Meeting with an arms dealer

You feel the anxiety in your throat as you stand in front of the door. The sunset light makes it more mystical than any door should be. You take a nerve easing breath before grabbing the copper knob, twisting it, pulling your right arm, and opening the door to a medium-size office.

Four near bare burgundy walls greet you, the only decoration, a couple of diplomas on the eastern border and the west...

A sword. A very cartoonish, very sharp blade. Not many real swords have a star as their guard.

On the far back wall was a bookshelf filled with books, but it also held disks (can't really tell what the disk was) and a small number of photos.

In front of that, there is a mahogany desk with a swivel chair. On the desk, there's a green rectangular table mat the size of two book covers, a small lamp, unopened folders, and at the corner of the mat closest to the chair; a picture in a biscuit brown and strawberry red frame stood out.

You walk to the desk, reach to grab the picture before taking a seat in front of the desk in the cushion seated chair. The photo, it's of the boss with her beau.

A large man of very light brown skin, with black fade cut and a little chubby face, smiling brightly. Can't tell what they were wearing as it was a selfie, but it was taken in the evening...and by the love laced smile she was giving the man, the boss was very happy then, enough to pay no attention to the camera in his hand, all eyes on him.

Hard to believe such a couple was involved in such a lifestyle. Hard to believe such a woman leads a 'family'...Hard to be so familiar with, talk and laugh with the face of someone you will never meet...of a dead man.

"You are as curious as Nina and Dai said."

A strong, velvety voice speaks from behind, causing you to place the picture back down in a hurry, careful not to mess up the neat desk as you stand up to attention. You turn to the source and feel both your cheeks heat up as something else...Something cooler creeps gently around your heart.

The skin of chestnut with hair of raven cut to a flowing shoulder length. A roundish face adorned with a prominent nose, a small mouth, and thick eyebrows, her eyes were hidden behind a pair of cobalt goggles lenses shades, dressed in a white three-piece suit with a black silk button-up and a deep violet tie in a Windsor knot, a pair of black bit loafers and brown calf-length socks.

She is adorable and could easily be mistaken for a young boy with how her clothes fit over her frame, instead of a woman seven years your senior. That is if you ignored the fullness and gentle bounce of her modest breast, the slight sway of her hips when she walked, and the silken tone of voice.

The smell of chai and vanilla reverberates within your nose as she walks by and takes her seat behind her desk. Removing her glasses and revealing a stunning pair of black pearls for eyes, along with a sweet smirk.

You retract my young boy statement cause how in the hell is this lovely thing an arms dealer?

She was a hard contrast to what a gunrunner was...Though Dia and Nina weren’t precisely the standard either.

“Please sit down; no need to be nervous.” Her voice is a twinkling bell to the ear, very relaxing and trusting. Still, there’s something peremptory about her request, forcing you to sit almost instinctively.

“So...What’s your name?”

“R-Reader.”

You question your nervousness, the timidness in your voice.

“Interesting, is it a nickname? An alias of some type?”

“I...I suppose. It’s what I’ve always been called.” ‘Her tone..it’s so sweet and kind...So why?’

“No, parents? Or a family?”

“Not- not that I know of.” ‘Why?!’

“Oh wow, kind of explain why you're so gritty. No home training.”

You can feel your cheeks glow at her giggle; it’s melodic, motherly even. Something to protect. Despite that, the chill you felt hasn't disappeared...Haven’t diminished for a moment.

Warm and cool.

Nina and Dia described the boss...This person as such...

Perfect clarification.

“You’re on guard.”

Wide eyes greet her at her straightforward statement. She’s reading you. “I..”

“Not exactly what you thought, huh? A sweet little girl like me, being in the Arms Trafficking game. It’s ok. You can be honest.”

"Don't know."

What's there to be said that will stop this strangulation in the air, this icy cool and gentle heat—pleasurable suffocation.

She hummed gently. "Then..how about you tell what you do know?"

An arched eyebrow was the response, reflex.

"Why'd you help my people a month ago?"

You feel your mouth open in realization before settling in a small smirk, recalling the night you met those two, Nina and Dai. It was a simple night, hardly any stars out, but there was a half-moon.

You remember the crunching of the gravel beneath your feet as you walked that coastal city road, looking for something to eat...something to steal, so you could eat. You remember searching your hip and ass pockets to see if you had anything that could frighten a tourist. You remember looking up at hearing Nina yell to 'clothesline them.'

You still don't know why you did it, lift your arm and throw it to some 'rat bastard' neck, as Nina elegantly called the thief.

Why held the poor guy down until Dai and Nora came up and took him away, maybe to rough him up...Maybe worse.

You didn’t think much about the guy when Dai offered you dinner at a high-class restaurant, nor when Nina came back with a new shirt, saying her other one got... Messy. Wasn’t your business at the moment.

