“I’m not doing the job,” she said over her shoulder. The cord of her headphones snagged on her notebook as she turned the page and the corner. “Here is my phone number, it’s for the new address. Please send it out tomorrow.”
She pressed end on her call; the open space of her bedroom waiting before her. Footsteps thudded closer, stomping unintentionally under the weight of the man they carried. “Are you still on the phone?”
His voice loomed above her head. In such a short time he had caught up to her, so quickly. “No, I’m talking to you.” She turned on the heel of her foot. The weight of her cell phone stretched her hoodie down to the middle of her thigh. Her thong, barely visible when it was all she was wearing, was hidden in the cascading material. Bandaids, her grandmother had affectionately called them.
“Hard to tell with those damn headphones,” he gruffed.
“Listen, Charlie. You know me. You know the drill.”
“Yeah, well,” he said. “You know my name’s not Charlie.”
Grateful she was looking out, past the bed, over the balcony, out to the ocean blues where he couldn’t see her eyes roll.
“It’ll be an easy job, big pay off. . .”
She turned. Her earbud landing on her chest, pulled out by the centripetal force. Her face set more harshly than her mind. “I. Am. Not. Taking. The. Job.”
“I want you to do it,” he snarled.
She felt the heat of his hand as it hovered above her arm.
“Don’t you touch me. Don’t you dare ask me to kill your father and then put your hands on me.”
“I’m not asking you to kill my father, Cher. I’m offering you a job.”
“A job that involves murder. I’m not doing it, Paul. If you can’t take my no, take a hint and get out of my house.” She exhaled as she turned back around and headed for the balcony. There were two ways this could shake out, and Cherry had a better idea of how things were going to go down. Carefully, she set her phone on her nightstand facing the ocean. Nothing should be deprived of this view. With an effortless grace, she pulled something from her nightstand and made her way to the balcony.
She had barely sat down on the edge of the chaise lounge chair before the glass door slid open and closed. Paul’s hefty footsteps threatening to drown out the waves below. She stood turning to face him. He looked angry but seemed to be trying to control it. His squinted eyes and set mouth were testament to his determination drowning out her rejection of his offer. Cherry walked toward him, not too close, but close enough so only his eyes could see the shinny object she held in front of her. The shaft resting in her palm, the tip curved toward the sky.
“Maybe, since you’re not hearing me tell you to fuck off, a little visual will help. . .” Cherry’s voice trailed off. Paul’s olive complexion reddened. He stormed toward her. His large hands wrapped so tightly around her fists, his fingers overlapped. As she slammed back into the railing the glass dildo slipped into the bluffs and water below. Before Cherry could straighten her head, his other hand was wrapped around her throat, the pressure of his grip lifting her feet ever so slightly off the floor. Her hands grasped at his pants.
“You don’t know nothing about anything, Cher,” his voice was hoarse with anger. “Fine, you don’t want the job, don’t take it. Pull something like that again and I’ll kill you myself.”
Cherry held his gaze, the rest of his face getting lost behind the graying dots. Her knees buckled softly, though she was sure she had been standing upright before. With a harsh thud Cherry bounced off the railing. Her hands slipped through the strips of fabric on the chaise. When she finally sat up, Paul’s figure was rounding the corner of her bedroom. The loud slam of a door broke the silence ringing in her head.
She waited a few minutes for the feeling to come back to her arms and legs. The shaking she experienced had to be from falling onto the chaise, since Paul was as much of a threat as a paint chip. When she was steady Cherry made her way into her bedroom and went to her phone. Lifting it off the charger, she was careful to not press the home screen. The red light still flashing from earlier. She took care as she slowly made her way into the bathroom, certain to flip every switch up, she filmed her splotchy neck and throat. Only then did she press stop and make a phone call.
“Hi Sweetie,” the voice sang on the other line. “You ready for our date tomorrow?”
“Oh Paulie,” she sobbed into the phone. “Something’s happened. I need you to meet me somewhere. Somewhere no one will see us.”
“Okay, okay. The place I showed you? The one I told you to forget about?”
“Mhhmm,” Cherry sniffled into the phone.
“Okay babe, 25 minutes.”
“Okay, Paulie.”
“Love ya, baby.”
The line disconnected. After changing her outfit, Cherry ordered a movie on Amazon and an over indulgent, over priced dinner via Uber Eats. It would be there in 60 minutes. Unlike where she figured Paul was going, she would have no shame in admitting to eating her feelings in the from of sushi.
The drive to the point was easy enough from her bungalow in the sky. She parked where Paulie had the last time they were here, when she wasn’t supposed to be, but business was business, and then scampered her way down the path up to the secluded cave-like opening. Paulie shuffled down the path only a minute or two after.
“Oh Paulie,” she said breathlessly. “You have to call your guys. Your son. He wants to kill you.”
“What?!”
“He knows that you recently changed your will, turned everything over to some piece of ass, those were his words. He thinks if he can get you this week, then, well he can fight it and get all your assets.”
“Babydoll, first off. You’re not a piece of ass. I love you. More than anything I’ve ever loved in this life. I made you my heir, because I love you. Because of your brains – your sense of business – and how amazing you are to me. I want to see you succeed. The only thing Paul can succeed at is failure.”
“You can’t kill him, Paulie. You can’t. . . “
Cherry threw her hands on her face, softly sobbing.
“I won’t, baby. But I have to take care of it somehow. Stay here, let me call my guy.”
Paulie walked toward the edge of the bluff. Cherry could hear some of the conversation. The most important parts “confidential source. . . Paul thinks he’s gonna get me. . . no, there is no piece of ass. Don’t kill him, but we’re gonna need to do something. Tomorrow, breakfast at Rookies. 5:30 AM.”
He turned around, the big smile on his face wiped away by the barrel of a gun. The same one, if he could see through his panic, that he had given Paul for his birthday a few years back.
“Good boy,” Cherry said before pulling the trigger.
Cherry wiped down the gun before she threw it over the bluffs. Hastily making her way home, she thought about all the pieces and how they had all fallen into place. Her stomach rumbled at the word pieces. She was excited to have ordered so many different rolls. She pulled into her driveway and headed down the path that would avoid her cameras. . .the perks of installing your own system. When you were a high level hit man it was important that even your security wouldn’t betray you.
She had just thrown her clothes into the hamper when her app pinged – the driver would be approaching with her food any minute. They would update her when it was dropped off. Tying the belt around her robe she hurried to the door.
“Ahhh,” the driver yelped.
“Ohhh,” Cherry said. “I didn’t mean to scare you.”
“It’s okay. It said leave at door. I wasn’t expecting anyone.”
“I’m sorry. I didn’t even realize,” Cherry said.
“No worries, Miss.” The drivers eyes combed over her robe, following the seam down the front. “Have a great evening.”
“You too!” She smiled and closed the door.