Chapter 1 - Confusion
"$21.50 please"
No answer. The girl was too busy taking in her desert surroundings. The air was dry and warm. There were very few cars on the roads and much less life than what she's used to back in Los Santos. It was quiet, calm and peaceful.
"Excuse me, Miss? Am I gonna get paid here?"
She jumped "I'm so sorry. I was just... How much was it?" she replied to the cab driver.
"$21.50" he repeated.
"All I got is $30, do you have change?" she asked.
"No sorry" The cabbie broke eye contact.
"Here. Keep the rest." she smiled and handed over her money.
"Thanks Miss! I never get tips." He saluted the girl goodbye and drove off leaving a sand cloud for the girl to choke on.
Great. Thanks.She thought, dusting off her off-white, over sized, faded Love Fist shirt and black pleather trousers.
Combat boots were a bad choice.She could feel her feet beginning to roast in the airless footwear in this desert heat.
She pulled her dark wayfarer sunglasses down from the top of head and positioned them in front of her squinting eyes. That's better. Now, let's see what you've got in store, Sandy Shores.
Although she was used to being in foreign places, her anxiety of meeting new people started to manifest. Rather than dwell on it, she walked up and knocked on the trailer closest to her. Hopefully the person behind the door won't be mental. She waited for an answer. There was none. The girl knocked again harder in her impatience. The door swung open, a small weedy man stood in the doorway. He slipped his headphones down from his ears to hang around his neck joining the strap that held the radio resting on his belly.
"Yes?" the grey haired male looked annoyed about being disturbed.
"Um. Sorry. I was wondering if you could help me Sir" The girl responded. "I'm looking for T. P. Industries. I have a business meeting with the owner, would you know where I could find him please?"
"Oh. Yes. I'm the co-founder and CEO of T. P. Industries. What day is it? I didn't realise today... Oh he is gonna kill me! Don't tell him you spoke to me, he's in that trailer there." He pointed to the trailer behind the girl. She turned to look but before she could thank the strange man he closed the door and retreated back into his home. The girl was confused by the interaction, paused then made her way to the opposite trailer. She glanced at the red pickup truck parked outside this trailer. She never understood why truckers pinned stuffed animals to the grills of their trucks, but she was bewildered by the sight of this poor one eyed teddy bear wearing a pink thong on the grill of this red pickup. Huh. Well that's certainly different. Never seen that before.
Clenching her fist, she knocked on another flimsy trailer front door making it rattle. She heard a groan and a mumble of something about coffee from a voice on the other side of the door.
"Uh.. Sir? I'm here about the business meeting. T. P. Industries?" The girl listened for a response that sounded human.
"...what?" The voice groaned again. You'd think this guy was getting an early morning wake-up call, but it was 5pm.
"I'm here about the meeting regarding business with T. P. Industries. Are you the owner?" This time the girl spoke slightly slower for the mysterious groaner to be able to register the clear words of the English language being spoken to him. She removed her wayfarers and slipped them onto the front of her shirt.
"Oh, yeah. Yeah. Gimme a minute." The girl heard a thud and then rustling from inside the trailer. While waiting she stepped back from the door and gazed at the sun setting behind the trailer. The light was blinding as it hit her while she stood on the porch. To evade the brightness she fixated on a dream catcher hanging from the porch roof. She watched it sway in the warm desert breeze and leaned over the wooden table in front of it to get a better look.
Just as she was leaning, the flimsy trailer door creaked open. A top heavy man wearing a stained once white v-neck stood in the doorway. As he caught a glimpse of the woman leaning over the wooden table, he leaned against his door frame and stared at her round shiny bottom for a while before announcing his presence.
"Well, hello cupcake." The man sounded like he was almost growling, while fondling the crotch area of his stained, grey sweatpants. The girl stopped leaning and stood upright, before turning to face the man. She flashed an unimpressed look toward him. She still couldn't completely make out this mysterious moaner's face as she was still slightly blinded from the sunlight she glanced at earlier. It had also gotten darker from the sun setting, but it was even darker on this man's porch as most of the light was being blocked out by the porch roof. She could however decipher a creepy smile on this man's face. This man's smile should have creeped her out, but instead it gave the girl a strange feeling of comfort. She ignored it and stepped forward and reached out her hand to formally introduce herself to her client.
"I'm Miss. Lawson. Mr Cheng's associate. Nice to meet you... uh..." The girl waited for the mysterious man to continue and state his name.
"Trevor. Trevor Philips. At your... service ma'am." Once again he growled his words and arched an eyebrow before reaching for the girl's hand, turned it then kissed it lightly. The girl pulled her hand back in horror.
"Trevor?" She gave him a perplexed look before looking at the man's face more closely. Her face dropped. She knew she couldn't believe it was him, yet his stupid familiar face proved her otherwise.
"Of course! T. P. Industries – Trevor Philips Industries. How could I have been so stupid?! I'd have never had come all the way out here if I knew it was you". The girl became manic, she was mumbling words so fast and to herself. Her eyes shifted left and right whilst fixed on the porch floor. She failed to make sense of the situation. Trevor just stood there and tried to catch what the woman was muttering.
"Uh, Miss? Are you ok?" He reached out to touch the girl's shoulder that had now turned away from Trevor.
"Don't you fucking touch me." The man held his not-so-comforting hand up. He looked in her eyes and could see this woman's gaze was more dangerous than any loaded gun aimed at his head. He lowered his raised hand and was about try and make sense of the situation with this mad woman, but was taken aback. He just stood there, stunned. With his mouth open ready to speak she cut him off.
"Fuck you Trevor Philips. You son of a bitch" She hissed, pointing at him and with a stern look she stormed down the stairs of the porch and down the path of the man's garden. The man meanwhile was a statue, sporting a very baffled look on his face.
