I Have It All Planned

A feast was set in a massive garden at nighttime, glittering with stars in the black sky and lightened with thousands of tiny bulbs on the trees and shrubs.

Waiters and waitresses were treading back and forth with expensive bottles of wine in their hands, making their way through the tables set in a symmetrical order.

That was just the buffet waiting with delicacies from around the world; prepared for the people who were to come from a party that was held inside the guest house, with individuals from the top of the corporate food chain invited. Even though it was called a party, there was nothing that these people were celebrating. Glasses frugally filled with wine clinked in the air frequently. Even with the music that was flowing the entire time, no one seemed to have came for dancing. It was just another excuse for them to make new connections and talk about trade.

The trumpets, the violins, and the grand piano were playing their best to accompany the chats and discussions about the excise rate and the inauguration of a new branch abroad.

The entrance that was busy taking in and sending out the guests, was ignored and overlooked until a new entry passed through it. The people who were in the middle of calculations and planning were silenced and suddenly attracted to her, making the music from the instruments finally audible to them.

She walked in with her milky long legs coming out from the slit of her skirt and a plunging neckline complimenting her curvy figure. She was another light source in the already lightened hall. Her aura was divinely and she had the charm and elegance of a goddess. She was blending in perfectly among them; even when she was the only one who had stepped outside of a taxi to reach here.

Her arm crossed with a dashing young man in a black suit, who was getting outshined by his gorgeous partner. They marched toward the guests, who were keen to know the lady's name.

She flashed a mesmerizing smile with her perfectly aligned pearl-like teeth. While keeping her posture upright and her body relaxed enough to appear amiable, she introduced herself. "I'm called Oriel, and this is my boyfriend Rever."

Rever looked more tempted by the premium liquor getting served outside than joining them for fake laughs and presumptuous talks.

"I'll let you talk then." He unlinked his arm with Oriel and his sight followed the server taking a VIP wine bottle outside in the buffet.

Oriel grabbed his arm, pressing on his oversized coat to shrink to the size of his skinny biceps. "Rever," she said with a forced smile, "I think we talked upon it."

She pinched him to remind him of the purpose that they were there for. "You are not drinking, not even smelling the wine," she whispered in his ears.

"Trust me! nothing will happen. Get on to work and I will join you later." He pointed towards the boy at the entrance accepting the invitations from guests. "Look! Bryce is there... I will be with him." He freed himself from Oriel's stern grip and left her alone.

Oriel vented her frustration on her fingers by clenching them in a fist. It was supposed to be a big day for her, but Rever's behavior had the potential to ruin it all.

"So how do you know Mr. Bruce?" asked the lady Oriel introduced herself to.

"Mr. Bruce?" she perplexed not knowing the name.

"You came to a party in his vacation house and you don't know Mr. Bruce?... Is it just me or it is actually weird?" The lady clinked her champagne glass with her husband's wine.

"Actually! My boyfriend is a good friend of theirs and he always addresses him by his nickname so I never knew what his real name was." They burst into laughs over trifles as such.

Oriel grabbed a wine glass from the waiter passing by. "Excuse me!" she left their side to avoid the petty conversations.

Raising her glass to empty the wine in her mouth, she meticulously looked around the hall, at the faces and clothes of the guests, trying to tell their worth by their appearance. "Now let's get to work Oriel," she muttered.

She rolled her eyes at every man present there. She was reading them with the details worn by them. "Hmm! the watch was released as a limited edition." Her eyes were engraved on a guy surrounded by girls. "Popular among girls but the ring glittering in his hand says he is already engaged... Next!" her thoughts were changing shapes often.

She shifted her sight to another guy busy in a conversation with ladies, only older women. "Handsome!... made some effort to tuck the tag of his shirt under the collar but nodding constantly has made it stick out so soon." She witnessed an older woman stroking his arm seductively. "Not only poor but a gigolo... Never!"

"What a bummer! They are either engaged or broke." She had scanned every young guy there to end up dejected at last. "Shall I just go for the engaged one?"

Oriel and Rever, two guests at the party who were not there to extend their lists of acquaintances and had put their hopes in the night by renting designer clothes for a few hours. They belonged to a much shabbier and deprived world.

Bryce, the friend Rever followed, worked as a manager for the event and had secretly put their names on the guest list for a hundred dollars. The two entered those glistening walls in order to seduce someone from the other dimension of society, gambling their luck on the night.

"A party like this means nothing to the people present here, but if went according to plan, this place can turn my life."

Suddenly, a commotion entered her ears in the middle of her scheming a plan. Rever was seen arguing with one of the guests. Oriel collected her wandering thoughts and went to him.

"What did you just say?" Rever was clashing with a man of a stout build. "Who in the world is this drunk bastard? Is he even a guest?" the man asked Bryce.

Rever was drunk and couldn't even stand on his legs straight. He was enraged to hear the man's words and prepared a fist to throw at him. "You stinking pig! F***ing fat a*s!" blurted Rever.

"I am so sorry! He is just drunk. I apologize on his behalf," begged Oriel, coming to make him stop.

She supported him to stand straight and apologized a few times.

