Two months ago she had been as flat as a board, and now two weeks later she had blown up like a fucking balloon. Beatrix was standing in front of a full length mirror that was concealed behind the closed satin curtains of; yes, a maternity store. She wasn't there upon her own free will. Earlier in the week it came to the attention of Tommy's girl friends that Arlene constantly borrowing Tommy's clothes wasn't an option any longer. Thus, was her reason for being in such a store at this moment.
The tall blonde was far from chipper. So far she could live with the pants. They were denim, similar to jeans but baggier and they had an elastic waistband which she had to admit was quite comfortable. But the shirt, no fucking way. When Beatrix had informed the sales woman she liked peasant type blouses, as that type of blouse didn't run in the skintight category, she wasn't expecting this. It was a much more modern peasant blouse, certainly no one in Japan or China would make something so... ..she wasn't even sure what word too use. The peasant blouse was a pale pink color; it was tight around the torso area with a low cut wide angel neck, frilly sleeves, and the texture was soft cotton. The only problem was the stomach region of the blouse; it was very frilly and almost resembled a dress that came down just past her waist line.
"I look like a fucking pink stuffed…bear…" she muttered to herself, but at her muttered words she blinked hard and made a noise of irritable frustration and hidden angst.
"Oh, come on Arlene, it can't look that bad," Erica said from outside. Janeen, Erica, and Joleen were all gathered outside the dressing room. They had been helping Arlene find the perfect clothes that made the appearance of pregnancy cute or at least tolerable when it came to clothes. Obviously all three agreed that wearing Tommy's clothing was unacceptable.
"Yes, it does," the blonde argued back from behind the curtain.
"If you don't come out where going to come in and get you…and you don't want us to do that…again," Janeen threatened, as a suppressed giggle passed between the women.
"Fine." Beatrix gave up and pulled back the curtain roughly to step outside. Her façade was discontented. "I don't wear…pink," she spat softly. "The only pink thing I own is a pair of pink sandals…and those are neon."
All three young women, Joleen, Janeen and Erica agreed they had never seen a pregnant woman blow up as fast as Arlene had...it was amazing really, but certainly it happened now and again. All women were different, some got larger quicker...some didn't get all that large at all. Erica premised that if Arlene continued to grow at this rate she was going to have an eight foot medicine ball in her belly by the time she was nine months pregnant; a prospect none of them, especially Arlene found very desirable.
Now, upon the decision that Arlene had to find some sort of clothing that she could wear, that was not Tommy's and perhaps even somewhat cute, the three of them stood there staring at her...pink frilly blouse and all.
"No, pink is not your color," Joleen agreed with raised brows, she pursed her lips, "I mean, to be honest Arlene...it looks like your wearing a dress made for a two year old on y-"
"Well, I think it's nice," Erica cut Joleen off; giving Arlene one of her warm smiles. "It's far cuter than most of the maternity tops I've seen. I mean, most of them look like moo moos."
"That IS a moo moo, with ruffles." Joleen replied, obviously not a fan of the shirt.
Erica folded her arms; deciding to ignore Joleen, she walked slowly around Arlene, inspecting the whole thing. She pulled on the ruffled sleeves. "Cute," she said a peppy tone.
Joleen stuck her tongue out. "Seriously, Arlene..."
Erica shot Joleen a glare, "Joleen, what the hell is she supposed to wear for eight months then? Men's t-shirts? C'mon...this is cute. Maybe...if you tried blue or turquoise..."
Joleen plopped down on one of the chairs by the dressing room, puffing her cheeks out in defeat.
Beatrix agreed with Joleen. She despised the idea of maternity shopping to begin with, and now with the horrible selection of clothing she was despising it even more. She was perfectly content wearing Tommy's t-shirts for the next few months. It wasn't the cutest outfit in the world but she wasn't looking to be cute. She was cute five, six years ago, not five years later. She had far from out grown her cute and bubbly phase. Sure, she had her moments of that lingered innocence, but even with what innocence she had left, she played it up far from what it really was.
