Chapter I: The Side Hustle
Her coffee is still hot and she waits for it to cool while watching the rain patter against the window. She thanks God that it waited, because if it had rained yesterday, her little side job would have gotten twice as hard.
Juliet looked at the clock with a grimace, taking a few sips from her mug before padding back into her bedroom to finish getting ready.
Sneaker clad feet make their way to the front desk, a half-smile offered to the older woman working it.
"Good morning Miss Doris," she greets, and the woman smiles at her.
"Mr. Doche is waiting in his office for you, dear. It's good to see you." A wordless thanks is given, and Juliet takes to the stairs, her purse seemingly growing heavy with each floor closer to the top. The contents in the manilla folder were worrisome, yet she doubted that they'd be important in the end.
Heart beating rapidly, Juliet clutches the steel beam, heaving herself over it and onto the next one, repeating this until she reaches mid building. $500 is hers if she finishes this job, enough for one of her utilities. The building belonged to a Templar contractor, and she was sent for some files that were supposed to contain a location and building plan for the next Abstergo franchise building.
She rolls onto the ground, eyes flicking up and around to spot the nearest security cameras, spotting a blind spot, she rushes towards it, hiding behind a filing cabinet. She takes in the room, spotting the office a little ways over, and her brain is rushing to figure out how to get there without leaving a trace or even a shadow. Between her and the office is two desks, and she wonders if those would be enough to cover her. The brownout would only give her about 4 minutes, not guaranteeing safety but giving her a better shot at not being seen, and a peak at her watch told her it was about time.
The lights faded and she lunged forward underneath the next desk, and then doing it again. Army crawling to the office desk and pulling out the drawer, looking for the manilla folder with the Abstergo logo.
2 minutes...
She reaching into the last row and pulled it out, slipping into her pack and repeating the process once more. The lights begin to flicker back on as she reached the blind spot, and she jumped towards the window she crawled in through, flipping herself over the ledge. Her fingers nimbly grasping the steel beams once more as she continued to work her way back down. As soon as her feet hit the concrete she sped off, running a maze through the city streets until coming to the safehouse, a quaint tavern frequented by druggies and burnouts.
She weaved her way through the crowd, remaining as unseen as she could, slipping through until she reached the back entrance. She undid the hood and grabbed a ratty sweatshirt, tossing her hood into the pack with the folder before leaving the tavern, speed walking in the direction of her home.
"Ah, Miss Smith, have you what we need?" The old man asked, hands unclasping and reaching towards her. Juliet gave a feeble nod and pulled the folder out of her purse.
His eyes skimmed over its contents and he closed the folder, seemingly satisfied. He handed her a white envelope, chuckling deeply as she counted out the bills.
"It is all there my dear, I hope this wasn't too much trouble?"
"No sir, the brownout was just what I needed." Doche clapped his hands together.
"Excellent, be on the lookout, we may need your assistance again soon." "Yes sir, thank you." She left the room and let out a breath. It was time for her to go to her actual job.