"Why are these people in our apartment?" Olivia asked Benny in their bedroom.
Allie had explained it so succinctly, but could Benny replicate her reasonings to someone not as involved? He sighed and ran his hand down his face, sighing. Ever since getting involved with Allie again, he knew she'd be trouble, but at the same time, he'd wanted to get back at Tony for how he and his company had treated not just Benny, but also Olivia. She sat down on the bed beside him and put a hand on his thigh, causing him to look up at her and smile. "Nobody knows we're planning this together," Benny shrugged, "I guess...I guess she figured this was the best possible spot to be. I'm sorry, I didn't wanna make things difficult, but...after the way Tony treated you, treated me, treated Allie..." "You're a good man, Benny," Olivia said, reaching up and touching his face, "please don't ever doubt that." She leaned in and kissed him between the eyes, and Benny blushed. He couldn't believe that he'd found a woman as wonderful as Olivia who loved him just as he was. Olivia stood up and pulled her uniform on, then turned and looked back at him as she picked up her purse. "I need to get to work," she said, "just...try not to get arrested while I'm gone, okay?" Benny nodded, chuckling as she exited the room. As she did, the door to the bedroom now open slightly, Molly peeked in and Benny looked up at her. "You need something?" he asked. "Can I use the bathroom?" she asked, "or...more specifically, do you have something for anxiety in your medicine cabinet? All my medications are at home." Benny nodded, and Molly came into the room as Benny stood up and headed into the adjoining bathroom. Molly followed, standing just outside the doorframe of the bathroom while Benny tugged open the medicine cabinet door and began rooting around inside, looking for the Xanax perscription he and Olivia had. Molly chewed on her nails nervously, looking at her feet. "...I...I'm sorry," Molly whispered, "I hope we...we aren't making your life any harder, or ruining your relationship or-" "Nah," Benny said, hand waving towards her, "don't worry about it." "...this isn't my fault, right?" Molly asked, on the verge of tears, and Benny stopped what he was doing and walked towards her, putting his hands on her shoulders. "Hey, you had no way of knowing she was using you," he said quietly, "this wasn't your fault. She's obviously an exceptional liar. And I know what it's like to so desperately want friends. Believe it or not, this charisma and charm doesn't exactly draw people in the way I might hope it would. Outside of y'all, Olivia is the only friend I really have. Then again I kind of like it that way. But when you're that lonely for company...yeah, it makes sense to believe anything they tell you." "She lied about her name, about her job, everything," Molly said, sniffling, tears running down her face. Benny sighed and pulled her in for a hug, rubbing her back. He stood there, just cradling this poor, distraught architect and tried to think of something comforting to say, but all he could come up with was a tighter hug. Meanwhile, out in the main room, Claire, Rachel, Allie and Zoe were all either seated on the couch, lying on the floor or pacing. Allie was standing at Benny's fridge, pulling a soda out of it when she heard Claire step behind her. "Yeah?" Allie asked, rising back up and popping the top of her soda open. "So this is your big plan? Hide?" Claire asked. "If these agents want me so bad that they're willing to send someone into someone else's life just to get close to me, then yeah, hiding seems to be the best option until we can get out of town," Allie said, taking a long sip. "What if it isn't them?" Claire asked, and Allie raised an eyebrow at this statement. "What do you mean?" she asked as she finished her drink, wiping her mouth on her sleeve, "what...what do you mean? Of course it's them, they're the only ones after me. They've been trying to get to me for months, for god sakes they released you to get to me." "And look how well that's worked out in their favor," Claire said, smirking, making Allie chuckle; Claire sighed and tossed her hair from her face, adding, "all I'm saying is let's not jump to somewhat obvious conclusions. Maybe they knew I wouldn't bite, so they had a bad up plan in place to get the information on your boss that they needed to move forward. Maybe you're in the clear now. They realized how frustrating you were to chase and they gave up." "You're kind of ruining my self esteem," Allie mumbled. "Your self esteem is based purely on your importance to authority figures?" Claire asked, laughing, "you're weird, Meers." Allie shrugged, but she didn't disagree. She was weird. It's how she'd gotten to where she was today. *** Kristin had gotten back to her apartment, took a shower, picked out a new outfit and redressed before gathering all the files she'd taken from Molly's home office. As she stood over her desk, buttoning the collar of her shirt, looking down at the papers, she felt a twinge of remorse. She really didn't want to hurt Molly. In the past few weeks, she'd gotten to really like her as a person, and Molly was, from what she could tell, the