KIDNAPPED BY THE MAFIA.

Beep! Beep! Beep! Kaia groaned as her alarm rudely interrupted her beauty sleep at the ungodly hour of 6 am. She reluctantly rolled out of bed, muttering to herself about the injustice of early mornings. With a yawn and a stretch, she stumbled towards her phone to silence the alarm. "Another thrilling day awaits," she sighed, dragging herself to the closet. After a brief struggle with her wardrobe, she settled on a white blouse and a black skirt, the perfect ensemble for her detective duties.

Once she was finally presentable, Kaia embarked on her morning routine, taking a refreshing shower to wake up her sleepy senses. As she emerged from the bathroom, she transformed her room from a chaotic mess to a picture of pristine perfection. Downstairs in the kitchen, she skillfully whipped up a breakfast fit for a detective, complete with fluffy pancakes and a steaming cup of coffee.

Just as she was about to dig into her delicious creation, in walked Cleopatra, looking like she had just survived a wild party. Her hair was a glorious mess, sticking out in all directions. "Is that the heavenly aroma of pancakes I detect?" she exclaimed, plopping down on a stool next to Kaia.

"Indeed it is, my dear Cleo. It's Pancake Tuesday, remember?" Kaia replied, passing a plate of pancakes to her friend.

"Ah, you're a true breakfast hero, K," Cleopatra said with a grateful smile.

Kaia beamed at her friend as she got up to wash her plate. "Well, I must dash off now. See you later, Cleo."

"Until we meet again! Oh, and heads up, I might grace the firm with my presence today," Cleopatra teased.

Kaia paused in surprise. "But don't you have a shoot today?" she asked, raising an eyebrow.

Cleopatra flashed a mischievous grin. "Well, thanks to our little party yesterday, the director and some unfortunate souls got hit with a case of food poisoning. So, we've been gifted with a day off."

Kaia's eyes sparkled with excitement at the prospect of some quality girl time with her busy friend. "That's fantastic! We'll have a slumber party tonight,"

Kaia's excitement bubbled over as she imagined the upcoming slumber party with her busy friend. "Oh my gosh, that's awesome! We're totally having a slumber party tonight, just like the good ol' days back in university," Kaia exclaimed, a nostalgic smile spreading across her face. With a wave goodbye to Cleopatra, Kaia stepped out of their apartment building, making sure to greet the receptionist, Michelle, with a friendly "Hi Michelle, have a fantastic day!" She then turned her attention to Romeo, the guard, and cheerfully chimed, "Good morning, Romeo!"

As Kaia walked out of the building, she hailed a taxi to whisk her away to her workplace. The sign outside the building proudly displayed the name "Milton's Firm." With her chin held high, Kaia confidently strode through the doors, greeted by the familiar silence that enveloped the early morning hours. While most people started arriving around 7:20 am, Kaia always made it a point to arrive 20 minutes earlier, ensuring everything was in perfect order in her office. Her superiors were known for their intimidating demeanor and high standards of excellence.

Without wasting a moment, Kaia made her way to the third floor, where she meticulously organized the files, leaving no document out of place. With efficiency and grace, she swiftly headed to the office kitchen, preparing a fresh pot of coffee in anticipation of her colleagues' arrival. The aroma of the brewing coffee filled the air, signaling the start of another productive day. Kaia couldn't help but feel a surge of excitement as she eagerly awaited the hustle and bustle that would soon fill the office.

After putting each coffee-filled mug on the tables of her superiors, they all started swarming in as expected.

"Good morning Mr. Martins."

"Morning Miss Gerner."

"Morning Mrs. Knight."

"And morning to you Ms. Evansville."

Kaia diligently and respectfully grated all her Superiors as they all headed to their respective stalls.

"Good morning Kaia, Thank you for the coffee." Mike Martin said, amongst all her superiors, he was the only one who treated her nicely and cut her some slack, he was a sweetheart so to say.

Kaia smiled at him upon hearing his response but was rudely interrupted by the infamous Mrs Knights.

"I hope you worked on the files I asked you to and looked into all the necessary information because the hearing is in one and a half hours and I expect perfection ." Mrs. Knights asked her with a straight face.

'It certainly wouldn't kill her if she asked nicely and smiled once in a while, ' Kaia thought as she gave a reply "I did all you asked and all the files are ready, all that's remaining is for you to go at the court."

Mrs. Knights smiled dubiously, "We're actually going together, so get the files and meet me in my car in ten." She proclaimed, picking up her bag and walking out swaying her hips to the sides 'Diva.'

For some reason, Kaia had a really ominous feeling about this, Mrs. Knights had never taken her to a hearing before, only Mr. Martins ever did that.

Mr. Martins must have sensed her nervousness and reluctance because he came up to her, putting a hand on her shoulder, and gave her a reassuring smile, "It will be alright, go before she ends up getting mad at you for being late."

