Murder To Excellence

5.

Rose and Denise were supposed to go look for spaces for the store. Rose had made an appointment with the realtor and purposely told Denise the wrong time. See, Denise was never on time. You’d tell her to come at six and she’d come at ten. After a while Rose stopped being on time too whenever she was with Denise because she knew being on time was quite unnecessary. The appointment was at eleven but she’d told Denise it was at nine. 

To her delight, Denise was indeed on time and the hunt for the right place started as the realtor showed them every empty spot around town. 

“I’m tired and hungry!” Denise wailed. They had been going around town for hours and they were both tired yet the realtor seemed to still be full of energy. “Let’s go get something to eat now.”

“We can’t just leave, Denise.”

“And this man can’t just starve us. Yo mister, give us a minute. We’re going to buy some food,” she said and before he could answer, she had grabbed Rose by her forearm and dragged her across the street to a little bistro. 

“How’s your boyfriend?” Denise asked as they were waiting for their order. 

Rose looked confused at first but soon realized who she was talking about. “Oh, he’s fine.”

“And when do I get to meet him?”

“Whenever you want,” Rose replied hastily and got their food before heading out of the bistro to go back to the realtor. 

“I have been waiting to actually meet him ever since that day his bodyguards dismissed Hazel and me from your convo, honey. It’s about time, I need to approve of him first before you start doing… grown up shit.”

“Denise, I love you but I don’t need your approval.”

“Little bitch!” Denise screeched and a few pedestrians turned their heads to look at the yelling girl with bordeaux red ombré hair. “You did it! You lost your virginity!”

“No! I did not say that,” Rose replied through gritted teeth and entered the building they were looking at. “I like this one. It’s relaxing around here but still busy.” She tried to change the subject as her eyes darted every single inch of the spacious place, it almost looking like an abandoned factory but smaller of course.

“I agree,” Denise responded but was still quite convinced that Rose and Raphael had most certainly passed first base–scratch that. Denise thought they had hit the homerun. “How is it? Big? Small? No, that can’t be. I mean, look at him. It’s impossible for a man like him to be sized like a shrimp.”

“Denise, I don’t know!”

“You do but I get it. You don’t kiss and tell. In your case more than kiss but you know what I mean.” Denise winked and Rose punched her on the shoulder. 

“Sir, this is it.”

The realtor walked back to the two girls with a wide grin on his face. “I’ll give you two a few files and you have two weeks time to return it.” The space they wanted to use for the store wasn’t in the center of the city, more on the side. It was timid but fresh and still surrounded by life. The place was in need of a lot of renovation which made it a bit pricey, but this was perfect in their eyes. 

“Monsieur,” Jean–Pierre answered his phone. 

Raphael was in Rose’s apartment but she wasn’t there. He knew she didn’t have work today so he was surprised to not meet her there. “Where’s Rose?”

Jean–Pierre remained quiet for a while before answering, “Je ne sais pas, monsieur.”

“What do you mean you don’t know? Do you remember what I told you when you first drove her?”

“Mais… mais oui,” Jean–Pierre stumbled. He knew he was in deep trouble. 

“Tell me. What did I tell you?” Raphael demanded. 

“I had to tell you all her whereabouts, monsieur.”

“And you weren’t allowed to lose her, right?” Raphael pressured but Jean–Pierre remained silent. “Right?”

Jean–Pierre hummed something in response but Raphael knew he still recalled their talk.

“Now tell me, Jean–Pierre, why didn’t you listen?”

“She… I didn’t know she wanted to go somewhere, monsieur.”

“You should’ve because I told you I’d fire you.”

“Please, monsieur, je suis desolé, je regrette!” Jean–Pierre panicked on the other side of the phone. He was so close to firing him but Jean–Pierre had been working for Raphael for years now and he was a very good, obedient driver. 

“I’ll give you the benefit of the doubt. Next time, if you do something like this, you’ll be on the first plane back to France. Compris?” Jean–Pierre responded hastily, he knew Raphael wasn’t one you wanted to disappoint.