Rosewood's POV
Me and my sister cried a lot during the funeral. We ignored all the stupid reporters asking questions and donned on some clothes that wouldn't attract attention. Then we went to the Highgate plaza.
"So how do we recruit peeps?" Redwood asked me. I shrugged.
Then I remembered someone I met in a bar. It was a 25-year-old guy. He thought I was cute, he said. He gave me his number, I gave him mine (cuz why not). His name was Rho Galahad.
I bring out my phone and checked the R section. Smack between Quince and the S section was the lonely Rho contact.
"I know someone, sis," I tell her. "He's fresh out of Perthro before Purge beat the crap out of them."
"Who's that boy?"
"Rho Galahad of the Round Table," I joked. I press the Call button.
"What the hell, dude?"
"Dudette," I corrected.
Rho picked up. "Hey, it's been like two weeks. What's up, Rose?"
"Sorry, man. I just thought if you wanted to occupy an empty space in the Pentagon. Our leader died, and we need five to make a real Pentagon. You up?"
"Huh!" Then some heavy static. Maybe his breathing. "Okay? Well, sounds fun. I'm up for it."
"Where can we meet?"
"The same bar where we met." I heard him giggle.
"Thanks, Rho. Good thing you got out of Perthro before they could whip your ass."
"I hated Perthro deeply. Remember when I said I was jealous of Ane stealing Tatsu's attention from me?"
"Oh god, Rho. Stop. You're being gay again."
He laughed. "I'm still gay, Rose! Anyway, I'm glad Tatsu, Ane and Sock are dead."
"Mean." I swept my bangs away from my face.
"Okay, bye-bye." He hung up.
Red looked at me with wide eyes. "He's gay?"
"Yeah. He fell for Tatsu."
Red made a puking sound. "You know how homophobic I am."
"And you know how tolerant I am."
"Oh shut up!" She adjusted her specs. "Where's the rendezvous?"
"This bar called Couchez."
"Time?"
"I assume around noon. He stays there for like 4 hours." I checked my watch. 11:48 AM. "I think he's on his way now. Let's go."
"Okay, sis."
The plaza surprisingly was only two blocks apart from Couchez. We had to stay close to the alley shadows, because we were goddamn popular. I prefer being attacked by online paparazzi.
If you're asking, 'what does Couchez look like?' then let me describe it. It's smack between a dress shop and a gunsmith's store. The inside is painted dark red to suggest some romantic vibes, and the place is quite neat. Lit by warm rays of sunshine through the sunroofs, you can always come here to celebrate a debut or the birth of a new kind of Viagra-flavored goat. (Disclaimer: Couchez does NOT have Viagra-flavored goat.)
The doors were opened by this Tom Cruise named Ferdie, who gave us a leering smile. I scowled at him and we went inside. The first person we saw was Rho. He waved. Red waved back. We sat on either him in a way that Rho became the sandwich filling.
"What would you like, ladies?" the bartender asked us.
"Martini," I replied.
"Do you guys have tequila?" Red asked.
"Sure." He placed our drinks on the table and after taking the money turned to attend to other customers.
"So, is this a job interview?" Rho joked. He wore an orange jacket with the words THE COPS HAVE DONUTS, LET'S GET SOME and jeans. Finish that off with Hessian boots.
"Yes. Kinda," I replied. I swigged my martini empty and looked at him. "Can you fight?"
"I'm a black belter in karate and judo. A little bit of Muay Thai."
"Uh-huh... can you hide well?"
"What the heck, Rose. Does this job require playing hide-and-seek?" He frowned.
"I mean, we are a security faction. Like cops. Sometimes we have to raid drug dens and places like that. And hiding is a major chunk of what we do. We hide our identities, hide weapons, hide bombs, we even hid a cat once because the chip on its collar was a recorder we planted."
"Oh my. Uh, well, I beat my friends all the time in hide-and-seek."
Red sighed. "We're gonna train you for two weeks if that's the case."
"And," I added, "if you have any pending duels, you gotta cancel them."
"Okay." He finished his pint. Looks like beer.
"What do you drink, by the way?" She looked at the glass.
"I like beer. Or vodka." He glanced upwards then back.
"Hmm." I thought of more questions, but I realized those questions can be solved only in training.
"Interview over," she concluded. "Meet us at this location tomorrow." She brought out a piece of paper and scrawled something on it, then slid it to Rho.
He took it and read it. After that he put it in his jacket pocket. "Alrighty. I'll be there with my cat."
YOU ARE READING
another life. (RHG OC Backstory)
General FictionA freshman holding a bomb throws himself off the balcony. No one found his corpse, but all that remained were ashes. Four years later his sister and his boyfriend are taunted by the possibility of him being alive. But where is he, really?