"Thank you," Kaia said as she picked up the files and headed out to meet Mrs. Knights.

Kaia found Mrs. Knights already seated in the car, with her hands gripping the steering wheel and her fingers impatiently tapping on it.

"You took your precious time." Mrs. Knights sneered shooting her a displeased look.

Kaia checked her watch, then looked back up to Mrs. Knights, "Well you gave me ten minutes and I'm three minutes early." She countered smiling sweetly.

"Get in the car!" Mrs. Knights said louder than intended making Kaia flinch a little bit.

She entered the car and they drove to the courthouse.

Their drive took 30 minutes and it was the most dreadful 30 minutes of Kaia's life, their ride was filled with an uncomfortable silence and tension that could probably be cut by a knife.

They both walked into the courthouse, Mrs. Knights in front with Kaia tagging behind her. They entered a private room, where they met their client.

"Good morning Mrs. Knights, for a second there I thought you'd bail on me." Marianne the client spoke out and sighed in relief.

"I was just taking care of everything before we could come here." Counselor Knights clarified.

"No problem, the fact that you're here has already given me serenity." Marianne let out looking relieved.

"Marianne, meet Kaia, she will be representing you today." Mrs. Knight unexpectedly said leaving Marianne and Kaia perplexed.

"What!" Kaia and Marianne exclaimed in unison.

"As you heard," Was her response.

"But I haven't even represented someone before you can't do this to me, and on gunpoint." Kaia tried making a case for herself.

"Well, this is the perfect opportunity for you to learn how to do it." She deadpanned, then she turned to Marianne, "If you don't want her to defend you then you can go look for another lawyer."

"What! How can you say that, the hearing is starting in 20 minutes." Marianne pointed out.

"Well, looks like you better make your decision quickly, 'cause time is ticking." Mrs. Knight chastened her.

Marianne sighed in defeat and made a tough decision, "Fine," She seethed and turned to Kaia, "But, if you ruin this for me, I'll make sure you can never work anywhere else ever." She threatened Kaia.

"I'll try my best ma'am." Was Kaia's response.

"You better." Came Marianne's reply and the three of them headed towards the courtroom, after arriving they sat at their designated stations. When the judge arrived everyone stood up until he instructed them to take their seats. The court proceedings began, and Kaia's heart was beating so fast she thought she'd probably pass out right there, 'Just keep calm, put your chin up, and use your knowledge' She gave herself some pep talk.

****

"Your honor, these photos right here show that my client's husband was clearly having an affair with her best friend before they got divorced and didn't even regard the presence of their children. He is not fit to have custody of them." Kaia presented.

" Objection Your Honour." The opposing lawyer spoke out.

"Objection overruled, continue counselor." The judge pronounced.

"Thank you, now this other photo clearly shows how irresponsible they are, and to prove the authenticity of what happened I'd like to call Mr. Ramone to the stand, that is with your permission your honor." Kaia proposed.

"Permission granted." The judge said and immediately Mr. Ramone stood up and went to the witness box. He made the oath of telling the truth and nothing but the truth then Kaia approached him.

"Mr. Ramone, did you or did you not get drop-dead drunk for three consecutive days and leave your three-year-old triplets to fend for themselves?" Kaia asked him with a profound face.

He gulped and stared at his ex-wife, then at his children and back at Kaia, "I did." He said in one breath as the people in the court gasped.

"There you have it, your honor, he just proved that my claims are valid," Kaia stated, "That will be all Mr. Ramone."

He left the witness box and went back to where he previously sat.

Kaia turned back to the judge, "I rest my case, your honor." She bowed and went to take her seat feeling proud.

"Not bad, that was actually good." Mrs. Knights congratulated Kaia as she took her seat.

"After hearing the evidence and claims laid by both sides, I've finally come to a decision regarding the custody of Ryan, Ryder, and Ralph Ramone," The judge paused. "The court is granting full custody of the triplets to their mother, Marianne Ramone, and giving their father a few days and other special holidays to visit them at their mother's house. He is allowed to watch their extracurricular activities and so on. The court is adjourned." The judge gave the ruling and stroked the gravel.

The triplets ran to their Mother and embraced her, and she embraced them back. After hugging her children, Marianne approached Kaia.

"Thank you so much for winning this case for me, I really thought that I didn't stand a chance against him," She paused a bit as she wiped the tears that gathered in her eyes, "And I'm sorry for not believing in you and for threatening you." She summed up with an apology.

"It's alright, we're cool," Kaia said in response as she shrugged it off.

"Can I have your card, so that I can call you whenever I need a lawyer or recommend you to any of my friends that might need a good lawyer?" Marianne asked her and Kaia didn't hesitate to take out her card and hand it to her. "Thank you again, we'll be off now." With that, she left with her children.

