra, and scarlett."

"oh? how was it? sounds like fun mafia-y greatness," gwen quipped.

karla dug her head further into gwen's neck. "made me feel like dying."

a small gasp escaped out of gwendolyn's mouth as she turned around in karla's hold. "oh gosh, was it that bad? what happened?"

gwen took the gloves off her delicate hands and cupped karla's frowning face. "honestly, a whole lot of shit going on at once with nothing going right."

listening to karla, gwendolyn placed all the seeds into the plastic bin on the floor and nodded her head. "follow me, we can't just be talking in the middle of the hall like this."

once they were situated on the cushions under the daybed window, they lay next to each other, knees almost touching.

"so, tell me all about it."

and karla did. from the very moment she got the news of her spies being killed, to planning the ball on her own and even to the petty moment she had with scarlett.

but she left one part out.

the stalking.

i'll tell her about it later. she decided. she doesn't need to be stressed with my problems.

"honestly, it's just the weight of everything coming down at once. i know i shouldn't complain, but... "

light pecks were covered onto karla's nose bridge. "you don't need to feel guilty because of stress. it's normal to feel like this in the first place. you're human after all, an amazing one at that."

gwen let karla rest her chin atop her head until she calmed down. "take things one step at a time. you don't have to feel like you're doing everything on your own. you have support all around you like this whole mafia, ezra, and me even! you're an awesome person, and i know you can do it."

karla nodded her head sleepily. "yeah, you're right. maybe i'm just overreacting."

"no, i don't think you are," gwendolyn said gently. "and i don't want you to think that, okay?"

right at that moment, karla felt her heart flutter uncontrollably at gwen's words. "okay."

"i want you to know that i don't care how many times you have to talk to me about your problems. for whatever is going on, i'll always listen."

gwendolyn moved karla's head against her chest, and as she did, one thought ran through her mind.

she's making my heart melt.

"your chest feels so soft." she sleepily grumbled resting her hand on gwen's breast.

"guess you're feeling better, huh?" gwen said, small smile laced on her face.

karla nodded her head, nuzzling her face against gwen's chest even more."much better."

and after a few minutes, her breathing started to slow, and she fell asleep on gwen's chest.

┈┈┈┈․°🌹°․┈┈┈┈

quick question: who is your favorite character so far?

please vote and write any comments, i love to read them!

and i think you guys will really enjoy next chapter... no spoilers tho 😉