FOUR

DAMON

"B-but... You look so young," I uttered when I found my voice.

A burst of short laughter escaped her. "I am going to excuse your narrow-minded view. Darling," her smile was wide, "I am just twenty-seven and I won't be getting old anytime soon."

Her voice carried certain confidence that I could never attempt to rival. While I was jealous of her admirable high self-esteem, I gave her a look of doubt which she responded to with a quick nod of her head. 

I still had a little look of doubt on my face when she said, "Let's not waste time on age-telling, Damon. I have a proposition for you."

The wrinkle on my forehead deepened.

"How do you know my name?"

I instantly realized she had said my name earlier.

Tilting her head to the right, her bun fell into a ponytail. That simple move gave her face a slightly different feature.

"I know a lot of things about you, Damon Jones. You live in Alaban, don't you?"

"Stalker alert?" I found myself asking without putting much thought into my response.

"I don't stalk, I observe." Who is she, a scientist? "Listen to me, Damon, I have a proposition for you."

"I still don't get why you would stalk me."

"Damon, I do. not. stalk." A dark, angry look flashed through her eyes, but it quickly went away as though it never existed. A brief silence ruled the office and I continued to make sure I didn't maintain prolonged eye contact with her.

"As I said earlier, I have a proposition for you." She placed her elbows on the desk and leaned forward. "You want a job as a photographer, but I want you to work for me."

I shifted in my seat, the blue file in my hold feeling heavier even though that was just a game my mind was playing. My wallet also seemed to poke me from where it was.

I was starting to feel tense.

But I hid my uneasiness well as I said, "I don't understand. If I get a job here as a photographer, I will be working for you."

"I am talking about a different work." I raised a brow and my suspicions flew. "You have met our requirements and we need someone like you."

"Who," I placed my hands on the desk as my curiosity became aroused, "exactly are the people who need someone like me?"

"If I tell you, you'll freak out," she replied calmly. This woman named Selena was too calm for my liking.

"I know you will still tell me," I stated as I sat back. When my arms crossed over my chest, I proceeded to take a quick tour of the office again.

And that was when I noticed it. I turned and it was everywhere, on the blinds, furniture, and cups. Even on the floor.

How I did not notice it earlier baffles me.

"Anything catches your fancy, Jones?"

I gave her a side glance before I returned my sight to what I was looking at. Staring deeply at the huge 'D' sign on the floor next to my feet and taking in the curvatures that came with the boldly imprinted letter, I realized my thoughts were right.

My motion was quite dramatic as I faced her.

"You are..." That smirk of hers returned. "... the Dangerous Dame."

"In the flesh, darling." She clapped once and her sweet-looking face wore the dark look that flashed earlier. "In the flesh."

"Y- you are really her?" I gulped hard and my hands held my file envelope tighter. "The Dangerous Dame everyone in Población fears is a twenty-seven-year-old woman?"

"Oh, please. Stop making me sound so old." She waved her hand, some sort of excitement in her voice.

I sat properly and faced her squarely. It was high time I ended my presence in that room.

"Why exactly am I here?" The confidence in my voice was fake.

While I urged myself to remain calm, I recalled all the terrible news that trailed Miss Selena, a.k.a, the Dangerous Dame, the present leader of the Damish Gang.

"I told you, I want you to work for me."

"Do I look like someone who wants to work for you?"

"You look like someone who will work for me," Miss Selena replied with certainty in her voice. Then, as my soul plunged into a state of slight jeopardy, her hands went on to tuck beneath her chin and her eyes dared me. 

I sucked my lower lip, occasionally lifting my head to study her with my eagle eyes. In my mind, I tried to figure out what she could want me to do for her.

Kill someone? Kidnap? Buy drugs?

I soon felt a light touch drawing circles around my breast area. Miss Selena was now laying chest-down on the large table, her legs which wore heels strangely dancing in the air.

 Our faces were so close, that I saw how easy it was for her to change the look on her face from sweet to dangerous and vice versa.

As her fingers played on my body, making me feel more frightened for my life, she said, "Darling, stop getting worked up. I assure you, the work isn't something bad."

