listen (rio g.g) 1

12

"I'm a nightmare,
you're no different."
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Alivia's eyes stayed glued to his as he sat down on the opposite side of the small circular table, his hoodie worn in his usual strange way, somewhat half on, half off.
He slouched against the back of his chair, taking a sip from the straw in the large plastic cup in his hands.

"We've all gathered here today-" Annie began, grinning at her attempted joke, but as she glanced around at the others, she quickly rolled her eyes and sighed. "Wow, tough crowd."

Beth cleared her throat and excitedly exclaimed, "We have a business proposition for you!"

His face furrowed, "aw, you guys didn't hit me up to do brunch?"

Alivia chuckled, receiving a death glare from Annie. "Really? That was funny?"

Alivia shrugged, "Kinda."

"Anyway-" Beth interjected in annoyance at the disruption. "As I said, we have a proposition for you. To clean your fake money without having to deal with drug dealers or street people."

"Street people?" Annie whispered, looking at her sister with raised brows.

He simply watched them for a moment, taking another sip before eventually muttering, "I have a system."

"It's a liability." Alivia cut in and his eyes found hers immediately.

"It gets the job done," he shot back, shrugging slightly.

"Does it?" He nodded as he placed the straw in his mouth, taking a sip. Alivia continued, "How did your friend get shot again?"

He watched her quietly for a moment, exhaling loudly. "What're you proposing?"

"We do it here!" Beth interjected, a bit too loudly and too excitedly, which caused her friends to stare at her with raised brows. She shrugged them off, "Or any big box retailer, they have very generous return policies."

He glanced around the store, "you want to clean fake cash here?"

"No one thinks twice about a wife buying her husband a flat-screen TV or new tires for the minivan," Ruby spoke up nervously.

"We trade it all in for fresh cash. Fake money in, real money out." Annie grinned.

He leaned back against the chair, a small smirk appearing on his face, "Y'all got it all figured out, huh? What's in it for you?"

The women glanced around at each other momentarily.

Alivia leaned back in her chair as well, shrugging as she replied, "Twenty percent of the profit."

A light chuckle escaped his lips as he watched her with amusement, "is that right? Anything else while we're at it? Y'all want health care? Union breaks?"

"Just for the record," Ruby began glancing at her friends briefly. "I'll never smuggle anything up my butt."

"I could be talked into it if the compensation was appropriate," Annie added with a shrug.

Alivia's hand found its way to her face and covered her mouth as she looked over at her in disbelief. Her eyes narrowed but she couldn't help the smile surfacing, "what the fuck is wrong with you?"

She simply shrugged again.

Alivia turned her attention back to him, only to find him getting up and leaving the table. Her brows furrowed, "where are you going?"

"I gotta go buy a duvet cover," he replied matter-of-factly.

"Are you in or not?"

He nodded slightly, "we'll give it a try."

"That's not good enough." The other three women stared at Alivia in shock and slight fear as she stood from her seat.

"Oh, my god." Annie let out a whisper.

His lips twitched as he closed the distance between them. "Ten percent."

She could feel his breath on her skin again, bringing the shivers back. She bit the inside of her cheek before speaking, "Fifteen."

He glanced at each of them, a soft smirk appearing as his eyes found hers again. "Okay, deal."

"Cool." She replied with a smile and her head held high.

He leaned into her ear and whispered, "I usually pay thirty."

She released the breath she'd been holding as she watched him disappear into the crowd, a grin on his face.