It was a quiet way back to Kazan. Laila had kept her routine in check. She attended all her lectures till 12, not staying back for library hours or the extra credential classes. Skipping her professors was gonna come back to bite her in her ass but she was least bothered. Her training sessions were planned from 1 in the afternoon till 4 after which she came back for her coding classes in Kazan.
Abram was impressed by the improvement the girl had made in her speed and memory. He did not have to remind her about the use of assignment operators or functions. The girl was doing quite well. Their first program as a group was coming to an end and Laila was never so happy. Brutus had helped her with the simple machine learnings and variables during their spare time.
Ali Raza wasn't back from Turkey just yet, so back home Laila did not have much to do apart from studying for her Unit tests and completing her assignments. Mila had been...distant. She wasn't actively ignoring Laila or ghosting her texts and calls. She was just busier than usual.
Laila understood and gave her the space she needed. But Laila had something else to fuck up her sleep schedule already; she was supposed to meet the supervisor of Agoniya and boy was she shivering.
She dropped her bag in her chair before stepping into the bathroom. Her muscles were aching for relief. Her workout was too intense for it to be a first. The warm water was soothing on her skin, washing away the stench of sweat and that cheap cologne brushed up on every item of hers. She massaged her scalp with a bit of coconut shampoo in her palms. It felt nice. Long showers are best after a tiresome day, Laila thought to herself.
Dressing up in a pair of pajamas she threw herself on her bed. Tossing to one side, she picked her phone. There were some new news articles on her timeline; one, in particular, caught her eye: Raza expands another chain in Turkey. She smiled softly. Her godfather was doing well, that was good. A notification popped on her tab with a ping sound.
Mr. Angry Pants:
How was practice?
Meh...
Are you nervous about tomorrow?
Nope.
Liar.
Maybe...a little bit.
9:55pm
She turned off her phone, placing it on her side drawer. She did not want the boy reminding her how scared she already was.
The next day came too early. The temperature in October dropped to 2 degrees Celsius. The sun hardly showed up even if it was 8 in the morning. It rained a lot and the sky was a different shade of grey every day. The Sun was strong during afternoons, which meant lots of sunscreens.
Laila tossed out of her bed with her eyelids still closed. She slowly guided herself towards the bathroom, locating her toothbrush with telekinesis. After brushing her teeth, she splashed a handful of water on her face which made her eyes open for the first time. She blinked furiously, washing her face clean and drying it with a towel. Getting ready for her meeting, she threw on a black skirt and leggings paired with a full sleeves shirt. She layered to protect herself from the cold air before putting on her black converse.
Her look screamed emo and dead inside.
Dimitri had asked the meeting to be set after her classes but the Agoniya supervisor seemed rather excited. Igor calmed the teacher, promising he'd let them off training early today. But Laila knew that wasn't gonna be the case. If Brutus and she were selected, she was gonna train twice as hard.
Speaking of Brutus, she sat in her car and drove off to pick the boy from his dorm room. The university was in the opposite direction of Proshchay but she did not want to face the pit alone.
"Fuck it's cold" Brutus mumbled, tucking his hands in his pockets. He quickly knocked on the door, asking Laila to unlock it.
"Should've worn something warmer idiot." Laila scoured an expression.
"It's called making a statement squeaky, look it up."
The drive took longer than was expected. Traffic was heavy considering it was rush hour in Kazan. The streets were always busy, but Kazan had her own beauty with its travels. Proshchay didn't seem shady anymore. The girl drove into its parking smoothly getting out without the need of Brutus being on her side.
But there was a shift in the air inside. The golden door which sparkled so much seemed daunting and distasteful. They were guided to a different side of the building called the den.
The den almost looked like a mundane building from outside, maybe even a little old and ragged. But once Laila and Brutus stepped inside they felt their eyes widening with stupor. The room was vast and grand, with high walls and a marble floor. A single, circular table was placed in its center, Igor resting at its one end, the rest of the men standing around with their shoes striking the cold floor.
Laila hadn't explored Proshchay a lot, but this room was definitely different. Its interior was minimalistic but pristine clean. It did not smell like a brothel or a local pub, it smelled of pine. A man seated around the circular table flicked his cigarette, glancing at the new members enter. He brought the cigarette towards the glass ashtray, letting the grey matter fall with a tap. He exhaled the fumes changing the texture of the air.
Way to ruin the pine, Laila thought to herself.
"Finally, the pair you've been talking about." He hummed taking a drag of smoke. Igor got up from beside him, directing the trainees to take a seat. The man observed them for a while, finishing his cigarette before speaking.
"I take the rush hours were troublesome. Anyways, now that we're here, I will take the opportunity to introduce myself. The name's Anthony." Brutus nodded in response introducing himself and Laila.
"Of course, the pair. Igor speaks highly of you. Who bought them here again?" Anthony asked with a spark in his eyes.
"Just a friend, he drops by every once in a while," Igor answered, not mentioning Dimitri's name or any affiliation towards the specific gang. Anthony's lips stretched into a smirk.
"Very well then. I like it when people don't come with a lot of backstories. That shit creates a bad aura." He tapped the heel of his foot on the ground. Laila kept her expressions as stern as possible. She talked only when she was referred to and nodded to everything the man said. She wasn't trying to please him, he already was impressed. She was assuring him about her obedience.
"You're fucking scary," he said.
"Here you are, looking like a pretty porcelain doll when in reality you're made of shards of glass. Am I right?"
"Isn't that a good thing?"Laila huffed with an ill-conceived smile forming from the corner of her mouth.
"It is indeed. I just hope I haven't overestimated you and your abilities."
Laila glared at the man, not even batting her eyes away. Her starring contest was interrupted by Brutus who gently tapped on her thighs.
"We will try our best sir. What is it that you demand from us?" The boy muttered with heat to his words. Igor nodded towards two men who brought in a black duffel bag and placed it on the top of the circular table. The pair keenly observed it before fixing their posture back.
"It's a bag full of fresh-cut cocaine. Not for our VIP customers though, just a local dealer. You need to take it to him, he'll hand in the cash and you report back to the den." Anthony handed Brutus the bag and the man took it.
"That's it?"
"That is all. You just tell him you're sent by Anthony and things should go well." The man replied.
Laila turned towards Igor who gave her a comforting smile. She watched Brutus's expressions as he nodded in response.
"Let's do this then."
YOU ARE READING
The truth About cypher ✓
Misterio / Suspenso"You were supposed to enjoy your last year as a college student not a thug with bounty over your head." . . . Laila had a life which was picture perfect. A student at Kazan University, she worked her way up. With good friends and a God Father who lo...
