- GENIE –
A taxi parked in front of a beautiful penthouse located inside a remote estate far away from the city. I, dressed in a white turtleneck sweater and blue jeans, alighted and tipped the taxi man, waving him goodbye with a bold smile before I turned to face the building before me, basking in its golden color. i shook my head. What is it with Jean and the color golden?
"GENIE!"
I turned around.
'Speak of the devil'.
I opened my arms and she hugged me.
"I'm so glad you made it here. I waited all morning for you. I started to get worried." She squeezed me tight; almost like she wanted to be sure she wasn't dreaming. I couldn't blame her. A while ago, I narrowly escaped death then I traveled halfway across the world on the same day. Yeah, it sounded pretty unreal even to me.
"Come in please." She broke away from the hug, pulling me by the hand at the same time. We went inside. She left me by the sitting room and entered the kitchen. I stayed exactly where I was, lost in the magnificence of the house's interior design. She used all the latest decor with the finest blend of bright and moody colors. The sitting room alone looked so warm and homely; it made me wonder what the rest of the house was like. I thought I would miss my place, but right now, I didn't miss that shit hole one bit.
"Eat something." Jean said. I smiled, throwing one of the fruits she brought into my mouth. There had been a sick feeling lingering on me since morning, so I didn't have the appetite.
"Genie," she called out, squeezing my hand softly. She looked into my eyes and smiled. "You are safe here, I promise. Just ease up and make yourself at home. Whatever it is you need, whatever it is you want to do, I will be with you every step of the way. That's what best friends are for. Plus, my brother Savor would never have told you to come here if it wasn't a good idea."
I hugged her, holding her tight. I wonder if she knew how much she had done for me. My heart was heavy, not because I was in pain but because I was overwhelmed with appreciation.
"Thank you, Jean. Thank you so much. I will try and settle in well but I… I may not be able to just sit still and accept this peace. I…"
"You have to make Leo pay. You can't rest until you do. I know." She clicked her tongue. I was irredeemably stubborn. "Come this way. I did everything you told me over the phone last night. It's right here."
I followed her into the kitchen. She went over to the pantry and reshuffled some knives. It must have been some kind of code because it opened a small square patch on the wall; it was a keypad with buttons and a retina scanner. She punched in the numbers and let the scanner find a match with her eyes.
"Access granted." The computer chimed. The floor opened underneath us instantly. We fell pretty far down until we landed on an inflated safety balloon. I screamed all the way. Jean laughed at me when we landed.
"Let's never do that again." I spoke in between gasps.
"Sorry, but this is the only way here. You will just have to get used to it." She patted me on the back and pointed to another door. Behind it was a ginormous conference room with computers littered everywhere. Surprisingly, no one was there. She gestured me to a seat facing a stake of papers. I took the chair, shuffling through the papers at the same time.
There was a couple of CCTV footage and a profile of a man. I recognized him immediately. He was that handsome mystery man I met at the bar that night. My gaze went back to the pictures. Some were of me, but I was in someone's arms. I didn't recognize that someone. I looked at Jean.
"You asked me to find out what happened that night, so I did. I can tell you what I see, but without context it's going to be hard to explain it all."
"I don't care. I will take whatever you have."
"Okay," she said softly, pulling herself a seat. Unconsciously, I lifted my feet off the ground and hugged my knees. For some reason, it felt like I was in a trauma session and the doctor was about to give me some heart-breaking news.
"The man who carried you into that hotel room, is one of Leo's men. He followed you into the bar that night, and he hovered around while you were drinking. I don't know what he wanted to do, but when you got drunk, he seemed very thrilled to lend you a hand; almost as if he got what he wanted without doing anything himself."
I covered my mouth, holding my breath.
"He took you to that room, and he left you there. The room belongs to Don Triax, the man who you spoke to at the bar. A few minutes after Leo's man drops you, Don Triax staggers back to his room, and he doesn't leave till early in the morning. I…" her voice trailed off when she saw that I was crying.
"I can stop here."
I shook my head vigorously. I wanted to be done with this phase once and for all. She sucked in a breath and continued.
"Based on your account and this, I can tell that he is the man who rap… slept with you." She placed her hands on mine. "There are some things we need to do at the hospital. It's important for situations like this. If we are going to nail Don Triax, we need to do it right away."
"Those bastards," I cursed, wiping my tears like that would make them stop. "I'm going to kill them both. I don't care how. They are going to die for what they did to me and my father."'
She squeezed my hand. "Of course they will. Now come, this hospital visit is the first step to your revenge."
I rose, dragging my feet as I followed her out. In my mind, I could only think of one thing: Leo Roberts and Don Triax should never have crossed paths with me cause now they are going to wish they died before I came for them.