"Here." Andrea handed me a small card. "Your name is now Isabel Moore. Don't forget that, or you'll be in deep shit."
The Fake ID she handed me looked real. She was good at what she did, that was a fact. The only thing I had to do was remember my name, seemed simple enough.
Piece of cake.
"Thanks, I love my hair. You're a great stylist." I gave my long curls a pat. "I would take five years to do this." My ponytail had big diva curls in it that scratched at my back, it was styled with hairspray and a few stray sections of hair fell down the sides of my face.
"What can I say? I have many talents," she replied with a smile. "You should be on the list," she offered with a wink. "Good luck." She walked out of my room and shut the door gently behind her.
I placed the ID on my make up desk. In my closet, I picked out the long black backless dress I had bought a few days ago for this event, and grabbed a garter band holster to keep a knife hidden under my dress.
After I slipped it on I admired the way it hugged my figure in the mirror. It squeezed my torso in all of the right spots, reaching down to my ankles it split up my right thigh leaving my leg semi exposed. My tattoo and the knife were on the left thigh, hidden from any view.
After putting on a full face of makeup and picking out some flashy jewelry, I readied myself mentally.
It was some what of an internal conversation with myself while watching myself back in the mirror.
I placed the masquerade mask over my face, enjoying the way it hid me but left me exposed all at the same time. As strange as it was, the mask gave me a sense of freedom. This was something I was doing for myself. It wasn't on my fathers command.
I faced myself head on in the mirror. "Let's go have a chat with this assassin in blue."
I met Lynn at the door, loving the way her long, black dress faded into blue. Her hair was in a crown braid hairstyle and she was all glammed with pearls and diamonds.
I tied my mask on and adjusted it to a comfortable position.
Lynn smirked. "You look good Isabel,"
she complimented. "Not as good as me, of course." Andrea must have told her my 'name' I assumed. She held her head high and strutted out the door.
Thanks.
~*~*~*~*~*~
Luckily, there was only a short line and we made it to the door without a hassle. I could faintly hear the music playing from inside, the sound of chatter mixing with the melody.
Lynn handed the big bald man that was checking names off of the list her ID. I wasn't really paying attention to their conversation, my focus was zoned out into another world while I listened to the music coming from inside the building. I took note that the outside was heavily guarded.
"Excuse me?" The big bald man burst out and threw a nasty look at Lynn.
"My name," Lynn tilted her head towards the list of different names. "Sukma Wang. It's spelled S-u-k-m-a W-a-n-g. Is there a problem?" She shifted her posture in a more intimidating way.
It took everything in me not to show the slightest hint of a smile. Andrea did this on purpose.
He cleared his throat and shook his head. The guy found the name on the list and looked at the ID she had given him, scanning it before he marked out the name. "Of course not, ma'am." He handed the ID back to her with slight shame.
She swiftly pulled it from his fingers. "Good," she spat. She put her ID in her small silver purse, and walked inside as if she were on a red carpet.
Once I was inside, I went straight to an empty table. All of the tables were draped in white table cloth and the soft chairs were a dark red color. The lights were dimmed all around the room besides the light over the dance floor. The stage in the room was shut off by large bulky curtains. Thin white and blood red curtains were hung from the walls, decorating the room like a peppermint.
Everyone was hidden behind a mask, making it harder to identify anyone. The only people I had seen bare-faced was the bald guy at the door, the little man that was talking coats and purses to put away for people and the big bulky guards outside; even the waiters had little black masks on as they carried around trays with food or wine on them.
There were only a few other people sitting at the tables, most people were dancing. Bodies glided across the dance floor in sync, I caught sight of Lynn already making her way to the dance floor with some man. Dresses gently swayed against their movements and made a graceful fall in the air with the flow of the music guiding the way.
A man sitting a few tables over from me waved down a waiter and I watched as he got two glasses of wine. He wasn't the man I was here to find, I had that much figured out. The man stood from his chair and started walking in my direction.
Please, don't be coming towards me.
He's coming towards me.
He carried himself like he was sophisticated and he had clearly been taught to do so since he came out of a vagina.
Of course, the top half of his face was covered by a mask, but the bottom half of his face was rounded off and smooth of any facial hair. He approached me with a small smile and held the wine out towards me. "Care for a drink? Mind if I join you?"
I returned his smile. "Not at all," I accepted. I took the drink and took a sip. The man took a seat next to me sipping his wine too.
"My name is Wade, what's yours?" He held his hand out to me for a shake.
"I'm Isabel." I shook his hand. "But you're married? Mind telling your wife I said hello?" I dropped his hand and took another sip of my wine.
He looked stunned. "How– what are you talking about?" He tried to off his shock, like he was confused.
