Killing the engine off, Jack glanced at the rearview mirror to check her appearance, she slicked back her hair and made sure that she looked as ravishing as always and that nothing was out of place, her tongue darted out to moisten her dried lips, tasting the lipstick she had decided to apply that day: a bold black. Grinning at her reflection and satisfied that she looked as good as always, Jack hopped off her car, closed it behind her and started to walk up the brick walkway towards the front door, a bounce in here steps.
Energy was crackling under her skin, a shiver running down her spine. There was no way she could miss this big opportunity that had been handed to her in a silver plate, Jack wasn't going to mess it up even if she had no idea how the interview would go, she wasn't the type of woman who gave too much attention to the little details.
Her dark eyes roamed over the house that towered over her, a three story affair wich promised too much space for a family that consisted of three people. Jack wasn't going to lie, anyone would kill to live in a mansion like this one, in a such a prominent, nice and safe neighborhood, trees hiding most of the house from view and casting a long shadow. Jack wondered if the people who owned this mansion were as nice as their house. Only one way to know.
Running a hand through her hair, clearing her throat several times and adjusting her clothes,- no matter what people say, a book was judged by its cover- Jack took a deep breath, straightening herself and pressed a gloved finger into the doorbell.
After a few seconds, Jack heard the telltale sound of heel clacking on the floor, it didn't take long for whoever was behind that mahogany door to open it, the hinges groaning slightly. A woman in her mid-probably late- thirties stared back up at her with evident confusion, her eyebrows knitted together.
Time to land the job.
"Hello, my name is Jack Dane." She introduced herself, a grin pulling at her lips and she stretched her hand in front of her. "I called yesterday for the job you were offering."
The confusion in her eyes cleared slightly, nodding sharply. "For the maid one? I remember now." She said shaking her hand. "Come in."
Rosa Barreto stepped off the side giving her access to the house, Jack waited for Rosa to close door behind her and to led her to the living room, or wherever she wanted them to talk.
Click, click, click, click. What was with the obsession of people and wearing heels in their own house? Jack thought to herself absentmindedly, as her eyes meandered back and forth from the U-shaped stairs that connected with the upstairs to the superficial peruse she gave to the kitchen that looked like it was pulled from a magazine. Light poured in from every corner thanks to the high windows that didn't allow any privacy whatsoever, her eyes rolled up to the ten high ceiling and the expensive chandeliers that most cost a fortune, or maybe they were the painting that hung on the walls for everyone to gawk at.
No wonder everyone became a shade of green when they mentioned the Barreto family, they weren't short of anything.
"You can sit here." Rosa pointed at the chair lounge.
Plopping down, Jack folded her arms in front of her and turned towards her so they were face to face, there was nothing striking about Rosa now that she focused on her, her face was caked in powdery makeup, trying to appear deceptively younger and more appealing, her light eyes were rimmed by thick eyeliner and her lips painted a hot red. For the most part she looked like any high standing woman who was married to a very wealthy man who went to expensive clubs, gossiped with other spouses, attended charities and threw huge huge Christmas parties. Maybe she even had gone to an expensive college and probably had some weight in her husband's business.
They couldn't be any different, Jack wouldn't even compare them to the faces of coin she would straight away say that they belonged to differents world. After all, Rosa was everything that Jack wasn't and more.
"How old are you?" Rosa asked looking her once over, started from her short black hair, her blue eyes working their way down, taking notice of the black tailcoat, the white double breasted blazer and the high waist buttoned slacks and rose an eyebrow when they lingered on the Nike sneaker Jack had decided to go with to finish her look.
Jack resisted the urge to straighten the lapels of her tailcoat, not like Rosa made her nervous or anything but it was a trademark tick Jack couldn't scratch away, she knew that people tended to misread her and misinterpret her actions, something that she didn't appreciate. Jack wasn't that transparent, her face never betrayed what she was thinking. Well not never, most of the time, when she got excited it was impossible to miss.
"Ah, twenty three." Jack answered, her heartbeat increasing and her palms sweating.
"In the phone you sounded older." She pointed out crossing one leg over the other.
Jack grinned. "Yeah, many people had rejected my services because my voice sounds to high pitched." Her head bobbed up and down, her voice deepening . It was a fact that pissed her off, Jack was good at everything she set her mind to, or at least she liked to think that she was a pro at what she dedicated herself to. Age didn't matter but people didn't give her the chance to show them how good she was at cleaning the dirt.
Pressing her lips into a thin line, Rosa squinted at her trying to gauge out her expression. "What was your name again?"
"Jack Dane."
"It's just you struck me as someone familiar." Rosa thought out loud. Probably searching in her faulty memory if she had every met her.
"That's not possible, miss." Jack's voice seemed to snap her out of her reverie, laughter in her eyes as her smile boarded. "I've never seen you in my life, I'm new in this business." Her tongue curled around the last words, slipping off effortlessly. "But I did met your husband once or twice, in fact he's the reason of why I called you yesterday."
This caught her attention, Rosa's expression completely closed off and her eyes ignited with rage narrowing into slits. Fighting between bursting into laughter or stop beating around the bush, Jack controlled her laughter and cocked her head to the side.
