Night and Day

Out of all the dares I had taken part in I regretted this one the most. Not because it wasn’t enjoyable but because it crossed the level of professionalism that I had so dearly needed to maintain. Why did I have to think it was worth doing in order to avoid any more photo-shoots with Troy? I felt Troy’s stare on me and so I turned to look at him. The look on his face was that of someone who had figured something out, he shook his head at me and took a drink from his beer before holding his hand out to Rusty. I watched as Rusty placed a hundred dollar bill in Troy’s hand. Those little fuckers set me up and Troy prepared to be reprehended by the swift movement of my fist but I let out a breath of air before I gave him a close lipped smile. With that simple smile, his smug look turned to that of horror. He knew payback would be premeditated and would not be a smack upside the head. I held out my hand and he gave a huff before giving me the hundred dollar bill.

Troy gave me a look, almost hoping that the winnings from his bet with Rusty would suffice as a way to make up for the bet in the first place but he knew better than that. My eyes went to Rusty who didn’t know what would come of this game the two chose to play with me. I kept up the close lipped smile and soon found myself letting out a small chuckle. Oh the things I could do to make their lives hell but it would be subtle and unexpected. I waved to say goodbye and began to make my way out of the overcrowded club but Rusty followed me out. Back onto the sidewalk that was scattered with people still enjoying their nights, I waited expectantly for Rusty, slightly hidden in the shadows of a nearby alleyway. I saw him walk past the alley in one of those awkward jog/walking movements. He stopped just a few steps ahead of the alley and seemed to look a little at a loss. At least from my view that’s what it looked like and it made me feel a little uncomfortable. When I had chosen to hide in the shadows I had planned to scare him by popping out but now I didn’t feel like doing that. I felt like hiding forever. Instead of following plans I waited for him to be out of sight before I headed back to the hotel. Before I went back to my room I decided to have a drink and a play in a casino game with the one hundred I garnered from Troy. First was a drink and then I headed over towards the low brow section of the roulette tables. I gave the hundred up to get my chips and placed a bet on the number nine. The casino worker spun the wheel and I watched while I took a sip of my drink. My hopes were that I’d lose the bet placed so I could head back up to the room to sleep. But as the tiny ball slowed it skipped across until it found its place on the number nine. I shrugged my shoulders and took the winnings so that I could pick another number to bet on. This time I picked twenty-seven, placing the entirety of my winnings on the allotted space.

“Didn’t take you for a gambler,” a voice spoke. I turned slightly to see Winston approaching the table. I gave a small smile.

“I see you got your jacket back just fine,” I comment before turning my gaze to the table before me.

“Yes well someone was kind enough to leave it at the front desk,” Winston responds now standing beside me. Again my number had won and I glared at the wheel with frustration. “Congrats, you’re on a lucky streak.”

“Zero.”

“That’s pretty ballsy.”

“I’m hoping to lose so I can go to bed,” I respond in an honest manner. Winston gave a chuckle.

“Why not cash out?”

“Sounds like a hassle.”

“If there’s anything left after this I can have that done for you,” he states as the ball skipped across the numbers. I didn’t say anything but merely polished off my drink. My frustration continued as the ball stopped on the green spot labeled zero. I didn’t have the patience to continue gambling even if I was winning, a notion that seemed beyond absurd.

“This is frustrating, I’m not even trying,” I mutter.

“Generally how it works, you try incredibly hard to win something you’re bound to lose.”

“You’ve got to make a living somehow right?”

“I can’t get a read on you, you know that?” Winston comments.

“Maybe I’m not in a language you know,” I say as I looked to the table for my next move. “Three.”

“Should I get Rosetta Stone?” he questions. I felt the corners of my mouth twitch upwards involuntarily. It was a decent joke for a guy like him. “Hey now, I saw that.”

“Fine, you got me that was mildly humorous.”

“Alright fair enough, can I ask you something?”

“Go ahead,” I reply as I watched the little white ball running around the circle.

“What was up with what happened on the roof?” Winston questions.

“I don’t do well with people telling me what I want, actually I can’t stand it,” I retort just as I had lost the money set on the number three. I was well over feeling the amount of alcohol I had been consuming through the night.

“Okay then what do you want?”

“I’d love to just go back to my room and sleep,” I answer with close lipped smile.

“Can I at least walk you to the elevators?” he questions. “Unless of course that’s not what you want.”

“By all means walk me to the elevators you cheeky bastard.”

