salute [james conrad] 1

Chapter 1

Bristol, England. 2 am

Charlotte sits on the bar. She knew the party would go wrong, and now she sat there -in a dress worth half of her saving- deep in thought. She downs another shot and waves the waiter for another. The dim lights illuminate her short sequinned dress. 

Besides her, a man with short hair, crooked, yellow teeth, and a beer belly takes a seat on one of the bar stools. He orders a drink to the waiter. 

Then he takes a look at her. 

"So, what's a lady like you doing in a place like this?" He asks, turning to look at her. 

She shrugs and looks forward. 

"Let's just say I haven't been having the best of times" She says as she downs another shot. 

The man smiles, and scoots an inch closer. 

"And... tell me? Do you happen to be... single? Or are you here with someone?" He asks, looking around. 

"I just happen to be alone" She says, forcing a smile and looking at him. 

"Ahhh " The man wonders. His hand moves, and touches her thigh. 

Charlottes smile fades, and she swings off his hand. 

The man stares at her and smiles. 

"What? I mean, woman don't come into bars alone not looking for something" He says in a creepy voice. 

His arm trails slowly down her arm, and she looks at his hand with venom. 

"I'm going to give you 2 seconds to remove your hand" She says, her voice without emotion. 

The man leans closer to her, so close that she can smell the alcohol on his breath.  

"Yeah? And what are you going to do?" He says. His hot breath trails down her neck. 

His hand trails up her arm, and then into her chest. 

"Are you going to hurt me?" He says in a playful tone. 

His hand touches her chest, and then, he squeezes. 

It all happens in a flash. One second, the man is leaning into her, and the next, he's pinned against the bar, his hand twisted against his back. He grunts in pain. 

The people around them fall silent, all staring at the commotion. 

Charlotte leans towards the man's ear. 

"I thought I had told you to remove your hand" She says through gritted teeth. She twists his arm further, and he shouts in pain. 

Charlotte looks around them and points to him. 

"Let him be an example!" She shouts. " People like him are Rats. Just because a lady is sitting alone, doesn't mean she wants something from a man!" She shouts in his ear, causing him to flinch. 

"Now... apologize" She says, her tone low. 

The man doesn't do anything. 

"I said. apologise!" She yells, twisting his arm as far as she can. 

The man shouts a loud scream.

"OKAY OKAY" He sobs out "I-I-I-'mmm Sorry! I'm Sorry!" He yells out. 

Charlotte nods, and swings him into the ground. 

The man lies there, clutching his arm. 

She crouches down and pats his cheek a few times, smiling. 

"I trust you'll never do that again, right?" She questions. The man nods. 

"Well, just as a reminder" She pulls her fist back and punches him in the nose. 

The people around her gasp, and she stands up, blowing her dark hair out of her face. 

"Any one else?" She asks as she looks around the dim bar. No one answers. 

She smiles. 

"Good!" 

She grabs a shot glass and downs it before turning around, heading of the door. 

"Ms.Wilson" A voice says. 

She stops dead on her tracks and turns around slowly. 

Two men are staring at her. One is a young man, not older than 29, with black rimmed glasses and a nervous face. The other is a white man, most likely in his late 50's, with a beard and a beige suit. 

They stare at her for a moment. 

"What?" She says after a moment, tired of their silence. 

The old man motions at a table. 

"Would you take a seat, please, we have something we would like to discuss with you" He says. 

She looks at them for a moment, straight face, arms crossed around her chest. Then she sighs. 

"Fine. You have 5 minutes to tell me why I should care " She says, her British accent standing out in her sentence. 

She pulls out the chair and sits down. 

The two man usher into their seats, pulling out papers and brief cases.