Just Friends With An Enemy

Blackmail Shield Stratagem

?I took a pill in Ibiza

To show Avicii I was cool

And when I finally got sober, felt ten years older

But f**k it, it was something to do

I’m living out in LA

I drive a sports car just to prove

I’m a real big baller ‘cause I made a million dollars

And I spend it on girls and shoes?

The club blared with some groovy jams. Mike Posner’s ‘I took a pill in Ibiza' jumped in. Derek had an half full cup in his hand and two bottles of Crown Lager on the table.

“Come on, Derek”, one of his two friends called him. “I think that lady is looking at you”

“Leave me, Stan”, he replied. He wasn’t drunk. Rather, he was worried about something and the beer was doing a pretty great job.

Stan and Liam really cared less. Why would billionaires be bothered about anything at all? Liam was busy flirting with an harlot while Stan was dancing. He was a pretty horrible dancer but he enjoyed feeling his body against the girl he was with.

“Would you give me your phone number? I could give you a call, sometimes later”, Liam said.

The girl stared back, seductively, chewing gum. “I don’t eat my cake and have it”, she replied him. He was going to say something but she put a finger on his lips. “Shh! You can’t eat your cake and have it”.

She blew him a kiss and walked away. Liam walked up to Derek and joined him in drinking. “What’s up, Derek? You look like an hummingbird s**t on your tuxedo”

“That would have been better. I’ll order a new one”, Derek replied.

“Yea, but that would be the only reason you haven’t picked a b***h since we got here”, Liam said and looked around. “The girl over there. She’s staring at you. Damn! She’s hot!”

“Go for her”, Derek replied.

“Nah. She’s probably seen me with the other girl. She’ll know I’m bluffing… are you too nervous to go?”

“Is that an accusation?”

“It is. I dare you to go to that girl and get her to dance with you”, Liam said, as he poured himself a drink.

“And what if I really don’t want to dance?” he asked. “I’m pretty weak”.

“Then, I would be sure someone kicked you in the balls. Saying you are weak is an excuse”

“I accept your challenge”, Derek forced himself up. A card fell from his pocket. He bent down to pick it.

“Ain’t that the card for the Circle? You shouldn’t be going around with that, you know?”, Liam said, as he saw the card. He didn’t see it clearly but he had guessed right.

Derek fell back on his seat. “Shhit! I have been staring at this card for as long as ever. I was trying not to look at it again”.

“What do you mean?”, Liam asked, casually. Derek still had it in his hand, staring at the card like there was some sort of code to decipher on it. “You should keep that. Let no one see it”

“Why should no one see it? Uhn? Aren’t we business tycoons? What’s the secret?”

“They give the orders and we follow”, Liam replied. “Marco is in prison for defying. As far as I’m concerned, I’m pretty satisfied with the conditions and my life, right now.”

Derek hesitated to say anything more. “Okay. The challenge is not over”, he grunted and sprung up again. “Watch me drift over there. I bet she’s landing a kiss on my lips, today”.

Liam smiled and watched Derek stagger over there. The lady seemed to be staring at him, anyway, so she was probably ready to accept him. He doubted if Derek could really see where he was staggering to.

“Hey, babe”

“Hey, you’ve come to join me?”, the lady asked.

“Your eyes called me over here”, Derek replied. “I had no choice. How about we get dancing?”

“That sounds like a bad idea. I’ll dance with you, another day”, she replied, looking around like someone was watching. “You really should walk away”

“But your eyes keep calling”, Derek said and smiled, drunkenly. “You don’t need to be afraid of anything. Just follow your heart and I’ll take you places”

“Hey, Jerk. Who do you think you are?”, a guy interfered, suddenly. “You too drunk to see she’s taken?”

“Taken by who? You?”, Derek replied. He was afraid of the guy, who towered above him looking fierce and dangerous, but he was too drunk to hold back. He pulled out his card and showed it. “You know who I am? You know what I can do?”

“What’s that s**t about?”, the guy asked and shoved Derek down. “Are you a cop or something? ‘Cause this s**t says Circle bullshit, bullshit. What can you do, dummy?”

Derek got up, quickly, and threw a punch at the guy’s face. “I’ll kill you! I’ll buy the damn place-“

The guy carried him and slammed him on the ground, punching his face repeatedly. The music had stopped and no one was dancing anymore. Liam and Stan were about to rush to his aid but Derek was able to kick the guy away. They grabbed Derek and pulled him away. The guy was going to come after them but the lady called him back. “Hey! Leave him alone!”