"Look what I found," Janeen seemed to pop out of nowhere. Beatrix obliviously realized that Janeen hadn't been there when she had come out as the other two were inspecting her outfit. Her slender brows narrowed threateningly on the array of clothes Janeen had brought over.
"No," the blunt words of the tall blonde were spoken as Janeen's lips were parted to speak.
Janeen pursed her lips and put on a hurt expression. "But I found that blouse in a baby powder blue. I think it will match your eyes better than the pink. But…" her brown eyes did a quick check over on the disgruntled pregnant blonde. "I like the pink…maybe if they had it in a darker col…"
"No pink," Beatrix reinstated forcefully.
"Okay….Good thing I found that other blouse in a darker blue." Janeen moved past Arlene and into the dressing room, where she hung up the daunting amount of remaining clothing.
Joleen rolled her eyes, "Goddamnit Janeen you are the most persistent person I've ever met," her lips curved into a smirk, "well...next to Jack that is."
That got a good laugh from Erica, who recovered after a moment, "Yeah...I mean...Janeen, I just don't think Arlene likes the top, no matter what color it's in." She folded her arms, "Even if I think it's cute."
Joleen crossed her legs, leaning against the arm of the chair, "Arlene...once you get that baby out, we'll go clothes shopping...you and I, and I promise, I'll find you some really hot stuff."
Now it was Erica's turn to roll her eyes, "You mean slutty."
"Nooooo...not slutty," Joleen said in a acidic tone, "Sexy...and not resembling something a very overweight five year old wannabe princess would wear...no offence Arlene."
Erica pressed her lips tightly together, "Yes, well...as you can see Joleen, she's not exactly ready for that yet, so we've got to do our best to find some nice stuff for now."
"Alright...ok...," Joleen threw her hands up, realizing that there was nothing to be done.
Erica turned back to Arlene with a smile, "Well, you've still got the new stuff Janeen just brought over to try on..."
Joleen and Arlene both groaned.
Bill sat staring at the three folders on his desk. After narrowing the large stack that had sat there previously last night, these were his finalists. He had decided to choose one, and keep the other two as back up; just in case the initial interview with his first choice bombed. There was no telling when it came to contract killers...and just like any "job", people's personalities often clashed to the point of being unbearable. Bill knew he couldn't handle that, not right now.
He once again began leafing through the folders. His first candidate was a Japanese woman by the name of Yuki Karasowa. She was 28 years old and a former yakuza member. She'd left the yakuza life to go into more freelance work. She was the type who tended to work alone than in large groups; and that bothered Bill somewhat. But, she was incredibly skilled in nearly all areas of hand to hand combat and weapons. In fact, judging by her abilities, she was technically perfect. But, there were notes on her personality, in fact Bill had met her once; back when he was in Tokyo with O-Ren. She'd been aloof, cold as hell, unruly and somewhat of a bitch; not that Bill did not employ bitches...but her 'holier than thou' attitude irked him. She'd brushed him off as some 70's cowboy relic and had talked very little to him. She wouldn't even have made it this far if she wasn't so damn good at what she did. Bill was almost willing to look over her personality just to be able to see what she could do. But...he already had one O-Ren, and while he adored her, he wasn't sure if he could deal with two O-Rens.
He set Yuki's folder aside, and went through the second one. This folder was on a woman named Haimi Kai Xuxa, she was half Hawaiian, a quarter Portuguese and a quarter Brazilian. She was 25. Like Yuki she was extremely experienced, although Haimi's martial arts skills were more focused on Brazilian stick fighting techniques and grappling. She seemed a little weak in the armed weapons category; but there were notes of her skill that did not disappoint. She was a freelance contract killer and had been once since she was 17. Unlike Yuki, she was a fireball; Bill had met her a couple times. She used to do jobs for an old client of his. She was always very friendly with him, but still remained professional. She liked to talk...almost too much, if Bill remembered correctly. She was highly personable, but extremely vicious and tales of her cruel killings were renown throughout the grapevines of assassination. Bill liked her, and she would be able to work with the others very well. But, she was also very self centered and was known to be the power hungry type. She liked the spotlight on her at all times. Bill wasn't sure he wanted to deal with a drama queen either; he already had Elle.
