Alex and Uyenie Back Story Part 8 (The Wedding Part 1: Tea Ceremony)

A few months later, I wake up in an extravagant red bed.  Today’s the day!  I opened my eyes and saw him staring back at me.  He’s so adorable.  His pale and milky skin glowed from the sunshine laying upon it.  It’s like the skin of a vampire.  Wait, but not like Edward Cullen.  He wasn’t shimmering like diamonds in the sun or anything.  Nor did he look like he was about to puke.  He just had a gaze that said, “This girl will be my wife,” or “The girl is MINE,” as if he was the creepy Duke from Moulin Rouge.  Wait, that doesn’t sound good either.  I should stop talking about this and just go on. 

So we got out of bed, got dressed in regular clothes, and left in different directions.  Of course we exchanged a kiss before we went our ways.  I met up with Alex’s female employees.  They were buzzing around “Are you excited?”, “How do you feel?”, and “Can you believe you’re getting married?”

The first ceremony was the tea ceremony.  We rushed all the female employees and I to the highest suite, like on the highest floor.  So we went up and prepared me in my tea ceremony dress.  It was a silk red traditional Vietnamese dress embroidered in gold.  My headpiece, unlike Vietnamese girls these days, actually contained my hair and held it up.  

I was sitting on the bed, with all the other maidens.  I was like a princess in a tower waiting for my knight in shining armor to save me.  He took a while.  The wait was killing me.  When was he going to come?  The small talk with the female employees was so boring and irrelevant!  “Did you hear Jessica found a pickle in the middle of the bed!  How random is that?”  It was dreadful!  Who cares what Jessica did?  I’m getting married!  Wait, why was there a pickle in the middle of the bed.  Was it from that one time I was eating a sandwich in one of the rooms?  Woops.  Anyways, all I wanted to do is see Alex.  Gah!  When was he going to bust down that door?

Then there was a knock.  Time to play.  “Who is it?”, I called out to the door.

His timid and deep voice came through, “It’s me, Alex.”  We all giggled.

One of the employees asked, “Hm?  Who is it?  I can’t hear you.”

He grumbled….  “It’s me!  Alex!”  Everyone in the room exchanged a look that said, “Let’s mess with him.”

“Alex who?  What do you want?”

“Please Kacie, you work for me.  Open the door….”

“Huh?  Who is this?  Uyenie, do you know this guy?”

“Fine, fine.  It’s me Alex, Uyenie’s fiancé.  I’m here to court her into a life of eternal joy and love.”

“Aw!  How lame can you get?  How do I know it’s you?  Give me five dollars.”

“What?  Really?  Don’t I pay you enough?  Hey Mike, give me five dollars.”  He slipped the five dollars under the door.

“Is that really how much your wife costs to you?  Come on man!” Kacie teased back.

“Just let us in….  Please?”

We eventually opened the door.  He stood there holding a giant roasted duck.  Why would he bring in a duck?

“Why would you bring in a duck?” I asked him.  He just stared back, shrugged, and gave his smile.  He handed the duck over to Mike and took my hand.  We walked over to the elevator as a couple.

We kept walking to the lobby where there were two grand chairs and a small table waiting.  Tea was set up there.  We stood there waiting for our first blessing.

Couple after couple sat in those grand chairs, wishing us a happy marriage and drinking the tea.  I didn’t really care for them.  They were random couples anyways.  I really excited to hear Winston’s blessings.  After all, he did know us before we met, I mean like back when I was babysitting him.  Yeah, he was the butler.  He was the last to sit in those chairs to drink tea, after all, he was the most important.  He also brought along a stranger.  I’m not sure why.  Maybe that was his close friend or something.  I think his name was Mr. Lindsey.  Strangest name I’ve ever heard.

Mr. Lindsey looked kind of familiar.  He was this old Japanese man, kind of like Mr. Miyagi from The Karate Kid, except he wasn’t that short.  He wasn’t even that old.  Nor did Mr. Lindsey look that humble or bald.  He looked more stern and serious.  It was like he was planning something.  I could tell he’d been through a lot.  Maybe I’m just being racist right now; he doesn’t look anything like Mr. Miyagi.  Now that I think about it, he kind of looks like an older version of Alex.  His voice sounded extremely familiar.  I could never put my finger on it though.