"You did well Kaia." Mrs. Knights told Kaia patting her on her left shoulder.

"Thank you, but, why did you choose me to do it?" Kaia inquired of as they both walked out of the courthouse,

"Because, I wasn't quite feeling up to it, and I knew you that wouldn't say no." Mrs. Knights bluntly let out.

'What the actual' Kaia thought, "So, because you were not feeling up to it, you decided to put my career on the line!" She was pissed at this woman's audacity, 'What the actual hell'

"Pretty much." Mrs. Knights said in a bored tone as she proceeded to enter her car.

Kaia couldn't believe the nerve of this woman, she was as cold as a woman can be with zero compassion. Kaia stood there motionless, glued to the floor.

"Are you coming or what?" Mrs. Knights asked resulting in Kaia moving forward and entering the car.

When they reached the firm, they were met with hushed mummers all around, this only meant trouble. Immediately they entered where they worked from, they found the owner Mr. Stone waiting for them and this confirmed Kaia's suspicion. Kaia was frightened at what awaited them while Mrs. Knights looked unbothered.

"Bloody hell Jenifer, what were you thinking?!" He yelled at Mrs. Knights the moment he spotted her.

"What? I wasn't feeling like doing it so I gave the work to someone else." She defended herself and by passed him, going straight for her table and taking a seat.

"Someone else, wow," Mr. Stone clapped his hands, " You gave this important case to an intern gosh, there are so many experienced people here, you could have easily gotten one of them." Mr. Stone pointed out wearily.

Mrs. Knights just rolled her eyes, she was imprudent because she came from a wealthy family and her father was Mr. Stone's business partner making him one of the shareholders.

Mr. Stone turned to Kaia, "And you, why didn't you refuse when she asked you to do it? Don't you know that if you lost that case your whole career would have gone down the drain?" He firmly asked her.

"I'm really sorry sir, but she didn't give me much of a choice," Kaia said in her defense making him sigh.

"This incident shouldn't repeat itself, am I clear?" Mr. Stone Firmly stated.

"Yes Sir!" They all chorused.

"And Kaia," Mr. Stone spoke, " I'd like to talk to you in my office, now." With that, he left.

Kaia reluctantly trailed behind her boss who'd left a few minutes ago. She was unnerved, feeling scared, and a bit overwhelmed about the situation. 'Was she going to lose her internship' she thought to herself.

Her thoughts were cut off by the appearance of Mr. Stone's electric transparent office door. From where she stood she could see his silhouette as he pressed onto the button that would give her access to enter inside.

Immediately the door dinged, and she entered the office.

Upon entering the office, she was met with her boss sitting in his usual chair behind his masive desk and his daughter, who's also her best friend sitting on one of the couches in the office with a goofy smile on her face.

"I'm here sir." She announced her presence fiddling with her fingers with her gaze fixed on the floor.

Mr. Stone stood up walking around his desk towards her. "What you did back there at the court, was very perilous," He began, staring straight at her then continued, "But how you handled everything makes me proud, You are like a daughter to me, and seeing you succeed is a win for me as well." He gave her a fatherly smile, "Congratulations on your first case, keep up the good work."

Kaia was caught off guard, she anticipated getting fired or a scolding of some sort from him, and not this, not these praises. Her heart swelled with joy and pride, she finally looked up, staring straight into his eyes. "Thank you, sir, for a moment there I thought I was gonna lose my internship." She forthrightly let out feeling more relaxed than before.

"There's no way you would have lost your internship, the situation wasn't in your hands and you had no fault in it, the one to blame is Jenifer, she needs to be taught a lesson regardless of her father being a shareholder." Mr. Stone reassured Kaia putting a hand on her shoulder.

"Thank you so much. " Kaia said.

Mr. Stone opened his mouth to say something but Cleopatra beat him to it, "Now that all has been settled, can I steal my bestie from here for the rest of the day?" She asked, giving him puppy dog eyes and a pouty face.

He melted at that, whenever she did this there was no way he'd ever say no to her. "Of course, my love, you two can run along and go wherever you'd like to."

Cleopatra's eyes immediately lit up like a child that had been offered a lifetime of candy. She ran to her father throwing her hands around him, "Thank yoouuuu Daddy." She slurred kissing his cheeks.

She eventually pulled away beaming like a little sunshine, "We'll get going now, see you later Daddy." Cleopatra chimed grabbing Kaia's hand.

"Before you leave, do you by any chance need a credit card for your spending ?" Mr. Stone inquired of.

"Thank you, but I've got it all covered, bye-bye Daddy." Cleo kindly declined dragging Kaia away.

But before they fully exited the office Kaia yelled a 'Goodbye Sir.'

They headed to Kaia's workspace where everyone busied themselves with pending work.

Mr. Martin was the first to notice the both of them. "Thank goodness you're back Kaia, for a second there I was starting to get worried." He conveyed releasing a breath he didn't know he was holding.