Without fully dismissing Haimi, Bill turned to the last folder. Unlike the other two, this folder was on a woman he'd actually never met, by the name of Aiyana Espona. She was at least partially Spanish, that much was obvious. She was former co-ops, and like the others, had been an international freelance contract killer for sometime. She was 27 and extremely experienced in all forms of assassination. What really caught Bill's interest were the notes he had on her marksmanship skills. The woman was a sure shot; it was said she "could hit anything" with a bullet. Bill had to admit that was pretty cool. Apparently her skills with firearms were unparalleled by those who'd witnessed it. He didn't have many notes on her swordsmanship, but he had to assume that was not her strongest suit. She was an expert hand to hand combat fighter; which was something of prerequisite just to have gotten this far. Again, he didn't have much on her personality, but she was noted as professional and highly capable. There was nothing bad about her at all in that area...at least not any that had been noted. There was also something nice about hiring somebody he'd never met, a fresh face; but one that was certainly capable of killing right off the bat. She was a little riskier choice than the other two, but he didn't have the bias of already having judged her in person yet. Plus, she was Spanish, or at least partially so, and that appealed to Bill's sensibilities as well.
He sat there for sometime, considering his decision and then with typical decisiveness he made up his mind with crisp finality. It was easy to find a contact number for Miss Espona and he fed the numbers into his cell phone.
Assassins often used code names and this sort of ambiguous type of conversation was expected. So when Bill called as "The Snake Charmer" it would be assumed that Aiyana would have a pretty good idea of who he was. In a cordial and professional manner he briefly spoke to her; the main words being, 'interview', 'The Deadly Viper Assassination Squad', and 'this afternoon or not at all.'
That afternoon rolled around fairly quickly; with the sun high in the sky, making those mid-afternoon's in Mexico unbearably sweltering if one lingered outside for too long. Thank goodness for air conditioning in automobiles, and one such automobile rolled into the driveway of that Mexican Hacienda. The vehicle came to an abrupt halt and out stepped from the silver Lexus GS, a young woman. This young woman was Aiyana Espona. She stood at a height of 5'7''; with a slender but obviously muscular frame. Soft curves were in the appropriate places with well sized proportions for all body parts. Locks of dark russet colored hair came down mid-torso area in a wavy layered cascade. A fine trimmed face framed that pale ivory complexion that held firm structured features with high cheek bones of a rosy tint. She was clad in a dress suit. The button up top was a coffee blended brown with meshed in white strips, the pants matched, and a pair of high heeled black boots topped it off. All in all this was a very beautiful woman.
High arched eyebrows domed over hazel hues that peered over to the cobblestone walkway. When Aiyana had first received the rather brief and secretive phone call earlier that day she was enthralled. Anyone who was anyone that worked in the dirty business of killing knew about the Snake Charmer and his Vipers. The group was infamous. As infamous as they were, it was a known fact that the Snake Charmer hadn't been taking on any new employees for the past five years, thus; was the reason no one paid much attention to the squad. Well, they paid attention, they just didn't dive into it. So, it was a surprise to find that he was looking for a new employee.
This eager freelance killer jumped at the opportunity to work in such an association. She was sick of co ops and wanted something more challenging, but she had been unsuccessful until recently.
Heels clicked against the stone and up the short set of steps before a finger outstretched and pressed the door bell.
The door was answered fairly briskly by Nikishi. The small but deadly middle aged Japanese woman opened the door and offered Aiyana a broad friendly smile. "Miss Espona, you are here just on time," she spoke softly, "...very good," Nikshi sometimes offered her own little bits of compliment; and when it came to Bill, being on time was a definite bonus. "Please come in," Nikishi gestured for Aiyana to come inside and softly shut the door behind her.
