Between Love And Mission

It's a new day in the city of New York, and on one of Claire's worst days, in HQ, she sat on her drafting chair, going through files like a book worm she was not, well until now, " give me something!" she yelled as she banged her hands on the well-polished table before her, sending some loose sheet of paper up in the air.

She had just returned from her first failed mission, and couldn't dwell on failure as she combed her plans all over again. She had been the best field agent since she was 13 and wasn't known for making mistakes. I went through all this, she thought as she went through the soft copies on her laptop.

Marley walks in, a lady in her early twenties, blonde hair, tanned skin, full lips, and an elegant dress. She had also been an agent but an analyst, who stayed behind the desk

" hey beauty, there's a board meeting in two minutes get ready," she said, stressing the word minutes.

Claire had her eyes fixed on the laptop not noticing when Marley entered. She kept whispering her complaints to herself, until Marley leaned over pressing the sleep button without her notice, " hey get out Marley"! She yelled in annoyance

"Make me", she snarled

Their eyes held each other as they passed hateful glances towards each other, without saying a word. "Meeting is up in two minutes, don't die before you get there" Marley said most sarcastically, Claire rolled her eyes to the back, obviously expecting a dumb word from her best friend.

" Marley, I was so sure of this plan, there's no room for mistakes, never!" she yelled banging her hands on the table again,

"And Eve ate the apple" Marley said as she smiled devilishly,

"No more complaints, we have a meeting, and you know what dad does to late comers."

"Yes Marley, will be there in two minutes promise," she said rubbing her index fingers on her temples, as wrinkles formed just on her forehead,

" waiting"

Marley made her way to the door and then into the elevator taking her to the top floor, Claire fell back on her seat frustrated, about everything that had happened but she had to attend the meeting, so she piles up her files on her table.

She walks into the elevator, taking her to the top floor. She rechecks her breath and strengthens her suit as she recites her apology to the higher bidder, and agent, for failing a mission they had been after for the past two weeks. The elevator bell chimes, bringing her back to reality. "There you go," she mutters to herself.

"Welcome agent kaos take a sit," a man said, and he was no one other than Lorenzo detulio, the second in command and leader of the con actors, a well-built man, in loose sleeves, and a navy blue suit, which hung his body, exposing the curves on his alluring zaddy figure

" Thanks, dad"

Claire said as she spotted a vacant chair, just opposite where he stood. "That's calvary to you young lady" he said as their eyes locked. Everyone in the room got tense, there was a battle going on between them, and it could be felt just around the table.

" Pardon chief '' Claire corrected as perspiration found its way down her face. Even under the well-air-conditioned room, they had a close relationship just outside their business life, but within the board room, she was no more than a field agent.

" Today we will be facing our greatest challenge yet, and our gateway to being the top agencies in the whole of the United States," he said as a shark grin appeared on his face. He saw the questioning look on their faces, they were eager now

He pressed the remote in his hand and a hologram appeared just before him. A man appeared, he had an aviator glass on, giving him the look of a detective. He was new to the screen and everyone had questions popping in their heads now

" This is Darrell cortex,a shareholder at U-tech enterprise, and our next target."

A photo grid, appeared on the screen, in all of them he had shades on his eyes, and they were all blurred, making it obvious that they were all taken without his permission,

" He is a wealthy bastard, eye-catching young man, but there's something beneath the whole perfect facade, and that drug dealing, he has access to crank, which we all know is illegal, but he is a chronic introvert, with little to no information talk more of social status

"And we must have him in our custody for interrogation, but being Darell, he had some agent under his sleeves, and he knows the law, which means we can't just barge in and show him our badges."

"How possible is that?" one of the co-agents asked, " wells something must kill a man," Lorenzo said as he smiled devilishly, making it obvious that he had something up his sleeves,

" Agent kaos, you would be the forerunner of this mission," he said, Claire yelped, " what?, I am not done with the Gambino's case" she huffed

" Well that's officially canceled, you would be the one taking this up, for failing on the Gambino's case," he said calmly. Claire was pissed now, she didn't want to do another mission she likes getting her work done, before starting a new one.

" What's in it for me chief, I have the money, so what do I stand to gain?" she said, as she tried sliding her way out of the game. "The top bunker Claire, " he said with his fingers on the table now. Everyone gasped in disbelief

The top bunker was another name for the highest position in the agency world, and every agent wished to get that leave before they passed out and she was given a plate of gold smeared with honey and milk.

"I will take him down chief".

