Lie

Chapter 2

The drive to Diamond Tower wasn't long. It was a nice thirty minutes, even with the traffic of the city. Despite that though, living in the city did have its own perks, at least where she lived.

Antionette was relatively close to everything. The grocery store or rather, a small indoor market was right around the corner from her bakery and her apartment which stood on top. Conveniently, there was no other coffee shop on the block so it made it great for business, especially with moms who were leaving the market and needed a pick-me-up. There was also a pretty cheap gas station two blocks up. The gas there was always 10 cents less than the big name brand on the opposite side of the street which mattered to Antoinette. If she could save 10cents, she would. Even with the problems she faced because of her father, she lived a rather comfortable life. Though some months were rough, especially if she was paying someone back for her father, thus being the reason she was headed to Diamond Tower.

Diamond Tower was the hotspot for business in their town. It was where all the Diamonds conducted their business, where Charles conducted his business. It was their place of work not only for the promotion of their public enterprise, high-brow jewelry, and fashion sought by all but for some under the table activity too. If you looked closely, there were a lot of under-the-table activities, especially behind the scenes. The Diamonds were known for their vast intelligence network and connection with certain people that specialized in obtaining many things that ranged from rare items to the latest drugs. The Diamonds knew how to cater to their customers, especially those like the Dumonts, another large mafia organization that ran blood deep with the Diamonds. Some would say the partnership was ironic. The Diamonds were very clean. They lived for organization and tidiness, and the Dumonts were a little- rough.

Upon walking up the Diamond Tower, Antoinette could help but to take a deep breath. She was getting tired of these types of meetings. She needed to find a way to get her father to stop coming to her to bail her out, whether he was still gambling or not. This was not to say she didn't care about her father's gambling addiction. If you asked Antoinette, she'd tell you she'd give the world if it met that her father would be sober.

The Diamond Tower was spotless. Spotless might have been an understatement. The first floor was untarnished despite the heavy foot traffic that it faced; It looked as if the terrazzo flooring had just been laid down. On the left side of the foyer sat a sign that read, "Diamond Tower;" as if the sign outside didn't inform those coming and going just where they were. In the middle, sat a pale woman with platinum hair. When Antoinette locked eyes with her, the lady, who she believed to be the receptionist, rolled her eyes.

'Good morning to you too,' Antoinette grumbled under her breath as she made it to the circular desk behind which the woman sat behind. On the edge of her desk lay a plaque that read Ms. Katlyn Wallace. Though a woman of her position, she did not seem too friendly. A scowl never left her face as Antoinette smiled.

"Hello, I'm here to meet-"

"Sir, Ms. Green is here to see you." She said cutting her off as she phoned Charles.

"Send her up." There was that same smooth voice that she heard earlier.

The woman, who at this point, Antoinette assumed was the secretary, rolled her eyes and let out a long sigh, "Follow me."

Antoinette just nodded her head and held her bag just a little tighter. There was something scary but not quite terrifying, about the blonde bombshell but Antoinette was too prideful to admit it. When the woman walked around her desk she caught a whiff of something strong, maybe vanilla. She couldn't pinpoint the smell but she could tell that it was foul and loud. Her outfit was no better but she decided to block it out and focus on the white walls of the elevator along with the concrete floors when they exited. She decided to focus on that so much that she nearly tripped over herself and stumbled into the secretary.