“What!? So you can go back to him behind my back?”

“Stop being an i***t. If I would go with him, you won’t be convincing me not to”, she said and picked up her bag. “Remember you only paid for a night. Don’t waste it”.

The guy touched his burst lip and looked back, unwilling to let Derek go. “s**t!”, he muttered and saw a card on the ground. It was the same card that Derek had flashed at him. He picked it up, stared at it for a few seconds and followed the lady. “See you some other day, Circle”.

***★***

“Where were you, last night?”, Mr. Biden asked Derek, looking angry and disappointed. “What is this, Derek?!”

He raised his phone. A video of Derek was playing on it. “What?! Where did you get this?”

“Answer my question!”

“I was at the club. I don’t even remember all that happened”, Derek replied. “How did you get this?”

“Before I answer that question, where is your badge?”

“Oh! Uhm, I think it fell from my pocket”, Derek stuttered. He had messed things up, already.

“You want to know where I got this? Jordan sent it to me!”, Mr. Biden said. “You know who sent it to him? One i***t that wants ten million dollars”.

“Ten million dollars for what?!”

“Ten million dollars to give back the badge and get rid of the video”, Mr. Biden said. “You seem to be ignorant of what the Circle means and you go around flashing your badge. Our reputation has to be protected and, trust me, if Jordan thinks you threaten our secrecy, he’ll kick you out without hesitation”

“I’m sorry. I’ll just pay the guy”

“You are not paying anyone”, Mr. Biden retorted.

“Then, how are we supposed to get back the badge and delete the video?”

“Paying him won’t do that. We’ll fix it”, Mr. Biden said and kept his phone. “For now, Jordan has called a meeting and it is about you. Get ready and be in the room in thirty minutes”.

His father walked out and he sat back to reflect on what happened the other night. He had found a strange file in his office. It was an already completed project of the Circle with his signature on it. He didn’t remember what the file was about and he was pretty sure he never signed it

★ {YESTERDAY}

“Andrew Carmichael wants to have a meeting by four p.m”, Amy informed Derek, as he walked into the office. He was going to make an objection to her first statement so she added, “I shifted it to five p.m and moved the Yale Motors meeting to three p.m; one hour earlier”.

“Hm… ok. That’s pretty fine by me”, Derek replied with a smile and walked to his seat.

He had nothing on his table. He had kept some work aside to work on, later. He also planned to check the other files in his office. He barely knew how he had a carton full of completed files, while he could count the number of cases that had been brought to him since he started working. He walked over to the box and brought out the files, staring at each of them before arranging. He found a file in the middle of the other files. It had the name of the company on it but there was an insignia in the watermark, showing that it was a project within the Circle. Apparently, only a member of the Circle would notice the mark. He looked through and he had his signature on the file, with the signatures of other members. He was sure he never signed it.

The door opened, suddenly, startling him. “Stan?! Be gentle with the door”, Derek said.

“What do you mean by that?”, Stan asked. “Well, never mind. I brought a draft of my-“

“Stan? Please, come over here”, Derek said and showed him the file. “This looks like your signature is on it, too”

“So? What’s up with the file?”

“When did we sign this?”, Derek asked. “I can’t remember this file, not to talk of signing it at all”

Stan laughed and whispered. “You have been in here for a longer time, yet, I seem to know more about what we are dealing with. Look at the date”

Derek looked at the date. It was long before he joined the Circle. Long before he even started working. The file was probably earlier than when he learned his signature. “How is it possible that my name and signature is on this? I don’t know what you think but I think something’s behind this”

“I don’t know what other answer you want than Circle is behind this”, Stan replied. “Everything about the Circle is secretive. If there’s one thing I’ve learnt, it’s to stay out of their business and let them do their thing”

“But we don’t know what this is about. We have to know what we have stepped into”

“It’s almost a year and you just want to know?”, Stan asked. “You should have known before stepping in. Marco is out of jail and he’s never going to show up, ever again. You know why? Because the Circle doesn’t want him to. Whatever they say, we have to take it. So will you check my draft or you are still bothered about s**t?”

“Bring it”

★ {PRESENT}

A total of ten people were seated around the table. There were three guys, about Derek’s age, while there were six old men, including his father, Mr. Biden. Liam and Stan were definitely as clueless as he was, while their fourth counterpart seemed to know more than they do. Gretel was Jordan’s son; he surely had an edge over them in virtually everything. While Derek once thought he was proud and hard to satisfy, he finally met his match when he joined the Circle.