“I have a feeling insults are a form of affection when they are coming from you.”

“Don’t overanalyze it Winston just walk with me,” I say with a tired smile. Winston looked back at me with a smile of his own and we began to walk. His hand managed to take ahold of mine and it immediately put me on guard. Just act cool, don’t let it affect you. If I let go he’d be beyond offended. This was his next trick, not a trick he pulled often and it was obvious I was a challenge that would put his own reputation at risk. He better not actually start liking me because that would be worse than any cliché romance film ever made. Billionaire playboy changes his ways and falls for the woman hired to fuck him over. Sounds like a paycheck to me, yes a paycheck, a big fat pay out for this charade. Christ this guy is going to murder me when and if he finds out I’ve been planted. The elevators seemed so far away and my world feeling a bit shaky. I hadn’t felt this uncomfortable in a very long time. Finally we reached the elevators but Winston opted to caress the side of my face. He stared at me for a long time before he kissed me on the cheek.

“Sweet dreams Amora.”

“Yeah, uh, goodnight,” I stammer out as I stepped into the elevator. Smooth Polanski, not awkward at all just don’t wave and you’ll be alright. I lowered the hand that threatened to wave goodbye and I pressed the button for my level. Winston smiled just as the doors closed and I was so flustered that I ended up waving anyways. When those doors closed I felt myself mouthing out the words I wanted to yell. What the actual fuck was that? He was playing the game harder than I was and I was lobbing to play ball right back. Let me tell you, I was starting to feel how out of shape I was. Funny thing about confidence and restraint though, it really was good at fooling other people into thinking I was perfectly fine. If this asshole wanted to play chicken he was going to find a girl who was too stubborn to back down.

Once I was back in the room I collapse on the bed and closed my eyes. The heist was tomorrow night and I had to play along but in the pit of my stomach was a terrible feeling. Lying down did not help the feeling and I found myself sitting up, my gaze going to my cell phone. I always got these feelings before something terrible happened in my life. Looking down at the phone I saw I missed a call and the person that had called left a voice mail. I brought the phone to my ear after dialing my voicemail and as I listened to the disturbing message I felt the anxiety grow to sheer panic as the person continued to speak. Their words spoke of wanting to see me but I wasn’t home so they left. They sounded so damn far away and when the message ended I immediately tried to call back. Each time it went straight to voice mail, one the fifth try someone finally answered but it wasn’t what I was hoping for. I hung up and let the phone drop onto the bed while I rushed to the bathroom. Anything that I had eaten or drank that day rose up my trachea, burning more on its way up than the whiskey that went down earlier that night. This continued until I was shaky and dry heaving over the porcelain throne. Tears streamed down my face as I flushed the toilet and pulled myself up from the floor. I had to pull it together and I looked to the shower thinking that would help. I took a long hot shower where I let myself cry, perhaps too hot because when I was back in my room I saw how red the skin on my back was. A sigh escaped my lips and I pulled on one of the robes from the hotel. I left the room and went to the couch where I could watch mindless television until I fell asleep.

When I woke up I regretted sleeping on the couch. Saul was seated in the arm chair watching television and he looked at me as I sat up.

“Too much alcohol?”

“Something like that,” I mutter as I rested my head back onto the cushion. I liked Saul he wasn’t so bad to hang around. We watched television and ate some room service while we waited. For the heist we were to play out the whole godfather/goddaughter deal and well we were part of the huge getaway. The plan was to be in the casino enjoying ourselves and Saul was supposed to feign a heart attack then fall onto the ground. Paramedics would be called and get Livingston on the other line then the Mormon brothers would arrive to put Saul on the gurney. I would act distressed and follow along while the distraction would serve enough time for the others to rob Winston. There would be less chances of a hitch if I could have Winston at my side during this distraction, that I would more or less let him comfort me and assist in helping Saul’s condition. To ensure this would happen I decided to look a little more distracting. In order to do a proper job, I needed my fitted, backless black dress when it came down to choosing what to wear. I went with a smoky eye effect with my makeup and I pinned my hair in soft waves to the side so that my bare back was in plain view. The dress length just above the knee so combined with the back of the assemble; it was a lot of skin. As I packed the rest of my things in my bag I looked to the bed to see the cell phone just lying there. I had to take it with me and I slipped it into my clutch while everything else was packed into my suitcase to be taken away. Time was coming for me to reveal my most distracting outfit yet and I slipped on the high heels. I put in the ear piece in the left ear that was hidden by my strategically placed hair then I put on the pendant camera and turned it on. At this time I could hear the others collectively. I headed out of the room to see Linus there, wearing a hotel uniform. He was there to pick up the bags and I handed mine over. Saul had left a half hour ahead of me and so Linus was the first to see my distracting getup.

