Author's Note:- I do not own the rights to these characters. I do not own the rights to my title; it is St Augustine's famous quote, also used by St. Thomas Aquinas in relation to naturalism theory.
My apologies for the chapter being up later than I had anticipated. I had to move back down to Wellington unexpectedly and it was very stressful. Thank you for your continued patience and support, though.
I had this chapter planned out in my head for weeks, this was exactly where I wanted to take it. However, I am aware that I need to keep the story close to what I have created already rather than take you on a massive tangent. So, fear not! I will not be taking any more drastic action or sudden changes in plot after this chapter for a little while. But it is coming...so brace yourselves.
Feedback to Reviews section: (Chapter Eleven)
1. Guest - I guess Alex did kind of get into trouble because of Nicky :( But Nicky didn't mean for that to happen and I wiil make sure that this does not ruin their friendship, okay? :)
2. Librarybook - We totally don't think of what the outcome would be if we got caught when we as people are in a state of panic! I agree! I tried to elaborate on this point you made a bit in this chapter, which is where his explanation of Alex's selfish characteristics comes into play. Thank you for your support, I will continue!
3. dillydill11 - I'LL ALWAYS GIVE YOU VAUSEMAN FLUFF. DON'T YOU FEAR IT. I WILL DELIVER ON FLUFF.
Much love, MaraLover x
Chapter Twelve
It Was The Second Time That Night
An insistent buzzing woke Alex from the bedside table behind her. Her phone was ringing and it couldn't be far from clicking over to her voicemail. Alex unhooked her arm from underneath Piper's and swung behind her, sweeping her phone and glasses into her hand. She quickly shoved her glasses onto her face and slid the white circle at the bottom of the screen to the right.
"Alex's phone," she answered, slipping out of the covers and tucking them thickly behind Piper.
"I'd hoped I might get you," a smooth American man's voice answered.
Alex frowned, still only just waking up, not recognizing the voice. She brought the phone down from her ear to look at the number on the screen. The number was not being disclosed, instead reading "Unknown" at the top of the screen.
"Who's this?" Alex queried, stealing a look behind her at Piper before she stepped out of the room. She pulled the door closed gently behind her, hearing the soft click as it closed.
"My name is not important, not at the moment anyhow," came the reply.
"What," Alex stumbled, confused and wary. "What do you want?"
"Not a lady of manners, I take it," the man chuckled. "Kenny did warn me."
Alex felt her face wash white when she heard Kenny's name. She slid down the door to the floor, pulling her t-shirt down over her pantie-clad front. Alex sat on the floor, clinging to the phone, unable to form words.
"Alex? Have I lost you?"
"No," Alex said in a small voice. "I'm still here."
"Long distance calls are often unreliable. I don't like unreliableness, Alex."
"I have never been unreliable, least of all to a man I have never met."
"Oh, Alex," the man chuckled. "You don't need to have met me to know who I am."
Alex thought hard, trying to regain some strength in her voice.
"You do know who I am, don't you, Alex?" the man whispered through the phone.
"Yes," Alex shuddered.
She knew exactly who this man was. The voice had been described in a classified case file she had gotten her hands on once. It was a narcotics case, a murder to be more specific, and Alex had been asked to defend the victim on behalf of the state. The case file contained an anonymous witness statement that said he had overheard the conversation when he was illegally phone-tapping the wrong line. The witness reported the voice as being smug, smooth and powerful. He didn't commit the murder, but with one word he had facilitated the murder.
"Don't be so scared, sweet girl," the man cooed. "I don't mean any harm to you. I am calling you for a proposal."
"Business or pleasure?"
"Well," the man laughed loudly. "That is entirely up to you, Miss Vause."
"Are you saying I have a choice?"
"Life is all about choices. I just hope that you make the right one."
"I think the 'right' choice is a little too subjective," Alex replied firmly.
"Hardly, you make the choice that makes you happy. You make the choice that is easy because you're good at it. Why fight through life doing something you think that you're supposed to be doing when you can be doing something easily because you're fucking great at it?"