“Don’t sit down”, Jordan commanded. Derek remained on his feet. Jordan’s broken left eye was enough to command fear and it was really working on Derek. He really prepared for this. “I’m sure you already know the reason you no longer deserve that seat… What happened, last night?”

“I got drunk and this strange guy just showed up and started a fight”, Derek replied.

“He started a fight and you put yourself in it. You let it continue”, Jordan said and looked around at the others. “What do you think the Circle is for, that you go flashing your badge around? Not only did you take the badge to the club, you let it get into the hands of a miser. Now, he wants ten million dollars”

“I’m sorry. I’ll pay him the money and-“

The men and Gretel burst into laughter. Mr. Biden, Liam and Stan kept their composure. “Morgan! Your son seems to know nothing about blackmail… listen to me, son! If you give that i***t a dime, I will kick you out of the Circle. Consider this a second chance; the last chance”, Jordan said, glaring at him with disparaging eyes. He leaned back on his seat. “The blackmail shield stratagem will be introduced. The men will come together and put this to end. You boys can leave now”

“What is the blackmail shield stratagem?”, Derek dared to ask, glaring back.

“Look here! When I say you can leave, I mean get the f**k out of the room! Ok?”, Jordan retorted. “I detest your defiance and anymore of it will not be tolerated. You will end up like Marco”.

Derek said nothing more. The guys stood up and left the room, leaving the men behind to discuss.

***★***

“Emily! You haven’t kissed me goodbye!”

“What!?!”, she stopped abruptly. “I’ll do that when I get back. I’m late, already”

“Then, it won’t be a goodbye, anymore. It would be a welcome from me!”

“We’ll do two kisses and call it what we want. No one will know”.

Her aunt burst into laughter. “Get out of here, you silly! Don’t be late!”

“I won’t be. Love you, Susan”, Emily said and walked out of the house. She was leaving at her exact resumption time. She had promised to never be late anymore, since she started the job and never resumed early.

“Emily, you’re off to work?”, a guy called. He was dressed in rags and an old school hat, holding an hoe over his shoulder.

“Yes, Troy, and I’m late already”, Emily replied and started running. “Good morning”.

“Good morning!!!”, two guys replied her, running to meet Troy, with two empty sacks

“Is she running from us?”, one of them asked.

“No, she’s late for work”, Troy replied. “And we are late too”

“Yea, Troy. The watermelon is drying up. We need to check it”

“I never asked you to plant a watermelon. It never grows here”, Troy replied and they walked into the bushes, heading for the farm.

**★**

“You’re five minutes late. Jot that, Jonah”, a potbellied man said, immediately Emily stepped into the restaurant. “Emily was five minutes late of the twenty first of March-“

“I’m sorry. I promise this will be the last time I’m late to work”, Emily replied, smiling. “Thank you, Frank”

“Just get to work. The customers will soon start storming in”, Frank said. He looked around. “Hey! Who’s going to deliver the orders?! I have about five on this list. Nobody?!”

“I’ll go”, a lady walked out of the kitchen and jotted down the orders.

“Sorry I came late. I will do the servings”, Emily said.

“Oh, you have no choice. You’re always late”, a fat lady replied. “Besides, you do need to serve the hot guys and get a life”.

“What are you saying?”, Emily laughed. “I’m not going to call a guy myself”

“No. You’ll make them call you. That’s how it works”, the fat lady replied. “Look at me, fat and ugly. I already have an husband. Look at you, slender and beautiful. You don’t even have a crush”

“Thank you, Sharon, for NOT insulting me but you are beautiful. That’s the only reason Frank gives you that weird look, all the time”, Emily replied. “I really can take care of myself.”

“Stop gossiping, ladies! Who’s doing the serving?”, Frank stormed in and howled at them.

“It’s me!”, Emily replied, quickly, and rushed to the customer. “What may I offer you, sir?”

The man looked at Emily, as if surveying every part of her body. “There’s a problem ‘cause it’s not on the menu”

“If it’s not on the menu, then I don’t think we can get it done”, Emily replied. “May I hear it? I may be able to provide it?”

“I want you”

Emily laughed. “That’s crazy ‘cause I’m not cooked… or edible”

“Yea. I like it raw… raw and inedible”, the man replied. “So what do you say?”

