Outside the Mirage

#1: Wrong Place at the Wrong Time

"I've been here for five minutes and I'm already going to have a mental breakdown," Vanessa grumbled under her breath. "Is there any way we can get out of this?"

Vanessa's boyfriend, Theo, looked over at her and smiled. "I don't know why you're so upset. It's not like this is a big deal."

Despite his attempt at reassurance, Vanessa was swayed very little. She was sitting in an uncomfortable chair, wearing an uncomfortable dress, eating food she did not enjoy at an event she did not want to attend. She sat at a table with a white tablecloth with three other couples, while a drunk old man with a thick mustache talked and talked at a podium towards the front of the room. The man was well-known in town, both for his generous and public donations to schools and hospitals as well as his connections to unruly groups of individuals. Vanessa had written several pieces on the man in the past, some to praise his good deeds and others to destroy the persona he wore in public to see through to the real man.

"I know you're not a fan of these sorts of things," Theo said, breaking her concentration.

"I'm not a fan of Alexandre Dosev, is most of my problem," Vanessa grumbled.

Theo's brows furrowed and he looked over at the mustached speaker. Turning back to her, he replied, "Dosev is a decent guy."

"He's a second-generation millionaire who spends his free time in the pocket of bad men," Vanessa corrected. "I've seen a hundred just like him in this very town, just most of them don't have the money to keep at it."

"Well, tonight, he is our host."

"He's your host," Vanessa corrected again. "I'm your plus one, dear. I don't even want to be here. I could be at home, watching Daredevil. But instead, I'm here, listening to this jerk."

At that point, a petite young woman walked over to the table, placing a tiny hand on Theo's shoulder. "Good evening, Theo! I've only just seen you, I was so afraid you had ditched us."

Theo grinned. "Not at all. Quinn, this is my girlfriend, Vanessa. Vanessa this is Quinn Edwards, she's a defense attorney at Sutphin & Krebs."

Quinn lazily held her hand out. Vanessa shook it firmly.

"Nice to meet you, Nessa," Quinn cooed, her voice high-pitched and grating.

"Unfortunate to be unable to properly reciprocate the feeling," Vanessa said speedily, although it seemed she needn't have bothered. Quinn was uninterested in her completely.

"So, Theo, who do you think Dosev is going to give the Nelson Award to?" Quinn asked sweetly, one of her bony fingers stroking his shoulder gently.

"Well, hopefully me," Theo replied eagerly, seemingly unaware of Quinn's hand. "I've put in a decent amount of work for the town this year."

"True," Quinn agreed, smiling. Vanessa scowled; Quinn's teeth were so white Vanessa was sure they had voted conservative in the last midterm. "Without you, well, Gunner's Run would not be half as nice as it is. I mean, how many deals did you broker for new businesses?"

"Probably a dozen," Theo bragged, puffing out his chest slightly.

Vanessa rolled her eyes. "I'm going to go outside."

"Yeah, alright," Theo replied absent mindedly.

Walking out of the ballroom and out into the hallway, Vanessa scanned the area before finding a door that led out onto the balcony. Giving a sigh of relief, she marched out to the balcony and was immediately hit with a massive wave of brisk autumn air. Shivering slightly, she rummaged in her handbag before pulling out a pack of cigarettes. Grabbing one from the pack, she plucked it between her lips and began looking inside of her bag for a lighter when she saw a small flame appear in front of her cigarette. Frowning, Vanessa used the fire to light her cigarette before looking over to see a man standing over her.