The Hitman and His Consort

XI - Gatherings

First Person P.O.V: VALENTIN HACKSAW

We’re back in the fancy manor of Miss Sandra Sandoval, who greeted us at the doorway as her personal valet drove our car to the complex’s parking lot. With a wide smile, she did that thing where people connect their cheeks while making the 'kiss' sound with Denis, who then gushed over how her make-up looks. I didn't even know she wore make-up.

Seems like Denis was determined to strengthen their relationship through the chokehold of friendship. Sandra must have some grit to her personality, and I can say this as an eyewitness, as someone who lived with Denis for the most unfortunate years of my life, he gathers a very particular type of crowd around him.

His circle of friends is composed of people whose only common interest, is to live in peace. Contrary to their choice of company and occupation.

Denis then retrieved the keys from the valet and gestured to us, “I have Valya and Art here, and we're just hoping to discuss with you a wittle-teensy-tiny minor favor,” Denis began and Sandra nodded in curiosity.

“Oh, then I’ll see what I can do, please come in and have some tea!” she said as she led us to their gazebo in the back garden, which I’m impressed with. It’s predictable but impressive. Her housemaids then served us our beverages as we settled in our seats.

Sandra shifted her gaze between me and Art for a solid minute with a conflicted yet curious expression, occasionally looking at Denis, all while wearing an uncomfortable smile.

“A.. Are they together—?” She finally asked,

“We’re just working together,” I answered rather too quickly, frankly her discomfort is annoying.

And if I thought Sandra was tense as she was, Art is much worse. She’s stiff as a rock with an awkward smile on her face. I did hear her try to clarify Sandra’s misjudgment, but I beat her to it, which resulted in her being unsure what she has to do now.

“A-About the favor! What favor were you talking about?” Sandra announced to break the ice. Denis was too busy taking a picture of his fancy tea along with the gazebo to bother helping on lighting the atmosphere at the very least, so I took the lead.

'Weird that it has to be the sociopath of all people,'

“Miss Sandoval, did you perhaps receive an invitation to the Mariella Labs event for tomorrow?” I asked, and she nodded as she sipped her tea.

She wiped the corner of her mouth with a napkin, humming as she answered me, “Yes, my fiancé as well, why'd you ask? Are you also invited?” she replied.

Art and I exchanged glances and I see her eyes glisten a little. I faced Sandra again as I leaned closer to the table, “Would it be possible for the two of you to bring ‘plus ones’?” I asked again.

She furrowed her brows as she seemed to be deep in thought before answering, “I suppose it’s fine, I just need to inform the one who holds the list, but I’m sure I can get some last-minute services from them,” she said with a small smile.

By then Denis was done taking pictures and offered his cup to toast with Sandra with a knowing smile, “My, oh, my~ look at you Madame Sandra Sandoval,” he jeered at her, making her chuckle.

I, on the other hand, turned to Art after she tugged at my coat nonstop, a bright expression on her face. She gestured for me to bend close as she leaned to my ear, whispering, “I can’t believe you secured this just like that.”

‘Firstly, why was she whispering?’

“Why are you whispering?” I whispered back to her, making her snicker, our positions remaining the same,

“I don’t know, but what I’m saying is this is great, but we need to prepare ‘our’ part of this plan,” she whispered back,

I nodded before leaning back in my chair properly, only to see both my brother and Miss Sandra looking at us with tight smiles. I frowned, raising a brow. Denis scoffed while Sandra pulled out her phone, looking at me.

“Mr. Valentin, we should exchange contacts, I think invited guests must be present when bringing their chosen company, it’s much wiser if we head to the event at the same time to avoid complications,” she explained.

I nodded as I got my phone at hand and showed her my contact information. In turn, she showed me hers.

“What are you going to do at that event anyways?” it was Denis’s turn to speak, finally present in this conversation rather than just acting as my chauffeur, and acting only to fulfill his personal agendas.

I rolled my eyes at him as I sipped my tea, “Long story,” was all I replied.

‘It is a long story, and it’s not mine to tell.’

Luckily, Art did, as briefly as she could. “I need it to enter the labs and find whoever killed my brother so I can burn them under low fire,” she narrated in a monotone, almost as if the rage made her disassociate from her usual self as she sipped her tea robotically. Snapping back to focus with a smile, surprised and seemingly amazed at how her tea tasted. Enough to make her have another sip.

On the other hand, Denis and Sandra shared the same bewildered and stunned expressions, frozen in their spots. By the moment Art got over her awe at the tea and looked up to meet their eyes, she shrunk back down a little under their gaze.

If the goal was to make Arthur uncomfortable, these Denis and Sandra would achieve that with exceptional efficiency and speed. I cleared my throat to somewhat snap them back to focus, and Denis hummed as he nodded.

“That… is quite a reason, I hope you find whoever that is,” he said, raising a small toast to her before finishing his cup.

