"Nothing you treasure
will last forever."
____________________________________________________
Alivia turned around in front of the full-length mirror, taking in her appearance one last time before heading over to Beth's house for her son's birthday party.
She patted down the sides of the flowy dress she'd picked out and her face scrunched up at the strange sight. She rarely wore dresses and it was even rarer for her to wear colors or patterns, like the multicolored flowers scattered across the fabric. At least the background was black and in her comfort zone.
She groaned loudly then threw her purse over her shoulder, grabbed her dog's leash, and picked up the gift she'd bought before leaving her apartment.
Her heart jumped in her chest when she opened the door to reveal Annie leaning against the frame, a grin forming on her face. "'Sup, bitch?"
"What the fuck Annie?" Alivia managed to get out, closing the door behind her and following the blonde to her car.
"What?" She said with a shrug as they entered the vehicle, "I thought I'd come to pick you up since, you know, your car's on a driveby."
"Don't remind me," Alivia groaned, wondering if she would ever see her jeep again and if so if it would even be in one piece.
Annie sighed, "you heard anything from him?"
"No, nothing yet," Alivia said, sighing as well. "I mean, what do we even tell him? Your boy held us at gunpoint, stole my car, and ran out?"
"I mean, yeah," Annie simply shrugged, "we tried, didn't we?"
Alivia narrowed her eyes at her friend, "you think it matters to him that we tried?"
"Why not? We did our part."
"I doubt he'll see it that way."
"Oh? How will he see it then?" Annie questioned with slight annoyance in her voice.
"Looks like we're about to find out," Alivia muttered as they pulled up in front of Beth's home and noticed him parked further down the road. "You go ahead."
"I'll come with you," she informed with furrowed brows.
"That's okay, I'll see you inside," Alivia said as she got out of the car, her dog following close behind. She bit the inside of her cheeks and ignored the anxiety building up in her chest as she closed the distance between them. "Beth invited you, too?"
He chuckled as he glanced towards the house before meeting her eyes, "Nah, I'm just here to pick up my boy."
"Yeah, he's not here."
"Oh?" He said in a low voice, his brows furrowing slightly.
"He decided to hold us at gunpoint, steal my car, and leave." She informed him with a shrug. "I'll let you know if I see him though."
He breathed out a soft laugh and she turned to leave, "You not gonna ask for the money?"
She turned back around and smiled, "We didn't do the job."
The warm feeling that'd replaced the anxiety in her chest quickly disappeared as a voice spoke, "Hey Alivia!"
Her face tightened as she turned to face her boss, "why are you here?"
He held up the cake in his hands, "I got them a 32-inch cake and got it at wholesale price."
"Why?"
"I just wanted to do something nice," he began with a shrug. "You know, so, maybe we can all start fresh."
"Oh, so you brought Annie an 'I'm sorry I tried to rape you' cake, is that it?"
He pursed his lips for a moment before his eyes narrowed as he looked at the tattooed man, "have we met?"
"Nah, I don't think so," he spoke softly, shaking his head.
"Are you sure? You look familiar."
"He's sure," Alivia interrupted, annoyed. "You should probably leave."
She inhaled deeply as she watched him walk away, glancing behind him with furrowed brows.
As she exhaled she turned her attention back to Rio, "How much to get rid of his body after I kill him?"
He chuckled as he opened the car door, getting ready to leave. "Might be able to work something out."