Charlotte reapplied her scarlet red lipstick, and quickly finished her bourbon, loudly slamming the empty glass on the bathroom's marble countertop. Warmth from the liquor slowly warmed her insides. She fluffed her chocolate brown hair and pulled the sides of her tight, black cocktail dress down.
She left the ornate bathroom and slowly reentered the casino letting the cigarette smoke engulf her, and approached her target: Edward Nicodemus. She had been eyeing him all night, and had memorized every single one of his features. The stubble on his cheeks, his slicked back dark brown hair, his perfectly tailored pin stripe suit, and his red pocket square embroidered with his initials, "EN."
Before she had even approached him, she already decided she absolutely despised Edward Nicodemus. She hated men like him. This whole city was full of terrible people, but there was always work and easy money here. As soon as she was able to get close enough to him, she would distract him and sneak a flash drive off him that contained valuable information the Resistance sought about a new weapon the First Order has been developing.
She seductively approached the bar, and made sure to come from an angle where he'd surely catch a glimpse of her. She felt his gaze follow her, and she smiled to herself. Men are all the same, she thought, it doesn't matter if they're a supporter of the First Order or the Resistance.
Charlotte sat down on the red plush bar stool, placed her wristlet down, and crossed her ankles neatly. She leaned on the mahogany bar so that her cleavage poured out over the top of her black dress.
The bartender approached her. "What can I get you this evening, ma'am?" "A dirty martini, please, with two olives," she said silkily. The bartender nodded. She could feel Nicodemus' eyes on her the whole time.
She pushed her brown waves back, pulled out a cigarette and took a long drag. She leaned back on her chair, satisfied with her performance. Finally, he broke the silence. "Well, you must be visiting Canto Bight — I surely think I'd remember seeing a woman like you before," Nicodemus said as he let his eyes wander down to her cleavage. Nicodemus moved down the bar to the stool next to her.
He extended his hand, "Edward Nicodemus — and who do I owe the pleasure?" "Claire Sheridan," she murmured reaching her hand out meekly to him. The bartender returned with her drink. "Please put the lady's drink on my bill," Edward said to the bartender, giving her a cheesy grin. Ugh, what a desperate creep, she thought to herself.
"So, Claire, what brings you to Canto Bight?," Edward asked. "Oh, well you know, I just needed to get away from the hustle of Coruscant, you know - relax a bit. Everyday life can just be so … boring," Charlotte said breathily as she leaned on the bar and smiled at Edward simply. "Ah, a Capital girl - I should have known," Edward said with another cheesy grin.
"I see you're a bourbon drinker … let me guess, Old Shipley's?," Charlotte mused with a seductive smirk. Edward looked impressed, "Why yes," he said with clear shock in his voice. Charlotte pretended to look down shyly. Edward made a deep sigh, almost like a moan, "You know, I like you already … say, want to head upstairs, where we can talk a little more privately?," he said with a slight eyebrow raise.
This is going better than I ever thought it would, Charlotte thought, impressed with herself. Edward took her hand, and led her from the bar across the smoky room towards the elevators. This is it, Charlotte thought to herself - once I get these files, I'll finally have my freedom. This last $15,000 is all to finally be able to start my life and forget about Canto Bight.
They were just a few feet away from the elevators when all of a sudden a man came out of nowhere and cut directly in front of them. He stopped Edward, placing his hands on his shoulders near his breast pockets. Edward gave him a suspicious look and stepped back. "Mr. Nicodemus, so s-s-sorry to interrupt, but Mr. Monroe requested a meeting with you immediately — he's in the VIP room at the high stakes blackjack table, he said it's urgent," the man said. "Ugh, is this about our titanium contract again?!," Edward asked frustratedly. "I believe so sir, like I said - it's very urgent," the man responded.
Edward turned to Charlotte, "Claire, go back to the bar - order anything you want, and tell them to put it on my tab. I'll be back as soon as I can," and he squeezed her hand reassuringly before he left.
Charlotte stared in awe, as he walked away. What in the literal fuck just happened, she thought to herself. She turned her attention back to this man, who rudely interrupted her entire plan! She stared at him furiously. For a moment she was paralyzed unable to react and stared at the man, and finally noticed what this stranger actually looked like. He had dark hair tucked under a hat with the message "Don't Join" in-scripted on it, and wore all black underneath a trench coat. He looked quite disheveled, and had tired eyes.
Suddenly, Charlotte's emotions turned from surprised to furious. "Who the fuck are you really?! Clearly you don't actually work here," Charlotte demanded in a harsh, loud whisper. The man smirked at her, and pulled the flash drive out of his trench coat pocket, "L-l-looking for this, dear?"
Charlotte began to lunge at him, but he caught her and stopped her and loudly whispered at her — "Hey! You want us to both get caught and thrown in jail here?! Stop making a scene!" "You think I give a flying fuck what happens to you?! You have no idea what you've just done!," Charlotte yelled.
Immediately, three security guards approached them and grabbed them both by the arms. Without asking any questions they were dragged down a service elevator. All the while, Charlotte went kicking and screaming, while the mysterious man complied with their captors, whistling lazily. At the end of a long, dirty cement hallway, so unlike the rest of the beautiful casino, lied several dank, dark jail cells.
Unceremoniously the guards threw them into a cell and left without acknowledging any of Charlotte's protests. As soon as they were gone, Charlotte again turned to the man. "I am going to kill you!," she screamed banging a fist on the jail cell door. The mysterious man just looked at her and gave a long chuckle.