Black Iris

Golden ticket.

Iris

She was shorter than I had imagined, though perhaps more beautiful than I was expecting. The photos in the dossier Blake has given me before I left didn't really do her justice.

Though she was short, she was lean, giving her a small figure rather than a stout one. Her hair was long, blonde, and straight, falling down to her lower back. Obviously opting for style over comfort, she was dressed in a smart-chic bright red dress and a black suit jacket.

She looked exhausted, haggard in the way you always are after coming off a long plane trip. No doubt she was looking forward to getting home to her own house, and getting to sleep in her own bed.

I hated that I was there to stop her from doing that. Even so, I knew it had to be done.

When she caught sight of her name — Sarah Potesta — on my sign, her face lit up with confusion. Then she looked up at me and it filled with apprehension. She knew who I was.

She walked over. "What are you doing here?"

"I need to speak to you, Sarah," I said. "My name is-"

She cut me off. "I know who you are."

Her voice was terse, short, and her eyes darted around us as she spoke. I glanced out of the crowd, to the exit where one of Blake's drivers, Porter, was waiting with the car.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to scare you. If you don't mind, I would love to talk over some food," I said.

She hesitated. "I'm not sure that's a good idea."

"I promise, I just want to talk," I said, with a hopefully reassuring smile. "I can give you the address if you want to hail a cab but..." I gestured down at the sign. "You do have your own chauffeur."

"How thoughtful." She said quietly, and her voice seemed to be slightly less icy. After a long moment, she nodded. "Alright. If you just want to talk..."

"And eat," I said jokingly, and I saw the shadow of a nervous smile cross her face. "If you wouldn't mind. But, I'm afraid we'll have to talk as we go, I don't have a lot of time, and I'm sure you want to get home and rest."

She nodded mutely, looking down at the black bag at her feet.

"Do you need help with your luggage?" I asked.

She shook her head. "No, I'm fine, thank you."

I cleared my throat, and shifted so that I was looking at the doors again. "Alright, well, our car is this way."

With that, I began to move through the crowds, briefly glancing back at her to begin with, then confidently leading her out to the car. Except, when I got to the door and looked back again, she wasn't behind me.

Confused, I froze for a second, scanning the crowd. But she wasn't there. Then, somehow, I saw a flash of red from the corner of my eye and turned – she was going into the taxi bay.

"Wait!" I called out, and began darting through the crowd again to the gate doors she'd left through.

I got outside to find another crowd of people, each trying to get the attention of a taxi. Sarah was amongst them, frantically trying to push through to the front of the queue, trying to get away from me.

"Wait! Please!" I called, darting through the crowd to get to her. A few people looked my way, but they were all too busy trying to find rides to care too much.

She ignored me, lifting her arm to wave down a taxi pulling in. I reached out and grabbed it, spinning her so I could see her face. She flinched, and blinked at me, fear in her eyes.

"P-please." She stuttered. "He's going to kill me."

My heart broke, and I gently let her arm go. "No. He's not. Look, whatever you think about him, there's more to it than you know. He isn't a monster, and neither am I. Just... Please. You have to help us."

She blinked, and I could see her turning it over, trying to figure out what to do. "I'm sorry. I don't think I can."

"Why?" I asked gently. "Won't you just give us a chance?"

She held my gaze for another few moments before looking down. "It's not you, or even him. It's just, well, it's complicated."

"Well, could we at least just have a chat? I promise, nobody is going to hurt you." I said, pleadingly.

She hesitated, then slowly nodded. "Okay."

This time, she seemed to be sure of her answer. As if to show me this, she pulled up the handle of her suitcase, and nodded at me. "Let's go, then."

I let out a sigh of relief. "Thank you." I muttered, beginning to once again guide her through the crowd, glancing back to make sure she followed.

She did, but she had a nervous look on her face. "Don't thank me yet." She said quietly. "You haven't heard what I have to say."

I tried to ignore the knots that tightened in my stomach at those words.

I knew then that Sarah Potesta was not going to be the golden ticket we needed her to be.

I could only hope that she would at least help.

Authors Note
Happy weekend!

Hope you're all safe and well, and I hope you're managing to get through this crisis alright.

If you ever need a stranger to talk to, I'm around.

- Alex