Bill's house was back in tip top shape. It was spotless clean, stylish, Asian inspired, and Southwestern all at once. All nicely lit with timeless soft track lighting. Seeing it now, one would never know that only a few weeks ago it had been a pit of despair.
Nikishi led Aiyana through the front hall down towards the main living room area, her hands politely folded in front of her. "Bill, Miss Espona is here," she announced as they entered the living room.
Bill was sitting casually on one of the living room's many couches. He hadn't gotten too dressed up for this whole thing; after all...he was the interviewer, not the one being interviewed. But, he was wearing those snazzy silver tipped cowboy boots that seemed to make an appearance every now and then, black slacks, a typical "Bill" button up shirt not quite buttoned brimming in some Southwest looking print, hair pulled back, and the typical smattering of silver and turquoise jewelry that was again typical "Bill." He'd been idly leafing through some paperwork when Nikishi and Aiyana had entered the room.
He quickly looked up from what he was doing and stood. "Ah, Miss Espona," he spoke in that characteristic smooth tone, "Very nice to finally meet you," he approached, shaking her hand and flashing a broad smile. He was now in his usual charming business demeanor.
He took a quick survey of this Aiyana Espona with a flick of those hard brown eyes. 'Goddamn attractive' was the first thing that came to mind. Tall, but not overly so, great figure...beautiful hair and skin, oh yes...she was extremely stunning, but there was a deadly quality about her that he recognized right away. Bill knew killers...and this woman was a killer; seeing her now, he could easily sense that. She was experienced and she also appeared very professional. First impressions could mean a lot, and so far...he was quite happy with his choice.
"Please, sit down," he offered, gesturing to one of the comfy looking couches. He sat down across from her, gathering up his paperwork in an efficient manner, "Now," he leaned back; fixing his new recruit with a stern but still friendly enough look,"...you'll excuse me Miss Espona if I skip the usual pleasantries and get down to business." He would have liked to have chatted a bit first, but first thing first...he needed to fill a position in his organization. "I have gone over your file," he continued, ", and obviously, I see what I like. But, I'd like you to tell me what makes you the right woman for the Deadly Vipers." He leaned forward, his look intensifying a little, "You see Miss Espona, this organization recently lost one of its best assassins...and I will be honest with you, I want somebody not just good...but the best that I can get. This organization hires the best, pays the best and thus...I expect no less than the best." He leaned back again; a hand draping over the arm of couch, and offered her another smile, "So...convince me."
He of course remained completely emotionless throughout this, he was on businessman autopilot. He knew how to interview like he knew how to interrogate. He asked a lot and he expected a lot in return; if not...than he would easily move on to another candidate.
He raised his brows in expectation.
Aiyana was seated quite comfortably on the opposite couch. Her demeanor was collected and professional. Hands folded on her lap and her posture upright with head high, locks of hair dripping over her shoulders. She pursed her plump red lips, reviewing the directed question in her mind for a mere two seconds before voicing it out loud in that confident but soft shaded voice, "First, allow me to give my condolences on your recent loss." Of course, Aiyana had known about the death. She didn't know that much, rumors, and bits of what she was able to collect before her interview. It was always a wise decision to gather some information on your perspective new boss and the organization, which she did. What she did come to realize during her investigation was that the DiVAS' 'loss' had been one of the best, and that made even Aiyana wonder just how safe any killer was when one of the best had been killed.
A leg moved to cross over the other and her hazel tinted eyes kept eye to eye with Bill. "I believe I am the best choice for your squad because, hell, I won't be cocky, but from the selection of killers out today I'm one of the best you'll find. I have seven plus years of experience to go off of, and I've made more kills than I care to take count. My expertise lies within firearms; pistols, shotguns, revolvers, calibers, magnums; you hand me any one of those and I'm rearing to go." The brunette shifted in her seat but she held a confident thin smile on her fresh features. "There's nothing I can't stick a bullet through. Can't say I'm the quickest, but my aim makes up for it. I can handle a good hand to hand combat and come out the victor with few wounds myself. My sword play could use some work, I'll admit that, but I'm a steady and proficient learner." She inhaled a small breath through her nose. "All in all, I'd say I could fill in the gap quite well."
