Eye for an eye...
1. Ill Omened
On the red eye to Miami, he gazed at me with his icy blue eyes that sent shivers down my spine.
"But right now, as fate would have it, my business is all about you." He uttered with vim.
Damn in, my mind was alarmed, that reeks of trouble.
One Year Later
"Lisa Henrietta Reisert," began an old man in a 5000 dollars suit, "I have been in the hotel business for more than forty years and I've rarely come across such employees much like yourself. And I say this with pride to have a manager like you."
I stood before Mr. Gawksman in awe of his flattering words. He was the CEO of the Lux Atlantic chain with hotels all around the states. I was stunned.
"Thank you, Sir. It's an honor coming from you."
"So, Ms. Reisert, if I offer you a spot in New York, would you take it?"
—
After leaving the meeting room, I put my hand on my chest as if to reduce the speed of my racing beats. I couldn't believe my ears. Me? New York?
A few steps from the meeting room I reached the coffee machine as a means to distract myself from this head dizzying news.
Not two seconds passed before it all came back to me: Henrietta.
The last time that name was brought up was in Texas Aiport, I recalled. When he was there. My chest tightened.
After that incident, I spent almost the entire year working my brain off. During the entire year, I've only seen my parents three times in separate occasions. This weekend will be the fourth. None of them said my grandmother's name since her funeral. Almost to hide the ominous trail of that awful memory and avoid unwanted discussions regarding their unfavorable daughter. Two horrifying incidents for a women this young. Wherever she was, bad luck and misfortunes seemed to haunt her.
Thanks to him, I switched from black and white movies to modern-day drama and from cooking omelettes at 3am to French-toast. Still, nothing changed. I tried. I went on a few blind dates and had a few one night stands. On Monday nights though, I always slept on my bed alone.
He was right. He may be rotting in his prison cell but in my mind, he won. Because he was right about me.
The way I saw it, it was both of us who were locked up in cells. Imprisoned.
My phone rang, sucking me back to reality. It took me long seconds to search for my phone and get the call.
"Lisa Rei-",
"Where. Are. You." the other end interrupted me.
Shit. I started walking. Quickly. "Leaving."
"Lisa.."
"I swear. I'm leaving the hotel as we speak and getting a cab. See you in a few."
Outside Lux Atlantic, the sky was pouring and the flavor of the seashore filled my nostrils. I hurriedly stopped a cab and got in. "2846 Coral Way, please." And we ran off.
Halfway through, I noticed a change in the driver's behavior. He was repeatedly checking the mirrors. More than necessary, that is.
He finally said, "Ma'am, did you ask the black vehicle behind us to follow the cab?"
I immediately turned. The rear windshield was blocking my view as the wipers hardly kept up with the downpour.
"Uh, never mind," the driver said, "they took a different turn."
I turned to my normal seating position filled with doubt, caution and dark thoughts I never thought would return.
The cab driver pulled over a few blocks away from my destination. "Sorry ma'am, that's as far as I can get ya with the road disconnections up head.
"Thank you," I said callously and left him a few dollars. "I'll walk."
Walking with no umbrella and high heels under this profuse rain wasn't my best idea. Four steps and I was already soaking.
Jeez. What was I thinking?
"You were thinking of your best interest."
I turned to see a toothless gypsy in purple and red veils sitting in her booth. "Your near future seems dreadful."
The moment she said dreadful, I saw a ghost of a black vehicle from the corner of my eye.
...I froze.
She continued, "I see the number three. The third event you'll come across shall shape your life once again. Two letters. Two words."
At that point, it was hard to breathe. "J.R.," she uttered them slowly.
"Just run."
Author's Note:
It's a love story, a messed up one, between a witty goodie two shoes and a cunning criminal. The first chapter is a short one to give you a glimpse of Lisa's post-red eye life before he invades her life again. Both of their oh so unfortunate background stories will be brought up through out the course of the story. See you next chapter.
Chapter: 1/15.