You still don’t think about them.

You remember drinking liquor you've never tasted.

Eating food you've never eaten.

Enjoying a bit of life, you've never thought you could have.

You remember having camaraderie with a pair of twins missing their triplet, toasting in his name as they kicked back his favorite drink and ate his favorite food.

Dai tearing up as Nina patted his back, wiping her own tears; two years, you remember they telling you. It was the second anniversary of his… Their brother, Salo passing...

The talks of his bright-eyed daughter, their niece, who's as precocious as she's gentle. Smart and cunning as her mother, charming and empathetic as her father, with a smile that encapsulated both her parents perfectly. They half-joked that she would take over the world at the age of 21, with all that going for her.

The talk of his wife, their sister-in-law, and their boss; The woman across from you. How their tone always seems to waver from reverence to outright fear, but always full of love.

Was it familial or unrequited romance?

Seems to waver depending on the story...Though, it appeared when their brother died, he took her wanting for that type of companionship as well.

There was some scuffle in there too, with some local gang boss whining about how the boss is a snobbish bitch because she wouldn’t trade their drugs for her weapons, and her late husband probably killed himself to escape her.

You don’t remember much of what they said after that.

You do recall getting a scolding metal tea kettle and beating the asshole skull with it, repeatedly.

Everything after was a flash of white and red fury. Don’t even remember when they got you into the swanky hotel room you woke up at, better than the hobble you called home.

“From there, they just started to take me with them on runs, kept me fed and such. Put some money in my pocket, guess they thought something positive about me.” You shrugged as you finish your story looking up at the boss.

She’s leaned back into her chair, Her left ankle on her right knee tips of her fingers pressed against each other, slighted downward held at stomach length, the blinds from the window casting both shadow and light on her smirking lips and devilish black eyes, respectively.

You see why they all fell for her.

She's chillingly beautiful. Dangerously gorgeous. Sinisterly enchanting. Could make men and women fall at her, on appearance alone.

“Ah! So you're the reason Paco looked like he was beaten by a branding lorn when he came to apologize." that voice and chuckle were more sensual than sweet. It made you clench up as you felt that chill around your heart tighten, a firm grip...Hers and it’s unsure if it's anxiousness or excitement you feel.

"I love a good story, thank you, Reader”.

“Yes, boss!.. I mean, Mrs.Uni…”

It was impossible to stop the words...This woman...She's more than what they described.

"Oh! You've already decided to join me.. "

You feel your palms sweat, your mouth dry, and your heart squeezed at her statement.

The smile, those eyes, and those lips make.

Those lips dressed in a tone lighter than her skin, allowing just the smallest amount of teeth to show. Kissable, yes, but more fatal than anything. The lips of one who could devour the world.

Along are those eyes that pierce yours and steal the majority of your will, leaving you with just the barest sliver of it and to coax you with their entrancing beauty to give it to her.

'She's an arms dealer. Her life is filled with bullets and bodies. She weaponized everything, from military to mafia. To join her is death.' That's what your mind and heart are saying.

To deliver it in her name, for her cause, at her call, without fail and get paid for it. That's your mental statement.

Your emotional side, your heart; its statement is clear...You will die for her, happily. To join her is to sacrifice your life for hers. Put it all on the line for this woman who you just met.

It's crazy.

Your instincts are saying she's dangerous, she's deadly, she monstrous...She's…

"Anyone, who's willing to defend my Biscuit's honor, that of our love…"

It was quick, but you saw it the moment she turned her eyes to the photo on her desk. A flash of the boundless depths that is her love for this man long passed. A sliver of her human vulnerability.

"And that of our little family we've gathered. Well, I can't say I wouldn't want to have a person like that on my team." And with a moment, those sensual killer eyes are back at full force, the vulnerability from before returned to the shadows, and with it...

"But that decision is yours."

Any will to deny her…

You reach out and kiss her knuckles in reverence, their soft yet calloused, and can summon more power than yours. One that can seize the world. You turn to her and see her expression, and in an instant, you feel it. Looking at her satisfied smirk, the glow in her black eyes, brought on by the sun. You can feel it.

The cold vice grip on your heart, the warm, welcoming strangulation around your neck.

You can only follow as she takes the same hand and lifts your chin before moving her face closer to you. A half-inch apart, and she envelops you. This immeasurable being of charisma, strength, and presence. Her smell, her eyes, her skin, her hair, her frame, her persona, her being.

She gives the first genuine smile, bright as the sun and full of her darkest designs. You can see her...The real her; Casey Marylen-Uni.

Neither a devil nor an angel, nor warm and cold... She was so much more.

She is the thrill, battle, adventure, and adrenaline. She's love, life, death, creation, and destruction. She's chaos and order...

And you...

"Glad to have you...You're mine now, Reader."

Her truth thrills you to the core.