"This bastard here was hitting on my wife. He deserves to die from my hands but I am letting him go, only because a lady is requesting and don't want to upset Mr. Bruce on his party." The man found Oriel to be a respectful and dignified girl and decided to forgive the bad-mouthed Rever.

"I am ashamed in his place. I hope you have forgiven him," pleaded Oriel.

"Oriel Baker and Rever Hopkins are not on my guest list," another manager came to tally the guest list with Bryce.

He was flustered and resorted to playing dumb, "How would I know? Probably, I was given a revised one."

Oriel saw her plan crumbling apart and looked for ways to escape the party without being caught by anyone. Rever was heavy and difficult for her shoulder to bear the weight of. He was still blabbering things in his mouth, adding to the man's temper. "I didn't hit on your wife, fatty... she was the one coming after me."

"Rever! would you please not say anything for the rest of the night!" scolded Oriel in a flustered voice.

The man was spiking horns from his head, "You are not going back tonight. Come here, you as**ole." The man grabbed Rever from the scruff.

"What's the chaos about?" an intimidating voice came from behind halting the ruckus.

The crowd that surrounded them, turned their faces to look at the source of the voice and found Mr. Bruce there. "Mr. Bruce!" they called.

The owner of the marvelous mansion and the host of the party was here. His ambiance was emerging separately among other men, wearing a white shirt shrunk to his muscular body and a tattoo on his tight chest, slightly visible from the unbuttoned part. The tattoo made him a member of the feared gang, Gongbay.

Gongbay was a gang with its octopus feet each in every illegal trade, drugs, prostitution, human trafficking, smuggling, money laundering, and several other poisonous fruits growing on the branches of the tree named Bay transport company. It started initially as a cargo transporting company but slowly came out to be the most powerful gang in the country.

"Is this fellow here not on the guest list?" he asked blowing a shiver through the body of Bryce and Rever.

Oriel saw the tattoo on his chest and spun her mind to recall the meaning behind the sign. Bryce felt the scowl of his narrowed down eyes on his neck and gulped the moisture down his throat.

"Let me see who he is." He reached for the tablet in the manager's hand and snatched it from him.

Oriel saw some daring opportunity, she approached him after discarding her fear and bluntly took the guest list away from Mr. Bruce's hand. "Let me save you some time, we are not on this list," she confessed making a piercing eye contact with him.

Mr. Bruce was carefully gazing at her nonchalant face. He was appalled to his knowledge but didn't let it show on his face. "I see!" he released from his mouth. "So how did you say you came in?"

"I haven't said anything yet." Oriel turned her face to Bryce. Mr. Bruce followed the direction she was looking into, and found Bryce there, bewildered to his soul.

"I just wanted to have a meeting with you but, the manager of this event is a truly honest guy; he didn't let me in. So I had no choice but to threaten him with his parent's life. Yes, they are kidnapped by me and are tied up in my home while we are talking. I threatened that I won't release them until he lets me attend the party," said Oriel, in a single breath and keeping a straight face.

"Are you serious?" Mr. Bruce couldn't control his laugh and spilled it out. The crowd surrounding them including Bryce were baffled at the audacity of Oriel, grabbing the attention of the boss. Mr. Bruce let a cough out and restored the solemn countenance on his face. "So what did you have to say to me?" he asked.

"It's not something that can be told in front of all these eyes," replied Oriel. "It's confidential, and it's important for you to know, in relation to that..." she pointed toward his tattoo.

Mr. Bruce didn't blink once the entire time Oriel was talking. He stretched his hand in her direction, "I'll hear whatever it is after the party. Till then..." he took a pause while taking a step closer to her, "would you like to be my date for tonight?"

"I'll be glad," she pompously held his hand as if doing him a favor. "Your parents will be fine, just take care of my friend," she told Bryce.

Mr. Bruce took her through the crowd while holding her hand. Oriel was cunning and had come up with a trick after knowing that Mr. Bruce was a member of Gongbay. She had a piece of information that was crucial to the gang and she used it to leave an impression on him.

"You don't have anything, do you?" Mr. Bruce whispered in her ears.

"You won't be able to ignore it now. Just wait till I tell you this," she replied with pride. He sighed with his mind going crazy over her daring personality.

The two circled the party hall as Mr. Bruce attended to every guest, and Oriel accompanied him as his date.

Then suddenly, a familiar face came in their direction fiercely throwing a punch at Mr. Bruce's pale face. Oriel was staggered, she embraced her mouth with both hands in terror and looked at the face of that man. She was surprised to find him in her memories.

Meanwhile, Mr. Bruce whose face was turned to his side with the force that punch came, slowly turned his neck while tending to his hurting cheek, "You bastard," he exclaimed. "Come here!" He strangely banged his chest against him with a powerful hug and chuckled.

"How does that hurt now?" the man Oriel knew from her past saw her face through Mr. Bruce's shoulder during the hug.

"I'm sorry, you must have been startled. Meet him, he is my buddy," Mr. Bruce introduced him.

That man offered his hand for a handshake with a strange smile on his mouth, "Long time it has been," he said. "do I need to tell my name? You must have it somewhere in your memories."

Oriel's face turned pale and Mr. Bruce was curious to know what he had to say. The man and Oriel's story go way back in the years and to trace it from the beginning, we will have to leave this party in the middle.