The Vegas skyline is similar to the Reno skyline but still has its differences. Vegas is busier than Reno. They both have all the same style buildings and lights, but in Vegas, each pedestrian looks like they're ready to lose it all in the first casino they see. Funny thing is, they're happy about it. Being bad at casino games comes with the Vegas experience. From Harper's floor window at the home in Reno, she saw everyday people walking. It wasn't obvious that they were headed to a show or to a bar.
Even though the view outside is bustling, inside the room is the exact opposite. Harper has the blinds to her window all the way up, hoping that the sunlight bathed room changes the room's mood. But no, the room is still all angles, cold and calculating and plain. It's not cold temperature wise, but Harper still wraps her arms around herself as she crosses the threshold to reach her bed. Harper closes her eyes and lets the sunlight seep through behind her eyelids. It's only after her eyes are closed that she lets the events of last night weigh her down again. Ever since Esme picked her up, her mind has pretty much been in autopilot. She followed her orders and stayed low. Of course she had the thought of trying to escape when she wasn't on such close watch but that proved it would do more harm than good. The only time she strayed from docile and obedient led her to meet Imogen. Harper does a sharp intake. Imogen... is a lot, and Harper isn't sure quite what to make of her. Harper knows nothing about her but her name and her legacy. Last night was dizzying for Harper. Imogen's proximity and tone with her was frightening and intriguing at the same time. She felt scared but didn't want to pull away. And now, she has no idea what to do. It's too late to go back to Reno without going unnoticed. Weirdly she finds herself wanting Esme back solely for the familiarity of her in Vegas.
Harper stands up from the bed and shuffles her way to the door. She doesn't know where she'll go from there but maybe inspiration will strike when she actually reaches the door.
Her hand goes to the cool knob and turns it. Opening the door she sees someone right in front of it, hand poised to knock. After recovering from the initial shock, it takes everything in Harper not to break down in joy.
"Glad to see our best friend telepathy still works just fine."
"Elodie!!" Harper screams as she rushes to hug her friend at the door. Elodies hugs her back just as tightly and enthusiastically. Harper is close to crying on her best friend's shoulder because she is so overwhelmed by it all.
"How did you find me? When did you leave Reno?" Harper asks after finally pulling away.
Elodie smiles back conspirately and waves her hand dismissively. "Like I said, best friend telepathy is still intact," she replies.
Elodie looks over Harper's shoulder and her mouth makes an O.
"Damn, your place is nice!" She squeezes past Harper to walk into the room. She struts around slowly, touching every open surface as Harper closes the door and stands there, following Elodie's movements with her eyes. "This is a major upgrade from the home."
At the mention of the home, Harper is surprised to feel a bit of nostalgia. She didn't miss the constant depression she felt living there but is looking for the sense of familiarity and freedom. But with Elodie's surprise arrival, she got some of that back.
"So you decide to become a wealthy socialite after I leave? I see how it is," Elodie says in a lighthearted manner, crossing her arms to turn to Harper. Elodie is grinning widely and Harper can't help but notice how much more tired she looks. She's lively with her usual extroverted personality. However, the bags under her eyes are prominent and her clothes aren't styled in the chic way they usually are, hanging loosely from her frame.
"I'm definitely not a socialite," Harper replies, moving from the door to the bed. She folds her feet underneath her and watches as Elodie shifts through the clothes in her closet. Elodie pulls out the dress Harper wore last night and holds it up to her body, as if she was trying to see how it might look on her.
"You're trying to tell me that you could wear something like this? You've changed so much already, Harpsie," she says in a joking manner. Elodie puts the dress back and shuffles through the closet some more. "From the looks of your closet, you're either a socialite or a sugar baby. No in between. They definitely didn't give me any of this stuff when I started."
Harper tilts her head as Elodie turns to face her. "What do you mean by that? I thought that your boyfriend had you living like a princess." She exaggerates the word princess. She's only repeating what Elodie has been saying all the way up to the time she left the home.
