Chapter 8
1448 Words
Taylor was patiently waiting for her turn at the rental car booth. She headed there as soon as she landed in Idaho Falls airport.
She was in a kaki tank top and a boyfriend jeans, her sweater tied on her waist and she was using her car rental confirmation paper as a fan to stay cool.
“Your first time in our city Miss Smith?” asked the receptionist with a smile and continued “Are you here for business or for leisure”?
“Hmm neither. I am here to get back something very precious” replied Taylor with a smirk
“Oh, what is it? a treasure” whispered the receptionist with her eyes lighting up
“Yes, you can call it a treasure”
“Where are you planning to find this treasure? You know we had a lot of gold mines in the mountains”
“It is on the land of a gated community” replied Taylor
“Which one? Blue moon? Or River moon? Or Silver moon or Red moon…”
“Which one? How many “Moon” communities do you have in this place?”
“Yes, we have a lot in the whole state” laughed the receptionist. “Probably built by the same real estate promoter as they all have the prefix moon in the name. So, which one you said?” she asked
“The Silver moon”
“Oh, the Silver Moon community! And they agreed to let you in? They do not accept visitors usually”
“What do you mean they don’t accepted visitors?”
“It is a highly secured community, and the residents are very secluded they don’t come to the city often and don’t mix with the rest of us”
After a few minutes of small talk, Taylor got her rented car and entered the GPS coordinates shared by Emma’s family.
“Two hours and a half… acceptable but I will definitely have to stop for a bite. Airplane food portions are ridiculously small” said Taylor to herself.
One hour later, Taylor spotted a gas station with a small adjacent diner. She decided it was time for a lunch break.
The diner was almost deserted if it was not for the two clients sitting at the end of the counter and eating two burgers. It had a rustic vibe with wooden chairs and tables. The bar on the other hand was all metallic and did not go well with the setting noted Taylor.
“Welcome to Sam’s Diner” said the waitress. Do you want to sit at the bar or get a table?
“Good morning Miss. Thank you; the bar will do. I will take a burger plater please with extra fries as I am starving” replied Taylor with a smile
“Had a long drive?”
“Not really, I am just always hungry” said Taylor with a wink
The waitress laughed and went to the kitchen to make sure Taylor’s order is processed.
Touching the bar, Taylor could not help but think that a wood bar would look better and complement the tables… She asked the waitress for a pen, grabbed a napkin and started drawing.
Deep in her thoughts, she heard the doorbell and saw three guys come in and sit next to her on the bar.
“Howdy” said the three men.
Taylor gave them a quick look and a nod before going back to her napkin and focusing on her drawing.
“Waw you are quite an artist” said one of the men who was sitting just next to her and eyeing her drawing.
“I know” replied Taylor without giving him a look.
He laughed “Ok this one is modest”
“What brings you here” he continued
“For business”
“Really what kind of business”
“Top secret” huffed Taylor visibly annoyed
“You are not from the region. Do you come from far away?”
“Are you a policeman or something? Do you ask everyone you meet such personal and inquisitive questions?” burst Taylor
“I didn’t mean to make you uncomfortable Miss. We are not used to see strangers in here. And we want to be welcoming to visitors. The reputation of our city is at stake after all” he said with a smile.
“If you want to visit us do not hesitate, we live not far from here in the Rouge moon Community. It is a bit down the road, and we can use someone like you” he added
“Someone like me?” repeated Taylor furrowing her brows
“Yes, someone that annoys the s**t out of people” he continued smirking
“You got me! That is my secret weapon, but I am fully booked”
“How about I offer you a drink and afterwards we continue our discuss back at my place” insisted the guy
“Clearly you cannot take a hint. I am not interested. Now leave me the hell alone”
He was fuming and clearly offended by Taylor’s rejection
“Listen Miss, if you want to survive in here you must know how to respect people and specifically me & my people”.
“Respect is owned and deserved” replied Taylor and with that she went back to her drawings
“How about I offer you lunch instead of just a drink”
“Seriously? Listen carefully: I am busy and won’t have time for you and douche moon community”
“Douche?! What the hell! it is the Rouge Moon community! Are you insulting us?” yelled the guy
A loud laughter broke. The two guests sitting at the far end of the counter were laughing out loud.
“Rogues, you got schooled. Time to drop it and go home to your… Douche community” said one of the guy bursting into laughter again.
The annoying guy did not like having an audience to his humiliation and was enraged.
Taylor was smart enough to know when a ticking bomb was about to explode, and she did not have time for a fight. She put money on the table and was about to take her leave when the waitress saw her drawing on the napkin.
“Oh my God, Miss, did you draw a lunch counter & a bar?“
“Yes, I got inspired”
“By how ugly ours is?”
“You said it not me” laughed Taylor
“They are amazing and fit perfectly in our diner. Can I keep the drawing and show it to my boss? He was talking about doing some renovations”
“Yes, sure. And I will give you my business card. I am not based here but we ship in the whole country and even worldwide. Tell him to give me a call if he is interested”
Taylor signed her drawing, took a picture and then handed the napkin & business card to the waitress.
“Have a nice day and thank you for lunch” said Taylor heading to the door.
As she was about to get in her car, surprise, surprise, Mr. douche put his hand on the door blocking it and got close to Taylor whispering
“you know we might have a job for you. It will require a lot of sweating and … a lot of hand work.. But you are definitely perfect for this job I have in mind for you” he said smirking at Taylor
“C’mon… You again! Those sleezy s****l innuendoes are just stupid and …”
“Know your place Lady, you are a stranger in this land, not in a position to challenge me... you are just a human”
“Seriously what is it with people calling me human. Is that a new slang that I missed?” muttered Taylor, her patience running out.
“What do you want me to call you? A w***e”
That was it. The punch landed on Mr. Douche’s nose at the speed of light.
“Next time you want to disrespect a human, think twice” said Taylor using air-quotes for the word Human.
“And believe me I have been indulgent here. I could have sent you to the hospital if I wanted to!” she added
“You pathetic human…” he did not have time to continue his ranting, she went for his crotch and he was on the floor unable to breath.
“Don’t ever underestimate a human woman” said Taylor, kicking him away from her car.
She got into her car and while driving away, she noticed that there was an audience to their fight: The Douche’s friends and the other Diner guests were standing outside the diner, mouths open and an dumbfounded look on their faces.
Taylor drove nonstop for the remaining one hour and a half until she reached the Silver Moon gated community.
Gated was an understatement; this is more a fortress. Huge metal gates, three armed guards, CCTVs everywhere and the whole territory’s border, which goes as far as the horizon, is covered with barbed wire fence.
« Ok people are serious about security over here » thought Taylor while driving towards the guard
« How can we help you miss » asked one of the guards
« I am visiting a friend, Emma Jackson »
The guard was surprised and looked suspiciously at Taylor. He looked at his phone then told Taylor
«We do not have any registered visitors for Ms. Emma”
« Yes, because this is a surprise. You can call her, and she will confirm that I am her friend. Taylor, Taylor Smith» explained Taylor
“Sorry Miss Smith but we cannot let in unannounced visitors. You will have to turn around and leave»
“The hell I will!”
- Writer
