LEAH
The lab was enlighten by artificial lights. It was already 8 PM, and the winter weather did not allow the sun to stay risen at that hour. Lia and I are working on our experimental cells on each side of the lab when the door opens. We both look up, as our now boss - Pernille Harder - enters the room with assurance.
A smirk appears on her face when she realises we're still here working on her project - well, I would've left already, but it was out of the question that I'd leave Lia on her own in this God-forsaken place. Given that Pernille's presence in London, as well as her sudden hiring of me weren't a coincidence, and I couldn't risk Lia.
As the latter salutes her boss with a nod, Pernille says:
"Lia, can you please do me a favour and get me the C-samples that are in the third-floor lab ? I would really like to get home but I still have to synthesise a molecule here."
"Sure!" Lia responds, immediately leaving the room, leaving me and the blonde face to face, on our own.
As soon as she's gone, Pernille walks straight at me and stops only steps away, her arms crossed against her chest, immediately announcing her mood in a matter of seconds: her murderous eyes are on me, and her jaw is set.
Back in high school, Pernille was part of the 'cool kids' gang: she was a skateboarder, but also had the highest grades of our school, and was president of debate club. The first place is where she and Maria met ; the second where she was recognised as super-smart, and the third where her notoriety started. Back then, she was dating the hottest guys, and always hid her attraction to Maria, that was growing stronger every second until she died.
Of course I hated - and still hate - Pernille Harder: she was the type of girl I could never compete with, and if Mapi was feeling something for me back then, she sure as Hell was feeling something for Pernille, too.
Either way, she definitely hated - and still hates - me: how fucking ironic.
"You were hard to find, Williamson: but I finally did, and now that your two bodyguards aren't here to hide you behind them, we can finally have that talk."
I frown. Be a badass, Leah. Time to shine.
"T-that talk?" I repeat, my voice trembling a little.
Shit. Shit. Shit. What happened to being badass? You're such a disgrace, she will eat you alive as soon as she gets the chance to - don't give it to her! I think to myself, my inner voice screaming inside my mind.
With a winning smirk on her face, Pernille declares:
"Senior Prom night. You disappeared with Mapi for an hour or so, and when you came back to the ball, she was found dead on the street - a hit and run, they said. I want to know what happened?"
Shaking my head, I say:
"I was with my friends the whole time."
"Remember Ada Hegerberg?" Pernille asks, a smirk on her face.
"Yeah... She was one of the footballers, right?"
"Yes, and she also happened to be hooking up with Ingrid Engen in the ballroom's bathrooms when you were out in the woods. Care to explain?"
SHIT.
"You have no idea what you're talking about..." I start, before deciding that I should really say something that would have an impact if I wanted to help myself out of this tricky situation. Rolling my eyes, I add: "Is that why you hired me by force? So that you'd lead your little investigation out of jealousy because Mapi was seeing me, too? Is that it?"
Pernille bursts into a cold laughter, before taking another step, making me take one back in turn.
"Oh, you think you're so smart: Mapi told me about you and her, and honestly I didn't really care: she decided to go to Prom with me, not you. Now, where were you for an hour before Mapi died?"
"I-"
But at that exact moment, when I though Pernille was about to slit my throat or something, Lia enters the room with the samples in hand, and when our boss jumps a little and takes a few steps away, not leaving my eyes alone, the Swiss frowns: from the outside, that could look very suspicious indeed.
Coughing, I just walk past her, as Lia asks:
"Everything okay...?"
"Yeah, why wouldn't it be?" Pernille asks, and the irony could only be heard by someone who knew about the previous situation. She then grabs the samples and adds: "You girls should go home - you've done enough for today, I need you both to be ready for next week, before, trust me, shit is about to go down...! Goodnight!"
"Goodnight" Lia and I say at the same time.
As soon as we are out of the building, I quickly salute Lia and, instead of accompany her to the metro just like those past few days of work, I immediately go home and lock myself in, terrified. When I try to call Ingrid or Alexia, neither responds.
Fuck.
***
INGRID
"You can thank Agent Putellas, otherwise we would never have let you out, Miss Engen" one of the agents of Section 17 says.
Her name is something like Arya, or maybe Ana: she is tall and serious, while her smaller colleague seems fiery and impatient. They both stare at me with a smirk, as the local policemen and women are reluctantly letting me out - this is one of the advantages to be friends with a member of London P.D. and, now, MI6. Either way, that night spent in custody wasn't really nice, and when I get my phone back and see that I had 7 missed calls - most of them from Frida, and one or two from Leah - I just sigh.
When I put my coat on, I just turn to the two agents, reading their badges, and saying:
"Well, Ana-Maria... Danielle... It's been fun, but I've got shit to do. Say hi to Alexia from me!"