"Three months to pin him down Claire," Lorenzo said, stretching his hands for a handshake. "We will shake at the sight of victory" Claire rebuffed, standing from her chair, and then exiting without looking back

Claire was back at her lake house now, taking a sip from the champagne flute, as she surfed the internet for who Darrell cortex might be, and why she hadn't heard much about him, until now, but she had nothing, there was nothing on the internet had to offer.

Her phone rings bringing her out of her misery. "Hey, make it fast," she said to Marley over the phone. "Come to the lavida bar," Marley said before ending the call, her notification chimes,

'make it fast' sender Marley

Marley was playful, but never took her work with a tender hand, she must have a reason why Claire should come to the bar, Claire had a rethink, she either stay here and browse endlessly, or check out what Marley had to offer, and the latter was better, she took a sip from her cup before standing up from her bamboo rocking chair

What could she possibly want?

In less than 30 mins Claire was outside the bar and had begun to regret her decision the moment she saw a girl throwing up right outside, with a group of smokers puffing out chains of smoke, lavida bar was for low life, and drunkards, it was like a ghetto

Marley noticing her presence pulled her inside the bar gently like she was drunk weird, Claire had her eyes glued on Marley, Marley would never be drunk in an uncivilized place like this, this was all she needed to know something was off.

" what is it?' Claire asked in a whisper, " play along" Marley handed her a cup of alcohol, which surprisingly tasted sweet, "act drunk there are snipers around the bar" she was handed a stick of cigar, to make the scene more neutral

" The culprit is here," she said, gently nodding towards a more quiet and shielded place in the bar, " how did you know," Claire noticed a familiar face and a bulky man beside him

"Well I do proper research you know, it's now or never Claire, this is the only way to see him," Marley said, still trying to maintain her stance, after ages of puffing out smoke and drinking she finally made her way towards him.

She strode down the bar, till she was just feet away from him. The bulky man had noticed an intruder and glared at her showing her his gun

Just right outside the bar, snipers were ready to shoot as they were waiting for the signal to pull the trigger. She staggered like she could fall anytime soon. She is a perfect actress. "I see a fine gentleman over there" she winked lustfully rubbing her hands on her thigh. The bulky man nodded at Darrell who was seated, clarifying she was clean.

The snipers outside didn't notice anything

"Go back young lady, you are not supposed to be here," a hoarse voice echoed in her ears. "Well, don't be rude, I just needed a little bit of attention," she said, faking her puppy face

"Let her in," Darrell said, immediately her attention was drawn. He sounded like Optimus Prime, from the movie Transformers. The bulky man glared at her one more time, before letting her in

"Hi handsome name is Monse" she slowly fell towards him, he flinched and just immediately the bulky man pulled her back with his firm hands. "Sit properly lady!" he yelled, "I will try" she hissed, pulling his firm hands off her

"Well, I can't help when there's a well-built man before me, what's your name," she said, still studying him closely. If he was showing any trace of lust, then she had an upper hand, but she couldn't see his eyes, he had concealed them

Only his chiseled jawline, thin peach lips, and wavy hair. Damn this might as well be the hardest mission yet. All her victims were either greedy or lustful, just by looking at them, but he maintained a poker face, "Do you count words?"

She asked, hoping he would say something, but he just smirked, his eyes fixed on his phone. She was perplexed already and had begun to lose hope. "Well, I am horny, I don't know about you," she said. Running her hands on his thighs. He raised his arms immediately like he knows what would come next

The bulky man was just about to knock her out with the back of his gun. "Well, I am gay", he said slowly removing her arms off his thighs. Something inside her died just immediately after he said that,

"Well, I am gay too," she said making a second attempt to run her hand on his thighs and maybe run her hands over his manhood down there, hoping he would react to her touch. "But I bet I could give you a hard and body-suiting orgasm," she said licking and then biting her lower lip

"Well, I am also allergic to cum," he said, removing her hands, but this time he squeezed them hard, threatening to break her bones. She winced in pain, as she retreated. "Well, I guess I need to go now," she said attempting to stand

" spy detected," the bulky man beside her said darting his eyes around the room for a suspect, Claire heard this knowing fully well that Marley's life was at stake. "hey babe!" she yelled, even when she knew she was in a hard place as well

"Shut it!" a hard object came hitting her from behind as she slammed to the floor. Marley, who had watched the whole scene choked on her drink. They noticed the odd behavior and immediately she became a suspect. She had to exit before the snipers outside got a hold of her

Claire was out unconscious and was carried on the shoulder by Darrell. "Postpone the meeting", he said in an authoritative voice as he exited the bar effortlessly with Claire in his hands, a Mercedes 300 L was packed just outside the bar

