You know that time of your life, when you ask yourself why you made it till the night? I ask myself that every single day. Father owns a night club, and Lisa; that's me, has to manage it.
I was sitting comfortably on my soft spinning chair in my office, when a call came in. Looking at the intercom; I saw that it was a transferred call from my father's office. He's probably not there, but yet again he is never there. I picked up the phone and said.
"Lisa Cassias speaking, state your business." Trying my best to be formal.
"Tell Bernardo, I'm outside and need to talk to him. It's really urgent."
"Name please."
"Just inform him that its King, he'll understand." One thing I hate more than anything is code names.
"Okay" I said and decided to look for my father in this fine establishment of his, it wasn't hard. I knew he would be in the VIP section, so I just went there. Only to see him having a couple of drinks with a friend of his, like he does every other night while I work my butt off managing this place. I walked up to them and tapped my father on his shoulder. And he asked me.
"Is anything wrong, Lisa?" As if to say I can't talk to him unless something goes wrong. I bit that thought back and simply said.
"Nothing, just someone wants to see you."
"Who?"
"King" I whispered in his ears.
"Where is he?"
"Outside, at least that's what he said."
"Fine" My dad said getting up, he looked around for a while before whispering to me. "Keep him busy, don't want him to leave before I get back."
"Yes Father." I said. I turned to face his friend, and could clearly see him now. He was nowhere near the age of my father. He looked about thirty, late thirties; but my father was already past his fifties. How are they friends? Good for me, he spoke first.
"So, you're the daughter he doesn't stop talking about?" He asked, and I wasn't sure if that was a compliment or something else, so I asked.
"What?"
"Bernardo, he's really proud of you." He said, and I wondered if we were talking about the same person. "Won't you sit?" He asked and I settled for the seat my father was on before.
"Are you sure about that? All my father ever does is complain about me."
"You don't know or you just wanna pretend."
"I probably don't remember you."
"So soon, that's disappointing. Ten years seems just like yesterday to me."
"Sorry to disappoint you but I kinda lost most of my memories, so I don't remember you."
"Really? We had some good ones together, you, Carmen and I"
"You knew my sister?"
"Yes"
"How was she like?" I asked him eager to know more about my sister, since she's dead now.
"She was just like you, same black hair, green eyes, tall, beautiful and smart."
"You don't even know me that much, and you're already guessing that I'm smart."
"I did tell you that I knew you and your sister didn't I?" He said, his brown eyes gleaming at me.
"I wish I could remember too."
"It's okay, nothing is lost forever. You'll recover your memories soon."
"I hope so, I really do." I said, and remembered. "I didn't even ask for your name."
"Pablo, Pablo Macario"
"Macario? Son of Salvador Macario?"
"Yes, you remember my dad?"
"No. Yes, my father does business with him."
"That's true. I remember, the Cassias' and the Macario's have been close."
"What brings you to the club on a weekday night? Daddy troubles?"
"No, I don't live with him."
"Girl troubles?"
"Yes" He sighed and I laughed.
"Who's the girl you're hiding from?"
"Some lady who thinks she's more than just a casual hook-up."
""This is why you shouldn't double date." I advised.
"I don't do that, I don't date at all."
"So how are you in a relationship with her?"
"I'm never telling"
"Do whatever you want." I said, really not caring to know about his love life. I only wanted t know one thing. "How was your relationship with my sister like?"
He looked quite taken aback by that question but he answered anyways.
"Carmen and I, we were friends, close friends. When she died, I couldn't look at a bottle of scotch the same way again."
"So, she was your partner in crime?"
"Yes, my bestfriend. One of the few people in this world that understood me."
"You two schooled together?"
"Yes, same kindergarten, same elementary, same high-school, same college."
"Did I go to the same school?"
"No, you were always separated from Carmen, it was like you disliked her. But now, you're acting like you adored her."
"Maybe, its because I don't remember." I said doubting the words that came out from his mouth. How can I have hated my own sister? That's just impossible.
"But when I look at you, you don't remind me of Lisa, but of someone else."
"Who?"
"Her."
"Who's her? Carmen?"
"No, just forget I said anything."
"You're just like my father, you want me to remember. You say something then ask me to forget it. I'm so confused." I muttered under my breath. He heard it, and chuckled saying.
