Our eternal affairs

"Good to see you've worked your way to the top, Anna." Sam said with disdain in his voice. She looked so perfect in her evening dress, his knees buckled beneath him when she walked through the doors, with a rich man by her side. So this is her perfect was of combat? He sneered at her. She was winning alright.

"Sam," she started in a cold voice, "what are you doing here?" 

He laughed sardonically, "you seem to remember, that my father is a board member. Bet you'd have gone for him if I wasn't so catchy." She took a step back when he tried to touch her. His smile turned cold.

Anna felt rage burning through her and paint her stomach churned. He didn't even apologize for what he did to her and here he was, calling her a gold digger.

"It was nice seeing you Sam, now if you'll excuse me–" he blocked her path and gripped her arm. "You still owe me Anna. Remember how I saved you from those loan sharks? Or you forgot about that the moment you opened your legs for that man."

Anna bit down on her tongue in rage as her hands clenched into fists. She almost slapped the dimwit. She tried to still her anger as she spoke through gritted teeth.

"Get your dirty hands off me Sam." She pried his hand off and saw his mark on her skin. This was trouble. "And you? Did you also forget what your conditions were? I've paid you full and over Sam. Remember that before you spit dirt into my face." She held back her tears as she stepped away from him, moving towards the bar.

She had offered her virginity to him as payment, and he hurt her in return. She sipped on champagne, to flush the hard stone that stuck in her chest. Sam's marks on her skin were still visible and she worried what Truce might say.

Men flooded about her, in a shapes and ages, making bold advances, some made funny remarks and Anna roared in laughter. She politely declined their offers and tried to move out of their circle, but in vain. She needed saving, and Chen came to the rescue.

"Thank you Chen." She sighed heavily, away from them now, "There are so many people here." 

Chen chuckled and said. "Yeah, my aunt sure knows alot of people." He blurted absentmindedly and Anna's eyes widened at his outburst.

"Your Aunt?!" She cried inaudibly, and Chen wilted. Had Truce not introduced them earlier? Anna continued.

"I didn't know. This is a surprise." A huge one indeed, she didn't see the resemblance.

"It's complicated Anna..." He started, but he stopped short as a fat man in an oversized suit waved at Chen. "Please excuse me for a moment." He said and left her side.

Anna saw Truce, deep in conversation with an elderly lady. Nichole came around him and wound her arm into his. They looked so perfect together.

Suddenly, Anna felt like a shoe was in her throat. She recognized, immediately that she didn't belong here and thought if Mister Truce was using her as a shield against Nichole. She watched as he loosened himself from her, and was pulled by another old man into a funny conversation. She noticed something flash through Nichole's eyes. Anna tried to guess her age again. She didn't look a day past thirty and Chen called her his Aunt? Something felt was definitely fishy.

Chen looked like he was in his early fourties. Maybe it was the stress from work. She observed everyone in the room, in their elegant outfits, some too outspoken and others too distracting. Their eyes sparkled as they drank and laughed, obviously having a good time. Her eyes settled back on Truce. He looked like a lion in his pride. So natural and easy going. His eyes glanced towards her and they both held gazes. There was something about the way he looked at her. Anna saw Nichole watching them from behind him, with a cold gaze and she shuddered slightly.

Speeches and toasts were made. Truce wove his way back to Anna's side as Nichole cut her elegant birthday cake. She was fifty three, and Anna was lost for words at the revelation.

"She's way older than that." Truce whispered in her ear in aplayful voice. She looked at him in shock. From the corner of her eyes, she saw Sam staring at them and her hand instinctively went to Mister Truce. Truce noticed tired lines on her forehead and whispered into her ear. She nodded and he left to go bid Nichole goodbye, but Nichole held him down. Anna looked around for Sam again, and saw him leaving the hotel. Relief washed through her.

Chen walked up to her. "I'm sorry ma'am, but the boss asked me to take you home. Shall we?" He gestured towards the private waiting room.

"Oh," was all she could say, and she turned to look at Truce. He had a sorry look in his eyes and she smiled at him before following Chen out the door.

By midnight, they successfully pulled out of the hotel. Anna was glad it was all over, and she sank comfortably into the backseat of the car as Chen drove her home. He took a different route to avoid the traffic from the hotel. The road was was deserted and quiet since it was late at night, but Chen sensed something was odd.

Before he knew what was happening, a bullet fired through Anna's window, inches away from her face and she screamed. Chen pressed a button on the dashboard and tried to control the wheels. It started raining bullets from all angles and Anna kept screaming. 

An ambush! Chen looked greatly disturbed and was losing his callm disposition. The car was bullet proof and he wondered what kind of guns they were using. He jumped into the backseat to protect Anna, and a bullet grazed his head. He fainted.

 Anna sustained a bullet wound on her arm, but she wasn't aware. She covered her ears with her hands, screaming her life out. The gunshots stopped, the car door opened, with Anna flowing out with it in her dress, into the cold, misty road.

Two men dragged Anna into a small black car, she kept calling for Chen. They gagged her and pushed her into the waiting car before speeding off, leaving Chen in the Rolls-Royce, bleeding profusely.

Back at the party, Truce's watch blinked a red light, surprising Nichole and she pointed at it. "Got yourself a glittering watch?" She asked in a playful smile and Truce brought his attention to it. When it blinked again, Truce knew it was trouble. He excused himself immediately and headed for a restroom.

When he was sure no one was in the space, he locked the door and pressed a button on his timepiece. A hologram sprang out of it and he watched with shock, the ambush that had happened. He contacted his head security of Vigilia at TAE immediately. Then he pressed another button on his watch and a map popped up, with a red arrow pointing at a location, on it.

 He had known something would go wrong, when he decided to come to the party. He thought putting a tracking device on Anna would help, should anything go wrong. And he was right.

He suddenly disappeared into a brilliant light, leaving the bathroom's door locked. A bearded man behind the closed door squirmed as he made his way into the lady's opposite him