Shipping

I  made a shipping chart......... Here's one with the characters that have appeared in the story so far

Here's one with no names

And here's one I filled out.  They are jokes, btw XD I'm not really a serious shipper.  Ever.  Also, I'm using Troll shipping types, minus the Auspicing quadrant, because it's too hard to put on a shipping chart XD

Red = Matesprits (love)

Pink = Moirails (best friends)

Purple = Kismesis (hate...kinda...)

The... 6th? Installment

Natalie was cold and tired-she was shaken by the violent events that had occurred. She seemed desperate to assure herself that she was not a cold-blooded killer, although she had not even fired a weapon. During all the madness that had ensued, she had fled to a vantage point in the corner of the lofty suite, telling herself that, if need be, she could deal with the threats with her strategic oasis. She was still rattled though… The blood, the raw violence and malice and chaos, it was too much for her. She knew that poor Laura was dealing with the news that Johnny was searching for (and finding) them… And the slightest mention of the word “gang” sent her into almost epileptic seizures. Natalie didn’t want to bother her, but she needed to talk to someone, anyone. Jennifer was clearly thinking through a plan, and for everyone’s safety Natalie thought it was best to leave her alone. That left the three other girls, the unexpected party crashers at the drug bust. There was the wounded one, Anna. She seemed, shockingly, to be enjoying herself, or at least pretending to. Even the fact that she was wounded didn’t seem to faze her. There was the one with glasses-she thought her name was Monica, but during the course of all that had happened she couldn’t be sure-though at the time she was busy explaining the anatomy of Anna’s broken shoulder to her, and Natalie didn’t really care to become violently nauseas. That left the one called Nichole. Nichole was busy scanning everyone’s faces, mapping out the threat that each one posed, but at the time Natalie didn’t know that. They made awkward eye contact, and Natalie, whose anxious conscience would not leave her alone, decided to break the silence that had descended upon the group after Mr. Lindsey left the room.

“So… Uh, have you ever killed someone before? Oh god, I’m so sorry!” she checked herself. “That was out of line”.

“No, no, its fine. I, uh… I’ve have never killed someone. I can’t say I’m envious of Monica. Or the other one, is it Laura?”

“Yes, Laura. Ok, so if the cops ever catch us, I would totally go to jail, right? I mean, even though I did not shoot or kill anyone, I’m still an accessory of whatever, right?” Natalie’s breath was rash and irregular. The weight of had happened was still descending upon her. She wished she wasn’t so damned cold.

“Well, don’t count on the cops catching us. If I thought they were that competent, me and Anna and Monica wouldn’t have gotten involved in the first place” Nichole pushed her bangs out of her face.

Natalie was comforted by Nichole’s tired, yet earnest, confidence. She was further assured when Jennifer confirmed the point.

“The only way we’re going to jail is if we refuse Lindsey’s offer-which I really do not recommend we do. Look, I hate being someone’s pawn, but I don’t think we have a choice. Not that our situation is all that bad” Jennifer surveyed the room. Actually, she decided, it wasn’t doing the grand suite justice to call it a “room”. It was huge-there were numerous coffee tables and couches and tables and god knows what. Her only complaint was that there was a suspicious lack of exits… Only one door, and at the moment it was being guarded by a kindly Asian woman with a huge smile. Jennifer thought it best not to cross her.

“Well, here it is. The six of us have been pushed together by extremely unlikely circumstances. I really don’t know you three”-Anna indicated Jennifer, Laura and Natalie- “but I think we should all at least agree to get to know each other to a certain extent… I’m not getting involved in another screw up with people I don’t know”.

The group of girls looked to each other’s faces to see the response. Laura looked up for the first time since Mr. Lindsey had so unkindly brought up her past, and everyone was surprised to hear her speak up, albeit shakily:

“Yeah, I guess that’s a good plan. Goddamn it, I don’t know” The day’s events were having their impact on her, and she could hardly organize her thoughts.

