Bookworm

Parties and New Meetings

Mandy glided down the steps of the tower. She watched as women painted gold, dressed in minimal clothing danced for the entertainment of the people there. "No, no, no. Listen, man. They're telling me they party like this every day. On this level, they party every day. This is crazy. I might have to move out here. I think I'm gonna start a new culture. It's called Blarab. You know, like "black Arab."" Roman says causing Mandy to chuckle from behind her glass of champagne. 

"How are we looking, Tej?" Dom questions. "We're almost in position. Okay, so this is how it works. We got to move in sync if we're gonna pull this off. So let's go over it to make sure everyone clearly understands their roles. Roman, that means you." Tej says. "You know what, you're being real unprofessional right now, Tej." Roman says. "The God's Eye chip is hidden in a speed drive installed in the prince's car, which he keeps in a safe room vault." Tej says. Mandy tunes out the rest as she looks over and sees a familiar face. "Shit." She mutters to herself. She goes to walk away, but Alex was quicker. 

He grabbed her hand causing her to freeze. "Alex." She says as she turns and looks at him. His hair grew out so it almost covered his eyes. "What are you doing here?" She questions as she stares at him, her eyes wide. "The real question is what are you doing here?" He questions. "Someone important to me was killed, and I along with my brother, sister in law, brother in law, and nephew were almost killed. We are simply returning the favor." Mandy says, her voice in a harsh tone.

"Oh right, Jack." Alex says causing her eyes to widen. "So it was you." She says causing Alex to smirk with a nod. "Now it's your turn, why are you here?" She questions. "I'm working with Deckard again." Alex says as another song plays. "He's here?" She questions. She, Gabrielle, and Billie didn't know much about who they were dealing with, all that they knew was that they killed Han, and Han was family. 

Mandy sips from her glass, looking him in the eyes the whole time. "I thought you were dead." She says causing him to smile. "Like I said, I'm not leaving you." Alex says a he catches her scattered look. "What are you-" "Nothing!" Mandy exclaims giving Alex a small smile. Alex raises a brow at Mandy but doesn't question her. "Listen to what I'm telling y'all. We are here to celebrate Jasmines 18th birthday. Happy birthday, my dear. Happy birthday to you. To you. To you." Roman sings causing Mandy to face palm. "Oh, I wish I didn't see that." She mutters, but she looks up when she sees Gabrielle and Billie.

'Go.' She mouths causing them to nod then rush away. Mandy looked up at Alex who was staring down at her. "You still have it." He says noticing the ring on a chain, around her neck. "Yeah." She says looking down. "All right, listen, ladies and gentlemen... Oh, there he is. These are your dancers? This is a party, baby! Some of y'all probably went to the bathroom and noticed that all the hairspray was missing. Yep. She did it. Thank you. And we're so happy for you to be here. You look like you got some missiles underneath that dress. No?" Roman says trying to distract everyone with his 'Roman charm'. "Jesus." Mandy mutters under her breath but she stops as she watches Letty fall from the balcony. 

"I gotta go." She says as she turns to Alex. "I'll find you again." She syas pressing her lips against his. Before he had any time to respond she broke away, a sad smile on her face. She runs over to Letty, Billie, Gabrielle, and Roman already with her. "Come on Letty." She syas, but just then the car broke from the wall causing everyone to scream. Mandy turns to the car in awe, but she soon turns to the elevator in fear when she sees Deckard with a large gun. "Uncle Deck no!" Billie screams just before Deckard started shooting. 

They all ran from the building. Mandy making eye-contact with Alex one last time before they were gone. They were outside waiting. Everyone but Gabrielle and Mandy were sending looks to Billie who looked down. Now once they were back in the garage, and after a stern talk from Safar, and using God's-eye, it was time for real talk.

"Billie." Dom says causing her to look up, her eyes red from holdig back tears. "I swear I didn't know." She croaks out trying to not cry. "You always say family comes first Dom, but you're both my family and I can't choose." She says as she looks at everyone. "Well do you have any information that could help us?" Dom questions as he kneels in front of the girl who was sitting in a chair. "I only knew the England side of him, this man is different than my Uncle. My Uncle was a negotiator, but the man I saw today wasn't him." She says as she stares up at Dom.

He looked into her eyes, they held no form of lie or deciet. He trusted the girl ever since he first shook her hand, she wouldn't lie to him. "I believe you." Dom says causing her to smile, admitedly it was weak, but it was still a smile. "Thank you." She croaks out.

Mandy was sat in the corner fiddling with the chain. He was alive...and clearly well. "Hey kid you okay?" Letty questions as she sits next to her. "Yeah, just thinking." She says as she leans against the wall. "About what? If you don't mind me asking." Letty says. "I saw him today...Alex." She says causing Letty's eyes to widen. "But if any of this is going to make sense, we should probably tell everyone." She says as she walks over to the group. "I'm going to tell them." She says to Gabrielle and Billie, both who nod.

"Um guys." She says causing everyone to turn to her. "I have something to say, and I hope this won't affect anything." She says looking at everyone especially at Brian. "When Billie and I were 7 we were chased by men on motorcycles, Billie thought smartly and decided to call her uncle...Dekard Shaw." She says analyzing everyone's expressions. "We lived with him until we were 19, that was when we were taken to Billie's other Uncle...Owen Shaw. That was when we started working for him. Now back then Deckard and Owen never got along so after we left Deckard we lost contact with him. Now meeting Deckard also meant we would meet his proteges. They were Alex and Gabrielle." Mandy says looking at Gabrielle who wore a soft smile.

"And like Billie said, we didn't know anything of Deckard and his jobs. We were always left in the dark." Mandy says causing everyone to look at her. "I just wanted to get that off my chest, families don't keep secrets." She says causing everyone to smile. Brian was the first to step over. "I don't think this changes anything." He says hugging his little sister, everyone joining in, the three youngest girls in the middle of it all.