“Thank you,” Art replied, going the same and wiping her mouth with the back of her hand. I fought the urge to hand her the napkin, but it’s not that big of an issue. She then cleared her throat, turning to Sandra. “Thank you for the help, Miss Sandoval,” she said.

Sandra placed a hand on her chest as she smiled, “It’s perfectly fine, I’m glad to be of help,” she replied. Art pulled out one of her cards from the purse she used earlier as a part of her disguise and handed Sandra the same card she gave me, the mirror-like design engraved with her info.

“You can call me if you want someone gone. I’ll give you a big discount, Miss Sandoval,” she said with a small chuckle making something that is literally criminal, sound lighthearted.

But that’s just Art’s personality and attitude. I might not be able to say for sure since I’ve only been with her for almost a day, but I guess this is how she carries herself. I simply have no extravagant expectations for her and I believe she thinks the same.

“Oh, my… You’re a ‘Delavigne’ Art!?” Sandra suddenly yelled out, astonished as she inspected the card from every angle before staring at Art with expectant eyes.

'Is this the first time she seen a business card?' I don’t know what I thought of Miss Sandra, but the fact that she raised her voice to that volume with that tone amused me.

Art tilted her head and nodded, “Y-Yes, have you done business with us before?” she asked, a frown forming on her forehead.

I raised a brow, 'Us?' There's more of where she came from?

Sandra nodded vigorously, “Yes! My mother did three years ago! Your family was amazing with the disguises. I believe it was your father who acted as my father’s double when she had his mistress killed, right?” she gushed, but I CAN NOT stop myself from grinning at what I heard, so I covered my mouth. My attempt at politeness.

Denis kicked my shin from across the table and threw a small glare at me, I guess my hand couldn't cover the huge grin on my face, but that just made me laugh and I couldn’t stop my shoulders from shaking as I tried to hide it.

‘That’s f*****g hilarious. She said that all in one go,’

“Ah… yeah, that would probably be him. If not, it’s my brother,” Art confirmed, making Sandra gasp and place a hand over her chest once again.

“I can’t believe it…I met a Delavigne in person!” Sandra gushed as she found a freshly kindled interest in Arthur, leaning closer to stare at her to the point of discomfort. She did just treat her like a museum piece.

Which I would know because Art started tugging at my coat again. With a sigh, after the fun moment was over I gathered my composure again and tapped the table with my index finger to get Sandra’s attention, “Miss Sandra that would be all, I’m afraid we have more pressing matters to attend,” I said and she nodded,

“Ah, yes, of course, oh and please don’t be too formal with me from now on,” she insisted.

‘look at that,’

“Then we’re off, Sandra, see you,” I repeated as I stood up. Denis nearly choked on his tea, grabbing a napkin and wiping his mouth before offering an apologetic look to Sandra, who was now stunned speechless. She then gestured for her close-by maids to escort us outside.

She’s the one who suggested to stop being formal. Arthur followed behind me as we walked back to the front door. Denis brought teh car around, nodding for us to hope on before he gave one last smile to Sandra,

“See you next time, Sandra,” he said as he took his spot on the driver’s seat, I on the passenger seat, and Art at the back, as per our previous arrangement. He then revved the engine before driving away. Once we passed the gates of the Sandoval manor, Denis whacked me.

“ARE YOU f*****g KIDDING ME, VALYA?!” he yelled like I wasn’t a foot away from him.

“About what? That hurts you, idio—”

“When someone tells you to ‘not be formal’ with them, don’t shift to casual conversation instantly!”

“Bullsh*t, I did what she said!”

“You tactless f*cking snake—ugh, what would Sandra think?”

“Here’s what I think about what ‘she’ would think, f*cking irrelevant—”

“YOU SON OF A BI—”

“I KNOW!" I roared, flipping him off, "I would've thrown a finger gun at her too if I knew you going to be upset!”

Amidst our yelling was laughter. I turned to look at Art just to see her clutching her gut. Visibly entertained by our stupid bickering, then again, it’s been a while since I’ve annoyed Denis this much. I’m not sure what part of our arguing made her let out that obnoxious laughter, but this is much preferred compared to her meek behavior earlier.

“I-I—PWHAHAH!-I’m so so–HAHAHA–sorry! It’s just you hit–pft–you hit him out of the blue, it caught me off guard,” she apologized in between wheezes and laughs that infected Denis since he started laughing a little too. My conjecture, both of them, seemed particularly elated at the fact I got hit. You know, like sadists.

“You laugh is contagious!” Denis joked before chuckling again, as I sat in silence watching all this unfold, trying to make sense of it. How can laughs be f*cking contagious? Years of scientific discovery and expensive tuition fees had failed you, Denis.

I know people use that as some sort of expression. When they laugh, when someone else laughs, my only question is: why?

Denis then glanced at me and scoffed, “Having fun? I hope that stern face means you’re reflecting on your actions,” he jeered, and I just flipped him off. For the lack of better response, suddenly out of my better mood, I just hope this whole revenge story retains its engaging aspects before I bail out of boredom.

