- TRIAX -
SIX YEARS LATER
I heaved, throwing the cigarettes out the car window, unlit and untouched; a grim look on my face. That bastard actually thought I would lite that. I hate cigarettes. The driver gave me a glance from the mirror above him.
"Where to now sir?"
I rolled my eyes out the window. That boring auction was obviously next.
"Drive to Bona Villa."
"I thought you said you would not go."
"Forget what I said. Romero Gonzalez, will be there. It would be disrespectful not to say hi to 'Dad' now wouldn't it?"
He grinned. It was always easy for him to comprehend me.
"Alright sir. Shall we stop by to get a gift?" he asked, briefly glancing at his gun's half-empty magazine.
"No need." I rested my back on the car seat. "I'm sure it's going to be a 'hello and goodbye' meeting. No need to be too flashy."
My fingers rubbed the ends of my faint red lips, my eyes looking down at my shoes as if to find dust that wasn't there; the bright fair pigment on my skin making the dark color of my suit a little too outstanding.
The driver nodded, turning the keys. The tinted bullet-proof car casually wheeled into the road and headed for the villa. Jonas, my driver, handed me a flier when the car made a short wait because of the traffic sign. I glanced through. On the poster it was written - Bona Villa Auctions. The guest of honor was only one person, a lady; tall and slender, with small hips and plump lips glossing away in the limelight. She gave off this familiar aura that I liked.
"Who?"
"Actress and Singer, VonGenie. She is the hottest cake there is, and she is coming to take over Volga City, her hometown or so they say. Another fact: she used to be married to Leo Roberts, but she vanished for quite a while, leaving everything she owned in Leo's hands."
"Jonas. You know how much I hate gossip."
He grinned, mischievously. "Indeed I do, sir, but VonGenie is not irrelevant. She is a business entrepreneur, and she will be making a lot of connections. You, with her, is synonymous to you with a money magnet."
I chuckled at how simple and yet essential his thoughts were sometimes. "So you think I can't be that myself."
"No, of course not sir," There was a hint of fear in his voice. "I just think you are not going to get any new aspiring businessman near you because of who you are. She will help soften the ground for you."
He reversed the car and the wheeled right into the parking grounds of the venue. He went straight to my car space but stopped near it. I noticed the incomplete move immediately. "What's wrong, Jonas?"
"Someone is parked in our spot."
I raised a brow. "Someone?"
"It's Lady VonGenie."
I grinned. Somehow, that fact seemed so exciting. I opened the car door and alighted, making small strides; the lady coming in full view. She was smoking weed in broad daylight, a wrap in between her hot red lips, a long black dress with a high slit running up to her thighs. It was not too high, but those long legs made it enough to make a man beg. She rolled her cat-brown eyes away from me, pretending like I wasn't there.
"Lady VonGenie. You are really as shady as your name."
She didn't spare me a glance. "I don't do poetry, Blue eyes." She said the last part with her tongue stuck out a little. I fought the temptation to bite them.
"Well, I believe you do plain English. So, will you take your car out of my parking space?"
She gave me a lazy eye. "Are you for real? Your car could literally fit anywhere else, but you want to drag parking spaces with a girl." She put a hand on her big bosom, pretending to be shocked, like a lady acting a gothic literature. I smiled. She is smart, trying to make me look stupid if I continue and look weak if I fall back… I literally have no good option.
"You are really some woman. No wonder Leo had to end his marriage with you. Well, I back off."
I saw the wounded look in her eyes the moment I made that statement. For a second, I thought I would regret it, but when she stood up and walked to me, propping that pretty face so close to mine, the only thing I regretted was not riling her up from the very beginning.
"In the near or distant future, don't use that phrase with me, or you won't only lose your parking space."
I smiled, she was daring me. I, Don Triax, was dared by a pretty face on heels. Well, she had better be worth leaving alive to tell this story. I backed off politely. She returned to shut her car and dispose of the weed. She escorted herself into the venue while I came in soon after, finding a seat in the crowd. The auction began minutes later. All the items were bid on. I found myself watching her, she bid on nothing except a meaningless diamond necklace from an old company. I had Jonas look up the necklace immediately.
While he did, I busied myself with looking at her and everyone around her. Instinctively, a wondering look spread across my face. Someone else was paying really close to her too. It was her ex, although he seemed more surprised than thrilled.
The auctioneer came up and beat the microphone a little. He drew my attention away. "In a moment, the enchantress of Volga City, the beautiful pri…what am I saying. She is no princess. The beautiful daredevil, VonGenie, will bewitch us with her new song; 'Slowly till I kill my ex'. Try not to fall in love." Everyone laughed.
I didn't, all eyes were on Leo Roberts again. He seemed too calm for someone who had just seen his ex-wife looking eighty times better than she did when he left her.
Applause rained as she stood up and made elegant strides with her slender legs. I expected her to say a few things like others but the next thing I saw was the lights fading and her new song's intro playing right after. She began to sing, green screens rolling like curtains behind her and creating a background that made the song more enticing. She had her back turned to the screens; perhaps that was why she didn't notice when it began to scramble.
I raised a brow. 'That's odd; Bona Villa can never use faulty electronics. Something is wrong'
Before I could comprehend what was going on, the images on the screens changed. Music was still playing, but her lovely background was swapped for the video of a much older woman alighting from a car.
I sat up back in my seat to concentrate, but I was immediately distracted by noises coming from the crowd to my left. I turned. It was Leo Roberts. He was swimming in a sea of guests, trying to get to the front while yelling, "Stop that video!! Stop that video!!!!"
"What the hell is going on here?"
I looked at Jonas. He was trapped in the scene on the screen too. Lady VonGenie did not even break a note; running the song through. She was getting to the finality. The older lady in the video was walking up to the door of an awfully familiar villa. Leo Roberts was almost at the front, but he was too late.
The song ended when the lady in the video opened the door and a half-naked Leo Roberts stepped out and kissed her. The date on the footage was from six years ago and the woman… Jonas reminded me, was VonGenie's mother.
VonGenie noticed the eyes looking behind her. She glanced behind her and immediately let out a frightened gasp. Her gaze fell back onto the crowd except, she seemed to know exactly where she was looking at. Our eyes crossed; she grinned and then fell to the floor, unconscious.
I leaned back on my seat fighting the burning desire to applaud her. What an act. Now I know I don't want to be on her bad side. I wonder what she plans to do next; but more importantly, what I have to do with it.