Before anyone else could respond, Mr. Lindsey calmly slid back into the room. All eyes turned to him, malevolent eyes that were the portals to violent thoughts. He, however, was not shaken by the girl’s anger… He had expected much worse, to be completely fair.

“Alright, I am going to assume you all accept my offer, am I correct?” His words were stopped momentarily by Jennifer and Nichole (and everyone else, to different extents) exchanging furious glances, but he resumed when no one cried out- “Ah then, wise decision. You all have separate rooms, as I am you are glad to hear. I suggest you all go to them now. We have a big day tomorrow, ladies, and you need your rest. Adieu” And with that, he left.

The room was completely silent for only a moment, when the sweet lady at the door spoke up. “Hello, I am Uyenie. Please feel free to talk to me if you need it… I think you’ll be seeing a lot of me in the future. Let’s see… Anna, Laura, and Monica, your rooms are over here”-Uyenie motioned to her left- “and Jennifer, Nichole, and Natalie, you’re over here. Have a good night, ladies” Uyenie swished out of the room.

“Ok, I don’t care what that lady Uyenie said, I’m rooming with Jennifer. No way am I being separated from her, and Natalie too, after what just happened” Laura looked incredibly indignant.

“I agree, for the time being. I think we should split up into our previous groups, just for safety’s sake. We’ll all have time to get to know each other later, but, holy shit, I just want a good night’s sleep” Nichole was tired of having to be diplomatic. One more plot twist by Mr. Lindsey or Uyenie, and she would shoot first and ask questions later.

The group dissipated, and each soon realized that their plan was doomed before they had even hatched it. Each room was personalized, and they couldn’t figure out whether Mr. Lindsey was a sadist, or simply had an odd, extremely vast knowledge of their personal lives. All they could do was stand and stare, and they seemed to learn more about their compatriots from the rooms than they ever could have by talking to them.

I volunteer to write the next one as well, since I have a few ideas kicking around. But if anyone else wants to do it, by all means write it!! XD

Part 5 of the Hotel Heist

    It's not perfect, but this is what I have.  Let me know if there's something you don't really like, it's definitely open to change.  

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

            The man was middle aged and dressed in a simple, fitted suit.  He gazed around at them with confident yet gentle eyes.  Nobody knew what to say, and nobody knew what to do.  Monica looked up cautiously from the floor.  As she adjusted her position, she brushed up against Nichole’s leg.  The sudden touch of her friend snapped Nichole back into focus.  She lifted her gun and pointed it at the man’s head.  Following her lead, the rest of them all pointed their weapons at him as well. 

                Instead of looking unnerved, the man simply smiled.  “I wouldn’t do that if I were you.” 

                “And why is that?” Nichole shot back, “give us one good reason.  Right now, you’re in the way of our escape.”

                “Well, first of all, I know exactly what went happened in room 312.  I’ve been watching you ever since you first stepped over the threshold of my hotel.”  The elevator hummed quietly as it climbed. 

                Jennifer made a small sound of recognition, “you…you’re the doorman.  You were standing by the door of the hotel when we walked in.”  All the rest of the girls looked at her in surprise.  Monica frowned a bit, trying to recall the appearance of the doorman they had passed on their way in.  He was certainly the right height and build, but there was no way to know for sure.    

                The man inclined his head slightly.  “You caught me Jennifer.  You have quite the eye for detail.”  Jennifer flinched at the use of her name, and glared at the man.  “You shouldn’t be so surprised.  I said I’ve been keeping an eye on you all day.  You do remember introducing yourselves to each other, don’t you?” 

                All the girls looked at each other quickly before turning back to him.  Anna stepped forward and asked rather forcefully, “If you know our names, don’t you think it fair that we know yours?”

                Natalie took this moment to chime in, “and where exactly are you taking us?” 

                The man held up his hand, stopping their questions.  “I’ll tell you everything you want to know, and some things you don’t.  But first, I’d appreciate it if you took your weapons out of my face.”  Reluctantly, they all lowered their assorted guns and knives.  Just then, the elevator dinged and shuddered to a stop.  “Ah, here we are,” the man smiled again, suddenly very chipper.                 