"Definitely not Lisa."
"What did you say?" I asked, although I heard loud and clear what he had said.
"You're asking questions. Lisa would always just sit somewhere and analyse everything. I used to wonder what went on in that pretty little head of hers."
"You talk like you're so sure I'm not Lisa."
"You look like Lisa, but Lisa also looked like her. The difference has always been in the hair; you have black hair but she was blonde."
Studying his facial expression, I could tell that he wasn't just talking about someone. The girl he was telling me about was no ordinary woman. She was someone he loved.
"I can tell you miss her." I said to him.
"A lot."
"Why don't you go see her?"
"Life isn't that easy is it Lexi?"
"Lexi?" I asked. So that's her name, he did say we looked alike but.
My thoughts were interrupted by memory gaps, that Ii always had. I shut my eyes and I saw this same guy, a much younger version. He called me Lexi and I called him Ace. I didn't make any sense. Almost immediately, something shook me and I opened my eyes.
"Lisa, you were about to fall, what happened?" I looked at him, and I knew he was the same person, older and more refined but he was the same person.
"You called me Lexi."
"That's why you wanted to fall off?"
"No, I just got carried away. So, who's Lexi?" I asked.
"As I said before, forget I said anything." He said, and that seemed to finalise that, but not for me.
"I remembered something." I said to get his attention.
"What?"
"When you called me Lexi, I had a tiny flashback, like a memory gap. You called me Lexi and I- I called you Ace."
"Ace? You're not supposed to know Ace."
"But I do. Anything you wanna say?"
"Carmen knew Ace, but you Lisa didn't and couldn't have."
"Did she know Ace?" I asked trying to hit the nail on the head.
"Yes" He said, "But what does that have to do with anything?"
"Nothing, just forget I said anything."
"Using my own words against me, aren't we?" He asked but I just smiled at him.
My father came and whispered in my ear for me to go back to my office.
"I'll be on my way now." I said to Pablo, sending him a polite smile.
After a few minutes in my office, my father came in. He shut the door and locked it with the key. Suspicious of his actions, I simply raised an eyebrow at him; but he kept me quiet. So I asked.
"What is it?"
"Lisa, you have a new job."
"You're going to let me start working in a normal place?" I asked expectantly.
"No." Why do I even bother? "But you'll stop working here." He offered.
"And be useless? I'll pass."
"You don't have a choice."
"Why the sudden change of heart?"
"I need you to kill someone."
"Never again, I'm not doing your dirty deals father. If you need someone dead, do it yourself." I said nearly yelling.
"You don't even know who I want dead and you're already flaring up."
"Because I'm not going to do it, no matter what."
"It's Pablo Macario."
"What didn't you understand in I'm not going to do it?" I asked. "And why him?"
"Looks can be deceiving, he seems like a really nice guy, but he's a threat to both of us."
"How?"
"He has suspicions that I'm in the mafia."
"Aren't you?"
"That's not the point. If I get arrested, let's say any family member of a mafia boss just simply disappears."
"Nobody just disappears." I reasoned with him.
"Father, it will cost my conscience which I'm already losing running this nightclub slash brothel for you."
"Its a pretty legit business,"
"Since when was prostitution legal?"
"They came on their own free will, that is not my fault." I shook my head in disappointment at his macho statement.
"Father, I'm not only disappointed in you, but also disgusted. I could've been one of those girls."
"Are you killing him or not?" He asked dismissing the other issue, and I knew better than to pressure him about it.
"I believe you know my answer. Until I have a tangible reason, I'm not killing anyone else for you." I told him, and I met my every word. "What do I look like, a hitman?"
"Carmen had more courage than you, she had always been better."
"I know, you tell me that every day. But guess what? She's dead and I. I'm not going to sit here and watch you compare me to a dead woman day-in, day-out." I told him.
"Get the hell out of my office" I yelled at my father.
"You have no idea what you're doing."
"What am I doing? Stepping on a lion's tail?"
"No, something worse, you poked the dragon's eye, and you're going to get burnt." He said and left my office.
He threatened me, for all the years I've lived with this man, he has never threatened me in such a way, like he meant it. What could be the real reason behind this.
I got to my house, and retired to sleep. On my bed, I had only one major thought in my head.
Who the hell is Ace?
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