"Because life doesn't work like that," Alex sighed.
"But what if it could," the man pushed.
There was silence on the ends of the phone as Alex sat in shock, still trying to figure out how to deal with this situation.
"For example," the man began again. "You are being faced with a choice right now. You and your suited army have been looking for me for years. You are the first pawn of the legal system to have spoken to me, congratulations. Now you can either rat on me, or you can satisfy your raging curiosity and continue this conversation to hear my proposal."
"Those are my options?"
"Yes, Miss Vause. Those are your options. I must warn you, though. If you choose to end this conversation now, you will not hear my proposal. If you choose to hear my proposal, then any interaction with me – past, present, and future – remains our secret. If you tell anyone anything without my say-so, I will kill you."
Alex swallowed hard. She knew that if she could keep up with him, doing what he wanted, she could sink him eventually. If Alex kept close to this man who clearly held confidence in her, then she would be a hero when she finally unearthed his secret empire. She could finally put an end to the impenetrable international drug empire and save Nicky from ever using again.
"Alex, have you made your choice?"
"I have," she replied, closing her eyes tightly.
"What will it be? Will I have to cut ties with my new friend, so soon?"
"No, I want to hear your proposal."
"Good choice, Miss Vause. For that, you have earned another privilege."
"Oh, what is that?"
"You may call me, 'Kubra'."
"Hello, Kubra," Alex breathed, savoring the name on her tongue.
This was the first time anyone had heard his name, 'Kubra'. Alex smiled to herself, biting her lip.
"Alex, are you ready to hear my proposal?" Kubra asked, patiently.
"I am," Alex replied, noticing she had already begun to relax against the door.
"Good," Kubra smiled, his smile audible through the phone. "I have heard about your little sale to our mutual friend, Kenny."
"Kenny's no friend of mine," Alex corrected. "Kenny is a client, no more and no less."
"I hardly think that's true. Don't lie to me, Alex. Consider this your warning."
"I am not lying," Alex frowned.
"Sure you are. I know you sold him back about a half a kilo worth of powder."
"That doesn't make him a friend."
"Ah, but does it by default make him a client?"
Alex paused. She wasn't sure what Kubra was getting at, or why he was picking her statement to bits so much.
"You see, Alex," Kubra explained, calmly. "If he is not a friend, but you sold him a half a kilo worth of drugs, that makes him a client by your logic. If he is a client, then that makes you a provider of a service, which he has bought from you. He hasn't been in need of your legal services for some time, so that's out. However, you did exchange business with him when you took forty grand from him for that half a kilo of drugs. You alone managed that transaction in under a day."
Alex felt her breath weaken, she felt like she might pass out soon.
"Now, Alex, correct me if I am wrong by all means. But, that seems to me that you dealt drugs to Kenny, your self-professed client. Hence, you are Alex Vause: the drug dealer."
"I'm no drug dealer," Alex growled. "I did what I had to do to save myself and my friend from a terrible situation."
"You've lied to me again, Miss Vause. You didn't pass off those drugs to save your friend. She bought those drugs in bulk because she had every intention of using those to her fullest extent of enjoyment. You passed off those drugs to save yourself, Alex."
"You're twisting my words."
"Isn't that your day job? You can't be very good at it if I, who is not a lawyer, can do your job better than you."
"You play dirty."
"You have just picked something you aren't very good at, and you're fighting for it. However, ever-so-effortlessly in one day, you made forty thousand dollars. When faced with a threat to your career and the comfortable, little life you had created for yourself, you responded. Oh, Alex, you responded notably."
"I don't think drug dealing to a man whose life depends on it is hardly notable."
"Perhaps, but it was easy for you, wasn't it?"
"It wasn't 'easy'. It happened smoothly, but I struggled with the morality of it every step of the way."
