HOW TO SEDUCE A BILLIONAIRE

CLASH-–CLUNK–THUMP The lovely sound of Jason's TV hitting the floor of his million dollar penthouse filled the air. "Isn't that the TV he bought for like, 20 grands?" I turn back to look at my long time friend and forever roommate, Jessica, flipping my hair and innocently batting my lashes at her. "Yeah." She gaped at me. "What? This was all your idea." I gestured to the mess around us. Papers were torn, Jason's couches reduced to a mass of foam and leathers. His electronics broken and rendered useless. I can hear the sound of water running in the bathroom and kitchen. We might have broken some pipes too. Nothing looked salvageable. I must confess- I'm proud of our work. "But it's working, isn't it? I bet you feel better about the whole thing already." She placed her hand on her waist, raising her eyebrows and smirking, seeming proud of herself. In response, I pick up the baseball bat sitting on the floor and swung it hard at the TV. I hear a crunch and the entire thing fall apart. "YES! That's what we are talking about." Jess picked up her own bat and together, we unleashed ourselves. With every swing, I feel a little of the anger and pain I have kept bottled up, leave me. Sometimes I imagine his face there as I swing and it does wonders for me. I can feel my broken heart just beginning to stitch back together. I remember the day my colleague, Freya first told me about Jason's betrayal. I didn't even believe her at first. How could the one who claimed to love me the most hurt me the most? I remember the anger and hurt I felt when I confronted him about it. He didn't even deny it. Merely shrugged and said it was a mistake. Oh! The audacity of him. I swung the bat hard at a frame on the wall. I remember how obsessed he was with it when he bought it on one of his trips to Italy. Said the painting was made by one of Leonardo da Vinci's apprentice. I picture his face on the painting as I swing the bat again. The glass encasing the painting completely shatters, tiny particles of glass scatter across the room. I hear Jess scream in pure happiness. I'm also aware I have a big ass smile on my face. Before we could completely bask in blissful happiness, we hear an alarm blaring, I look towards the wall where the two million dollar painting just sat a few minutes ago. There is a little bell like device underneath the frame that is shaking like crazy while making the deafening siren-like screech that fill the department. "F**k. We need to get out. Right now." I placed my bat underneath my arm and picked up my bag from where it rested on the table. Before I know it, Jess brought down her bat and broke the table. A few seconds earlier and she would have broke my arm "What was that for?" "We leave no witnesses." She winks at me. "You're welcome." The sound became very loud and I swear, it seem like it was also coming from outside. "S**t F**K. We are so f**ked, Anne." Jess swears, staring out of the window. "What is it?" I ask, coming to stand behind her. "OH MY GOD, Jess we need to move. Fast. We can go through the fire exit." I took ahold of her hand and lead her out of the apartment. "What the f**k are the cops doing here?" Jess asks as we make our way down the hallway. "How am I supposed to know? Maybe the alarm that rang after we broke the painting went straight to the station." Just as we open the door that will reveal the stairs that will lead us out of the building, we heard footsteps approaching. The person was moving fast and I peeped the blue color of the US police uniform. Jess slam the door close and we ran to the other end of the hallway. "We are so f**ked. This is crazy. I can't go to jail. I have work tomorrow. We shouldn't have done this. I'm sorry for getting you involved, Jess." "Chill, calm down. It will be okay. You will be happy you did this by tomorrow. Just wait and see. We just have to figure a way out and this will be history." "I think there is another fire exist by the corner here– and there it is. Let's just hope there is no cop coming up the stairs here." "Look." I turn to the direction Jess pointed at to see the elevator opening, about 6 officers stepping out. Fuck. I put the hood of my hoodie on and I see Jessica do the same. "The door won't open." "What?" "See, it's locked." I watch her as she struggles with it. The officers are now at Jason's door. Four of them went in while two stood guard outside. Thankfully, they can't see us. We are hidden by the floor to ceiling glass that separates the fire exit section from the rest of the hallway. So we can see them but they can't see us. "What are we going to do now? We can't stay here forever and the door won't budge. Surely, they will check here." I look around for anything that I can use to pick the lock but I don't find anything. Growing up in the streets of New York has left me with skills that I would never have learnt otherwise. "Do you have any hairpin? You always have hairpins." Jess took out the pin keeping her ponytail in place and hand them over to me. I gestured for her to move aside while I went down on my knees to do the needful. God! Can't remember the last time I had to pick a