Bill listened to all of this in polite silence, his expression completely neutral. He was not one to look too impressed by much; Aiyana would learn that one fairly quickly. He'd seen and heard a hell of allot throughout his life. But, she sounded confident, she had the right credentials...and he liked the 'not cocky' comment. Overall, she was doing well.
After she'd finished, he pursed his lips, "Very well, Miss Espona," he leaned forward, "...that's all very nice...but...you will find, I am a man of action just as much as words." He stood, crossing the living room rather randomly. Going over to a small end table near the hallway, he suddenly pulled out a pistol; weird behavior, but this was Bill.
Hefting the gun, an old looking six shooter revolver, he slowly began loading it, "This gun, Miss Espona is over forty years old. It's not one of those fancy semi-auto pieces that most people carry nowadays. It takes a sure hand to shoot this; it's got one hell of a kick back, too much front weight and you have to compensate for the slight right bend of the barrel."
He flicked the chamber shut with a vicious turn of the wrist. Sauntering back over to where Aiyana was sitting, he turned the gun around and held the fancy pearl handle out towards her, "Let's go outside." He fixed her with an intense look.
Standing out in the vacant lot next to the house, the air almost unbearably hot and still, Bill stood slightly behind and off to the side of Aiyana. There was a variety of random targets scattered at the other end of the lot; well over fifty feet away.
Bill crossed his arms, still looking completely stoic. "Alright Miss Espona...you have six bullets...ten targets...choose whichever six you want, but...remember, one miss and I'll make you lunch before I send you home."
It was never said Bill was easy to win over.
Aiyana stood there with the revolver in hand. The weight of the gun didn't seem to falter the young woman, as most female killers looked stronger than they appeared. She glanced to Bill and then turned to assess her targets. The ten targets consisted of miscellaneous items; half of them so far away she could only make out the silhouetted shapes behind the sun. No matter, she effortlessly hefted the heavy fire arm up and held it between two hands, arms outstretched in front of her.
Her façade remained docile, but held that flicker of deep concentration that only a true killer could possess. Her finger tensed on the trigger, eyes squinted down the length of her arm to the length of the barrel…..picking her target, and she fired. The loud bang rang through the desolate lot, followed by the shattering of what might have been glass. Without a second hesitation she shifted her arms to the next selected item and pulled back the trigger. Bang; clunk. She wasn't a hundred percent sure what the hell that was, but it was down. Another shift, she pulled back. Bang; shatter; three down three more to go. She followed up with another bang and a crash, then bang and shatter.
Aiyana had one bullet left, and she was going to make it count. She took concentrating steps to the side, her body turned, as well as her hands with the gun. The targets had mostly been along a straight line, but there was one target set up further back than the rest. The first row consisted of nine targets and five of those were annihilated. That left four in the first row and the one in the back row. So, she pulled back the trigger and that bullet went straight through whatever the fuck the target was in the first row and followed through to the target in the back.
Hands dropped to her sides, and with a pleased smile she turned back to Bill. "So," she handed him back the revolver, which was still admitting smoke from the chambers. "What do seven targets get me?"
Bill, thumbs now looped through his belt, broke out into a hearty laugh. He hadn't laughed like that in months; he almost forgot what it was like. Displaying a wide toothy grin, he tipped his head in Aiyana's direction, "That, Miss Espona, will get you lunch and a job." Still chuckling, he took back the warm pistol. Aiyana had not only nailed the targets, but had proven she possessed a nice little sting of wit; more bonus points in Bill's mind.
"That was some good shooting," he admitted, as they headed back inside, "I would be very curious to know where you learned to shoot like that, tell me over lunch."
When they got inside, Nikishi had already set out some tray's of sushi and random vegetables; this was all in her subtle effort to make sure Bill didn't continue to subsist on Jack Daniels and almonds.