“I say I’ll offer you something better. It’d probably work as an appetizer”, she replied, playing along. “it’s a Mexican dish and you’ll love it… just four dollars”

“I’ll pay twenty dollars for it”

“Well, that works fine by me. Let’s get the show started”, Emily replied with a fake smile and turned back. Everyone already had their eyes on her. They probably knew she was flirting. She walked slowly into the kitchen, where Frank was waiting for her.

“You are flirting with my customers?”, Frank asked, sternly.

“No. He started it. I didn’t want to push him away so I pl-“

“Save it! That is great!”, Frank said, as his frown suddenly turned into a smile. “I don’t care who flirts with who, as long as he keeps coming back to pay us money. Keep it up!... and you can breathe now”

Emily laughed, as she exhaled. She had actually held her breath when he asked the first question. She thought he would take it personal and get angry.

“You’re making progress”, Sharon whispered and winked at her. “Good job!”

“What? I’m not falling for him. He probably does this with every woman he comes across with”, Emily replied.

“Go serve him the meal, before he misses you”

“No. Please, I need you to serve him”, Emily said, grabbed a pen and a piece of paper, and wrote down some numbers. “Tell him to pay the twenty dollars he promised and he’ll get my phone number”

“That’s it. You are giving him your phone number”, Sharon teased.

“No. The number is fake. It would probably ring, elsewhere”, Emily replied.

“You know that’s fraud, right?”

“No. He actually promised. I didn’t promise to give him my number”, Emily said and forces the paper into Sharon’s hand. “Just do it”

Sharon took the ordered food to the man. “She’s too busy to attend to you but this is the order”.

“Uhm.. ok. I hope it’s good”

“It is great. No Mexican dish isn’t good”, Sharon replied. “She also asked me to give you her phone number”

He raised his hand to collect it but Sharon stretched it far from where his hand could reach. “Come on. Please, let me just have it”.

“You haven’t paid for the meal”

“Ok”, the man said and brought out his wallet. “Four dollars, right?”

“No way. Twenty dollars”

“Really? But she said-…. Whatever”, he pulled out twenty dollars and gave it to Sharon, who handed out the paper to him. “Thank you”

“You are welcome”, Sharon replied and turned to walk away.

“Wait!”, he said, staring at her seductively. “Since she’s not around and I’m only having an appetize, let’s have some fun”

“I’m sorry, excuse me?”

“I mean, my deal was to have her… but since you are here, let me-“, he was cut short, as she hissed and walked back into the kitchen.

***★***

Immediately they stepped out of the convening room, the four of them went separate ways. Liam and Stan probably don’t want to talk about it. Derek surely wasn’t ready to talk about his own mistakes. Gretel never spoke to any of them about anything except it was necessary, and every discussion with him always sounded like an order.

Derek walked back to his office and stared at the files again. He needed to look into all of them, in case there was an explanation to how his signature appeared on a document he never came across. He didn’t think it was right to do it in the office so he planned to take the box home and check each of the files. His phone beeped, suddenly.

“Hello, who am I speaking with?”

“I have your badge and I have the video”, the voice replied. Derek wasn’t scared. Rather, he turned cocky.

“And how does that affect me?”

“Oh, it doesn’t. I’ll tell you what affects you”, the voice said. “I’ll show the video and the badge to the world. The world will look into the Circle and the Circle will do what they always do”

“And what does the Circle always do?”

“I knew you were ignorant about what you got yourself in when I saw this badge. Have you ever seen the badges of the others?”, the voice asked and waited for a response. Derek said nothing. “I’m guessing that means no. When the Circle knows this has leaked through you, you won’t imagine what happens next. I’ll text you an address to meet with me. Bring the money along”.

The call ended and Derek’s heartbeat sped up. He didn’t know what he had to be afraid of but he was afraid. He was afraid that he was ignorant of what was going on. He was afraid that he wouldn’t be prepared for any possible attack that may come his way; he didn’t even know what the Circle was capable of. He should have listened to Marco.

★ {Night}

He was falling asleep, going through the files. Work at the office was pretty strenuous, coupled with the disturbing thoughts in his head. He heard the door open. His father was back from work. He rushed out of the room and walked down the stairs.

“Dad?”

“Derek?”, Mr. Biden called back, in a dull voice.

“I got a call from the guy. He wants me to bring the money and meet with him”

“When did he call you?”

“This morning, when I left the meeting”, Derek replied.

“That’s the last call you’d hear from him. We already took care of him”* Mr. Biden said and kept walking towards his room.

“How did you take care of him if you didn’t give him money?”, Derek asked. “What is the blackmail shield stratagem?”

“I don’t want to lie to you, Derek. Don’t make me.”