Chapter 3 FIXED ON YOU: CASSIDY

The thick smell of cigarettes hit me the moment that I walked into my apartment. I did not smoke and I did not drink either. I hated the smell of both, but the boys that lived next to me had a very huge appetite for it. My apartment was tiny, the wallpapers were peeling and my rotten mattress laid miserably on the floor, and the most annoying thing about the room was the fan that made noise as it spun, but I could not switch it off because the room was congested and hot.

I dropped my heavy bag on the floor, and I kicked off my sneakers and flopped onto the mattress. The encounter with Hayden Lancaster was playing over and over again in my head. The way his eyes searched mine as though he was trying to know what was going on in my mind, like he wanted to know all my secrets. There was something scary, yet thrilling about it.

I turned my face to the ceiling, wondering it my decision to work at Lancaster was the right one. I mean, it paid better than any other job I have ever had and I could survive on it for a very long time since I only had myself to take care of, but something about the place made me feel like there was danger lurking around in the shadows. I did not like the feeling I got from the place, but it was too late to back out. The job was the only way I had to having a more comfortable future than the one I had now.

I glanced at the note that I had put up on the wall-a note I had written to myself the night that my mother kicked me out of the house. "You are not trash, Cassie. You are worth it." I said it to myself everyday, but I still did not believe. How come my own mother did not want me? How had she believed a man that she had only known for three years over her own daughter.

I got off from my bed to get ready for work. One more night of sleezy drunks trying to touch me and then I would be free. I closed my eyes, deciding to get some rest before getting ready for work, but when I did, all I was met with were cold, icy eyes.

***

HAYDEN

I closed the door to my penthouse and threw my keys on the table. The sound of the locks engaging behind me were very comforting-it meant that I was now in my safe place where nobody could ever reach me.

The moment I sat down, hazel eyes popped into my mind again. The memory of her face and her eyes haunted me. There was something broken in her eyes. She was not weak, but there was something delicate about her, something that made me want to handle her with care. She did not look at me the way everybody else looked at me-with fear or with seduction, but rather, she looked at me with discomfort, like being in my presence made her nervous.

I poured myself a glass of scotch and walked over to the window that overlooked the city. The glass was cold beneath my fingertips as the beads of condensation slid down the glass. My reflection stared back at me in the window. I looked tired, probably from the countless sleepless nights. I could not remember the last time I had blissful rest.

I had a job to do the next night, somebody wanted somebody dead because they had become a liability to them. That was all this business was about-rich people who had people in their way and wanted to get rid of them and so they hired me.

I enjoyed the thrill of the kill, but I also enjoyed the mystery of nobody knowing about my life. It made me feel free in a way that I could not explain. Thinking of different ways to end a life... it was something that I lived for and with the life I lived, I could not afford any distractions, especially not the woman who had been on my mind for the whole day.

My phone buzzed and I pulled it out of my pocket to see a it was an encrypted message. "Client confirmed. Payment will be made immediately after the job is done to an offshore account."

I stared at the message for a while before I deleted it. Another life that would soon be taken. It has been over a decade and the thrill hasn't worn out. Being a killer was now a part of me.

I told myself that I did this because I had to keep Lancaster Inc. running and the money helped me pay my workers very well and live a very comfortable life, but deep down I knew the truth and that was I just liked the peace that came with taking a life.

A thought crossed my mind, taking me by surprise. How would the lady from today react if she knew about my past? Why I cared about what she thought about me was something I wasn't ready to understand. But I was watching her, it was only a matter of time before I would know everything about her.

***

CASSIDY

The bar was unusually full for a Monday night. A football match was on. A match between Liverpool and Manchester United that would soon cause a fight to break out before half-time. I wiped the counter for the fifth time in less than ten minutes. I was exhausted-my feet hurt and my back too, I just wanted this day to be over so I could get some rest.

I was halfway through my shift when the bar opened and a cold gust of air came into the bar. I knew it meant more customers, but I didn't look up to check who had come it. I was busy attending to my regulars, calculating how many hours I had left till I could leave this place forever and never look back. I was deep in thought when I heard a voice that I would recognize even in my sleep.

"You have the worst taste in hangout spots, Sheffield."

My head snapped up immediately and I saw Hayden Lancaster, and almost as though he could feel my presence, he looked in my direction and our eyes locked.