least deserving one among them to be hurt, but she'd been hired to do a job, and she couldn't back out. Once fully dressed, she picked up her cell phone and dialed, tapping her nails on her desk as she waited for someone to answer. "Hello?" they asked. "It's Kristin, it's done, I got it all," she said, "where do you want to meet?" "Just meet me at the usual location, we'll be waiting. You did good," they replied, "and what about anyone knowing?" "The architect got wind, and she might've run off to tell the others, but...honestly, I don't think it's fair to go after them," Kristin said, "especially the architect. She really wants nothing to do with any of this. She's just kind of stuck with these people." "Well, we'll decide that at a later date," they said, "I'll see you shortly." Kristin hung up and sighed, walking to her vanity mirror and looking at herself. She felt so terrible about what had happened with Molly, and she wanted so badly to fix it, but she knew she had a duty to uphold. She sighed and ran her hands down her suit jacket, slipped her feet into her shiny black shoes and then picked up the files from the desk. She tucked them under her arm and headed out the front door. She had a few errands to run before meeting with them, but soon...soon it all would be over. *** Zoe was sitting on the couch, staring at her shoes. How had this happened? How had her life become this? She could remember the first day Tony introduced her to Allie, and how excited she'd been to actually work with her childhood idol. And now? Now she was holed up in an apartment, fearing for her life and her freedom, and with a serial killer no less. Rachel St. Sebastian came back in from the patio, stubbing her cigarette out as she did, and seated herself on the couch beside Zoe. "You okay?" Rachel asked and Zoe shrugged. "...I don't think I've been okay for a long time," Zoe mumbled, "and besides, what would be the point of being okay at this point? There's no way out of this anymore. Especially now if the agents have the proof that they need." "Well, perhaps with that proof they won't need you anymore," Rachel said. "She still killed someone," Zoe said softly, finally looking up at Rachel, her eyes bloodshot, "...they don't just let that sort of thing go. She's going to have to eventually face the consequences of her actions, regardless of how attached to this other case she might be." "Zoe," Rachel said, sighing heavily, throwing a glance towards Claire before looking back at Zoe, "sometimes there are people in our lives that we'd give everything for, but there does come a point where one has to ask themselves just how worth it going down for them really is. Is Allie really worth throwing your life away for? You've done nothing wrong up to now. If anything, you're an accomplice, and an unwilling one at that. Just something to think about." Zoe nodded, looking towards Allie as she and Claire continued to have a hushed discussion in the kitchen area. Meanwhile, in the bedroom, Benny and Molly were lying on the bed staring at the ceiling To help Molly not feel so alone, Benny had taken a Xanax too, and now they both were rather calm and serene. "I used to think that I'd build something amazing," Molly said, "like...something nobody would ever dream could be built." "But you have," Benny said, "I mean, they're just casinos, sure, but look at how cool they are compared to the others. And a casinos big draw - not that anyone else will ever admit this - is its visual. It has to be visually alluring to pull you in, entice you to spend time and money there. You did a great job." "Yeah but I didn't want to build casinos," Molly replied, clearing her throat, "I kind of wanted to build libraries or...or schools. Something that would be amazing but also serve a truly good purpose. I wanted to be a force of good. Not a tool of greed....you know what I'd really like to build now? A house. Just a...a beautiful little home somewhere where nobody could get to it. Far away from everyone and everything. Something beautiful in its simplicity. That's what I want to do." Benny rolled onto his side, Molly doing the same, the both of them facing one another now. "Then build one," Benny said, shrugging, "get some land, somewhere kind of remote and off the grid, or as off the grid as one can concievably get in this day and age, and build one. What's stopping you?" Molly shrugged and sighed. "I don't know...fear, I guess, or guilt," Molly said, "seems like everything I have a hand in building eventually gets sullied. Why risk that again?" Benny reached out and put his hand gently on Molly's face, smiling warmly at her. "Sometimes you just...have to do something for you, you know?" he asked, "like...like today. You came and asked me for anxiety medication, and I didn't hesitate for a second to give it to you. You did that for you. There's no shame in being selfish. People like to make you think there is, but there's really not. People say 'oh self care isn't selfish!' but it absolutely is, because that's the definition of selfish is looking out for ones self, but there's nothing inherently wrong with that!" Molly blushed and nodded. She reached up and put her hand on Benny's