When she first saw him, it was by a total mistake. She was delivering a pizza and had arrived at the wrong building. Lizzie hurried to the front desk with two boxes in her hands as her sneakers screeched on the floor. The man at the front looked up at her with raised eyebrows.
She huffed. "Yeah, hi. I know I'm a little late, so it's free. You don't have to tip me or anything either."
The man blinked and chuckled a bit. "I think you've got the wrong building, kiddo."
Lizzie blinked. "No, this is the place. God, don't tell me."
Suddenly, the man looked behind her and she turned to see a group of men entering the building. She glanced back at the man at the desk to try and sort the whole thing out. Her breathing had calmed down and she asked, "Well, you think you can tell me where-"
BANG!
Lizzie screamed as a bullet went through his head and his body collapsed to the ground from the chair. A large hand grabbed her shoulder and turned her around. She held her breath as she looked into the eyes of one of the men behind her. He had a coat and a stern look on his face. One of his buddies aimed his gun at her but she shook her head.
"No, please, don't. What do you want? Money? I keep my tips in a jar in my car, I swear!"
"We only seek entrance to the festivities going on above us...miss?"
She felt her throat get dry as she tried to mix her words together correctly. "L-Lizzie..."
He turned her around and kept his hand on her shoulder as he led her towards the elevators. Lizzie held her breath and still couldn't believe she was still holding onto the pizzas. When they entered the elevator, she felt herself shaking. She prayed to God that the guy holding her didn't notice, but how couldn't he? His grip on her was strong. He smelled like he bathed in cologne and his suit had to have cost him and arm and a leg.
When he first talked to her, she noticed his accent. She wasn't too familiar with accents, but she knew he was European. When they reached the right floor, all his goons flooded out with their guns and started shooting. People screamed and got down. The guy holding her led her across the room, calmly. They walked past a table and she forgot to leave the pizzas there. Quite frankly, she didn't want to put them down. She was holding them so tightly. That's all she wanted. Too hold onto something.
He stopped her and turned her towards him. "Would you mind?"
He slowly removed his coat and raised an eyebrows at her. She got the message and put the pizzas aside.
Dang it...
Her hands shook as they removed the coat off his shoulders. She held onto it as he spoke. The crowd had been brought together and she realized she was definitely in the wrong place. Everyone had on their best clothes and there were bottles of champagne on all the tables. This wasn't the kind of party that ordered pizza. She bet they had some steak and fancy salads topped with dressings only available in the finest European countries.
Everyone, even the guy holding her, had their best clothes on. And, there she was, in a pizza delivery girl uniform. Her blonde hair was tied in a ponytail and she had a cap on with the pizza place logo on it. She wore a white polo and jeans to go along with it. The guy holding her kept talking, but she wasn't even listening. She just felt like she walked into a movie. The wrong movie. Lizzie felt like she was a Pizza Planet delivery girl from Toy Story in a James Bond flick.
Finally, the guy let her go and forgot to take his coat as he left with an Asian man in a suit. She stood in the crowd now holding a burglar's coat. After a few minutes, she blinked herself into reality and realized she was still holding his coat.
She spotted one of the goons and licked her lips, nervously. "Uh, hey, 'scuse me?"
He threw her a glare and aimed his gun at her. "Shut up."
"Uh, yeah, I think your boss forgot his coat."
The man stared at her as if she was crazy and just kept walking, keeping guard. She sighed and just tried to forget about it. Her boss was probably wondering where she was by now. She groaned a bit and closed her eyes.
I'm totally getting fired for this.
Folding her arms, withe the coat in her hands, she sighed. No one spoke to one another as the goons walked around with their big guns. Suddenly, Lizzie had to use the restroom. Gulping, she approached a different goon and cleared her throat.
"What?"
"Are we allowed restroom breaks? I really, really have to go."
He rolled his eyes and motioned for her to follow him. He led her to a bathroom and told her she had a few minutes. Quickly, she got in and threw the coat on the counter. She washed her face after she used the bathroom and took a deep breath. Ready to leave, she decided to leave the coat. Then, she realized he might want it back and probabaly wouldn't be too happy if she left it in the bathroom.
Sighing, she grabbed it and opened the door quietly. The goon was gone. She blinked to see if this was really happening. Quietly, she sneaked through the hall and into an elevator. When the doors closed, she let out a large exhale. She held the coat tightly as she pressed a random number on the elevator. As she went up and the doors opened, she made a silent prayer and got out.
She tried each office to see if any of the phones worked, but none of them did. Finally, she spotted a room with the lights on. Quietly, she walked over and heard the main guy's voice again. She figured he was Russian, but it didn't seem right. He and the Asian guy were talking for a bit, but she couldn't really hear them. She tried to-
BANG!
A scream escaped her mouth and she covered it with her hand. Suddenly, one of the goons rushed out of the door and aimed his gun at her. She held her hands up as the coat slipped out of them. He yelled at her in another language and she felt her heart beating against her chest.
"I was just trying to bring this back!"
He grabbed her arm and jammed the end of his gun into her head. She shut her eyes as a whimper escaped her lips and he kept yelling. Suddenly, he heard someone else's voice. They both stopped and saw the main guy picking up his coat and rushing it off. He looked at her and gave a small grin.
"Were you really bringing this back to its rightful owner?"
She gulped. "I...yeah. I mean, I figured you'd...f-forgotten it downstairs. I was just sick of holding it. But, I'm not complaining or anything. I just-"
He chuckled and it was the first time she had seen him smile. It was weird. He looked to cold all the time and his smile just put the cherry on the "scary-as-all-Hell" cake. She was brought into the room and she gasped when she saw the Asian man dead. Her stomach felt twisted as she looked away. The main guy had a seat brought in for her as he took his own.
"I don't think you know my name, do you?" he asked.
She blinked. How the hell was she supposed to know his name? "Uh, no. No, I haven't had such a blessing."
"Hans. And, you said your name was...what?"
"Lizzie. Just Lizzie. Or some people call me 'Liz'. Either one is cool."
"Strange name."
She almost scoffed. Out of all the things about her, he found her name strange. Not the fact that she was accidentally delivering pizza to the wrong place or how she was dressed. What a moron. Why were they even there? If they had just killed a guy, whom she guessed was of some importance, there was something deeper going on.