Maxwell had not run around in the slums for years for nothing, and he knew that if it was a planned job that was so smooth that even the agency could find no loophole, there could only be one source that got it done. Going to the store would be a waste of his time; he would certainly come up empty. Don never left traces.
If his assumption was right, that could only mean that Susan had stepped on a client's toe. A very wealthy client. Don didn't deal with any other type. His baby sister had bitten off more than she could chew, but he would find out what could be done. It would cost. Oh, yes. It would, but he had to try. If he got nowhere or if he happened to be wrong,. Then he would simply leave the rest for his overpriced lawyer to deal with, but first, he had to try.
As he dialled the confidential number, he thought briefly about who could have it in for Susan, and the deceived wife came to mind, but he dismissed it. If the woman was gullible enough to be cheated on for so many years without any inkling, then he doubted she would have enough resources to get Don.
"Hello," he said when he realised that the person on the other end had picked up the call without saying anything.
"Yeah?" the voice replied.
"It is Max; I want to see you for something important and urgent," he said urgently. Don had no patience with niceties.
"If you are not dying, then it is not urgent. Are you dying, Max?" the voice replied calmly.
"No, I have no intention to anytime soon."
"Good, then it is not urgent. B.."
"Please, I need to see you," Max said urgently, almost biting his tongue on the words.
"Wow, look at that. Please? You must be desperate." pause "O'tooles bar. 9 p. m., the phone was disconnected before Maxwell could reply.
Maxwell knew that it was a privilege for Don himself to come out to meet anybody, but then they have history.
At 8:00 pm, Maxwell was already at O'Toole's bar; he figured he might get to relax a bit before Don arrived. He knew Don or his people could have been around scouting the area for any possible threat, so he might as well be in full view while having a couple of drinks.
Just as the thoughts of how his day had gone ran through his mind and he was signalling to the waiter to get him another drink, she entered.
The most gorgeous woman with the most beautiful shade of chestnut hair he had ever seen.
"Damn," Maxwell muttered when he looked down at himself and noticed an instant hard-on.
He was no randy young man who went about with a stiff attitude whenever he set his eyes on a beautiful woman. It must be because he hadn't had a woman in a while. Nobody's fault but his. He had to rectify that as soon as possible if the alternative would be him embarrassing himself when he saw a hot lady. Damnit. Now he thought she was hot?
"You have it bad, boy," he thought when he felt his trousers tighten at his crotch. "Where is Don?" he said, looking at his watch. 8:25 p. m., damn. He looked up again to see the woman pause just inside the door of the bar. She looked around with a slight uncertainty on her face, like she was not sure she should be there. Then she seemed to make up her mind as she headed to the bar. A man sat on the stool she seemed to have headed for as she neared the bar. She spoke to the barman, who pointed towards where Maxwell was seated. She nodded and headed toward him.
"What? There should be plenty of other vacant chairs around him aside from his own. There should," he said, looking around and realizing that there isn't. His table was the only one with vacant seats. He was the only one occupying one of the four little couches placed around the table.
Damn. He thought to himself again as she got closer.
She was even more beautiful up close.
The woman who was oblivious to his inner turmoil simply said "Hi" before she dropped her purse on the table and took the couch farthest from him as she looked at the waiter who brought her margarita.
"Thank you," she said with a smile before she sipped her drink and faced the podium, where some sort of band was setting up.
"Shit, even her smile is a killer," Maxwell thought as he felt his trouser grow tighter at a very interesting junction. He was tempted to stand up to ease his throbbing member, but he was sure that he would do more than embarrass himself if he attempted that, so he merely reached for his glass, only to realise that it was empty.
"Waiter, I need another beer."
*************
Reyona looked around and wondered why she had let go of little pleasures like this. Going out just to be with herself and her thoughts. She had never been much of a social person. Not even in college, when her friends had been jumping from party to party. Reyona had either been buried in her books, tutoring someone, or finishing up her assignment.
Her roommates had given up on her and called her hopeless after trying as much as they could to get her involved in their outings and parties. And they had left her alone after telling her she had no idea what she was missing. Reyna had not thought there was anything to miss in going out every other night, sneaking into the hostel in the wee hours, and waking up bleary-eyed to go to class the following day.
No, she was sure there was nothing to miss at all. Since most of them who relish telling her just how boring her life was for a college student would still end up begging her for her notes and pointers when they were running behind,.
She had not goofed around for a year like two of her roommates had done after graduation, backpacking across the country and doing God-knows-what as they underwent what they called their transitioning period. No, there had been no transition period for Reyona. She had started scouting for jobs even before they completed their final papers. A month after graduation, she had already secured one at a reputable firm. Within a year, she had already realised that being an employee of a company was not what she wanted. She craved challenges. The kind that came from taking on different clients with different cases.
A little over a year after she said goodbye to college, ReyDexter LLC had been born. It was tough going at first, but she had made it happen. I met Thomas, and two years later, they walked down the aisle. She had thought she had it all figured out.
What a joke. She thought of her friends, who called her uptight. Her colleagues, who called her a prude,. She had thought they simply did not understand her. Then, after she married Thomas, her life revolved around him, her work, and their home. The beautiful home she had envisioned for them.
"A whole lot of good, did you know?" she muttered to herself as she picked up her margarita. She had a long drink as she looked towards the raised podium to the side where some men were setting up with their instruments.
She smiled to herself as she remembered how much her grandmother had loved a live band. It never mattered to Eugenia whether they were good or not; what mattered to her was the effort they put in.
"God, how I miss her," Reyona thought wistfully to herself as she knew that her grandmother would have been the first person she would have turned to the first time she learned what a joke her marriage had been. "Grams would have had plenty to say about this," she thought again, even as she knew that her grandmother wouldn't have approved of the path she had chosen to deal with this issue. No, she would have told her that she was causing herself more misery this way. Grams had never believed in an eye for an eye, but her granddaughter was not above it. No, nobody would take her for a fool and get away with it.
"Maybe it was time to put a stop to the pretence though," she thought as the first strain of a soulful tune filled the bar from the clever plucking of the guitar, Reyona looked over and sighed as she thought, "Yes, it is high time."
She was unravelling more and more now, and she doubted she could look at him one more time with any form of love without feeling like she should stab him with a salad fork. She had thought she could hold on to her act for longer, but she doubted it.
Yes, Grams would have been right. She was only torturing herself by continuing like this. It should be high time to let the deceitful bastard know that he was not as wise as he had thought himself to be after all. To let him know that she might have been totally gullible for years, but she was on to him now, and his game was up.
"And then what? All your careful plans will be for nothing. Are you so weak that you couldn't bear to see him hurt as much as you had planned? Just admit it. You are a ninny," her inner voice hissed at her.