Always There

2

I took a few steps away from the table, then paused. I turned around, my back no longer to Lucy, and leaned down to whisper in her ear, "You might need this." I pressed the gun that had been in the bag with the box into her hand, and turned once again and made my exit.

Once I had left the establishment, the cool afternoon air chilling my face, I couldn't help but chuckle to myself. I had surprised her multiple times, even though she had tried to hide her emotions. 

The gun, quite honestly, was unneeded. She wasn't in any immediate danger that I knew of, I just liked surprising her.

Ah, I love surprises.

Right on cue, a reminder popped up on my phone, a quiet ding sounding from the pocket of my jacket. I pulled it out, to find a reminder that I had set earlier with the description,

DEAL WITH LUDWIG. 12:30.

I sighed, not really in the mood for dealing with more annoyance today. I hailed a taxi, reading the driver the address from my phone. "1027 South Hartwood," I apathetically told the man. 

For the next 10 minutes, all I had to do was gaze out the window, my phone being almost dead. I needed to save the battery, just in case something happened.

Nothing would, but better safe than sorry.

10 agonising minutes later, the car pulled up to what looked like a nice neighbourhood. The house was a calm sky blue, and I paid the cabbie and stepped out of the taxi. 

After he had driven away, I walked not up to the door, but to the side where the gate was, enclosing the back garden. Of course, it being a nice neighbourhood, the fence was too high to climb over, and it required a pass-code. 

Making my way to the small metal keypad, I quickly inspected the numbers, and which ones were more worn. After multiple tries, there was a click and the gate unlocked.

From inside the garden, I heard a quiet intake of breath. Ludwig had heard me. Oh well, I thought, he's going to see me in just a few seconds. 

I held my head high and made my way fully into the small plot of land, the rough, clipped grass a bit hard to walk on. 

Standing on a light brown wooden porch was Ludwig, a shovel grasped tightly in his hand as he peered around the corner, trying to see the intruder. His knuckles were white from clutching the tool so hard. When he finally spotted me, his eyes widened and his body tensed even more.

He knew he was in serious trouble.

"How charming," I praised him sarcastically. "Fancy seeing you here, Ben. Nice house, by the way." I moved my eyes to admire the back side of his house, before locking my eyes with his. 

"What are you doing here, Bella?" He cleared his throat in a feeble attempt to remove the shakiness from his voice. 

"That's Miss Warren to you, Ben. Just because I call you by your first name does not mean you call me by mine." I could feel the anger starting to build up inside me, and I dropped my tone, the light conversational way it had previously been gone. "And don't even try to play dumb, it makes you sound, if I'm being honest, quite pathetic. You know why I'm here."

The fear was evident in his voice, no matter how much he tried to hide it. Ben Ludwig was a lower-class criminal, and he almost always dealt with people indirectly, so he lacked proper social skills around other human beings. He had spread a rumor that I was in romantic relations with him, and it had lost me at least three cilents, and gained him most likely more than ten. The rumor, however, was nothing more than a rumor. I gagged at the thought of even being five feet away from that scumbag. 

"I don't know what you're talking about," he lied badly.

"Like I said, pathetic," I mocked him, my eyes rolling.

"Bel-Miss Warren," he corrected himself, gaining a half-smile from me, "just tell me what you're doing here."

"Well, Ben, it has recently come to my attention that you've been spreading rumours about me," I explained finally, stepping up onto the wood where he still stood, frozen. I paced circles around him, continuing, "and I heard through the grapevine that I was dating you. How funny that is. I personally don't recall being in contact at all. Do you?"

Unmoving, only his eyes following me, he replied, "I don't spread rumours. That rumour wasn't created by me-"

"Save it," I hissed, stopping in front of where Ludwig stood. "You know, it's a shame you'll never get to practice your lying skills. They're quite horrible, no offense. Well, some offense."

"What do you-"

But I cut him off again, turning to leave, whilst saying, "Goodbye, Ben Ludwig. I enjoyed our conversation." 

Strolling over to the gate and then out of it, I whipped out my phone and texted her.

"Now."

I had prearranged days ago for a car to be there for me when I was finished so I could escape. Sure enough, sitting in front of Ludwig's house sat a black car. Perfectly on time, a man stepped out of the driver's seat to open the back door for me. I got inside, murmuring a thank you to the driver. 

As the car started and drove off, I received a reply.

"Done."

My mouth turned up at the corners, and I briskly sent one more text back.

"Good, thank you."