Retrospect

Thirty-two

Bringing my hand back down to my side slowly, I managed to open up my eyes. I took in how Frost was dressed, how his face looked. He had one leg crossed over the other and his grin was a scheming one. His blond hair was slicked back away from his forehead and he had piercing, crystal blue eyes. He also looked to be in his early thirties, though these days, it was hard to tell someone's age because of all of the expensive procedures people could buy (especially in the Sera Section) to make themselves look younger.

   "I was wondering if you'd arrive. Did you get lost?" he questioned, tilting his head to the side slightly.

   I could see out of the corner of my eye Miles and Ana watching me intently, willing me to speak. I stepped forwards. "I know what you do here," I decided to say, "and...and I need some of that chemical." I was just making it up as I went and I really just wanted to get right to the point.

   Frost raised an eyebrow and smirked. "What for?"

   So he was going to be difficult. I took a deep breath and crossed my arms, stepping closer to him. Just when I opened my mouth, he spoke. "There's no need to get all huffy. I do business with Hale, but I don't work for that place. I work for no one and I'm not gonna pass up an opportunity when there's money involved," he explained, licking his lips, "and it's kind of fun to see the broadcasts the next day, find out what my clients ended up using the chemical for."

This was dangerous. Frost was just selling this chemical to anyone that would pay him a bunch of money? So this was how Miles' father had gotten the chemical for his sick experiment.

   "How much are you asking for the chemicals right now?" I asked, walking a little farther. I was now standing right behind the table that was directly in front of Frost.

   The man looked to his bodyguards, then to the woman in the room, then back up at me. "100k for five ounces," he answered confidently.

   "No way," I said immediately. 100,000 dollars for basically nothing? He laughed and leaned forward in his chair.

   "How about I give you the Cory Cavey discount?" he suggested. "90,000 for five."

   "No," I refused, unable to believe he was asking that much for so little of the chemical. "No," I said again, "I only want one ounce."

   He dipped his head. "That will be 18,000 dollars," he proclaimed and I watched his lips twist up into a disgusting grin.

   I shook my head, trying to be as difficult as I could to buy Miles and Ana some time to creep past. "I'm not giving you that much," I retorted.

   "Listen, girl," the woman growled, coming out from behind Frost's chair and stepping right up to me. She was at least a foot taller with her black heels and she was wearing a long, backless dress that matched the shoes. She glared down at me, her eyes the color of silver and her lips a scarlet red. "You're wasting our time," she hissed. As she spoke, I caught a glimpse of her forked tongue.

   She whirled around, the back of her dress sliding across the floor like a snake as she made her way back behind Frost.

   "Alright," I said bravely, though on the inside I was screaming. I strolled around the chair, following the woman and standing in front of the pool. This made Frost spin around to watch me and so did the woman and bodyguards. This was Ana's and Miles' chance to sneak into the room with the chemicals. I kept my focus on Frost and the woman. "I'll buy the one ounce, but I'll pay it back over time."

   Frost narrowed his blue eyes. "I hope you're not trying anything with me, Cory. That wouldn't be very nice, now would it? And I don't think you want to make me angry, right? I don't want you to have to see that, it's not very pretty," he threatened.