“Think it’s enough?” I question as I gave a turn to show the little surprise in the back.

“I-I- uh whoa, you look amazing, definitely going to be a distraction,” Linus says all at once. I gave a satisfied nod when his eyes remained on me.

“Good, that was the plan. I’ll see you around Linus.”

Adrenaline built up with each step I took towards Saul because at the corner of my eye I could see Winston busy talking to some of the high rollers. I purposely walked in his peripheral vision so that I would be noticed and my eyes remained forward. Saul looked up from his spot to see me walking towards him and he smiled brightly at me. Returning the smile, I added a small wave whilst I made my way to his table.

“He saw you, he’s taking the bait,” Danny spoke in my ear. “You’re doing great kid, keep it up.”

“You look lovely as always Amora,” Saul smiles. He got up and kissed my cheek then sat back down.

“I’m going to have to disagree, Mr. Kaczynski,” Winston spoke from behind me. I turned to look at him with a bemused smile. “You look stunning.”

“Thank you Mr. Delmont,” I say with a hint of humor.

“I thought we talked about you calling me Mr. Delmont.”

“Did we? Maybe I need my memory refreshed.”

“That could require a few hours,” he says with a suggestive smirk. I gave a small laugh and looked down then flicked my gaze back up to meet his dark eyes.

“A few hours huh?” I counter.

“You look like you could use a drink.”

“Well I was just heading to the bar so that I may grab drinks for my favorite godfather and me but I wouldn’t mind you accompanying me,” I say with a smile.
“If you don’t come back with those drinks in less than ten minutes I’ll send a search team,” Saul states.

“Don’t you worry Mr. Kaczynski, Amora is in safe hands,” Winston replies as we walked away from the table. He placed his hand on the bare skin of my back, starting at my shoulder then stopping at the dangerously low cut of the dress. It was clear he was enjoying my choice attire. “This dress is designed to torture.”

“I disagree, it’s quite comfortable,” I respond with smile.

“I’m sure it is.”

“How is your night going so far?”

“A lot better now that you’re here,” he states.

“You have to work on those corny answers,” I say.

“You’re calling me corny now?”

“Maybe just a bit,” I answer as I raised my hand to gesture how much. Winston gave a throaty laugh and nodded.

“Alright I’ll work on that.”

“That’s reassuring.”

“You know Amora, I actually enjoy being around you. Not many women can make me laugh like you,” he comments. Nice wording asshole.

“Is this what you think I want to hear or you admitting to liking me,” I quip with a corked eyebrow. Winston was taken aback by my response to his confession and he took a moment before answering.

“Can’t it be both?” Winston counters. Decent save you womanizing prick.

“I suppose it could.”

“You’re not one to take anyone’s bullshit huh?”

“Why would that ever be beneficial for anyone if I did?”

“What do you really think about me?” he questions.

“I think you’re arrogant and insincere,” I respond without a second’s thought. I sipped on the drink and Winston looked at me with a smile. Looking at his face I could tell he never had anyone speak to him in such a manner.

“Yet somehow you still speak to me.”

“Yes well, you aren’t terrible to look at and I have a high tolerance for people’s bullshit.”

“Wow, I don’t think anyone has been that honest about what they thought about me to my face,” Winston says with a smile.

“You asked and you got an answer,” I state simply.

“That I did,” he spoke as we walked back towards the table where Saul played blackjack. I knew what was going to happen next, that Saul would keel over and have his fit once I set the drink at his side. Winston walked with me, his hand still on the small of my back as I handed over Saul’s drink. My gaze went to Winston who had been looking at me and I gave a small smile.

“What?”

“Would you like to get out of here?” Winston inquires in a discreet manner.

“Well I wo—oh god,” I say all at once as I watched Saul fall out of his chair. I rushed to his side and knelt on the ground as he clutched his chest as if it were in pain. Adrenaline kicked in and my hands began to shake as I placed it upon Saul’s hand. My eyes lifted briefly to look at the crowd around us. “Call for a help.”

