Chapter 5

I swore there was a jolt of electricity when my eyes met Mecole’s.

That look in her eyes felt like the scythe the Grim Reaper carried. It hooked onto my soul, yanking it slowly out of my body. Have you ever met someone for the first time and you felt this sort of connection with her?

It was nothing lustful, although I won’t deny my instant attraction to Mecole. The couple of seconds when our eyes met felt longer, I could smell Mecole. She gave off a different scent. A body lotion or perfume perhaps. More mature, definitely more alluring. Compared to the pure sweet scent of fragrance coming from Denise, you could tell there was an obvious depth to Mecole’s.

Mecole gave me a nod before her eyes looked away in the same manner when some big boss of a company appraised you in that couple of seconds, deciding on the spot whether they liked you or not. It was a nod of acknowledgement, nothing special, it was the same nod you would give to a dog I guess for performing a trick.

I could see Mohan and Eric waving to me at the far end of the corridor, gesturing for me to go over to their side. I nodded, eager to get out of the way of whatever was going to happen.

Mecole brought with her 4 men.

If the wife of a businessman can have 4 guys at her beck and call, I wonder how many Herman has.

I could hear Denise screaming into her phone even from the corridor.

Denise: SOH!!!! SOH!!! we had an agreement!!! HOW COULD YOU!!! YOU fucking piece of shit!!!! SOH!!!

Mecole was more measured in her response, telling Denise pretty loudly that the money she was using to pay Soh came from her.

Denise: That’s Herman’s money!! not yours you bitch!!! not your money!!

SMACK!!

Someone was slapped.

There was a brief moment of silence before I heard Denise starting to sob.

Eric just gestured me into the waiting lift and we shut the door.

Jim: Just like that?

Mohan: Soh’s the boss. Just do as he says. The rest doesn’t matter.

Eric: Wrap up early today so we can go back and relax a bit. Maybe watch some YouTube video.

Now, technically there was nothing wrong with our decision to just walk off. We were after all employees of Soh and like any employees in a company, we follow instructions. We merely did what our paymaster told us to do, but this was a little different. Soh did take money from Denise and promised to keep her safe for a couple of days, so this sudden U-turn in decision did not really sit well with me.

Jim: This doesn’t feel right man. I mean Soh accepted the job.

I brought up the point of who was going to trust us if every time someone offered a higher price and we jumped ship.

Jim: Really not nice like that. It’s like an integrity issue.

Mohan: Brother, fuck integrity. We’re just for show only. That Denise, Oh My God. Look at her, doesn’t want to work, chooses to spread her legs for a married man. Now the wife is here to reason with her. That’s their problem.

Eric: Jim, don’t think too much. Our job is simple. We just do the minimum, not because we are lazy or anything but in this line we just want to avoid trouble and unnecessary baggage.

The lift opened and we stepped out together, still engaged in the discussion.

Jim: I know. I also don’t want to get involved in this messy stuff, but it’s just not very nice the way Soh handled this. What if now Herman turned around and offered more money to Soh and then our phone rings. Then what? We go back up and what? Change again eh?

Mohan: Change then change yeah, we just follow instructions whatever they are.

Jim: You think what we’re like Indian roti pancake eh. Flip here and there.

Before Mohan could show me his middle finger, Eric’s phone rang.

It was Soh.

Eric: My God, your mouth is very unlucky man. This time we really need to flip the roti pancake.