Elodie sighs and walks over to the bed. She takes a seat next to Harper and keeps her hands in her lap. "He finally became a crew manager." Harper interrupts to congratulate her. However, Elodie keeps her face straight as she says thanks.
"He's a crew manager and I thought I could just be a trophy girlfriend or something like that. Turns out, he's the crew manager for the drug runners, and apparently that's a little different than being an associate. All this time I thought I'd be able to go to fancy parties and watch Dillon fuck shit up. Yet," Harper nods along as she follows Elodie's explanation. Elodie is fidgeting with her hands in her lap now and bouncing her leg. Harper narrows her eyes at the movements but ultimately stays quiet. "Anyway, long story short, I have to be a drug runner until I 'level up' or whatever."
"But the gifts he was getting you before you joined? They're legit, right?"
Elodie's eyes widen. "Of course! They're legit! Even if we didn't have to live in the production factory he oversees, he just doesn't have the money to rent out a place like this," she says, gesturing to the room they're sitting in. She sighs, then hesitates for a bit. "I mean, at least not without the money he skims off the top after every trade," she mumbles. Now it's time for Harper's eyes to widen. She quickly spins her head to look Elodie in the eyes only to find Elodie already staring back at her. Before Harper can even say anything, Elodie elaborates.
"I keep telling him to stop! It stresses me the fuck out. Whatever punishment they could give him if they found out is not worth it," she says, voice shaky and concerned. "In the beginning I didn't really care. No one really supervises us in the drug making division. But now there's word going around that the opening of a Reno port is going to mark a purge for Decalcomanie. Imogen wants people to see her as the new leader and not just as the old leader's younger sister. The Reno port means all the associates with a drug trade speciality are going to be paying extra careful attention."
Harper moves to hold Elodie's hand. Elodie squeezes her hand in return, like it's the only thing grounding her in the moment. "Dillon treats me so well, but he's so reckless that it hurts more than if he had just broken my heart instead." Harper lets out a puff of breath and gives Elodie a hug.
"Oh Lo-Lo," Harper breathes into Elodie's curly hair. "I hate how this is happening to you." She gives Elodie a tighter squeeze before letting go.
"Enough about me! Tell me about your sugar daddy!" Elodie giggles as she flops back onto bed, moving from a sitting position to one where she's lying down.
"I'm not a sugar baby," Elodie rolls her eyes but moves her hand in a "go on" gesture. "One associate took me from the home and flew me out to Vegas. Then we went to a stressful meeting before I got to settle in here for the night." Harper decides to leave out the part where she met Imogen. It's been 12 hours and she still doesn't know what to make of how she feels around the notorious mob leader. Imogen is supposed to be mean and scary. Harper will keep repeating that in her head until she doesn't have to think about it anymore.
Elodie props her head on her hand and frowns, raising her eyebrows. "I'm just going to assume you having the most boring story ever is due to the fact you haven't been here long."
"Yea," Harper says back. Elodie's phone starts to buzz at that moment. After she reads whatever message she got, she sits up and wraps her arm around Harper.
"I've got to go. Needed back at the factory." She gives Harper a quick peck on the cheek and a hug before standing up. "I'll see you soon, yeah? Get more interesting by next time, Harpsie!"
"See ya, Lo-Lo!" Harper says back as Elodie closes the door laughing.
♤ ♧ ♡ ♢
She needed to get out of the house. It was such an off-morning for her. Imogen woke up with the sun, which she hates doing, and could not focus on any of the tasks in her office, which she hates feeling. She rarely ever takes walks outside, her exercise limited to her in home gym and transportation covered by her heavily tinted car and driver. But this morning, she took a walk, just around the park behind the building. And now, she's back at the building, ready to face reality again, hoping that her brain has caught up.
Opening the door she keeps her head down and walks quickly toward the elevator. She just wants back in her suite and a snack.
"Ma'am?" Imogen sighs. Guess her brain has gotta catch up now, not even having the luxury of the elevator ride.
Imogen looks up and turns toward the sound of the voice. She looks at her associate, a man who gives her periodic briefings and the only one who can meet her at the building and not at an undisclosed location.
