RED HOPES

Chapter 5 Alanis

“Which part of it do you not understand??” the concrete walls reverberated from the loud roar, this was the highest range my voice had been going since the past few days.  A rather simple case seemed complicated to my interns who stood on a two metres distance from me, their legs weak from my voice while chins almost digging in the ground. Ashton looked me from the corner of his cabin, his was situated right across mine, not a word escaped his mouth too. “Just review it quickly and get back to me in an hour.” They stumbled before running for their lives while I rubbed my face in annoyance.

This wasn’t me, I was always nice to people who worked for me even though they made thousands of mistakes, I let it slide. But after a heated argument with a certain grey eyed brunette, my mood hit the roof every time and I snapped at even a pebble that came in my way. If not for mom and Elvin I would’ve gone to the measures of bringing that pest of a channel down along with Reverie Ames. And even though mom portrayed nonchalance I knew she wanted this event to be peaceful, I was even mad at myself for loosing my cool just like that. There was something in Reverie’s words which enforced something red in my stomach to boil until it turned black. The work we had to handle behind the scenes along with my temper, Elvin’s ‘got messed this up’ grin haunted me for nights and I could still not face mom!

I could see Denver turn the knob and enter my cabin, a small smile he liked to carry always. I wondered what lied beneath that smile. “I think you should be easy on them, it’s their initial phase.” He spoke shuffling the files on my table his words brought me back to the present. His fingers kept tracing those threads binding the file.  “Remember when I first came here? I was clumsy and now look at me.” He chuckled looking at me. I was his senior by one year, and had proved himself to be the best. I remembered him knocking at the pile of files when he pitched me a collaborative idea.

“I cannot let this slide!” I snarled. And he knew by ‘this’ it wasn’t what happened today it was about last week, last Sunday, that smart mouthed woman who stormed with her poison seethed words in my mind making it rumble with anger. How could I let it slide that easily? That woman walked into my territory and dared to question my mother, even worse she gave me a tough banter. Imagine giving a lawyer such tough competition. That was JUST NOT ACCEPTABLE!!

But what irritated me more was how media had turned this entire situation into something more explosive, and to the parts where I didn’t imagine it to go. They could’ve just edited or stopped the live on the spot yet they had to film it for fucking ratings! Fresh anger rose in my lungs again, I was sure they would explode soon. I hated media for a reason, it was always these people behind the ruins of me and my family.

“How about drinks?”

I wanted to refuse, alcohol was never an healthy option to cope with anger but dang that!  “Fine, book somewhere less crowded.” I spoke resuming my work. And for the next few hours my mood neutralized, Ashton was right I should not dwell on that again and yell at my people who worked for me. It was against my rules. Also a date awaited me which I kept pushing forward since the last fifteen days. I was sure by the end of this month, with every dragging thing I would soon be catching a migraine.

Few hours later.

We were already in a bar, with dim lights and most of the people drowned in music and alcohol cared less about who was onto whom, I loved New York for this reason, you could walk naked and no one gave a damn about your life unless you do something reckless as in jump in an argument around 500 people and broadcast it all over the city. I blinked my eyes bringing myself back from that dark day. I made a mental note to visit those spirit cleansers, only that would fix me now.

“Whiskey on the rocks?” The bartender raised an eyebrow familiar with my preferences. I wasn’t an alcohol person but today was different and a little diluted whiskey wouldn’t harm me. I sipped the drink and it burned in my throat as it made it’s tormenting way towards my stomach. “You can enjoy your night, I don’t want to be a bummer.” I gestured with my eyes towards the dance floor where a group of girls eye fucked us in a lewd manner, some even muttered something constantly looking at their phones then at my face.

“Not my type.” Denver spoke emptying his glass while ordering another. For a 29 years old man he was good with his liquor. If I wasn’t wrong it was his fourth drink and yet there wasn’t a hint of alcohol on his face or voice.

“Don’t look at me like that! I have a good tolerance.” He defended himself, sniffing my judgemental gaze. “Do you remember when we signed the contract and we headed here?” He asked with a smile.

“Don’t remind me, you ruined my  Maybach” I could never forget that night, nor did Ashton, the other day he presented apologies in the languages he spoke. After an havoc of two weeks, my lips finally cracked into a smile. Though he was younger, he was rather calm, collected and easy to converse with. Trainees and paralegals loved to be around him.

“Anyway thanks, I needed this.” I spoke popping a cheese ball in my mouth.

“Anything for my partner.” He raised his glass and after making sure I wasn’t in need of a company the man floated around the crowd leaving me all to myself.

Few drinks later my conscience broke as I downed maybe a bottle or two. My mind finally at ease after that hell of a Sunday. Maybe things were back to normal and I was reacting too much, like Denver’s earlier advice I decided to not dwell on the past and focus on things that awaited me, well there weren’t much positive events. I finally breathed a sigh of relief with no negativity from this minute onwards.

