Chapter five

           Kimberly entered Luis’ mansion for the first time and took in the splendor of the aesthetics. The interior decorators had done a great job planning this party.

The building was a gothic styled house with golden chandeliers hanging on its high ceilings,purple  Persian rugs adorned the floor, white marbles decorated the walls and a dining table made of mahogany with golden candle stands were some of the things she took note of when entered the building.

The man sure had taste and was a lover of luxury. One of the waiters offered her a glass of champagne from his tray which she took a sip from while looking around the small crowd of about forty people for the celebrant.

        She took a walk across the hall towards the back of the mansion where there was a transparent wall made of glass which made the pool outside visible from where she stood.

A man in suit was patrolling the perimeter of the compound. In her experience, a little bulge at the edge of the jacket meant he was armed with a hand gun. She turned around and walked back to the hall when she heard the music playing in the background come to a stop.

         Everyone in the hall had gathered to where a large grand piano was situate, and watched Luis as he played some classical music for about five minutes which was accompanied by a round of applause.

Pieces of cake was shared by the waiters and toasts were being made to the celebrants by a a few friends and business partners before the background music resumed.

           Kimberly texted Mike to come pick her up, while she sat on a white leather couch and watched Luis exchange pleasantries with some of his guests.

She was drinking her second glass of wine when he walked up to her.

“You look as beautiful as usual”

He said with a smile.

“You look good as well, although you did not strike me as a piano playing guy.”

She added.

“I’ll take that as a compliment.”

He said playfully, then he took her arms into his and led her towards the back of the mansion where they stood before a huge mirror.

“We would make a cute couple.”

He observed.

Kimberly looked at the reflection of herself in her black sleeveless dinner gown and he in his navy blue suede suit.

“Well………”

Her phone chimed, interrupting her.

She checked it and announced.

“My Uber is here.”

“You don’t have to go now. I can send one of my drivers to take you home.”

“Thanks so much but you don’t need to bother.”

“I have a problem at hand. One of my stash houses was attacked today by the bloods gang”

“Send me the details of who you want me to take care of.”

“That’s the issue. The gang does not have a particular leader like other organizations. Rather, it is run by some of their top members which makes disorganizing them difficult.”

“What do you have in mind to do?”

“I’m thinking of letting the law enforcement handle these competitors of mine. It’s all about dropping the right information about them at the right place and time.”

“That makes sense.”

Kimberly replied then remained quiet.

‘Why is he telling me all these?’

She wondered.

“I can’t risk drawing heat on any of my men as most of them have questionable history with the law.

Can you help me handle that?”

He asked her.

“I can’t make any promises, but I’ll see what I can do.”

Another chime from her phone distracted her momentarily.

“My Uber is still waiting.”

He disengaged his arms from hers and gave her a peck on her cheek before she walked away from him.

Luis continued watching her as the faint clicks of her heels on the tiles gradually receeded while he wondered what it would take for him to have her to himself.

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        Aisha stood up from her desk to refill the empty mug and also to stretch her legs after sitting for hours. She felt a little light headed and remained still as she took a few seconds to recover from her brief disorientation.

‘I need to take a break soon.’

This was what she had been telling herself for the the past four hours, yet here she was, still working.

She walked to the coffee machine and refilled her mug, took a sip and returned to her desk.

       At 10:05pm, she was the only employee in the Atlanta daily newspaper office, save for the security officer at the main gate.

Her father had brought she and her younger brother from Syria twelve years ago, after her mother became one of the casualties of the war that ravaged her homeland. The idea of coming to America for a better life had been going smoothly for her little family till last month when her brother died of a drug overdose.

          She had taken some time off to recover from the shock and to also provide support to her grieving father before resuming back to work early that week.

The past few days had seen her using all the resources of the firm and her skills as a reporter to find the major players of the drug rings in the city.

So far, she had come up with nothing substantial, but she knew from past experiences that discovering a gold mine usually happens on the verge of giving up.

          She opened her drawer, popped two aspirin pills into her mouth and washed it down with more coffee, then continued making more research on her laptop and files scattered across her desk.

The memory of her brother energizing her to continue working into the night.