"Why me? You realize I can go to the police after leaving this place. I'll tell them about you." While everyone in the country knew about the Damish Gang and the infamous Dangerous Dame, no one knew the real identities of the gang members.

They had their hold on a lot of things in our country, yet their faces were unknown.

Well, no one knew that information until this very moment I am in.

I was presently facing their leader who had a non-suspicious look. She had the kind of face that could never be linked to terrible doings. If she were a normal citizen, she would surely turn heads with her beauty but no one would ever think that she is a member of a gang.

Miss Selena put a stop to the trailing her fingers were performing and suddenly, I felt suffocated when she firmly dragged my shirt's collar.

"Listen to me, Damon Jones..." The glacial look in her eyes could not be missed, it made my soul shiver a little. "... Try to tell anyone about me and you won't make it past the exit of this building."

"You don't scare me." My words were a huge lie. The more she squeezed my collar in her hold, the closer I was to shitting my pants. And, the evil look in her eyes was enough to warn me to desist from spewing another lie.

A burst of short, hearty laughter was quick to fill the room and Miss Selena wiggled back to her seat. She managed to make that action look gracious.

"So, would you like to know the details of your job? I promise you, it is a million times better than the bear-dancing job you have."

My suspicions returned and I didn't spare her a little glare. With her statement, it was certain she had people stalking me. Or maybe she was the one that performed the 'observation'.

"What is this job?" I finally asked as I decided to play along. Playing along is for the best.

The woman reeked of extreme danger. She could pin me to the wall and leave me to die if I run my mouth in an extremely careless way.

"Finally!" She threw her hands in the air excitedly. "I was worried I would have to take the low road. But that road can be-" She stopped when she noticed a certain look on my face. "Okay. I need you as a photographer for the Damish Gang."

"As a photographer of your gang? And what exactly do you want me to do? Take pictures when you guys are having meetings? Or maybe take pictures of you guys posing with your weapons? Wait, here's a good one. I could take pictures while you guys are fighting a rival gang.

I mean it would be so nice to capture the bullets being projected back and forth. And then, when we are all dead, our ghosts can come back and start relishing sweet memories through the pictures."

My voice dripped with absolute sarcasm but it seemed my response only made Selena laugh. Miss Selena found it difficult to contain her loud chuckling but she soon gave her serious mode a chance.

"Oh, you are so funny. That is more reason why we need you in our gang. So, are you in?"

"In for what? Not even in a million years." My hands hit the table with certain anger which came from nowhere and I stood up. "Do you think I would want to dive into a life of crime? I don't even get it," I crossed my arms over my chest and stood calmly, "what do you expect me to tell my mom I am doing as a job? Mafia photography?"

"If that's the issue, you will get a job here in TIANOR, as a photographer for our models. It will be the perfect cover," she replied with a relaxed tone in her voice.

"You are serious about this gang photography thing, aren't you? Why do you guys even need it? Why do you need me?" The frown on my face deepened as a corner of my mind prayed fervently that my false confidence wouldn't be the end of me.

"That is not for you to know, Jones." Miss Selena wore a blank look and that instantly frightened me. As I watched her swirl in her seat, I begged the part of me acting stern to soften a bit.

That stern part ignored my pleas.

Maintaining my solid stance, I said, "Well this is for you to know, Miss Selena. I am not accepting your job offer. I have no interest at all." I pressed my hold on the file in my hands and soon walked away.

When I got to the wall that was supposed to be the exit, I tried pushing it to no avail. I also attempted pressing random portions of the wall but it failed to open.

A bit embarrassed, I turned to face Miss Selena.

"Can you uh..." My cheeks felt red. I felt so humiliated. "The door, please," I simply requested.

"Damon Jones," her serious voice called from where she was, "you'll end up being Damish Gang's photographer and there's nothing you can do to stop that." I didn't miss the smug look that rested on her face as she reached underneath her desk.

The wall then slid open and I urged myself to ignore her last words. Quickly, I walked out. But I was highly disappointed that I didn't eventually get a job.