"Thank you for your concern, I really appreciate it," Kaia responded flashing him a warm smile.

Before Martin could respond Mrs. Knights also known as Jennifer cut in, "So did you get fired? Are you here to clear your desk?"

Cleopatra scoffed at that, "That's probably what you were hoping for, but unfortunately for you, my home girl isn't going anywhere so stop hoping for that." She sounded off crossing her hands over her chest.

"Aiding your best friend with some backup, how cute." Jenifer teased going back to whatever she was doing.

To break the tension and enmity flowing in, Kaia quickly took her belongings and grabbed her best friend's hand, "We'll be off now, see you all tomorrow. " She voiced out heading for the exit.

Cleopatra struggled against Kaia's hold as she was dragged out of the premises, "Hey!" She protested, "You shouldn't have let me give her a piece of my mind."

Kaia stopped in her tracks giving Cleopatra a 'Seriously' look, "The last thing I needed was more drama and you know Jenifer, she's an attention seeker, she would have just escalated the matter more and ruined our mood." She reasoned with her friend who came to an understanding.

"You're right, now let's go enjoy this day!" Cleopatra cheered.

***

They both entered one of the biggest spars in town, S&S, which stood for serenity and style. It was a three-story structure, painted peach on the outside, and had an upper parking lot rather than an underground one. The front yard had hard gray pavements with floral patterns branded on them, in between two guards was a revolving door, many people went in and came out of the building through it, this spar was mostly busy.

They both entered through the revolving doors and headed to the receptionist, "How may I help you?" The receptionist inquired, she was a petite woman with freckles and brown eyes, her hair was dyed red and cut into a bob, and she flashed them a welcoming smile that made her eyes twinkle.

Cleopatra flashed her a VIP card for S&S, and the receptionist understood. She pressed a button and one of the doors opened up, after saying thank you, Kaia and Cleopatra headed towards the open door.

It led them to their usual room, S&S had exceptional rooms for VIPs, they had rooms they'd access whenever they wanted and were given extra special services.

It was a large enclosure, four beds were situated at the far end near the window for massages, chairs opposite a huge mirror for manicures, pedicures, and facial treatment, and a large Jacuzzi, there was another door that led to the steam room and lastly, lockers where they could put their clothes, find towels and robes.

"It's been a while since we came here. " Cleopatra commented taking in the place that was so familiar to them.

"Yeah, I can't wait to relax. " Kaia summed up walking towards the lockers to change into a robe.

After they both changed the doors opened revealing two staff, Amanda and Sylvia, these were the ones who'd regularly attend to them, tho they didn't come alone they were with four other ladies, two, whom they recognized as Tessa and Rachel while the other two were unfamiliar.

"Hi, ladies! good to have you here." Amanda Chimed as she strode in swaying her hips to the sides, she was a curvy short brunette about 5'3 feet tall, with a hyper vibe, same as Tessa, tho she was a redhead, while Rachel and Sylvia were blondes and more reserved.

"So ladies here for a full treatment?" Amanda asked getting the needed items ready.

"You know it!" Cleopatra cheered already enthusiastic about it.

They assumed their seats including the two unfamiliar ladies who were later introduced as Camille and Betty.

They had their manicures and pedicures together, all four of them, and were getting along well like they'd known each other forever. Camille and Betty decided to go for massages so they left for the beds leaving the two friends alone.

They had facials on, their feet were being given pedicures and they relaxed catching up on many things when suddenly Betty and Camille's conversation caught Kaia's attention and her ears perked up.

"Did you hear? There's gonna be a big deal going down between Alphonso Romero and some Italian mob boss, Fabian." Betty whispered to her friend.

"Really? When, I thought Alphonso hated dealing with Italians?" Camille answered back wondering why the two drug lords would work together.

"Yes, but Fabian has the money and you know Alphonso loves the big bucks." Betty further elaborated.

"Wow, and where will all this happen, I don't want George to be there and wanna warn him, it might turn into a blood bath?" Camille asked with concern laced in her voice.

"At the party that'll be thrown by El Salvador this Saturday," Betty told on.

"Darn, I so wanted to attend it, I guess we won't be there." Camille expressed disappointment that she had to miss it.

"We can go play poker instead at the Velvet Dragon," Betty suggested.

"Sounds like a plan." Kaia decided to tune out of their conversation before she got caught and paid attention to her friend who was beside her.

"So where to after this?" Kaia inquired enjoying the massage being done to her feet.

"Shopping at Maggie's," Cleopatra informed her.

Kaia sighed in relief, "I am so loving today." She remarked feeling blissful and euphoric.

Cleopatra giggled when Amanda tickled her feet, "Not cool Amy, don't make me pee my pants."

"That would be interesting to watch," Amanda remarked, grinning as she tickled her again.