Her New Perspective

Chapter 4

Rosabella and Alejandro Rodriguez, man and wife for several years. The wife is upset and looking for an escape from the man, while Alejandro is planning on using this huge party as a reason for them to rekindle. 
It was a pretty decent alias, one she should easily be able to keep up with. The problem is she shared the alias with the man she tried to kill, and who couldn't keep his alias to save his life. He just wasn't enthusiastic enough about the persona. 
Hopefully it will be easier with a name that he looked like he'd have. But she went over plans with Antonio anyway, drilling his new persona in his head. 
"You have to keep this up. If you don't this job will be a failure. Even if we aren't the ones to kill him, it is important that we keep our personas up or it endangers everyone." Antonio nodded. "So I need to act like I want to make you happy even though you're angry with me?" "Sounds like what you're doing right now." Gilbert laughed from beside him. "If you don't stop with your unnecessary comments, you will be shoved out of this car! Do you understand me?!" She yelled from Antonio's other side. "Nobody is being shoved out of the car. Bruder, stop trying to antagonize her. I can not be held responsible for your death because you keep messing with her knowing the consequences." 
Gilbert and Chiara huffed in reply, turning to face the window. "So how are we checking into the hotel?" "You and I are sharing a room. Man and wife, remember? But try anything and I will cut you." She said, still facing the window. "I'll need to get my coat out of the trunk before we make it to the hotel. I can't walk in without it, I'll look stupid." "We have to stop for gas soon anyway." Monika nodded. For some reason, Chiara had a glare on her face. Maybe she didn't like Germanic people? But Monika was being very civil, not at all strict or stern as usual. 
Either way, he couldn't help the ball of nervousness that built up more at the thought of having to be in a room alone with Chiara. 
This was going to be a long drive. 
~~~ 
Antonio was laying in the bed, wearing a t-shirt and pajama pants rather than his usual sleeping attire. He would normally just sleep in his boxers but he didn't really want to do anything that would potentially make the woman more upset with him. She was in the bathroom, finishing up her shower. He sighed, grabbing his phone and sending Francis a text saying they made it to the hotel. He wasn't going to tell Francis his hotel arrangements, but apparently Gilbert already had

Francis: Heard you're in a room with Chiara. Wonder what will come out of that~
Antonio: Nothing if I want to make it back in one piece. 
Francis: Either way, you two are alone now. Perhaps she'll be willing to tell you more about that job. 
Antonio: I can try. I'll try to keep you updated. 
Francis: You better. Or I'll drive all the way there and figure out myself. 
Antonio: Or Gilbert will text you! 

He quickly shut his phone off when he heard the door to the bathroom open. Chiara walked out with her hair wrapped in a towel and wearing an oversized sweater of the Italian flag. He wondered briefly if she had anything under it and quickly dismissed the thought as if she could read them. And it felt like she could, because she looked at him for a second before lifting the sweater up enough to see the small black shorts she had on under them. 
"I'm covering myself up, don't worry." She rolled her eyes, walking to the other side of the bed before laying down. But he doubted she planned on sleeping quite yet. He sat up again, looking over to her. "Can I ask you a question?" 
"Depends. Is it about the party?" "No... it's about the first time we met." He couldn't keep the nervousness out of his voice. If he upset her by being curious, he wasn't sure how long it would be before he got hurt. She sat up, pulling the towel off of her head and releasing her hair, which fell in dark curls against the sweater. 
"What about it? It was a job, one that I didn't feel was necessary. I pick and choose my jobs, so you know. They saw you as a threat, I saw you as an overly cheerful idiot who needs to make his alias better used. You aren't of any threat to them, or to me." He ignored the insults for the time being. 
"Bella said you tried to get in the organization once." "Not really, I ran into her by chance and she offered me the job. I refused but she got a portfolio from me 'just in case'." She made air quotes, sitting up as well. "Bella's a really nice woman. I'm a little surprised she's not dating anyone." "Well, her brothers contribute to that." 