hand, the two of them staring at one another for a few moments. She wasn't sure what came over her next, but before she knew it, she was leaning in and pressing her lips against his. It might've been the fear, the medication, but whatever the reasoning, she did it, and she was happy when he willingly kissed her back. After a few minutes, Molly pulled away just a bit, her eyes wide. "I'm so sorry," she whispered, "I...I don't...oh god, and you have a girlfriend and-" "We're an open relationship," Benny said, smirking, "you've done nothing wrong but require comfort." Molly started crying, and Benny pulled her against his chest, stroking her hair. "Shhh," he whispered, "you're safe. You're good. You're all good." Back out in the living room, Allie was pacing while she chomped on a rice biscuit while Claire sat on the kitchen counter filing her nails and Rachel and Zoe continued being on the couch. Finally, after a moment, Zoe stood up and headed to the coat pile, grabbing hers and pulling it on before heading for the front door. Everyone exchanged a look of concern before Allie finally rushed after her. She caught up with Zoe in the hall as she was walking briskly towards the staircase. Allie reached out and tugged at Zoe's arm. "Whoa whoa compadre, where you going?" she asked. "I just...I need to get out of here for a little bit," Zoe said as they continued down the stairs, Allie on their heels. "Well, we can't just LEAVE, Zoe, who knows who's out there looking for us?" Allie asked, causing Zoe to finally turn on the landing and face her. "YOU. Looking for YOU. This is your goddamn mess," Zoe said through gritted teeth, "they're not looking for me, or Molly, or Benny, they're looking for YOU. They released a fucking serial killer to get to you. They hired a fake showgirl to get to the vault plans. Look at how desperate they are! And it's you, Allie, it's always been you." A moment passed, as a couple walked silently by on the staircase. After they were gone, Zoe took a long, deep breath and rubbed her face. "Look," Zoe continued, "look...you're my idol. You're my best friend. I know you did what you did to protect me. I...I don't want to seem unappreciative-" "You have every right to be unappreciative," Allie whispered, taking Zoe by surprise. "Wh...what?" she asked. "You have every right to hate me for the things I've done," Allie said, almost in tears, "I've never had a real friend, Zoe. Nick, Megan, those were the closest I ever got, and one was a romantic situation and the other was family. You're the first person I've ever really managed to call a friend. A real friend. I didn't want to lose you to the same shit that pulled me apart. You deserved better than that. But even if my deeds were noble, you have every right to hate me for them. I've only complicated things further." Zoe nodded, then continued down the stairs, Allie following right behind her. As they reached the outside of the apartment complex, standing on the street, Zoe turned and looked at Allie again. "Can I just...I just need to go. To like...the suite or something," Zoe said, "I just wanna take a bath. I'll be in and out, discreet, and come right back. They won't search somewhere that obvious, because they know we're too smart to actually go there, so if we go there now, they won't ever think of it." Allie nodded and reached into her pocket, giving Zoe the key to the suite. Zoe put her arms around Allie and hugged her tight, then began to head across the street. As she reached the other side, Zoe turned back and waved at Allie, who waved back, smiling. For once, it felt like even if they were on shaky ground, they'd found some level of understanding. Just then, a car pulled up hard in front of Allie and the door opened. A man in a suit got out, grabbed Allie around the waist while she shouted and kicked and pulled her into the car. "Allie!" Zoe screamed, as the car just as quickly pulled away and sped down the road. Zoe chased after it for a moment, then stopped, standing stunned in the road. Allie was right. They shouldn't have left the apartment. They were just waiting. Inside the car, Allie finally was unhanded as she looked at the two people sitting across from her. "Who the fuck are you?! What the fuck is this?!" she shouted. "Miss Meers, I'm so sorry for such drastic action, but we need to talk," the woman said, leaning into the light, "my name is Agent Rebecca Siskel, and this is my partner Agent Roger Tropper. We know you killed the governors son, but hard as it might be the believe, that's not why we're kidnapping you." Allie furrowed her brow, confused. "Huh?" she asked, "What other possible reason could you-" "We need your help," Agent Siskel said, as the car rounded a corner, disappearing into the city outskirts.
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ABOUT
Allie Meers is what she dreamed of being since she was a little girl...a successful Vegas magician. The only problem now is she can't make all her problems disappear; Allie grapples with her strained relationship, crippling addictions and FBI agents on her tail, all while trying to stay at the top of her career. Archives
December 2023
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