"And yet, you carried on even though your entire being was screaming at you to stop," Kubra chuckled. "You're an addict, Miss Vause. You're addicted to that feeling of rebellion that comes from deep within. You'll do anything that is bad for you, simply because you know you can do it."
"That's not true," Alex attempted to dispute the allegations.
"Please, Alex. We both know that I am right, so please do me the courtesy of giving me the respect I deserve. You are selfish, you are driven and you love to live in luxury."
Alex began to cry, feeling the tears of anger and desperation tumbling through her.
"Oh, but Alex. None of these things are bad qualities! I possess all of these qualities, which is why I see such potential in you."
"I don't want to work for you," Alex sobbed.
"What else is there for you now, Alex? You know that all of these petty narcotics cases will never cease, but you also know that they are all useless. You are speaking to the one man who can put an end to all of the senseless drug crimes, but you cannot do a thing about it. You cannot tell a soul or you will die. But you won't be able to keep fighting these legal battles because there will be no great case to look forward to. There won't be a goal to someday meet the 'Mystery Man' and take down his empire. You will have faced that choice head on and you will have failed."
"Is this blackmail?"
"No, sweet Alex. This is business, now. Without a destination to be driven towards, who are you, Alex?"
"I will change the area of law I am in."
"You won't outrun me forever, Alex. You will have to face the truth head on, someday. You will know that day is coming and you will never truly live life until that day. After that day, you will give up."
Alex sobbed harder, turning over into a ball against the door and slipping to the floor. She clutched the phone to her ear still, wishing for this whole thing to be some horrific nightmare spurred on by the events of yesterday with Kenny.
"I am saving you now, Miss Vause. You will not feel good about yourself all of the time, believe me. You will have to make hard decisions in order to protect yourself. You will say your actions are to protect the business, but in reality, you are protecting yourself from me."
Alex shook with silent sobs, removing her glasses to pinch her fingers onto her eyes.
"I need you, Alex Vause. If we're being honest here, you also need me."
Alex remained silent, racked with guilt and regret.
"I am sure you will make the right choice. When you do, you will go to your office. There will be a white envelope on your desk with the barbershop-style edging of red and blue. Inside will be a return plane ticket. You will meet my man at the airport and he will take you to meet me. We will talk about my proposal here, and then you will fly back. I will give you information while we are here to keep up appearances. It will be on an upcoming triple murder case regarding three low-level drug dealers. You will arrive back as it happens with this information and you will tell your colleagues you were away chasing up a lead. You will hand them the information."
Alex sniffled, tears stopping for a moment as she listened carefully to Kubra's instructions.
"You will now be faced with another choice. You can accept my proposal, or you can continue to work in that law firm and forget all about this week's happenings. But you will know that I got that envelope onto your desk at work without going through the mail system. You will, therefore, know that I will be watching you for the rest of your life. You will not use any information you learn from this week in any future legal work or we will have to meet again, and I am afraid it won't be on such pleasant terms."
Alex opened her eyes, staring at the wall opposite her in fear.
"You're a smart girl, Alex. I know that you'll make the right choice."
Then the line went dead.
Alex pushed the door behind her until she heard the soft click again of the door closing. She checked the time and noted that it was only 2.52am. She rolled her eyes and sighed in exasperation. How was she supposed to sleep now?
Nevertheless, Alex dropped her glasses and phone onto the bedside table and removed the tuck of covers from behind Piper. She slid into the bed and crushed herself gently against Piper's warm back.
"Mmmm," Piper sighed in her sleep, feeling Alex pressing against her.
Alex wrapped her arm over Piper and cupped Piper's left breast, the side she was lying on.
Despite it all, the emotional exhaustion was beginning to take its toll. Alex relayed the instructions Kubra had told her over and over again in her head. The reciting became slower and vaguer as she began to feel herself slipping away. The comfort of Piper's arms and mess of blonde hair was sending Alex off to sleep once more.
"I love you the most, baby girl," Alex whispered into the mess of blonde hair.
It was the second time that night.