"Please, sit," Bill indicated one of the bar stools. Perhaps unknown to Aiyana, being offered to sit at the bar was a true DiVA thing. Bill sat down on the stool across from her, plucking up a variety of sushi rolls from the main tray and subconsciously arranging them neatly on his own small plate. Aiyana hopefully could stand sushi, because that was another staple for anybody who hung out at Bill's.
"Now," Bill sat back casually, obviously having moved beyond the interview part of this whole thing, "I've seen some ladies shoot pretty well over the years...but that," he picked up a sushi roll, "...that was quite something." It wasn't just flattery either; he meant that. That was pretty goddamn impressive. Beatrix had been a damn good sharpshooter, and of course he knew he could hit those targets. But this woman...sure, she had that 'killer' look, but he didn't expect that out of her. That gun was a beast, he'd had it since he was a kid, it was terrible to shoot with; but this woman had managed it like she was plucking fucking dandelions. Now, Bill didn't usually quantify those sorts of things; but he had a soft spot for some good shooting.
He let the brief flicker of flattery fade away, "You mentioned your sword work needs help, we can work on that. I have trained all of the Viper's myself in the art of the samurai sword." Bill was always ready to flatter himself, "I am fairly confident you'll catch on quickly."
Throughout Bill's words Aiyana was beaming. She was ecstatic about having received the job and would have squealed gleefully, but instead the prominent smile plastered across her face was enough to get the point across. She plucked off some random sushi rolls from the tray, taking only a salmon, tuna, California, and eel roll, as she enjoyed sushi but stayed away from the more exotic and 'unknown' rolls.
"Of course," she gave a tight nod. "I do know the basics of the katana and I used it once years back, but the ops I went on didn't require me to use such weaponry….so I was swayed away from the sword," she explained lightly. Aiyana hadn't been too intimidated upon first meeting Bill and during the whole interview. She was a relatively calm person and was able to remain calm during such daunting interviews.
Now that the interview was over and they could get on more personal terms Aiyana felt perplexed by Bill's presence. Listening to and watching him with that stoic expression it almost baffled her that this man was labeled the deadliest man in the world. But when all was said and done, she found him to be a polite, honorable, intelligent, charming, sophisticated, and reasonable man. Of course, later on she'd learner the finer and more 'nastier' traits that also made up Bill.
Using the chopsticks set out for her, she bit off a portion of her sushi and set it back down. "About your question earlier," she began in a light, amiable tone. "I learned to shot first from my father. He was fond of guns and went into the trade. He taught me the mechanics of the weapon first. Then when I was in my teenage years, my second cousin came to stay with us; he came from the Midwest; full out cowboy." She flashed a timid smile of amusement. "He taught me how to shoot, and I improved those skills from there."
She shrugged her shoulders. "There's no big amazing story to how I learned too shoot. I just grew up with a family obsessed with guns, and instead of making them for living….I decided to play with them."
Bill was very aware of the 'side' of him that he was currently displaying. He was being himself of course, but he was very adept at locking the rest of him away for the moment. Aiyana would learn in time that there was more to Bill than she first perceived, but all the Vipers had gone through that process as well. It was often Bill's tactic to snare people in, to the point where they genuinely really liked him; because he could be very likable, And then, he'd reveal the bastard side at a later time, at which point they still liked him far too much to truly hate him. Eh, but then again, he just liked to fuck with people's minds more than anything.