                The doors opened to reveal a huge, beautiful room.  Dark tiles covered the whole floor, and a sweeping view of the city could be seen out the tinted windows that dominated all four walls.  Tasteful yet eclectic pieces of furniture were scattered about the room.  A huge flat screen TV commanded the attention of one whole corner of the room.  The red, plush couches that surrounded it looked extremely attractive to the exhausted girls. 

                With energetic steps, the man strode into the room, turned on his heel and opened his arms to gesture at the room around him.  “Welcome to the headquarters of my pet project.”  He grinned, “You may call me Mr. Lindsey.”  The girls began filtering into the room, gazing around in astonishment at the splendor. 

                “You should consider yourselves lucky,” Mr. Lindsey continued, “No other people have ever been allowed in this room before.” His voice suddenly grew darker, “You’re also among the only people who have seen my real face.”  The openness of his face closed off and he exuded an air of terrifying anger and regret.  The tension in the room was nearly too much for the drained group of girls, and they began shifting uncomfortably, waiting for Mr. Lindsey to reach his point. 

                “So,” he continued lightening up a bit, “I have need of your services.  You work for me now.” 

                “I work for nobody,” Jennifer spat out, and Nichole nodded emphatically in agreement. 

                Mr. Lindsey looked as though he expected such a reaction.  “You don’t really have much of a choice.  It’s either take my offer, or be arrested.  It’s up to you.” 

                “You sound awfully secure in your convictions.  What exactly makes you think we’ll do what you want?” Natalie inquired. 

                “Ah yes, a good question.  You see, at this very moment, police are making their way to your apartment, Natalie.  They’ve been looking for the three of you for quite some time.”  He nodded at Jennifer, Natalie, and Laura.  Natalie looked as though she was about to faint.  “Especially you younger two…something about a connection with a gang shooting and five dead men?”  He raised his eyebrow slightly as Laura squeaked in fear. 

                Finally, Natalie was able to choke out a sentence, “but…how did they find me?  There’s no way that they could trace any of our actions back to my apartment…” 

                Mr. Lindsey looked at her steadily.  “I believe it has something to do with a tipoff from a certain Bloomsburg Security employee.”  At this, Laura’s legs gave out and she dropped into the nearest chair.  She put her head in her hands and started shaking.  Natalie’s eyes glazed over as she realized how big of an enemy she had made out of her former employer.  Now they were using Laura’s own brother’s skills against them.  “Yes…you three have quite the collection of dangerous enemies.  A sociopathic killer, a murderous gang hungry for revenge, and an extremely powerful businessman with nearly unlimited resources at his disposal.”    

                Laura whimpered slightly and Jennifer sighed.  Natalie cleared her throat and asked quietly, “so they have all of my stuff?  All of my equipment?  My computers…” 

                “No.”  At this answer, Natalie looked up.  Mr. Lindsey answered her confused look, “I had all of your belongings removed from your apartment and delivered here.”  He nodded at Jennifer, “all of your things are here too, as well as Laura’s.” 

                As the three girls tried to absorb all the information they had just been given, Mr. Lindsey turned to Nichole, Monica, and Anna.  “Now you three…”

                Before he could continue, Monica spoke up, “perhaps before you enter the next phase of your tirade you should consider letting us patch up our injured.”  She motioned to the pool of blood around Jennifer’s leg and the streams that stained Anna’s shirt.

                Mr. Lindsey seemed slightly taken aback, but conceded that Monica had a wise point.  He went to a cupboard and pulled out a large first aid kit.  He tossed it to Monica, and she immediately began tending to Jennifer’s leg.  Laura stood up and went to wash her bloody hands at a sink in the room’s kitchen area.   

                After they all finished cleaning up and settled down, Mr. Lindsey continued where he left off.  “So yes, you three.  I have noticed that none of you really have homes to return to.  Nichole, you sold your parent’s property and have been traveling around for years.  You seem to have no desire to settle down, but you can’t live out of hotels and motels forever.”  Nichole glared at him, but didn’t dare contradict what he said.  She knew it was true.  “And Monica,” Monica looked up, slightly unnerved by being the center of attention, “You don’t want to return to your parent’s house.  If you do, you will have to return to a life of social events and fancy clothes.  A life I know you want to avoid at all costs.”  Monica frowned slightly, and looked down at her hands, lost in thought.  “And last of all, Anna.”  Anna raised her head proudly, guessing what was coming, “You cannot return home.  Even if you wanted to, they would not take you back.  You have shamed your family and now they want nothing to do with you.”  Anna showed no outward sign that his words had affected her, but in reality, the words hit her in her most vulnerable spot. 

