The Invention Of Life

Time seemed to go by so quickly, the golden years were never easy to forget once they been set, but for me I tended to not care if I had forgotten the yesteryears of my life. Sadly, I haven't. I am nothing but a lost soul in this world, yet I still manage to make my way. My name is Alexander Shawl, I am 27 years of age. I work as a lawyer in New York. I am alone. Yet I never feel alone. I live in a house which is nothing big of its own. I never came across danger until I met a woman named Hadassah. The meeting was quiet silly to say. I have plenty of time to tell so.

It had been one of those days, rainy and the air had seemed bitter, you could smell it. I was walking to the café down from my house, right before I had to leave for work, and I entered the café. It was almost empty. Normally there'd be people in and out of the place, people rushing for their orders, or even enjoying the New York Times. But that day, it was as if it went bankrupt. As I stuffed my hand into my pocket, going to the counter, a woman entered. She was pretty stunning if I say so myself. Her hair was long, pass her shoulder, black. She had a nice complexity to her face and she looked as if she were from another country, the facial features gave it away. She looked nervous, as if she had done wrong and everyone had known. She slipped into a seat as I gotten my coffee. I slowly walked over to an empty chair ad made my way in it. I studied her for a moment. She pulled her bag onto the table and searched through it, yanked at her black pencil skirt, glanced around, and glared at me. She had stared at me pretty hard, I looked down to my coffee then took a sip. Suddenly, I seen a chair pull out, a figure sit in it, and a hand rest near mine.

"Are you Mr. Shawl?" She asked with a slight accent but it seemed more Americanized. I looked upward to her, first seeing her glossy pink lips, which made a smirk appear on my face. I continued up seeing her whole face, and like I had said before, she was stunning.

"Yes, who asks?" I questioned her.

"I'm Hadassah, your client. I called you last night."

"Oh! Hello Ms. Renato." I said shaking her hand. Her hands were soft and she seemed to have a odd smile on her face. She let go of my hand and sighed, flipping her hair from her face and letting it rest on her right shoulder.

"Yes, is it okay if we discusses the case now?" She asked looking around. Now she seemed like the suspect instead of the victim.

"What is on your mind?"

"I am scared to go on trial. I know what this man is capable of, and he has the power to kill me. Please, put this man behind bars."

"I need more of a background information on this case Ms. Renato." I replied. She let out a long sigh, glancing up at me then moved a strand of hair from her face.

"Paul Avian is a mafia lord, he is known for killing people who owe him money or seen him off one of his so called friends. I witnessed him killed my father when I was ten. I've been running from him since, until now. I had been walking over to the Manhattan Maids Center, I spotted Paul down the alley. I was going to hide but I noticed the person he had been harassing was a close friend of mine. Before I could grab my phone, a gun shot went off. My friend was dead and he turned to walk away, he looked up, seeing me and quickly remembered who I was. I had to make a choice, was I going to fight this man or was I going to run all my life. I decided to fight." She took a deep breath then let out a sigh. I ordered over the cashier, who quickly came over.

"Let me buy you some coffee, before we go into court. Order whatever you please. I have to use the restroom for a moment." I stood up, cracking my back as I did, and headed into the bathroom. I glanced back at Hadassah, who gladly ordered herself a latte. I waltzed into the bathroom and looked at myself in the mirror. Nothing had differed from the last time I looked at myself in the mirror. My eyes had been the same light green tint they've always been, the same specks of hair on my face, wide like nose, and the rest is to follow. As I reached to leave out the bathroom, my phone went off. I raised my eyebrow, no one had ever called me early in the morning. Not even my own assistant. Shuffling in my pocket, I pulled it out and answered it.

"Hello? Alexander Shawl. How may I help you?" I said.

"Alex, this is Officer Thomas Hill, I'd like to inform you that Paul Avian has escaped from our custody. We advise you to keep your client in safe keeping until farther notice." With that being said, he hung up and I stood there in disbelief. I quickly adjusted myself then exited the restroom. Once I got to the table, Hadassah had been sipping on a latte and gazing at her phone. I tapped her shoulder causing her to quickly look up.

"We have to go. Paul Avian has escaped from jail and he surely is looking for you. I advise you find a place to stay until otherwise."

"What!?" She yelled jumping up and spilling her latte.

"Calm down please. Do you have a place to hide out?"

"No, I've been running my whole life. My family moved... I don't have the money to move again." I let out a sigh tapping my foot on the ground, I looked up only to see Paul across the street. Hands in his pocket and looking around, well for Hadassah.

"Come, you will stay with me, just hurry. Don't look back, we have to leave out the back."

"What? What are you talking about?" She questioned doing what I said not to and gazing out the big glass window. She gasped rushing into my arms, Paul made his way across the street and spotted the two of us. He wasn't haste to pull out his gun and started to shoot. Hadassah screamed as the bullets whizzed pass us, I rushed her out the back door and through the alley. We continued to run until we made it out the alleyway and into the streets.

"Let's go, we're going to my office." I said. She didn't say anything but nodding her head as I guided her to the Kings County District Attorney Office. I took her into his office and closed the door behind me. I ran my fingers through my hair as she sat down in the black lounge chair, she started to cry and hang her head in shame.

"I need for you to tell me the truth. He wouldn't just be after you because you seen him murder two people. There's more to this story." She looked up wiping her face and sighed.

"What do you want to know?"