"Not like that." Jack attempted to calm her down raising a hand in the air. Unfortunately, her gesture didn't have the desired effect, Rosa looked like she was about to burst at any moment. "How can you think about your loyal husband like that? Hmm? Till death do us apart, remember? Besides I'm not a home wrecker, I do..." Pushing herself off the chair, Jack shrugged off her jacket and folded it neatly. "... like wrecking a little havoc. Just a little bit." She said cutting the distance between them, pinching her fingers together just to show her how small she meant.
Her face twisted into an ugly sneer and Rose snapped to her feet, her blue eyes brimming with anger.
Oh, so she wasn't a cute little mouse as she had assumed. Jack knew which place to poke to unwind her.
"Get the fuck out of my house." She ordered straightening her back to make herself look taller. Even with the high heels, Jack was still taller than her and she wasn't even the slightest intimidated. "If I hear that you made contact with my husband I'll end you."
What? Jack lowered her head drawing her shoulders close to her ear. Did she hear right? People sometimes didn't know their places and Jack enjoyed misplacing them.
"Now, now." Jack frowned, inching closer towards Rosa who took a step back. "Don't make promises that you won't keep. You , uh, see people get hurt when they say the wrong thing to the wrong people."
"It was a threat not a promise." She hissed smiling impishly at her. "What can you do? You're just a maid." She spat out the last word like it was something foul.
Oh, ho,ho, ho. People tended to be very brave when they were in the confines of their house, when they were looking down on someone they had the misguided idea that they couldn't be touched because of something ridiculous like status.
Rosa thought that she would never get hurt because she married Alejandro Barreto.
Jack's eyes darkened, her mood shifting instantly and she frowned, exasperated."I see that Alejandro put you on a pedestal, maybe it's time to spend some time with us the mortal." Jack began running one hand over the other. "Or maybe I should lower you just a little bit."
For a moment, Rosa was confused not knowing what this madwoman was spouting-yeah, Jack knew that in the recess of her small brain she was calling her crazy-when her hand reached forward and grasped at her neck, fingers tightening painfully. Jack lifted her with one hand and threw her to the floor, knocking the breath out of her and leaving her gasping for air, laying on a tangle of limps.
Madame Barrote tried to push herself up from the floor but Jack was already on her and she dug a knee on her back, pinning her down.
"What are you doing?!" Rosa shrieked her vice ladened with fear at the unexpected turn of events.
Not so high and mighty.
Annoyed at her feeble attempts of pushing her off with those hands that probably never touched a dirty plate, Jack fisted her hair painfully, practically ripping it off her scalp and slammed her head against the floor, Jack was satisfied that she hadn't knocked her out. There was no fun in that, she liked it more when they were wide awake, their eyes open, their vocal chords working and their begging ringing in her ear . Where was the fun the fun in a silent victim?
"You see," Jack rolled her eyes to the ceiling, she reached out inside her suit and pulled out a serrated switchblade. "I would've let you go painlessly if you hadn't been so hothead and so upright. You're a maid." She mimicked her head, spitting in her face scrunching up her nose in disgust.
"Please no."She blubbered, her mascara ruined with the tears running down her face.
"What?" Jack feigned confusion cupping a hand around her ear and lowering her face next to Rosa's. "I think you meant to say please yes." Without a further ado, Jack dived the knife into her neck, the tip dragging upwards and slitting her throat open. Rosa gurgled, her whole body arching off the ground, her hands grasping at her throat, a pathetic attempt to close the wound, cover it or stop the blood from oozing off. Maybe she was thinking about her ol' little Alejandro, or about her daughter, or maybe she was thinking about how she could've avoided this entire situation if she hadn't opened her door or if she hadn't offended Jack. How knew, only Rosa knew who was saying bye bye to the living world and greeting the dead.
Pulling herself up, not before cleaning her knife in Rosa's maxi dress, Jack pocketed her knife and skipped over the chair retrieving her tailcoat and putting it on. Shuddering, an excited shiver running through her whole body, Jack grinned, she always got excited when someone died by her hand, although it would've been more fun if Alejandro had been present but beggars can't be choosers.
Lots to do lots and lots.
"Ta ta ta ta ta " Jack hummed a nameless tune, whistling as she walked up to the door. Halting on her step, she threw one look over her shoulder and let out huff when she noticed the amount of blood that pooled under Rosa, for someone so thin she sure was letting out a lot of fluids. Jack would've loved to stay around and film Alejandro's face when be realized that his darling housewife was dead, he would be devastated for sure but he wouldn't be as careful with his business and his toys. "Oh, I liked Annie better, she was so much fun."
With that, she slammed the door open as she exited, all the while laughing hysterically, she continued to do so until she reached her car and leaned her forehead on the wheel. Now that she thought about it, this would've been more hilarious if she put them both on the same room and dangled Alejandro between them, that would've been a sight. Pity that it hadn't crossed her mind before, a real, real pity.
Another time, she hummed to herself, after all there were so many fishes in this sea.