"Your father was a gunsmith?" Bill raised a brow, some weird looking sushi roll frozen I mid bite. Now...that was cool. "Well," he smiled, setting down the roll, "...I'd have to say your second cousin knew his marksmanship, he taught you well...and, I'm jealous Miss Espona," he said with a smirk. "When I was a boy, I used to dream about being raised by gunsmiths and cowboys. I thought, that if I could spend everyday, shooting guns, making guns...," he chuckled, "…well, I thought I would be in paradise... "He trailed off, laughing at himself, "Then again, I suppose becoming a killer partially fulfills that dream." Bill was always willing to divulge bits and pieces of personal memento and lesson; especially to those who'd listen. "A killer Miss Espona, like myself, like yourself, like those I employ...," he grew more serious, "You're a professional Miss Espona, so I won't waste your time with patronizing lectures...but...I will tell you that I am absolutely serious about what I do. This is a business." Anybody who knew Bill's history would most likely already know that, but he liked to reinstate things for clarity, "I expect that what I say goes," he pinned an intense look on her, "And there are consequences to not following orders," he paused dramatically, "I'm sure my reputation proceeds me in that category."
He leaned back, suddenly flashing a smile; his entire demeanor switching back, "But, I don't think I need to worry about that with you Miss Espona. Now, I'll have Miss Fatale, my lawyer; draw up a contact for you. We can work out specifics at that point, salary expectations and so forth." He leaned on the counter, "My old boring self can't be all that entertaining, so it would nice if you could meet your associates soon." He did a quick mental check, O-Ren was still in Tokyo, Vernita and Elle were on assignments, but should be back soon, Budd was around...somewhere. "Likewise, it would be best for you to acquire an apartment or housing nearby. There are a few decent places; I can give you some recommendations if you wish."
As Bill had gone through all of this with the new recruit, he'd done his best to shove any thought of Beatrix out of his mind; easier said than done, but he was managing. The last thing he wanted was for this new Viper to find out that he possessed a weak and broken side, which would ruin his entire persona. And equally as worse, he didn't want Aiyana to know the sort of relationship he'd had with the woman she was 'replacing', no doubt that would make her highly uncomfortable. Of course, Elle or Vernita would most likely open their big mouths soon enough, and Aiyana would find out some skewed version of it. But, for now, it was best she not know. And Aiyana was certainly very attractive, but Bill was no slobbering, perverse, desperate, ungentlemanly dirty old man. He never tried forced himself on women, they generally came to him. Besides, Beatrix still so dominated his mind that he couldn't even fathom touching anybody else at the moment. All of that aside, he was already thinking of Aiyana in the same vein as he did O-Ren; a sort of deadly, beautiful adopted daughter type. He liked her, he liked her professionalism, he liked that she could shoot extremely well, and he found her history rather interesting.
"You are of Spanish...or of Hispanic heritage correct?" He spoke up suddenly, breaking from that revere and offering a gentle smile, "Or at least, partially so?"
"Spanish, yes," Aiyana replied after swallowing the sushi in her mouth. She had been listening intently to Bill. She wasn't hanging on his every word, but she took mental notes. She was very professional in the manner in which she took her job. She was one to show off as she had with the target shooting out back. She wanted to make sure her new boss saw what she was more than capable of doing. She also loved killing and that left little area for not following the rules. Everyone knew about Bill's bad temper and she wasn't oblivious to that. But she sure as hell didn't know the full extent of that bad temper.
"My father was half Spanish and my mother was a full redneck American. A touch of an odd couple, but they got a long," she explained lightly. Obviously Aiyana had a decent childhood unlike so many that came into the killing business. She was sure her cohorts didn't have such easy pasts. And speaking of cohorts, she was anxious to meet them. Of course she'd be the oddball and outcast at first, but she found herself to be a likable person. Like Bill she wasn't displaying the full range of her personality. She kept professional and would be for quite sometime, until she became used to her new surroundings….and then she'd more than likely open up.
The remainder of the luncheon was spent pleasantly with light conversation. Aiyana learned further bits and pieces about Bill and information on her working atmosphere. Bill in turn learned about some of Aiyana's past free lance assignments and further tid bits on her past life.
Now standing at the door Aiyana was plastered with a friendly smile and demeanor. "Thank you again…Bill," his name rolled off her tongue unevenly. She wanted to call him something more formidable, but she couldn't think of anything. Besides, she knew of people that had never met Bill refer to him simply as Bill. "I look forward to working for you."