Guns and Royalties

Beau

There!

She had done it. Mission accomplished.

She had set her goal and followed through. With flying colors. Several times.

Wincing at the soreness she felt in between her raw thighs, every muscle in her body protesting, she tiptoed out of the suite, carrying her Manolos.

It was six in the morning; the sun had not come out to kiss the horizon, yet she was sneaking out of a man’s room like a burglar.

Why couldn’t she be like a normal girl? A rhetorical question.

She could have woken up beside the guy she’d had sex with the whole night and maybe enjoyed breakfast with him.

She was escaping instead.

You know why.

But the guy is just so yummy!

Then that is a hell of a reason to move your ass out there.

You are right.

Shit! Why was she having a debate with her conscience?

She was sparing herself the humiliation she would surely feel when he kicked her out. That was why.

One-night stand had not changed its meaning. It was fuck and go. No clingy goodbyes. No promises.

Plus other, more important reasons.

She grimaced. It was virtually impossible to get out of his arms.

He fell on top of her after the umpteenth time, both of them drained, unable to move.

She had nearly fallen asleep, thanking God she didn’t succumb to exhaustion. She realized it was dawn and she needed to hightail it before he woke up.

With a heavy heart, after gazing at his perfectly carved physique to store in her memories for those lonely nights, she donned her wrinkled dress, sans the underwear.

She didn’t even know where it was and she had resigned to go commando for the time being.

She leaned to kiss his cheek softly. Thanking him for the most wonderful evening of her life.

He stirred a bit but didn’t wake up. He hugged the pillow that had her scent on it.

She smiled, wistful. Wishing she could stay.

But no. She wouldn’t. Life was so complicated as it was. She did not need to add him to the mix.

The elevator ride she took to bring her down to the first floor of the hotel made her jittery. Aching to go back to him.

She sniffed. She wasn’t even aware she was crying.

Her bare feet didn’t make a sound on the sheening marble tiles at the elegant lobby.

She must look a sight with her disheveled hair, swollen lips, and state of dress.

Blushing scarlet, trying to pat her hair to tame it.

She must have had a fucked-all-night look—the employees were staring at her.

Exiting the five-star hotel, her heart grew heavier. She didn’t know why her feet were trying to drag her back inside.

She knew the rules. One-night stand. No strings attached.

Besides, men like him had girlfriends and mistresses in abundance. He may even be married.

Feeling her eyes fill with tears, she took a deep breath. How could she be so stupid? She had resigned herself that she could be pregnant. She had wanted it.

Having sex with a married man should have been out of the question.

~He doesn’t have a wedding band, Beau. ~

She squinted her eyes, trying to think. Yeah. He didn’t have one.

She relaxed a bit. Nevertheless, she wouldn’t go back no matter how much she wanted him inside her again.

Besides, he was a foreigner. A Russian. She was sure he would be gone in a few days.

And she would never see him again.

The thought dampened her mood even further.

***

She just couldn’t believe she cried all the way from the hotel. Now, her eyes were swollen and she was breathing through her mouth.

She sank deeper in her tub, savoring the warm water, and felt her muscles relax. The soreness in her genitals was still a bit uncomfortable. A reminder of him.

She sighed. He would always be but a distant memory. If she got pregnant, then she would be the happiest woman in the world.

Beau’s eyes felt heavy, feeling the exhaustion from the strenuous activity. She’d lost count on how many times they did it.

She had better take a much-needed nap and later talk to Lily.

The familiar ringtone blasting at a distance—probably from her living room—jerked her from her sleep.

She glowered in annoyance. The water was cold and she was all wrinkly. The stopper was removed to drain the tub before she put on her cozy bathrobe.

She reached for the Bluetooth device connected to her server.

“~Hello, Beauty Grace.” ~

She rolled her eyes; however, she couldn’t help but smile at her friend’s British, robotic accent.

~“It’s Beau.” ~

~“Heavy sigh.” ~

~“What is new, Lil?” ~

~“The Marcelinos want your expertise again. Looking for the file.” ~

~“They are boring, Lil. Anybody else?” ~

~“Another heavy sigh.” ~

Beau grinned.

~“The Marcelinos are willing to pay double. I suggest you take it, Beauty Grace.” ~

~“Ok. I’ll take it. I must warn you, though, I will be done in a day or two, so you must find me another one.” ~

~“I will. This time I will make it more complicated. Oh and, one of the clients wants to meet B. G. Anderson.” ~

~“Not a good idea, Lil. I don’t want conflict. And they don’t know who I really am. I want it that way.” ~

~“I agree with you, Beauty Grace. Take care. Sending the file to a secure server. Dropping call.” ~

That went well. Usually, Lily would torture her with an endless sermon about the merits of life. It was Beau’s turn to exhale heavily when the call ended.

She missed Lily. They’d grown up together in an orphanage and had always watched each other’s backs.

Her best friend was deaf and mute—the main reason Beau was fiercely protective of her and the fact that Lily was the only one that knew her secret.

Having been diagnosed with IQ autism 360 had been a burden. A nightmare concealed and suppressed.

Beau didn’t want to be considered a freak of nature.

And she sure as hell didn’t want to have been experimented on in a government facility.

Moreover, she didn’t want to lose Lily.

By the age of seven, Beau was teaching Lily the universal sign language. She memorized and solved math equations.

Her mind was constantly at work, brainwaves restless, churning with puzzles and ideas.