Antonio had tried once, and it lasted a week. The threat of being attacked at every hour by both brothers caused him to have to break it off. Thankfully, she understood and stayed close friends. "Damn. She'd be a really kind girlfriend to someone, should they get past her brothers." 
She mumbled something under her breath after that. "What?" "Nothing!" Her face turned a soft shade of pink, turning away. Her curl had suddenly gotten spiky, as if flustered itself. 
Suddenly, curiosity got the better of him.
He wasn't even sure what he was thinking. 
One second, the two were sitting there, in the next, he had fallen on top of her, curl gently pulled between his fingers and the girl squirming under him, face now a hot red. "Get off! You fucking prick, you can't just touch people without consent!" She shoved him off, sitting up and pulling her knees to her chest, acting jittery. 
"I'm sorry, I guess I just-" "You aren't the fucking first to yank it and you aren't the last. I just wish I could fucking cut it off and this wouldn't happen ever again." Antonio realized that it did something to her, but he couldn't tell what. "What does it do?" She sighed, unfurling herself. "Don't tell anyone else or I will actually kill you. And I'll know if you do." The threat was effective, even if her glare wasn't due to the red hue on her face. She took a breath, rubbing her face to try and rid the color from it. 
"...Its an erogenous zone. But yank it hard enough and I'll pass out." Oh. Oh. 
His face grew a bit red realizing what he had done. "I'm sorry!" "I told you, you're not the first and you're not the last." "Still…" 
"Still nothing. Not like you can do anything about it anyway." He wasn't sure how to take that, but it really sounded insulting even if the words had no bite to them. "What do you mean? I could…" He trailed off, realizing what he was saying. 
What are you doing!? She's threatened to kill you how many times and you're trying to sleep with her? 
"Not really. Nothing against you, you're cute, but not really my type." She waved him off nonchalantly. "What is your type?" "Girls. But not Monika or anything like that." She waved it off, laying back again. 
Oh, I see. She's a lesbian. "Really?" "Well, I'm bi but I'm female leaning. And I swear to god if you say 'Well you just haven't found the right'-" "I won't! I know it's frustrating to get that a lot." 
"Oh, you're?" "Pan. So is my friend, Francis." "Huh. Figures, I guess. My sister's pan too." "Sister?" She froze. "I didn't-" she smacked her hand against her face. "Don't mention that to anyone." "I won't."  
Family is a touchy subject. I understand.  
"Well, I guess you'd probably want to know more, then? But you'll answer my questions too." He nodded.
"I was dragged here before I could remember. I don't even know by who, but I do know that I was being raised by my grandmother before then. I was pulled away from my sisters." She paused, seeing his brow quirk. "I have- had two sisters." He saw her get visibly upset. 
She must not have been able to save one of them. 
He put a hand on her shoulder. "I don't want your sympathy. Not like it will bring her back. If she was ever killed to begin with." She shook the hand away, sitting up to face him. 
"I had to kill the guys that kept me captive to escape that hellhole. I was, what, eleven or something like that? Then I went on a hunt for my sisters. I found one of them, Margartia. She was living with this man who looked very similar to my grandmother, and he had two grandsons that looked like me and her. He offered us a place to stay, and.."
"And you accepted?" He was concerned for her mental health, to be honest. Having to murder at eleven and being ripped away from your family at such a young age!? No wonder she went into assassination, she had to be a pro if she's been killing for this long. 
"Yea. It didn't last long, at sixteen I started looking for work because I couldn't stay in school. Went back to assassinating because it seemed to be the only thing I was good at." She frowned, looking down. "Guess that's my fault though. My sister was good at everything, cooking, drawing, dancing, and I was just so tired of being overlooked. I thought if I found something that I was good at, I could step out of her shadow and be noticed for me, and not as Margarita's grumpy older sister." She drew her knees closer to her chest. "To tell the truth, I never wanted to start killing. But then I started doing jobs and realized it was easy for the large amount of money I received for them. And then it expanded to me learning to kill multiple ways, learning to cook a bit so I can pose as a chef and poison the food, using my supposedly 'good looks' and luring the targets to a separate room in party situations," she looked like she was going to say more, but he cut her off. 