*Bang Bang Bang*

A loud noise of gunshots firing in the sky seeped through the dazed curtains upon my brain. With panic gushing fresh in my veins I rushed out of the bar.

Reverie.

Evil eye! Yes that shit was real if you asked me after today, otherwise I would have laughed it off saying that’s just another conspiracy theory. But today was different after hearing all the good news from everywhere since the last week and being the star of the month. We agreed on celebrating on a street with loads of junk food in 5th Avenue.

Since our recruitment days Kenna and I  became best friends by her being my colleague and flatmate we shared a bond. It reminded me of the roots, the days we used fill our bodies with crap and more crap. And we totally loved it!

“Ummhmm!!” One bite and the cheese oozed into my mouth, trust me when it comes to taste and quality, it cannot beat the chefs of these trucks. With an immense amount of oozing sauces, cheese and spices these food items just banged different. I ordered a large pizza and some Bangladeshi cuisines while Kenna stuck with her mustard bagels and hot dogs one of the staple food in NYC.

“This pizza smacks Gabriel” Kenna whistled as a shout out to the food truck owner and our old pal, who winked in our direction his hands covered in sauces and raw dough. Apart from me he knew it was Kenna.

Her green eyes glittered under the dim lights of the streets, The white crop top ended just above her waist while a pair of shorts complemented her toned thighs. She was one fine woman for whom any man would kneel down. I on the other hand wore a simple red strip dress with my hair tied in a loose bun. Our faces were free of any makeup except for the lip tints we used. Since our jobs required our perfectly made up faces this was something we were comfortable with. No cameras, no bunch of people around, no scripts just plain and basic us and our little celebration.

“We should do this often.” I spoke sipping my glass. After a long time we ate lots of food, if Johan was here he would’ve fainted counting the carbs we filled inside our little mouths. He was one health freak. Johan left a week ago since his presence was required in San Francisco before the official signing with the company. We video called him instead it would roughly be 4 in the morning, yet he never missed our calls.

“How rude of you to celebrate without me?” a groggy faced Johan appeared on the screen rubbing the sleep out of eyes, I could smell his morning stench from the screen. His voice raspy.

“We’re not having that much of fun, just like some people.” I pointed towards the feminine products lying upon his drawer. Embarrassment covered his face in crimson, as he quickly shifted the camera angles.

“Busted” Kenna laughed at Johan’s almost flushed face, who now looked like burying a hole and caving deep inside.

“You guys are unbelievable” The latter rubbed his almost droopy eyes in horror. For a guy he was pretty much shy than others, us on the other hand had no limits when it came to teasing. We would tease him about almost anything from his size to his body count. It was common for people to discuss sex and all those stuff but Johan was paranoid in this section. We always pulled his leg on if he would do it properly with his partner, only an enchantress would sway his friar heart.

“Our baby needs some good sleep, maybe he didn’t get much last night.” Kenna teased further with a smirk while I bit into the chicken.

“Alright, you two need to stop invading my sex life and get yourselves someone.” Johan commented, red still left it’s after effects upon the guy’s face.  We did stop teasing the poor soul and ended the call with goodbye kisses.

Heap of food wrappers and crushed cokes later we finally called it a night as the crowd scattered too. I lamented the passing of time so much more since this mini us time came to an end. “Alright babe! Have a good night” stuffed by the carbs, Kenna and I parted ways with a hug.

“Text me when you reach.” I waved her good bye Kenna’s shoot was just two blocks away while her driver waited patiently for her, since my car was parked over the other road I had to take a walk instead. I loved driving across the city, it gave me a sense of freedom, that for once our lives were free of glaring flashes and harsh world. We were humans who craved peace too.

“Shouldn’t have eaten that last slice of pizza.” The seatbelt felt tighter as my belly was full, managing somehow I stepped on the accelerator as a figure appeared out of the dark, crashing at my car. “Oh my—” with eyes wide I hit the brakes getting out of the car.

“Fuck!!” If not for my quick reflexes the man would die on the spot flying high in air, and I would be charged with murder in less than an hour. Blood leaked through his lips, while his body already a lump of crushed bones , I pulled him up as panic struck me like thunder in a stormy night “Are.. are you okay?”

“Argghh!!” He yelped in pain as I helped him up, it wasn’t safe to just let him sit in my car. I did a quick scan over him, No hidden weapons, a disheveled shirt and ripped pants. Crime could come in many forms even as victims, this was the very first lesson I was taught. “I’m fine.” He spoke clutching his eyes close “save me” he spoke holding my arm desperately. The boy seemed in his late teens as I helped him inside my car.