Only Lily kept her anchored. She learned how to pace herself so her best friend could keep up.

The pretense of not knowing more than what was taught at her age had taken its toll when she was ten years old. She just needed more.

First, she had decided she needed books, mostly in foreign languages. Mostly unsolved math equations by geniuses.

But she would need money for that. She begged Mrs. Anderson, their foster parent, to let her bake some goodies and sell them from house to house.

In secret, she studied, and her knowledge broadened.

She learned languages, including Latin and Hebrew, and got her own computer from the money she and Lily had scraped from selling goodies.

By then, Beau had decided to create her own website with untraceable IP. Her expertise in math soon led to managing financial reports.

Complicated investments and expenditures. She analyzed transactions, cross-referenced minute details in each data.

The only setback was she was underage at the time—no legal company would employ an accountant at her tender age.

The obvious solution was to dig deeper into the dark web. There, she found clients that would look the other way as long as she managed their books and investments.

In return, they filled her prepaid cards after each contract. No questions asked.

Because there was a steady flow of cash, she was able to support Lily’s studies.

She had to go to a special school, and Beau had no problem shouldering her expenses.

At fourteen, Beau graduated high school, went to Berkeley at fifteen, graduated at nineteen with a Bachelor’s Degree in Finance and Accounting.

By twenty, she was her own boss.

Lily became a Special Education teacher, fell in love with a guy named Adam, and moved to England.

Beau was happy Lily had found love and remained her best friend.

Up to now, still working as her part-time secretary. Lily was the only person she could trust with her life.

If her clients actually knew who she was… she knew she would have a lot of enemies.

***

Five days of routine. Five days of restlessness. Five days of hell.

When she told Lily she would finish the books in 24 hours, what she meant was within twelve. The financial analysis was submitted soon after.

Good luck to whoever was stealing from the coffers.

Shaking her head, she went back to cleaning her cottage. On the outskirts of the city, all she could hear were cicadas singing in the stillness of the evening.

God! She had been doing the same thing for five fucking days; the place was so squeaky clean, bordering on sterile.

She could sleep on the kitchen floor naked and would not be contaminated with any type of bacteria.

Great fucking analogy.

She bet Dominic would love to see that.

“Shit!”

Where did that thought come from? She couldn’t. Not with him. Tears would flow if she kept on thinking of him.

She wouldn’t do that to herself. It was an absurd infatuation leading nowhere. She just couldn’t.

Even if it were possible, she would not bring trouble to his doorstep.

Because if there was something she was sure of, her middle name was trouble.

She had plummeted into the unknown. For the first time in her life, she didn’t know the equation she needed to apply to come up with the solution to her situation.

There was no denying it. For a genius, she was idiotic to the highest degree.

She, Beau Anderson, had fallen. In more ways than one.

***

“Hey, Lily Billy. Wassup?”

“Rolling my eyes from your silliness.”

Beau smiled despite her melancholy.

“I know you love me.”

“I wish I didn’t. Shakes my head. I found you a legit client.”

The system Beau had invented for Lily had a computer to perform around 200,000 trillion calculations per second.

She bet the Pentagon would love to get their hands on her baby. Too bad they wouldn’t.

Her invention was deeply ensconced in her brain: they’d have to kill her and dissect it to know how it was built.

“Beauty Grace. Tapping my fingers.”

“Eh...still here, Lil.”

“The client? Heavy sigh.”

“Legit, you say? The name of the company?”

“DV Corporation. Owner of hotels, restaurants, resorts, and casinos. They also own various shipping companies. Last I checked they are earning billions in profits for the last three decades. In Euros. The accounting head has noticed discrepancies for the last two weeks. The difference is 200 million. You know the guy. He was a colleague of yours. Daniel.”

“Wow. ~If the initial computation came from that dickhead, then he is a mess. When will I receive the data?”~

“Shaking my head at your language. The twins are playing in the background. There is a catch.”

She wished she could really hear Lily and the twins’ noise in the background. She smiled at the thought.

“The client wants to meet the accountant and work from their main office. Cringing. Waiting for response.”

“You know I don’t do that, Lil.”

“You want legit, and this is how legit works. Banging my head on the table.”

“I know...it’s just that...”

Dare she?

“Please. For me? I worry about you. Blinking back tears. You need to go out.”

If only Lily knew.

“Don’t you dare cry, Lil. You know I hate it.”

“Sniffling. Kids are embracing me.”

Lily had her there. Damn!

“You are not playing fair, Lily. I am mad at you. My lips are pouting and I am pulling out my hair.”

“Laughing hard. I know you love me and your nieces. That is why you are going to do this and stop working for your dubious clients. Besides, they will pay double. They just want the report like yesterday. You are the only one who can do it.”

“Ok. You win. When?”

“Triumphant smile. Monday at 9 am. DV Corporation Main Building, edge of the financial square in Union Street. Make mama proud. Smirking.”

“Yeah. Yeah. Miss you and the girls, Lil.”

“We miss you too. Sober. Sad face. I wish you could visit.”

“I can’t do that. I won’t risk putting you and my nieces in danger. Love you.”

“Another heavy sigh. Embracing my kids. Love you, Beauty Grace.”

“Yeah. Talk soon. Bye.”

The beeping in the Bluetooth device signaled the call had disconnected.

Could she really do it? Would she be able to tolerate a corporate environment?

She supposed she had the weekend to talk herself out of it.