Chapter 2
997 Words
The heavy leather bag didn't just hit Ivan, it redefined his understanding of physics.As it connected with his temple, the dull thud of stone and metal echoed through the VIP lounge.Ivan didn't move, for 24 years, he had been a ghost in a human shell. But the weight of that bag and the sharp reality of pain dragged him violently back into his own skin.
Elizabeth didn't wait for a reaction. Before the security guards could process the blasphemy they had witnessed, she ripped her employee ID from her neck and flicked it at his face, she matched out her spine straight and her face radiating a satisfaction so bright it almost blinded the onlookers.
Ivan sat up, moving with a terrifying robotic confidence, he didn't touch his head though a red knot was forming.He simply stood adjusted his blazer and walked out.His security details scrambled behind him, sweating.They knew Ivan's silence was usually a preamble to a m******e.
Back at his mansion, Ivan Sat in his dark study.He wasn't angry, he was curious.He touched the bruise and felt the pulse, the cool chill he once felt in the biology lab, but intensified.It wasn't the joy of killing, it was the shock of being alive. He summoned his lead fixer,
“I want everything....” Ivan whispered
“Her parents, her history, the contents of her trash .I wanna know why she carries a building in her purse”
By the next morning, a file sat on his desk.Ivan flipped through it, a slow predatory smile spreading across his face.
“She is proud”He mused
“She thinks she escaped.She doesn't realize that instead of going to her, I'm going to make her crawl to me”
On the sixth day, Elizabeth had almost convinced herself that she was safe.The adrenaline had faded into a desperate search for a new job, but the world had suddenly turned cold.Every door she knocked on slammed shut, from high-end boutiques to a position as a hospital cleaner, the response was the same. A sudden, unexplained rejection.She returned home exhausted and defeated only to find her world in ashes.Her mother was sobbing in the living room her face burried in her hands.Her father stood by the window his shoulders slumped looking decades older.
“Mom, dad. What happened?”
Elizabeth rushed to them. Her father spoke with a hollow voice.
“It's over Beth. Your mother, she was fired this morning. No promotion, just a letter saying her services are no longer needed.And my company, they let me go an hour later, no severance, nothing”
Elizabeth's heart hammered against her ribs.‘Coincidence’ She prayed, ‘Please let it be karma’ but the universe wasn't done.
The next morning, a knock at the door brought their landlord, who handed them a summary eviction notice.Simultaneously, the creditors her father had borrowed to keep them afloat appeared at the gate, loud and aggressive.They were becoming homeless, broke and broken all in a span of forty eight hours.
In a sanctuary of her room, she cried out of frustration.It all led back to that night, to that bag, to Ivan.For five days Elizabeth stood outside Ivan's corporate headquarters. She was denied entry by stone-faced guards.She stood under the blistering sun, her pride melting away every hour.
Inside, behind one-way glass, Ivan watched her, he sipped his coffee whispering to the empty room.
On the fifth evening, a security man in his 70's who had worked for Ivan's father for over 16 years and now works for Ivan had watched her suffer for days leaned in.
“He won't see you here”The man whispered pitty in his eyes.He handed her a small slip of paper with a GPS coordinates and the time.
“This is his private route home.Its your only shot”
The next morning, Ivan was in the back seat of his SUV when the driver slammed on the brakes.Ivan looked up, annoyed expecting an accident.Instead, he saw a girl standing in the middle of the road, arms spread wide, her face pale but determined.Ivan stepped out of the car, his eyes cold.
“I was wishing you would suffer a little longer” he said under his breath.
Elizabeth didn't flinch.
“Arrest me”she demanded her voice trembling.
“Take your anger out on me, hit me, jail me, ruin me but please leave my family alone.They did nothing” Ivan scoffed leaning against the car.
“I expected you to be on your knees little girl, you are still trying to negotiate” He turned to get back in the car.
“You haven't learned”
Panic surged through her.Elizabeth lunged forward falling to the asphalt and grabbing his leg.A small crowd of commuters began to gather, whispering as they saw the powerful Ivan stopped by the girl in the dust.
“I'll do anything” she gasped her forehead against his expensive shoes.
“Anything for you to stop your games”
Ivan paused, he reached down gripped her chin and forced her to look at him.
He leaned in so close that she could smell the peppermint on his breath.
“Anything, how about you make this bruise go away”
“I wish I could go back in time”She whispered
“What's done is done ”Ivan said, his voice dropping to a dangerous silkiness
“If you wanna say them, show me how serious you are.Strip, right here. Let the world see what a beggar looks like without rags.If you can handle then shame, I will handle your debts”
The crowd gasped, Elizabeth froze.It was a death sentence for her soul. She looked at the onlookers, then thought of her mother's tears and her father's broken spirit.
“I'll do it” she shouted
Ivan smiled crossing his arms
“What are you waiting for?”
With trembling fingers, Elizabeth reached for the buttons of her blouse...
- Writer