                “And so you all can see,” Mr. Lindsey concluded, “You need me.  I have a place for you all.  A place to call home and a place that is completely hidden.  All I need in return is the knowledge that you will help me with a couple jobs here and there.  That’s all I ask.”  As the girls looked around at each other, weighting their options, Mr. Lindsey added one more comment:

                “Of course, you could all always just choose jail.”  

Part 4 of the hotel heist!

OK so i apologize for my failure at transcribing action. I really hope i did a decent job of putting the picture in my head into words. Also i apologize for this sucking but because i said that now you guys are just going to be like "NO LYK OMG UR AWESOME" Anyways here it is.

*********************

The sound of those words put a rush of adrenaline pumping through everybody in the room. Every movement was amplified into an enormous gesture, every tiny sound an orchestra. The tension was only growing greater with every passing moment, full of fear, uncertainty and an unmatched excitement. 

One of the men twitched just slightly too violently in the never-ending silence and broke the focus that all the tension in the room had been mounted on. The knife in Laura’s hand slipped and fell to the ground with a hollow thud. The man nearest to her, clearly the oldest of the group, supposed himself the wisest and took advantage of her momentary disarmament by grabbing her by the shoulders, gun to her head. 

The hostage taker only had a moment to be proud of what he thought was a brilliant move before Laura had palmed one of the knives hidden up her sleeve and jammed it into his gut. Not truly understanding what had happened, only understanding the sudden pain, the man released his grip on his hostage. Laura broke free but did not run. Knowing he was still fully capable of pulling the trigger of the gun that remained aimed in her direction, she slit his throat with a motion that was swift but somehow still incredibly reluctant. 

There was no time for anyone to worry about emotions or morals. There was no time to worry about anything. Suddenly chaos reigned. Guns were fired. No one ever really knew from whom. Consciousness was lost and instinct was in charge. 

A small explosion. Blood. Endless profanity. Shouts that were sure to grab the attention of other guests. More blood. And then darkness.

“Natalie, what is going on with the lights? You said this would be easy!” Jennifer was not angry or disappointed, just curious, an emotion that seemed magnificently out of place at the moment.

“This isn’t me. I have no idea what’s happening.” The room was pitch black. For the girls, moving seemed out of the question, in this strange hotel room filled with enemies and shrapnel from the momentary battle. This clearly wasn’t the case for the men, though. Scraping and scuttling from their movements revealed that they were all moving, but not very effectively. 

The noise of the window opening was distinct and quickly followed by a shot. The lights flicked on once more and the only men remaining in the room were the corpse with the slit throat and a dying man with a bullet through his head.

“Who shot? How stupid are you? You could have hit one of us!” Nichole exclaimed.

“But I didn’t hit any of you. Now there’s one less criminal in the world.” Monica glared at Nichole, knowing she had no way to counteract her argument. Nichole smiled affectionately in defeat. 

Jennifer looked around the room, formulating a plan. Before she could get very far though, she realized she was hurt, a piece of glass embedded in calf, as was another girl. She also realized they were now bonded, at least until they could escape, to these strangers whose names they didn’t even know.

“You’re hurt. What’s your name?” Jennifer asked bluntly, revealing her impatience.

“I’m Anna and it doesn’t matter. I’m fine. It’s just a graze. I’ve had worse.” She looked at her shoulder passively, examining the wound.

“I’m Jennifer. Laura. Natalie.” She said nodding toward each as she said their names.

“Nichole.”

“Monica.”

“Good. Now what do we do?” Nichole demanded.

“Check the safe.” Natalie said, grimly. She checked it without waiting for anyone else’s approval or response. The door to the safe was a jar, which saved them a lot of trouble. Natalie looked around for anything to carry the cash it contained. A laptop case on the floor of the closet seemed to be of sufficient size so she began to fill it without worrying about how much money was there or what was going to happen next. 

