Bad Decisions

•ONE•

It was uncharacteristically cold in Los Angeles this winter, so much so that Aurora had to buy whole new peacoat for her walk from her upscale, high rise apartment, to her sleek, black Maserati in the sub-floor parking garage, and then again from her car up to her office on the 32nd floor of the M.I.N.D. Labs, Inc building.

Aurora didn't mind the cold, really; it allowed her to carry her weapons covertly. A gun tucked in the dip of her waist, along with the leather holster around her chest which held her Beretta, two knives down her back, a garrote in her pocket, another knife in her boot, and so on. She had to be much less armed during the hot, smoggy summers of LA, where it was the norm to wear short shorts, crop tops, and sandals, which offered barely any hiding places for her weapons, if she bothered dressing for the God awful season.

So winter remained her favorite season.

Aurora took a sip of her hot coffee as she tapped her access code into the elevator pad of the parking garage that was tucked under the high rise building, and she waited in silence for the elevator to arrive and glide open. She stepped in, her boots making barely any noise on the marbled floor. She hit her floor, held the number for a few seconds until the doors closed and then her eyes caught herself in the mirrors of the elevator walls.

She would absolutely call herself devastating if she were ever asked to describe herself, but others always did it for her. Her eyes were a poisonous green, her dark eyelashes fanned out on the apples of her cheeks if she looked a certain way, and this morning, she had styled her hair ice blonde hair in a fancy French braid that hung almost to the tightly tied waist of her peacoat. Her summer tan had long since faded, though, which left her with her natural light golden glow, since she loathed fake tans, both spray tans and tanning beds alike.

The way she looked made her job almost too easy, which she loved, though she would never back down from a challenge.

She felt the elevator slow, then chimed on her floor, bypassing everyone else who may have needed to use it, and she stepped out onto the black veined white marble flooring of the corporate office. It was already warm and inviting, despite the gloomy morning that threatened cold rain and high winds, and Aurora turned towards her office.

"Good morning, Miss Kestrel," a too perky voice rang out from the secretary's desk. Aurora paused, and peered over the pristine white laminate glass countertop to the secretary, Kate Harper.

"Good morning, Kate," Aurora said, her voice like velvet, even when speaking with her coworkers. "Have a good weekend?"

Kate stood up and smiled charmingly. "Yes, actually," she started, sliding a brown shipping box towards Aurora. "I went bowling with my fiance, but I am so bad at it, I don't even know why I try."

Aurora only smiled as she took the box. "Practice makes perfect, and all that shit," she said, causing Kate to giggle. Aurora left the desk without saying goodbye, Kate telling her to have a good day before she rounded into her corner office.

She sat the box down on her own white laminate glass desk before setting her designer handbag and coffee beside it, her office blindingly white with all its decor, or lack thereof. Aurora liked simplicity, cleanliness, emptiness, and her office reflected that.

There was no artwork on the walls, no personal touches, pictures, trinkets, plants she kept alive, books. Nothing.

The only pop of color she had were the flowers she had delivered every Monday morning that sat on her desk beside the widescreen monitor and the white keyboard and mouse below it. This week's flowers had already been delivered and arranged by Kate, a scattering of deep red roses nestled between orange ranunculus, and white daisies, surrounded by dusty miller and other greenery.  It really was beautiful, and she was even kind enough to allow Kate to take home the bouquet every Friday evening, as long as she brought back the Tiffany & Co glass vase back every Monday for its newest bouquet.