I get out of the police station, thinking that I was lucky this time - I mean, for once I hadn't done anything, why would I even try to kill Roflö? But, well, at least it's a good preparation in case we don't manage to keep our secret.
About thirty minutes later, I finally make it to my apartment, and once I get inside I just jump out of fear, about to make karate moves on the person sitting on my couch with the lights on, until I realise it is Leah when she gets up with her hands in the air.
Out of my mind, I exclaim:
"What the fuck is wrong with you? I gave you a key in case of emergency - what don't you understand about emergency, uh? Leah, I swear to G-"
But Leah is making the 'time out' sign - quick explanation: when we were younger, I was dealing with anger issues, and the three of us had agreed on this simple gesture to stop someone from losing it and make them shut up just the time to give them a proper explanation - so I immediately interrupt my fiery thoughts.
Sighing, the blonde just says:
"This is an actual emergency, I swear..."
"Leah, for fuck's sake, I just got out of a near-death explosion and a night at the police station, so don't mess with me unless it's urgent." I coldly say.
"Pernille Harder hired me because she thinks I had something to do with Mapi's death. This is bad, like, really bad, Ing: she's been asking me questions and thank God Lia came back 'cause it was getting intense... What do I do?"
"What do you mean?"
"Like, I'm gonna have to work for her those next few months, and there's no way out otherwise it'll seem suspicious. So: what do I do?"
I shrug, tired as fuck.
"Listen, Leah, can we talk about this tomorrow...?" I ask, hopeful.
But then, she drops the bomb:
"Oh, sure, would you rather talk about you hooking up with Ada in the toilets while I was almost dying, uh?"
Ingrid's eyes go wide.
"It's not what you think..."
"Sure, I'm naive, not dumb: so, your choice, either we talk about Pernille, or-"
"Okay, FINE." I let out, highly annoyed.
For the rest of the night, we just end up talking about that famous night with very little words, both of our throats being tight as fuck. Then, we eventually fall asleep on the couch until the next morning, just like old times.
During this time, Frida had tried to call me 4 more times.
***
ALEXIA
I wake up with a terrible headache the morning - if you can even call it that at 1 PM - following the high school reunion party where Shelina and I ended up heavily drunk and then sleeping together in my childhood bed.
Fucking Hell.
Trying to look composed and unbothered - which I clearly wasn't, because from what I could remember, that night was even more amazing than the first - I walk down the stairs, only to find my mother and Shelina cooking together.
As soon as she sees me, my mother ironically says:
"¡Esta es la fiestera de la casa! (English: Here's the party girl of the house) - thankfully your fiancé is less of a drunk than you are!"
Rolling my eyes, I just hug my mother, before coming face to face with Shelina.
"I thought you'd never wake up, hon" the Canadian lets out, amused.
Under my mother's insistant glare - it would be weird for fiancés not to kiss each other good morning, right? - Shelina suddenly leans in and just presses her lips against mine for a couple of seconds, before pulling away, immediately looking elsewhere.
Sighing but remaining silent, I just listen as my mother then says:
"I need you two to get me some legumes from the market right now, could you please go?"
"Sure, mamà" I answer, a bit reluctantly.
As soon as we are out of the house, Shelina lets go of my hand, as well as her fake 'in love' smile, just to become all cold and putting her guards up. Setting my jaw - it was actually a delicate situation, because we were to work together many more weeks from the state of things here in Saint Ives - I just stare at my feet.
After some time, Shelina stops walking and asks straight-forwardly:
"Why did you throw yourself at me last night?"
Well, that's a way to address a topic..., I comment internally, taking a deep breath, before honestly saying:
"I don't know, I guess it was mostly alcohol." I only respond.
"We have an important mission here, Putellas, and I will not let you jeopardise it because of whatever you may think there is between us, so-"
"Oh, I'm sorry, but I don't remember you pushing me away..." I immediately fight back, really hurt by her insinuations. As Shelina frowns because she knows I am right, I add: "I mean, quite the opposite it seems..."
"This cannot happen, and you know it, Putellas." Shelina insists.
"Oh, please, now you're gonna do the whole discourse after flirting with me the whole evening? Don't pretend it's only my fault, or that I'm the only one feel-"
I abruptly stop. I was about to say feeling it, without even really knowing myself what I meant by 'it'. Setting my jaw, I just keep on walking, but she runs me off and grabs my arm, forcing me to turn around.
As her cold yet breathtaking eyes are set on me, she says:
"Whatever this... was, it cannot happen again: I take my career very seriously and will always value it and put it above all else, even relationships of any kind. Is that clear, Putellas?"
I smirk.
"Well, Special Agent Zadorsky is back, and I already regret just Shelina."
She opens her mouth to say something, but sudden noises invade both our ears: those are gunshots.
We immediately forget our present quarrel and run toward the source of the noise - being the ball room where we were yesterday.
There, on the middle of the empty room, a body lies, bleeding out: it's too late.