Finally, the laughter subsided and Denis look glanced at Arthur through the rearview mirror, “should I drop you back to where I picked you up?” he asked and she nodded to confirm. It didn’t take for us to get back to that spot.

Art and I then exited the car, “I’ll see you around Art, it was nice to meet you,” Denis said.

She nodded, “Yeah, thank you for the ride, and nice to meet you too,” she replied.

‘Must people constantly exchange pleasantries like this? All the time? This is why a lot of people just became rude and avoid all this f*****g trouble,’

Art waved as Denis drove away before looking at me with the usual goofy grin, “Your brother’s a fun dude, Valya,” she quipped, she must’ve thought I was not aware of it when in contrast I’ve suffered most of my high school years having people ask about my brother though me because he was such a fun guy.

“I know,” I merely replied as we both walk back to the van.

Inka seemed not too bothered by our return. We probably took long. The commute back and forth was lengthy enough by itself. She stretched out her arms and leaned back in her chair, “So? What happened?” she asked and Art settled on a seat, as did I before she spoke.

“The infiltration is a no-go, but we have an alternative,” Arthur began making Inka link her fingers,

“Go on…” Inka said,

Resting her elbows on her knees, Arthur narrated the plan: “Valya, and I secured, more or less, a spot to enter the lab’s event tomorrow, we’ll just have to fix disguises and if we’re really lucky we could even meet the targets there and try to finish the job then and there, but that’s pretty unlikely, they have that ‘visitors and guests’ rule so we’ll need to look into that and figure out how to use that to get in the lab,”

I hummed since the plan seems to be good enough, as a whole that is, but more technical details need to be configured. The rendezvous for starter, the disguises and the details that needed to get into them, clothing and weaponry that we could sneak in if we had the chance to use them as per her initial suggestion.

Inka stretched her neck side to side and cracked her knuckles, “Got ‘ya, so we’ll be needing a male and a female who somehow earned a spot in an elitist event, generic ‘rich people’ profile, that’s a big event I think it’s better if we make a disguise to make both of you look younger to attract some attention,” she droned on, typing the details on her laptop.

I frowned at her last comment, “Attract attention?” I repeated, personally not liking the idea of those two words together on a daily basis, and much more when in a semi-covert mission.

Inka chuckled, “Yep, when young women are in ‘rich people’ events like that, what do they attract?” she asked,

“Rich creepy old men,” I replied.

She snapped her fingers at my response and smirked, “Bingo, rich creepy old men who’re probably ready to show off his wealth and influence, if Art could utilize that to our favor then that ‘visitor and guests’ pass is ours,” she explained and at that point it made sense.

I nodded, quite impressed yet amused at how their understanding and analysis of human nature and ability brought them to a place where they’re implementing it for inhumane purposes. Makes me feel that my lack of such doesn’t make me any worse compared to these kinds of people.

‘What a refreshing bunch,’

“And me?” I asked, I can't attract rich old men too. That would be impossible for me. I have no tolerance for them thanks to the bitter impression of Señor Georgio’s.

Inka frowned and clicked her tongue, “Ah… I guess we can work out an up-and-coming bachelor figure for you? So when people ask you about it, you can say you’re running a big business about…”

“Succulents” I suggested,

Both Art and Inka stared at me before nodding along, “Uh, sure, succulents, a big business about succulents, and when they try to school you or give you advice and even if they just make it about themselves, try to suck up and make them like you,” she said and I felt my body ache just from hearing those words.

Nevertheless, I nodded.

With a firm nod Inka made the ‘ok’ gesture with her hand, “Events like that usually begin in the evening, don’t they?” she asked and before I could tell her that I have no idea my phone buzzed in my pocket, it was a text message from an unknown number, this is probably Sandra.

‘This is Sandra Sandoval, the event starts at 6:00 PM but we’ll be heading there thirty minutes earlier, it’s at the White Palace, we’ll see you there,’ was what the text entailed.

“It starts at six but we’ll have to meet Sandra there thirty minutes earlier, it’s at the White Palace,” I told them, making both their eyes widen in a big smile,

“s**t, that’s bougie as hell,” Inka quipped.

“What’s ‘bougie’?” Art asked,

“It’s from the word ‘bourgeoisie’, but it basically means along the lines of luxurious,” the larger woman explained.

“Oh my God… what did your mouth just do? Bor-zwa-what?” Art mimicked but failed.

Waving her confused and awed expression off, Inka resumed typing on her laptop before speaking again, “Okay, I’ve checked the routes around the White Palace but for good measure we’ll just meet here at 4:00 to finish the preparations, I’ll try to see we can do a ‘guest bingo’ and do background check for possible attendees so you’ll know who to approach if you ever saw these people in that place,” she said.

Both Art and I nodded, but more so myself. Since I now realized why Art’s plans were surprisingly detailed and thorough. It was Inka who makes them, despite having a body type good for fieldwork, she seems settled in this role.

With that resolved, I suppose our impromptu backup plan is at play.