Quite vintage for a multi-millionaire, he tossed her inside like a bag of light-weighed grain, before he zoomed off

Claire woke up feeling unbearable pain in her head. She hasn't felt this much pain in her head for as long as she could remember, she surveyed the surroundings, and her eyelashes batted against her skin, where am I? She asked herself but no response

She leaned on the king-sized bed, with her elbow, trying to get a better vision of where she was, or wasn't in her room, and not Marley's, where could she be? "You snore and talk in your sleep, and I could slit your throat for it" an f, familiar voice said taking her by surprise

The man from the bar sat on a couch not too far from where she sat, he had his hands fixed on his phone, he always das ones. "Get ready, you would be living now," he said, standing up from the couch and then heading toward the exit

"You tried killing me" she huffed, he halted. "I tried," he said in a low tone, " how dare you!" she tossed her pillow towards him, but it was futile he had proceeded further

He ignored her, making his way through the oddly wide door before her, it's your chance now Claire! She thought to herself, as she surveyed the room again, she had wanted a way to be close to the culprit to get all the evidence she could get her hand on and there's only one way here, and that's to be with him

She looks down her body she was still dressed in her club wear, even her shoes were still on her feet, her hair held on a tight ponytail, he didn't even touch her, thank goodness, she briskly stood from the bed, looking for anything

Anything as little as a dent in his reputation, she surveyed the room it would be harder, searching a room the size of a palace, how can one person live here, with this much space he could wine and dine here, without having to go out or having a feeling of claustrophobia?

She searched every drawer, cupboard, and corner, but all she could find, were papers, mostly plain, with light tracings on them, some were partially burnt, weird, she notices his closet, it looked like a door to another room, she halts, for a minute before taking little steps toward

Her mind running wild and fast, she leans on the door, if she could hear any sounds before pushing the knob, a huge closet came into view it was filled with all-black suits, sleeves, and countless black hoes. It was like a bat cave, her mind goes back to the blurry pictures she was shown on the screen back at HQ [ Head-Quaters]

He was all in black, black wavy hair, black suit, sleeves, suit pants, and shoes, then he always had black aviator glasses on. I bet no one has ever seen his eyes, in the internet, gossips lingered that he had the eyes of gossip, and no one dares look him in the eye

The black closet was everything she needed to know, this man was much more than just a drug dealer he was the devil himself, who wears black all through their life, it was supposed to be a mourning color, but with him it was casual

She hugs herself as she walked in, she felt all kinds of sensation, as it looked and felt like it was getting darker as she walked further, then she saw shades of light, just beside some dark shoes, it was like a diamond in a cave

She walks closer, then a small frame comes into view, it was a picture of two adults romantically holding each other, it was half burnt, and taken in black and white meaning its a vintage picture, a small boy stood before them his hands stretched like he was holding someone else but that was another end of the picture

This must be his parents, and putting it here means he doesn't want to see it every day and doesn't want to rid of it, this ruthless and cunning man might have a spot for his family, Claire ran her hands over the curves of the frames before dropping it, her hands fidgeting and her heart raising she felt emotional all of a sudden.

She has no picture of her parents, she only gets flashes of them when she sleeps, the only thing stuck in her head were that of her childhood nightmare, when she loses her parents and then wakes up in the hospital with Lorenzo beside her,

She was five then, and with time she had come to accept that it all happen for a reason, and the pain was just there to sculpt her to who she currently is, she places the frame back turning back to the exit,

The room was empty, and her head ached, her heart beat rapidly, and she needed to cool steam, she strode towards the bathroom, stripping herself of everything she had on, as the warm water from the shower caress her skin

She processed everything that had happened in the past few hours. She was automatically on another mission. She needed to ace it, she always does, after the long and body soothing shower she wrapped herself with the towel she had found in a rack, it was black as well. Making her roll her eyes in disgust.

She walked into the closet, there was no t-shirt of any kind, so she slipped into the black loose pants she had found, and a black sleeve from the wooden hanger from the closet, " he wouldn't notice anything" she thought to herself as she slipped into his clothes.

All she could think of now was Marley, the last time they saw she was trying to protect her life, and also not blow her cover, and then everything went blank, Claire rubbed her hands on her head it was sore from the impact of the gun and swollen as well

" What are you doing?" a familiar yet surprising voice said from behind. Darrell was behind her, furious at the sight before him, she gulped hard as they faced each other. "You can't bring me back home, and expect me to be dressed in club wear," she retorted, trying to hide her fear

"Put on your cloth lady, and leave," he said firmly, but Claire had a mission to complete. "Well, I am homeless and I am going nowhere," she said maintaining her stance