“From whom?” reaction came delayed as saving him was the first priority, checking for other bruises in his body and I did find a bullet in his arm, blood seeping through his dark coloured shirt. My eyes scrutinized the surrounding and it was eerily quite with only less than five people on the road. The earlier bustling streets were now eerily quite and dangerous. The darker they got, the higher were the chances of jumping into the crime.

“Money lenders ” His voice came raspy as he struggled to speak, I knew these kind of sides of New York, criminals ruled in the dark mapping the city with their heinous crimes.  They were mostly into drugs and arms dealings as they lived in the shadows, also into lending money and taking them back in their crooked ways. I took care of the guy’s wounds, wrapping up the cuts. The next thing I decided was to call the cops and let them handle the situation since it wasn’t safe for the both of us. But before I could dial a number two men came out of the dark, setting their glance at my car’s direction. “Shit!” I cursed under my breath carrying the victim on my back but before we could walk those men surrounded us, with guns against my forehead they were at a greater advantage. And I knew this was going to get bad!!

“Leave that shit ass, he’s ours.” One of them spoke, his breath reeking of alcohol and low quality weed. While his eyes were scarlet red, maybe an effect of the drug.

“Leave the kid and I’ll pay you whatever he can’t.” the only deal I could throw at that time, since the situation demanded I ran out of ideas. All I needed was a plan to keep them busy while calling on the cops, but the cold metal on my rather warm forehead shook any straight thought out.

“Or better, we keep you both and you give us money.” The fucker threw his ugly trick right at my face, his perverted eyes lingered around my half bare chest, wrong choice of clothes I clicked my tongue. His leering gaze made my blood boil, I was sure if not for the boy on my back I would’ve easily gouged his eyes out and strangled him by those drug coated intestines of his. With his vision only focusing my breasts, he was unable to see a flying kick coming at his direction.

“Ouch. you bitch!!” a well planned kick landed right on his chest, with my six inches long heel ripping through the weak fabric of his shirt. While the gun in his hand fired in the air followed by a loud bang. We made a quick run down a dark alley to escape while the men hunted us like dingoes. “Kill them!” I heard the man yelling at the top of his lungs.

Thanks to those nerve wrecking intense trainings father gave us in eighth grade, they did come handy at such times. I ran with a speed of bullet knowing the consequences if I stopped a bit. Another cross alley came into my vision as I made my way inside. It was a risky place, I knew puffing dollops of air I steadied my breathing “There’s a police station right across the block. Don’t worry we’re safe.” I spoke calming the little guy who was as scared as a lost kitten, tears streaked his pale face.

“They’re here!!” a group member yelled making his ceaseless way towards me, while two more men came from the other end. This was a dead end I tried to shield Fred as it was the only thing in my control. My only thought was to land kicks while pressing Fred to the wall, but no matter how powerful those kicks were, those thick skinned men kept coming at me. By landing one enormous kick I ran towards the opening

“Where do you think you’re going little chick” The source of the voice was right infront of me,  beads of sweat started breaking out of my sweat glands as an  ugly, stinky boss was back with his dirty gun and a smirk I soo much wished to slap away. He sure creeped me out, not his aura just the thought of an unhygienic bastard standing right infront of me. We soon got into a nasty fight, as I clutched his hands up, few gunshots emptied into the sky as I kept punching his face, as soon as he lost control I made another run down the alley but before my steps could reach the ground, something hard hit my head from the back. I stumbled and fell down, losing the grip of Fred with only a piece of fabric in my clutches. All I could see was stars for the very first time in New York before passing out into the darkness.


In a matter of few minutes, darkness welcomed me with it’s arms wide open as I kept falling into which seemed a pit of infinity. I could feel my body plummeting into nothingness yet there was no control, faint murmurs dripped into my ears yet I couldn’t make out what they meant. Struggling to steady myself up, I forced my eyes open only to find a ray of small light, by following it’s path I could only make out a blurred image of a man above me, his chin faced me, trying to focus more a pang of headache rose from the hind with everything spinning infront of my eyes, Was I dead? Was this a realm between the dead and the alive? Was he a grim reaper? This soon? Dead by the loser’s attack? Was I raped? Just as these thoughts flocked my brain a firm hand steadied me. Transferring fresh warmth straight to my heart, calming it’s erratic pace.

“Stay still.” This time his words were clear  so much so that I sensed a hint of concern and panic in them. “You’re bleeding.” His soothing voice had more effect than any other drug. I steadied myself, still trying to hold onto his the blurry image before my haze filled eyes. I couldn’t figure out the situation nor his face was much visible from this position. It seemed my head was on his lap, his one hand cupping my head while the other pressed hard on my forehead to stop the bleeding. As I could smell my own blood my consciousness wearing off, I could only mutter “Where am I?”