The man gives her a manila envelope. Imogen takes it and pulls out a handful of 4 by 7 photographs of herself leaving a shop with a few of her associates. The photographer cropped out the other faces and clearly focused on hers.
"The police have these images. But the police chief's supplier is one of our own. I've got a few of my interns working on removing it from the system," the man explains as Imogen continues to flip through the photos.
"Well, " Imogen starts, "You know the drill by now. I'm the faceless threat of the nation for a reason."
"Of course. It should be done by tonight," the man takes the envelope from Imogen as she finishes and tucks it under his arm. "We've also found a set of interim leaders for the Reno port." The man fishes a USB pen out of his suit jacket pocket and hands it to Imogen. "These are the credentials and stats." Imogen takes the flash drive and pockets it.
"Lastly, tonight is the charity event with the state representative. Given his offenses against Decalcomanie and the high profile status of this event, perhaps bringing a bodyguard this time around, in light of these photographs, would be best."
Imogen raises an eyebrow at the man and crosses her arms. She's disturbed at the idea that a mere associate thinks she's not careful enough. It's not his place to decide that.
"Last I checked, you don't have anything to do with security. What do you know 'would be best'?" her voice is clipped and curt. "It seems like one photograph makes you believe the whole empire is gonna crash." The man doesn't know how to answer and starts mumbling. Imogen rolls her eyes and waves a hand to dismiss him.
She steps back towards the elevator and takes it up to her penthouse suite. In the elevator, she decides she's not going to change from her casual outfit of dark wash jeans and a purple blouse. In light of the photographs and everything happening with the Reno port, she decides she's going to make a quick visit to her older sister. Maybe she'll have some insight to it all. She'll just grab the keys to her personal car to leave.
Entering the suite, she sees her suitemate sitting on the couch, pampered and reading a tabloid under the sunlight coming in from the window. She's only wearing a bathrobe and slippers and looks comfortable. Her brown hair is cascading over her shoulders and the sunlight from the bay windows are making it look golden honey. She's pretty like this, absolutely relaxed and content.
"Well aren't you working hard," Imogen says, closing the door and slipping off her shoes. Imogen walks until she stops right in front of the couch. It's only then her suitemate lowers her tabloid.
"I think you're forgetting my original job description was to sit still and look pretty." She smiles widely at Imogen, boldly mixed with some flirtiness.
"Mhmmm," Imogen bends over the girl's face and gets really close, looking her face up and down. The girl's face remains flirty, but now she's biting her lip, waiting for Imogen's next words.
"It was to sit still and look pretty for me, doll. Not for whoever you saw these past few days." Imogen grins as the girl's face changes from flirty to confused. She pouts, and she's the only one Imogen would ever let do that in front of her. Imogen cards her fingers through the brunette's hair and pulls away.
"I wasn't with anyone. I was shopping because I need a new outfit for the charity event tonight. There's nothing that fits the mood in the closet."
Right, the charity event. She hasn't told her suitemate that she can't go because she'll be too much of a distraction at the event. Imogen didn't make it known to the girl that she wasn't going to "just talk" to the state representative.
"Oh, I've changed my mind. You're not going to the event," Imogen says, knowing that her suitemate would drop the subject. The girl looks up at Imogen and catches her eyes. Imogen puts on her most steely gaze to look back at her suitemate. The girl's expression changes quickly. Now her face is blank and unreadable.
"Yes, of course. What was I thinking?" she says monotonously. Imogen smiles and walks over to cup her hand under her suitemate's chin.
"Good girl," Imogen purrs. She leans in to give her a kiss. Her suitemate closes her eyes and parts her lips.
"I'm going to Remi's. I'll be back in a few hours," Imogen says, pulling away. Her suitemate watches Imogen as she shuffles around for her keys. It's only when Imogen reaches the door that the girl picks up her tabloid again.
"Have fun," she whispers in Imogen's direction, eyes skimming over the tabloid.
Imogen hums and goes to step out the door.
♤ ♧ ♡ ♢