We're In Love || Nyla Harper

°•tough love•°

Bold = Portuguese
Bold + italics = Spanish
Some little bits of Spanish will just be written as Spanish.. larger bodies of text tho have been written in English in bold+italics so that I don't need to include large paragraphs of translation for anyone who doesn't understand Spanish. If anything is wrong, let me know, (I'll change it!!) but equally if there's a longer paragraph that isn't translated then feel free to stick it in the comments and I'll add that in too :)

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"Miss Rivera? Boss wants to see you"

She stared back at him through the dressing room mirror, her eyeliner pen hovering by the outer corner of her eye.

"Be a dear and tell him perfection takes time, won't you Julian?"

She smiled, waving him off in such a way that she understood as mocking but was frequently misinterpreted as fluttering and flirty by the younger more impressionable members of the cartel; so she wasn't remotely surprised when he flushed and nodded before heading off to do exactly what she had asked. Small victories.

Resuming her make-up, she continued to add the final touches to 'Anita'. It didn't take long, she had been doing it for 5 years now and it had become second nature for her, but she had developed a habit of dragging it out as long as she could afford just to have one moment where she could breathe while acting as Anita.

"I was told to wait"

Closing her compact, she spun around on her stool, crossed her legs one over the other, and leant back against the desk, smiling up at him through her lashes.

"And? Wasn't it worth it?"

She resisted the urge to roll her eyes when his scanned over her hungrily.

"Very," Carmen forced herself to blush, adjusting her top "but business calls, sweetheart"

She pouted, "you don't want me all for yourself?"

He laughed, moving closer and directing her to the door, "I'd like the money too"

Carmen wanted to slap him, but 'Anita' just smiled wryly as she trailed her fingertips along the counter top absentmindedly, looking up at him inquisitively,

"You seem tense.. what's wrong cariño?"

His jaw tightened as his eyes darted to the door and back, "Let's just say having a pretty lady to look at while we talk numbers is good for business"

While she would forever curse her latest case-manager for having her essentially sell herself to a strip club as her latest way in, she had to admit it was the smoothest transition she'd made into a cartel while working alone. It also paid for a better apartment than she'd been stuck in while living with Crystal.

"Well," she turned to walk out, pausing in the doorway to look back at him "we wouldn't want to be out of business"

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It was around 3am when she was finally able to sneak away from the club for a breather, one she regretted the second she looked across the alley and saw one of the club's regulars selling more than one, most likely unmarked, gun from the back of his car. Rolling her eyes, she slipped away and ducked into the payphone she'd had to repair a month or two ago when she realised it was the quickest way to report a crime 'anonymously' while undercover.