My voice was shaky and I almost felt myself going somewhere else. Winston seemed to be on it and he ordered one of his workers to make the call. Time seemed rushed and soon a high disguised Rusty burst through the crowd claiming that he was a doctor. I moved away from the body slightly that Rusty may do his act and I watched as he began to perform mouth to mouth resuscitation. It was believable, so believable that as he gave up and said nothing could be done that I felt my mind go to the call I had received. My eyes glazed over and I just sat there watching as The Mormon brothers Virgil and Turk rolled up with the gurney to take Saul away. Rusty placed his hand on my shoulder to wake me from my trance. My reaction was to jerk away from his touch and I began to get up from the ground. Winston offered his hand but I ignored it.

“I’m going with,” I state to both Virgil and Turk. They both gave her sympathetic looks.

“Miss we can’t let you ride back.”

“He’s gone,” Turk adds.

“He’s right here, I’m not letting him out of my sight,” I retort with feeling. It was part of the game but somehow Winston interjected the plan by slipping Virgil a good amount of money.

“She’s going with him,” he spoke. Virgil nodded and I looked at Winston. He may be an asshole but it seemed he had some redeeming qualities. I followed closely behind the twins and Rusty did the very same claiming to being bond to the patient or some other line. Honestly it was hard to even focus on one thing at the moment because it all happened so fast. Once we were in the ambulance and driving away from the casino, Turk unzipped the black bag to let Saul breathe. It was tight in the back with the gurney and everyone else involved. We were done with the job, riding off in the getaway ambulance but my phone would stop going off. I kept silencing the calls and Linus gave me a look.

“Aren’t you going to answer that? It could be important.”

“Fine,” I mutter before picking up the call. It was my father, I knew it would be. He was going to break the news to me as if I didn’t know what happened. All I wanted to do was scream, say I already knew, say that I could have saved him if I was where I was supposed to be.

“Thank god you weren’t home,” my father spoke in a relieved tone.

“Thank god I wasn’t home? Is that what you are going to go with in this particular situation?” I counter as the anger built up within me. I felt so unsettled with his assumptions and what he was thankful for, did he truly believe that this didn’t affect me or how I felt? My eyes wandered and I locked in on Rusty’s stare. Quickly I averted my gaze and retracted my emotions. Retract all those obscenities that threatened to escape and act like nothing even affected me.

“I just don’t want to imagine what he would have done to you if you were there to answer your door.”

“I’m tired, I’ll talk to you some other time,” I respond monotone.

“Are you going to be fine?”

“I’m always fine.”

I pressed the end symbol on my cell phone and slipped it back into my pocket without another word. I was always fine, put together like a nicely wrapped present. I was fine, I will always be fine and I won’t lose that identifier because what was I without it? That was my shtick, I was composed and in control of my emotions whether it was overwhelming sadness or overwhelming anger, both of which was what I couldn’t help feeling. Everything just kept replaying in my mind how I had to tell Troy but I was terrified to do so. How I missed Eli’s call by mere minutes and when I called back all I heard was sirens. I wasn’t there when I needed to be there, I told him to lose my number the last I had seen him and I wasn’t there for him. No, I couldn’t think about that, I had to think about Troy. Troy loved Eli, he loved him in a way that I could have never loved him. You know those great loves that you see two people have and you just think to yourself how lucky those two had met? That was Troy and Eli. They were the reason I kept up the charades, I was the getaway and I was the distraction. As many jokes Troy and I have about our friendship or how it started, it was Eli that always kept us linked together. We both loved him dearly because he was our charming and awkward Eli.

“Ammo?”

“Yeah?”

“What are you going to do with your share?” Linus inquires.

“I don’t know, buy a unicorn,” I reply in a sardonic manner. The vehicle pulled to a stop at Reuben’s house and I got out only staring at Troy’s car across the way. How the hell was I going to tell him? Everyone else was going inside to celebrate with Reuben and I was staring across the street with dread. You are in control, you are in complete control. Lost in my thoughts I was pulled out when I felt someone touch my hand. My gaze drifted from the car to the person at my side. Rusty looked down at me sensing that I was off. I pulled my hand away and grasp onto the wrist of its partner.

“Did you need something Rusty?” I question without batting an eye.

“Are you alright?”

“I’m fine.”

“You’re not fine,” Rusty states.

“What’s the best way to break bad news?”

“In person.”

“Yeah I figured that was the way to go about it,” I respond as I looked back over to the house across the street. “I won’t be going inside with you but have a drink for me.”

