1. Mission

Elise pulled down her black dress as she glared at her colleague and friend, Kai, shooting daggers at him through the mirror. She was extremely uncomfortable in the dress and as every second passed, she had all the notion of aborting the mission and choosing another path, one that did not have her to dress up skimpily, even if the dress was anything but that.

Kai just winked at her as he pushed his copper brown hair, ruffling it until he was satisfied. "You look hot, Elise. Calm down." He tried, only to stop when Elise picked up the gun in front of the mirror and pointed it at his head.

"You better stop speaking before I put a bullet through your head."

Kai just raised his hands in mock surrender and took a step away from her, his smile still intact on his face.

"You are annoying. Remind me again why we became friends and why I even accepted to dress up so...so..." Elise fumbled to find an apt word to describe her attire.

"Gorgeously? Sexily?" Kai added.

"I meant horrendously." Elise lowered the gun and looked down at herself, irked to the core to be in such a predicament.

"Oh, come on. You look beautiful and ravishing and don't you dare comment on the dress." Kai raised his voice when Elise was about to retort. "It suits you and it suits the mission we are going on. Remember your duties, Elise."

"Why do I have to dress up like this? Can't I just go in my work clothes?" Again she pulled down her short black dress, ignoring Kai's admiring eyes on her back. Added to the fact that it was backless, it even had a split on her left thigh and any careless movement, she would be showing her thong to the world. Thank God, she did not have to go commando. Otherwise, Elise was sure that the gun in her hand would be short of one bullet and Kai would be lying cold somewhere.

"Darling, we are going to a club and we need to follow the dress code. Now, come on. We need to leave before you start nagging about your dress again."

Kai did not give a chance for Elise to object and plucked the gun out of her hands and holstered it before he wore his leather jacket.

"You do not need that for the night. I will take care of all the shooting. You just focus on finding our target."

Elise did not say a word and walked in front of him much to Kai's amusement and he shook his head as he followed her, oblivious to the small smile on his friend's lips.

So what if she did not have her gun with her? She still had her pocket knife in the holster, secured to her right thigh, and that was enough for her.

It did not take long for Elise and Kai to reach the place, and looking at the best club in the city, arguably even in the country, they remained unfazed, especially Elise who was not at all a club person.

Flashing the fake IDs they had with them, they entered the place, only for Elise to close her eyes immediately. The blaring sound of music, the smell of booze and smoke and sweat and the unbelievable crowd made her uneasy, nauseous even. But she was on a mission and she could not leave, not when they had a target to find.

With that thought, she pushed back her disgust and walked beside Kai, who much to her relief, shielded her from unwanted touches, leading her toward the bar right away.

"Are you alright?" Kai questioned, his eyes glancing at her for a moment before he looked around the club as far as his eyes could reach, concealing his true intentions with fake admiration for the place.

"I'm fine." Elise lied, which she was sure Kai had caught on to.

"Bear with it for some time, honey. We will leave once we find our man." He flashed her a smile before he started shaking his head lightly to match the rhythm of the background music.

Being her friend and colleague of seven years, Kai was adept at reading her emotions and right now, her body and eyes screamed in agitation. She was highly uncomfortable. But she had no choice and only to bear with it.

"What may I get you?" The bartender arrived and Elise put up a fake smile that had Kai relaxing lightly in relief.

"A mojito for me and a whiskey sour for the gentleman here." Elise chirped, making Kai raise his brows at her in surprise.

"That would be a twenty." The bartender looked at Elise, surprising her with his gaze on her, and impressing her at the same time. At least he was not a douchebag who assumed that only a man could buy a lady a drink as she had experienced in a few clubs she had been to in the past.

With a nod and a smile, she passed him a twenty and a five and the bartender smiled at her before he moved to the next order.

"Well, thank you for the drink, Lia." Kai raised his glass and Elise followed suit, putting up the act they had decided upon previously, albeit with only minor changes.

"Not a problem, Simon. It's been more than three years since I saw you. It's only right I buy you a drink as an apology for leaving the country without meeting you."

Elise glanced from the corner of her eye and as expected, the bartender was listening to their conversation when he had been preparing their drinks, the reason for which she did not know.

"How have you been by the way?" Kai queried, his head lowering towards her, his eyes filled with curiosity as though he was deeply interested to know about her and Elise had to stop herself from rolling her eyes on seeing his brilliant act.

"I have been well and I'm back for good. Will start job hunting soon."

"That's cool. Any boyfriend over the years?"

Elise was damn sure that she heard the bartender mumble something under his breath that sounded like 'smooth'.

"Had one. Broke up when things did not work out. Now, I'm single." Elise answered and picked up her drink, trying to delay the conversation as much as possible. Their target was nowhere to be seen and she and Kai had to make sure they did not arouse anyone's suspicions before he arrived.

"I see." Kai nodded and he too picked up the drink, his brows shooting up when the bartender showed him a thumbs up which he reciprocated secretly.

"What's up with you? How have you been?" Elise managed to steer the conversation as she looked at the club, focusing her eyes more on the entrance. Their target should be here any moment now and they had to be prepared.

"Just the same. My parents are on a world tour and my sister... let's just say she got her license and she is a doc now."

"Wow, I now know who to approach if I fall sick. I hope she will not kill me for leaving without informing her."

Kai just let out a chuckle and sipped his whiskey sour, both deciding to remain safe and have just one drink for the night.

The music changed and the lights followed the rhythm. People were dancing their asses off and Kai held out his hand, making Elise stare at it in confusion.

"Shall we dance?"

Elise let out a laugh and placed her hand in his before they got up and started dancing, staying closer to the bar from where they could see the entrance clearly.

"Keep up the good work, darling. You are doing great."

"I know. I just hope he comes here soon and we can end this shit quickly. These heels are killing me." Elise groaned but did not show her pain whatsoever.

"What are you saying? You look stunning in those heels."

Elise was just about to riposte when she saw the man they had been waiting for. "Target arrived. Target arrived."

Kai moved their bodies such that they could both see the man and watched him nod at the bouncer before he was escorted towards a door at the far end of the club that was hidden behind a thick black curtain. And just like that, their target disappeared behind the door before the duo had any opportunity to take any action.