lock. For the one hundredth time today, I cursed Jason. "What are you --- Oh." She cut herself short as a 'click' sounded in the air. I turn the door handle and the door opens. "Tadaaa" I stretch my arms wide like a magician who just completed a magnificent trick. "Where did you learn that from?" "Here and there." Jess just stares at me disbelievingly. I understand that look. She have been sheltered her entire life. She probably thought people who knew how to pick locks were thieves or criminals. She don't know why her best friend of two years would ever learn to do that. The skill have saved me a lot of times. Saved me and my siblings from dying of starvation whenever my stepdad thought it had be fun to lock us up for days for being 'too loud'. "Damn! I knew Jason was rich but how rich must he be to have the police respond that fast, even in his absence?" "Stupidly rich." I answer her even though my mind is no longer here. I'm back to our small apartment in Hell's Kitchen, cuddled up with Aysha and Atlas for warmth, our thermostat broken because my mom couldn't afford the bills. I'm stroking Aysha's hair and telling her everything will be fine while I listen to the loud laughter coming from the sitting room. Mom is drunk once again and the guy she came home with is one I have never seen before. He is a bit more decent, at least he didn't try to touch Aysha, just me. "Anne, you okay?" Jess asks from beside me, waving a hand in front of my face. "I'm fine. I was just –...." "HEY! YOU TWO. STOP THERE RIGHT NOW." I turn back to see one of the cops hurrying down the stairs. "C'mon let's hurry." Jess held my wrist as we hurriedly make our way down. We came out through a door that led to the garage of the building. A few cars were packed but luckily for us, no one was there. "We need to barricade the door. The cop will be out soon. I don't want him seeing our faces." Yeah that would really ruin things for the Baldwin family. They have their reputation to keep after all. If we get caught, it wouldn't be my first time in jail We found a tool box at a corner and together we dragged it towards the door. I can hear the loud footsteps of the cop signalling his approach. *Bang *Bang "Open this door right now. Hindering a policeman on duty is a crime against the Washington PD. You can be sentenced for this. Open this door right now and maybe you will get a better chance." We slowly back away from the door and made our way out of the building. We can hear the cop now on the phone with his colleagues informing them about his situation and how the perpetuators are two females. We saw two police cars parked outside. One cop was patrolling the expanse of the building while another was behind the wheels in one of the cars, smoking a cigarette. Our dark hoodies enable us to slide past without notice. We kept our steps light until we are a good distance away from the building, where I had parked my motorcycle earlier. I hop on it and Jess immediately gets behind me. I don't waste any more time before Inserting the key and zooming off. We got home and changed into normal clothes. We are currently sitting on the kitchen island having leftover spaghetti I made for lunch. "I wish I can be there to see Jason's face when he comes back." I say smiling. Now that I'm sure I won't be spending the night in jail, I relax. I'm quite glad we did that. It doesn't take all of my pain away but it certainly made me feel better. "How do you feel now, Anne?" She asks, looking at me knowingly. She looks like a goddess sitting there in an old T-shirt and shorts. She doesn't even need to try to look amazing. She is a 5'9 beaut with legs for days, with her straight blond hair that changes colors from gold to red depending on the light. She also has hazel eyes, eyes that seem to know everything. "I feel good. Like I just won a lottery or something." I tell her because that's exactly how I feel. Ever since his betrayal, I have been sad, a shell of my former self. There were times I wondered if I could have done anything different to not make him hurt me the way he did. Like it was somehow my fault everything happened. I still feel guilty thinking about the relief I felt when everything ended. But today, I don't really think of any of it. Whenever the thought threaten to pop up, I just envision his reaction to his broken TV and my mood will instantly be lifted. I can't believe I ever loved him. "Good. He never deserved you anyway." She shifts closer to me and placed her arm around my shoulders. "One day, you will find true love. Love that will never undermine you. You will find someone who will treat you like the queen you are." I look at her, fighting tears. I don't know what I did to deserve her but I'm grateful for her presence in my life everyday. She is the only reason I got through the divorce in one piece. "I have already found someone like that." I look her in the eye, wanting her to understand me and know that I mean it. She reach in for a hug and I hugged her back. "Okay. Enough of this sappy shit." I laugh, glad to have our normal dynamic back. We are not usually like this but I guess she knew exactly what I needed at the moment.