Chapter 5: Lap Dance

Sarah's POV

She climbs down from the table, pulling up her wet panties that slipped from her waist during their short-lived passion.

She must be out of her mind for making the first move on a stranger.

 She couldn't help it. Right from the very day he was admitted to the hospital, the prominent scar he sustained only pronounced his mysterious beauty.

It would have been wrong of her to defile work ethics and gone for him right on the stretcher.

But luck has made their path cross and he's right here in her apartment.

"Are you expecting anyone?" Marco asks, as she dresses herself up, her eyes fixed on the doorway wondering who it could be while still wishing they hadn't ended their passionate moment.

Marco instantly walks toward the door.

"Could be the neighbors," she replies, still catching her breath.

“It's almost midnight.,” Marco replies as he tries to answer the door.

“I'll get that,” Sarah rushes to the door before him, pulling him back slightly.

"I've been calling. What happened to your line?" the lady standing at the front porch queries.

Sarah isn't pleased to see her. She's been asking for too much lately. 

But she can't back out. Betty saved her life else she would have been tied up somewhere in Luca's custody. The best she can do is avoid her.

“I'm working late hours. I would be on my way back to the hospital,” Sarah lies, hoping that she'll just go away. 

She doesn't want Betty to find her newly found friend in her apartment.

Betty specifically warned her about inviting strangers.

"That's why you wouldn't let me in?" Betty asks, forcing her way through as she pulls the door wider.

How does she introduce her to Marco? The thoughts fill her mind as she shuts the door crafting the perfect explanation in her head.

She looks around her apartment, expecting to see him where she left him.

“What's this mess. Was there an attack,” Betty queries as she sees the pieces of shattered ceramics all over.

Sarah is still trying to comprehend what exactly happened.

She enters into her room. It's empty. 

Where on earth did he go?

“Answer me. Was there an attack. I knew it. I tried to warn you but you wouldn't pick the damed call…”

Betty goes on and on until Sarah snaps in,

"Nothing happened. Twas a minor slip. I was careless," She says, still gazing around the apartment in wonder.

For a moment, she's glad that she didn't have to explain herself to Betty.

“We have to act fast. Tonight at that. I've given you enough time, Maria…”

"Sarah, you mean. You might want to keep up with your warning of staying unnoticed. Follow your own advice and get used to my new identity," Sarah replies.

Betty slumps down on one of the sofas, taking off her heels, and reclining on the double seater.

Sarah clears up the mess when the doorbell rings again.

Maybe that's him. But how did he get out in the first place?

She rushes to door in anticipation but instead a man wearing a black suit stands before her. He looks nothing like Marco.

She stares at him, observing his thick dark hair down to his shiny pointed shoes.

“You have a package,” the gentleman says.

“You must have got the wrong address,”. Sarah says convincingly but the gentleman, who looks nothing like a delivery man drops the package at her door step and zooms off on a power bike.

"Who was that?" Betty calls from inside while Sarah is in shock wondering where the package came from.

"Did you by chance order anything?" She asks Betty, finally deciding to bring in the package.

"Why, no?"

“I've no idea where this came from,” Sarah says, her stomach churning as she stares at the package after placing it on the dining table.

“Well, you wouldn't find out unless you check what's in it,” Betty remarks, now standing behind her as she tears open the brown paper.

“There you go,” she flips the cover up.

Sarah staggers back in shock as the package is unraveled.

"What the hell!" She gaps, rushing back to lock the door and shivering.

“It's them. They found you. We have to leave,” Betty urges but Sarah is horrified at the sight of her childhood pictures drenched in what seemed like blood and a pistol beside it.

"Now!" Betty screams, this time dragging Sarah forcefully out of the house as she drives out of the street.

"You have to find another place. It's a good thing I came. Goodness, Maria! You need to be more careful. How on earth did they find you?"

Sarah is speechless. Unable to recover from the fear enough to wash away every thought of Marco and his sudden disappearance.

"Can I at least go back to get my things? I'm tired of having to change apartments like clothes."

"You definitely are out of your mind. Now I see why they found you. Remember you've more to lose and I'm only here to help," Betty adds, as she pulls over in front of a bar.

“Great! I'll just sit in a bar and wait for whoever sent the box to find me. Great plan, Betty. Great plan,” Sarah says, biting her fingers, her hands trembling as they get out of the vehicle.

"If you hadn't been stalling the plan, maybe we wouldn't be this fucked. We'll find our man right there. All you fucking need to do is to add a pellet or two into his drink and I'll take it up from there."

"You still haven't told me what it would do to him and why on earth is he so important." Sarah speaks back. She can't imagine another death in her hands since the escape from Luca.

"He has information we need," Betty replies.

But Betty is making her use her beauty to seduce men to their death. That's not the person Sarah ever dreamed of becoming.

They step into the bar. Betty nodges Sarah ahead and whispers 

"If he dies so what? They're part of the people that want you dead. It's kill or get killed. You've to stick with one."

She's scared but she has to do it anyway. Betty has promised to handle the rest. 

It shouldn't be that hard. Just a few pellets. 

“More drinks,” Sarah walks up to a brown-haired man at the corner of the bar, wearing a brooding expression.

She smiles seductively at him, giving flirting a shot as she crosses her legs in a way that her laps are exposed in front of him.

He looks dangerous and doesn't seem like one who requires company but Betty is at a corner, watching her every move.

She fills up his glass and pours herself another glass as she tries to strike a conversation.

"wanna dance? It's forbidden to sit alone in a bar," She teases, trying hard to conceal her nervousness. He empties his glass, his eyes scanning her body making her skin crawl. All along she retains a smile.

“I don't mind a lap dance from you,” he finally speaks, with a lopsided smile.

She catches a glimpse of Betty's expression as he pulls away from the bar table, making his legs available in front of her.

Sarah gulps down and smiles, clutching the pellets in her other arm as she sits on him.

He reeks of alcohol mixed with the concentrated smell of tobacco but she has to play along as he grabs her exposed laps.

She could feel his bulge under her ass as she twirls over it.

His eyes are closing up as he tries to steal a kiss. Probably drunk.

Sarah turns away, picking up one of the vodka glasses. She slips a pellet behind his head into the drink and pretends to take a sip before giving him the drink.

“I'll be waiting in the restroom,” she whispers in his ears, winking at him as she gets up from him and walks away. 

She nods at Betty, rushing into the ladies restroom.

Wide-eyed at her reflection, she sighs, wondering when her quest for survival would end. She drops her phone on the white basin, washing off the remnants of the pellets in her hands.

She's scared of what happened back there. Betty said one or two pellets.

But she's sure as hell that at least five slipped into the drink. She paces around, luckily she's alone in the restroom. No one will suspect her.

All she can do is wait for a signal call from Betty and hope that she hasn't killed someone.

Marco. Right! She can pass the time on call with him as she remembers his own mysterious escape.

She calls his number and he picks the first ring.

“How did you just disappear,” she asks, hiding the fear perfectly well in her voice.

"You've a beautiful garden. I couldn't resist before I realized I wasn't so welcomed after all."

She hits her palm on her forehead as she recollects the backdoor would have led him out of the house comfortably.

“I'm sorry about that. My friend is quite insecure about…”

Sarah's words break immediately.

“What's going on?” Marco asks at the other end of the phone.

"Sarah!"Marco yells as no response comes from her. 

There's a gunshot. And another. It doesn't stop. 

"Sarah, Are you there? Answer me!"