“We need to go. We made too much noise,” Jennifer headed towards the door as soon as Natalie seemed to be done collecting the cash. Everyone else followed, despite the fact that Nichole, Anna and Monica had no reason to trust Jennifer besides her aura of confidence.

“We can’t just wander around,” Anna said. “We’ll attract too much attention. Most of us have some kind of visible wound or bloodstains.” She was right but they had to go somewhere and no one had planned for things to get this messy.

“Natalie, you look the least suspicious. Wait for the elevator. We’ll be down the hall. Call us if it’s empty and warn us if people get off and start heading towards us,” Jennifer said calmly. 

The first time the elevator opened, a young man in a suit and an older woman stood arm in arm inside. Natalie made a quick excuse not to board and let it go. The next elevator was empty so she did as she had been instructed and called for everyone else, holding the elevator door open while they boarded.

The severity of what had just happened began to weigh down on all of them. 

Laura was shaking visibly. She leaned against the elevator wall, staring at her bloody hands. Her actions had been necessary but that didn’t make the realization that she had taken that man’s life any less painful. She knew she had to be strong though, for Jennifer’s sake, for Johnny’s sake, for everyone in this elevator whom she felt an inexplicable affection for. She did her best to, at least temporarily, block out her pain and focus on the matter at hand.

Natalie’s expression was vacant. She could hardly comprehend what she had just seen. All she thought was going to happen was that they would sneak in and take the money and leave. No hassle. She had now seen two men die. I just want to code… She thought in the silence, When did I get wrapped up in all of this and more importantly why? It seemed impossible that she was the same person she had been such a short time ago.

Like always, Jennifer was formulating a plan. The past was behind them and the future was all that mattered. They had the money, how much, she wasn’t sure but it was enough for now. Getting out without being caught was crucial. If they escaped, they would be safe. The police in this town wouldn’t investigate something a simple as a drug deal gone wrong as long as nothing suspicious accompanied it, like half a dozen young girls covered in blood being spotted fleeing the scene of the crime.

Unsure of what was truly happening, Anna simply let herself enjoy the thrill. Since she had been court-martialed and discharged from the military, nothing mattered as much. Anna simply couldn’t make herself care that they were all in terrible danger and that two men were dead because of her actions. She couldn’t focus on the pain in her shoulder either. It was there, throbbing incessantly, but it wasn’t important. Surviving was the most important thing right now, and it was frankly the most fun to think about. A thousand dramatic scenarios of their escape ran through her mind, very few were plausible but it didn’t matter anyways.

Monica, sitting on the floor, hugging her knees, was struggling with the notion that she very possibly could have hit someone besides her intended target. She had been entirely confident at the time of the shot that she knew the location of everyone in the room, but what if she had been wrong? What if instead of hitting one of the criminals trying to flee, she had accidentally hit some one else? How would she have felt if she had shot Nichole? Her friend, her human friend. The idea was too much to bear. Remembering that the bullet had hit the man in the head as she had intended reassured her that she had done the right thing and no one had been in danger, but she didn’t know how long that reassurance would last.

Nichole twitched nervously as she tried to retain her composure. So many things had gone wrong. There were so many things that still could go wrong. Worst of all, three of the men had escaped. They we’re still out there. Nothing had gone right and she could feel herself starting to give up. Knowing that they still had to escape was the only thing keeping her going, the only thing keeping her strong. Her strength was more important than anything else right now. Her strength would save her and save everyone, if need be. 

Everyone’s mind was deep in thought so no one got the momentary warning of the elevator beginning to slow before the door began to creep open. Any move they could make would be suspicious but it was too late to do anything, anyways. 

“Ladies, I would be honored if you would have a quick word with me upstairs,” He said stepping into the elevator. He slid a key card and pressed the elevator button for the top floor, the penthouse suite. No one could quite find their breath.

************* 

More comments from me: Yes obviously that was either Mr. Lindsey or one of his lackeys coming to whisk us away to our happily ever afters. :D Someone else can write the next part. And for Laura you need to know how hard it was for me not to put "chuffed" in place of "honored" in that last bit of dialogue, I actually still might change it.