A light in the darkness

Chapter 14

Maria had stood at the bar, cleaning the glasses. They had the midnight shift and to say she was tired was an underestimate. Two other stressful and dreadful days had passed. She was sick of the place deeply. She was sick of being forced to sit on someone's lap while they would touch her inappropriately and all she could do, was forcing a smile.

She had not heard anything from Ben. She envied Jade who was in contact with them. Jade had said that they were ready to attack once the two of them would give the green light. But with Ohara still not showing up it was impossible. 

She put her hands on the counter and sighed. The blasting music was making her headache worse. Jade had gone with a man from the mafia, trying to gain information.

Suddenly the noises around subsided a bit. "Oh my God." squealed one of the sluts who had sat at the bar. "He is here."

Maria's heart began to beat faster and she looked up. She saw a short old man walking in front of a group of men, including Hiroshi. He was wearing a black suit and had done everything in his power to look young. 

His straight hair was dyed black and had been slicked aside. His face was shaved and pale and his beady eyes were looking around coldly. His posture was screaming power as he walked toward the stairs that would lead him to his office. He was Ohara, the leader of Japan's strongest mafia.

He eyed around and he slowed down his pace once he locked eyes with Maria. She shivered as she felt his eyes scanning her body like she was naked, not that the poor excuse of her uniform would leave anything to the imagination. A nasty smirk appeared on his lips and he looked away. 

Maria gulped as he disappeared up the stairs with his trusted men. She hated the way he had looked at her. But she had to get close to him to find out about the tattoo. She looked around frantically looking for Jade but she found nothing. She also couldn't leave her shift, so she stayed there panicked and nervous.

Half an hour passed quickly. "Hey, you!" said a male voice, and Maria looked up and saw one of Ohara's men standing at the bar and was looking at her. "Come with me."

He said and walked away without waiting for Maria's response. She put down the cloth in her hand and ran after him upstairs. "Where are you taking me?" she asked nervously once they went up to the third floor which was more lavish and expensive.

"To the boss's private chamber." answered the man and Maria felt her heart sink and her throat become dry.

"What?" she gulped, not expecting to suddenly be thrusted into the part of the plan that Jade was supposed to do.

The man turned to her with a smirk on his face. "You ran away the whole week." he said wickedly. "Let's see if you can run away from the boss."

He then opened a door at the far end of the corridor that two men were guarding and motioned Maria to go in. "Go inside, princess." he said.

Maria gulped and walked inside the room slowly. The lights were red and were giving everything a red or dark pink hue. It was suffocatingly humid and warm. You couldn't see too much into the room. White silk curtains had covered the rest of the room from unwanted eyes a meter away from the door. 

Maria jumped and turned to the door when it was shut behind her. "Okay! You can do this. You can do this. For Anna." she closed her eyes and chanted under her breath for a second before her racing heart calmed down a bit.

She turned away from the door and slowly walked toward the curtains. Her body was beginning to get covered by cold sweat. The clicking of her heels was the only sound in the room, making her feel more sick.