"If it means anything, you are very well known around the office. Bella would love for you to join us sometime, and honestly I think you'd be a great addition to our group." She rested her head on her knees, facing away from him. "And you do have good looks. You are very pretty." 
Francis would certainly approve of her using her looks to lure her targets in. He usually did something similar, dressing feminine to trick them. Most of the time, his targets were drunk so they never really found out the truth until it was too late. 
She sighed. "It does mean something, actually." She looked over long enough to see a smile break out on his face. She offered a small one back. "But now it's my turn. What's your story?" 
"It's not really a tragic one. I was friends with Bella and her brothers when they started the organization, so they offered me a job in. I wasn't really okay with the killing thing so I was only doing jobs with really corrupt and bad people. I met my best friends, Gilbert and Francis. We usually do jobs together. It's pretty fun."
Chiara shook her head. "Don't you think working a job with other people sets you up for failure? I get that they are your friends, but when it comes to the cash can you really trust them not to betray you?" Antonio nodded. "We usually take three jobs at a time and separate the money by job." "No wonder it's so difficult to keep an alias with you…" She looked annoyed, but there was something else there. Concern? 
"That's stressful, isn't it? How do you take so many jobs at once, with so many alias to keep track of, and stay.. you?" "Me?" "Your ignorant cheerfulness." She bit back, eyes narrowed. "You take all these jobs and complete them, but don't keep your alias. You bite off more than you can chew, accompanied and probably egged on by your 'friends'," she made air quotes at friends, getting more hostile as she continued. But he didn't let her get any farther than that. "I'm not ignorant." "Sure you aren't. Nobody can be an assassin and that damn happy without being stupid and not realizing what they are doing." 
"Well, doesn't that make you the ignorant one?" 
She flinched back, as if pushed. "What the hell is that supposed to mean!?" 
"Well, it just seems like everyone associates happy with stupid nowadays. Just because I'm happy doesn't mean I'm not aware of what I'm doing. I know I'm killing people, but I'm killing bad people. Corrupt people. It's for the better of everyone. And knowing that even if my method isn't the greatest I'm still helping to make the world a better place keeps me happy." 
Chiara fell silent at his words, looking down for a moment. He grew worried that he had upset her more. "I-" "Maybe you're right." She held a hand up. "Look, I just don't understand why someone would willingly join an assassin ring. Even if it is only corrupt people. Your conscious has to weigh on you." "Doesn't it weigh everyone down? That's why I don't just take random jobs. I take ones I know will be good for people." "You shouldn't take those kinds of jobs if you can't keep an alias. Eventually you'll get caught." 
"Don't you take jobs just because? I don't think-" "I'm experienced enough to tell you to get out. Don't stay in this kind of job. You're going to regret it." 
"Then what about you? If you don't like this job, why do you stay in it? You still have a chance to get out, you're not that bad with multiple skills and I'm sure there's something else you'd like to do…" he trailed off, his eyes meeting an intense, furious glare. It lasted for a few seconds, then she got up from the bed and went over to her suitcase, digging through it. For a few tense moments he feared she was going to kill him right then and there, as he had no chance of making it to his gun before she could, but she only pulled a pair of jeans and a wallet out. She had a knife in her hands, but it was set on the bed with the wallet as she went into the bathroom. 
He sighed, laying back down. She came back out a few moments later, in jeans and a red tank top. She secured the knife to her belt, pulling the tank top over it so it couldn't be seen. He looked over to see what she was doing and she met his gaze with an emotionless face.
"I'm going to the bar. Don't wait for me." She grabbed the wallet and walked out, shutting the door softly behind her. 
He reached for his phone and clicked the first contact he could think of. 

Antonio: Bella, I messed up. 

Finally updating this story? Wow.