"I pay attention to detail, Wade. Your hand. I see the tan line where your ring should be." I raised an eyebrow. "You keep glancing around like you're paranoid. I hope that you wouldn't be dumb enough to flirt with other women while she's around. You feel guilty and are afraid she'll pop up out of nowhere and catch you. Correct?"
He gaped like a fish, "I uhh..." He cleared his throat. "It was nice talking to you, I've got to go." He quickly left and disappeared faster than I could bid him goodbye.
I spent a few more minutes just watching people dance around on the dance floor before I decided to get up. I was beginning to wonder if they were even here. People carried on about their conversations or continued to dance, not really paying me any attention as I walked around the outside of the dance floor. By now, a few more people had left the dance floor.
A man stood off to the side, leaning lazily against the wall. His dark hair was styled back and had the slightest hint of shine. His gaze swept across the room as if he were looking for someone. From here, I could see he had a neatly kept stubble decorating his sharp jawline. That had to be him. I could feel it.
I continued to watch him as I took another sip of my drink. As if he could feel my eyes on him, his attention slid to me. I rose my glass to my mouth, took a sip and turned towards the people dancing. I was definitely caught.
Out of the corner of my eye, I could see him push off of the wall and start towards me.
Oh no. Now would be a good time to turn into Houdini.
I tried to be nonchalant and not acknowledge him walking up to me. Maybe he'd change his mind and turn around, if I was lucky.
When am I ever lucky?
Point there.
He came up right next to me, I ignored him for a few more seconds before I couldn't help but give in. He was still quite a bit taller than me, despite my heels that placed me at around five-foot-eleven.
"And you are?" He held a hand out for me to shake. I recognized his voice, this was definitely him. A sultry venom to the ears. The hard part of this game was figuring out if he knows who I am, without giving it away. Or that his friend is currently chained up in my closet— a secret room in my closet, if you wanted to get technical.
I switched my drink to my left had so that I could shake his hand. "Isabel Moore."
"Toby Greenfield," he introduced himself with, no doubt, a fake name. He was definitely not a Toby... maybe a Vincent. His eyes were hidden behind his silky black mask, but I could tell he was scrutinizing me the way his head tilted slightly to the side. "Did you come here with someone?"
"Sukma Wang."
"What?" His lip lifted into a mix of confusion and disgust.
I smirked in amusement. "My friend, her name is Sukma Wang." I shrugged, as if it were normal.
"There's something about you," He mumbled, continuing to watch me with steady inquiry when he decided to ask, "Care for a dance?"
With you? No thanks.
"No thank you. It looks like everyone one here knows how to dance to this music. I don't, Sorry." I gave him a tight smile, sealing my decline.
He plucked the wine glass out of my hand, just before it reached my lips and set it on the ledge of the stage that we were standing next to. "I'll teach you. Dance with me," he persisted with demanding power. He held his palm out towards me and tucked the other one behind his back.
Hey, that was my drink.
Something about his onerous demands was intriguing.
I glanced back at the people moving in sync across the dance floor and pursed my lips. "Fine." I obediently placed my hand in his.
He led me onto the dance floor and we began to glide across the dance floor together. It happened naturally, as if we had done this a thousand times. His hand that held mine was larger and had a rough texture to it, his other hand gripped my waist with firm fingers. It was easy to tell he wasn't a pampered man and he had definitely been actively into a more... dynamic lifestyle.
Despite his hands being rough, his hold was surprisingly gentle. Not gentle— cautious.
"You're not as bad as I thought you'd be," he lowly praised. "For someone that doesn't know the dance, that is."
The song changed and everyone began to have their own little dances going on, still seeming to all sync with the music.
"I can learn pretty quickly."
"I think.." He twirled me around with my back planted to his front and looped his arm around me before pulling me closer to him. Any remaining space between us was now nonexistent. "That's a lie."
My heart began to pound against my chest at my bluff being called.His hand drifted across my stomach and I stopped him with a squeeze."Now, why would you think that?"
I could feel his warm breath fan down my neck. "No one learns that quickly." We swayed with the music but my body was tense with alert. "So, why are you trying to avoid me?"
I leaned back slightly so that I could look up at him, unfortunately for me most of his face was covered, keeping me from trying to read his expression. "You think I'm trying to avoid you?" I scoffed for effect.
"No." He leaned in so close to my face that I could barely comprehend the situation anymore. His hand wandered my waist, down the space of my thigh, until he felt the outline of the knife I had in my garter band. "I know so."
Should I be worried, or aroused?
•••••••••••••••••••••
I FINALLY UPDATED!
Sorry that took so long...
• - •
My bad.
Don't be afraid to leave comments! I want to know what you guys think is going to happen. Maybe you'll give me some ideas ;)