“I was hoping you’d be having that drink with me,” he replies. I saw Troy exiting the house with his camera bag and I waited for him to put the bag in the car but he saw me across the street. I left Rusty’s side rather quickly and met Troy halfway.

“Ammo what are you doing?” Troy laughs as I took the camera bag and slung it over my own shoulder.

“I have to tell you something,” I say as I walked towards the car. Troy followed me and watched as I set the bag carefully on the roof of the car.

“Alright what’s this about Ammo? Did you get married at the chapel?”

“Troy, Eli’s dead.”

“What?” he responds as his smile fell.

“He’s dead,” I repeat. The more I saw the information sink in with him that harder it was for me to talk.

“How?”

“Gun.”

“Gun? What the fuck does that mean?” Troy snaps.

“It means he shot himself,” I say.

“He did not kill himself.”

“I didn’t say that, Troy, I said he shot himself, I didn’t say he killed himself because I don’t think it’s fair to say that.”

“Why did he do it then?”

“Because I wasn’t there and I didn’t answer my phone in time,” I state as I crossed my arms in front of my chest. Troy who had been pacing in anger had stopped with his hand on his mouth then looked at me. “He left me a message saying that I wasn’t home and that he didn’t have anywhere else to go. I called back knowing something wasn’t right and after several calls I got through the line but it was too late. To confirm it wasn’t a nightmare, my father called.”

“Is there anything else?”

“He didn’t wait to leave my door step,” I say in a shaky voice. Troy lost it and punched the side of his vehicle. The metal dented and his hand was a swollen mess. I gave him a quick look as he held his hand in pain and he bounced on his heels. “That’s one way to break your hand.”

“Fucking- fuck,” Troy exclaims. I pulled his arm towards me and examined whether his hand was broken or not. He looked down at me with a certain sadness in his eyes. “This is so fucked up Ammo.”

“I know.”

“Go get your bag and I’ll pack the rest of my stuff,” Troy says.

“Where’re we going?”

“LA.”

“I’ll get my bag,” I say with a nod. I walked across the way towards Reuben’s house and knew I’d at least have to go inside to get the bag. Once I was inside everyone seemed to be drinking and celebrating. When I entered they cheered raising their glasses up at me and smiling. Although I felt slightly better now that Troy knew about Eli and now that I said what happened out loud, it felt like a small amount of weight had been lifted from my chest. I gave an awkward wave and a feeble attempt at a smile. “I’m going to head off, guys.”

“That’s a damn shame.”

“Not leaving without saying proper goodbye are you?” Basher states. I smiled softly and shook my head at him.

“Course not,” I reply as I approached him. Basher gave me a hug and I moved down the line, hugging the others as well as saying my goodbyes. Danny shook my hand.

“I got to say, you’re a natural kid, and you did good,” Danny smiles.

“Well thank you Danny.”

My eyes went towards the edge of the room where Rusty stood waiting for me with my suitcase in his hand. I approached him and he didn’t hand over the bag so I just let him walk me back towards the front door. Rusty set the bag down but didn’t let me take a hold of it.

“Are you going to at least tell me what happened?” he spoke softly.

“Someone I know died last night,” I state looking back at him. My words seemed to throw him off.

“I’m sorry- I didn’t---did you just find out?”

“I found out last night.”

“Why didn’t you say anything?”

“It wouldn’t have made a difference and it really isn’t my style,” I comment.

“So you’re going home?”

“When and if I go back, it’s going to be so I can pack my things to leave.”

“Well if you need help moving you could always call me,” Rusty offers.

“You know I just sort of figured you’d show up without being called, because you’re kind of a stalker and all,” I state with a small smile. Rusty gave a smile of his own, his more reflecting something bittersweet. He leaned over and kissed me softly on the lips, his hand gently pushing the hair from my face.

“I’m glad you came along for the ride,” he says.

“Goodbye Mr. Easterday.”

“Goodbye Miss Valentine.”

I took my bag and left something else behind. My eyes remained forward and I headed towards Troy’s car without looking back. If I looked back I knew I wouldn’t be able to turn around and kiss him as I should have. No it wasn’t the right time for that. It was the worst time actually. I was pretty sure I was near a nervous breakdown or something along those lines and that was something I always promised myself I wouldn’t do when I am approaching a potential relationship with someone. Things were probably going to get real dark with me and I just didn’t like the idea of him being around for that. Never felt right burdening someone with my problems but looking to Troy I knew he and I were in this together.