Going Once, Going Twice, Going Never.

XXXIII - Shirtless Pics

6 days before the job

⚜️

Okay this hotel has officially destroyed my sanity. And Yuri's, even though I argue that she didn't have any to being with.

There are passageways everywhere. To everything. There are three restaurants, three spas, two arcade rooms, two pools with very nosy people and one very, very helpful bellhop who will not leave Ariadne alone.

And did I forget to mention that there are twenty hidden rooms over here. What the fuck is up with that?!

And locating them is a fucking nightmare.

Yuri found a grand total of three out of twenty after sneakily searching with Kai for eight fucking hours.

That was before Blaise revealed that Yuxian had downloaded the complete floor plans and Yuri then tried to choke him for not mentioning it earlier. Pandora threw popcorn at them and egged Yuri on. It was fun to watch, not gonna lie.

I think Minnie filmed it before Mon and Dhara stepped in to tackle Yuri away.

She is currently sitting in a corner on a time out. While Yuxian is sitting in a different corner. Blaise refused to go on a timeout and no one pushed it because she's a psychopath.

Jian lugs both his and Yuxian's suitcases out of the room we were sharing because they don't have much purpose here anymore.

Rey is very sad about that. So is Elara. No one seems to give a fuck about Jian except for me or Minnie though.

"Farewell, drinking buddy, you will be missed," Rey says, hugging Yuxian tightly, and should I be worried that I heard a slight crunch.

"Don't make more messes," Blaise tells Jian.

Jian scoffs, "I just clean up yours."

Oh no Blaise's temper is rising again, "That is not true, you just know how to ruin what I do build."

"Um, the flight is soon, guys," Minnie interrupts.

Both of them whirl around to face Minnie, and Jian clears his throat and nods at her.

Pandora hands a tube of cream to Yuxian, "Use a face cream for the face okay? Hand cream is for the hand."

"What have I done to deserve this wisdom?" Yuxian smiles teasingly then turns to Elara, "Send me a photo when the Sirenhead painting is done okay? I will auction it in the underworld."

"Don't tempt me to steal it," I tell him and he laughs loudly then gives me a side hug, "I'll miss you, famous Alicia Ryder."

"I'll miss you too, painfully average Zhong Yuxian," I smile at him. He holds his hand over his chest and winces dramatically.

"Should I take some shirtless pics as a memoir for you?" Jian asks while giving me a side hug from the other side.

Minnie's eyebrows shoot through the roof. Cassie chokes on her iced tea. And Ariadne just gives a graceful snort.

I scowl at him, "Leave before you are being taken on the plane in a coffin instead."

He seems to like the idea, "Seems cozy."

Alby comes and gives Jian a hug around his waist, because have I mentioned that he is a fucking skyscraper?

"Be safe," She tells him. He smiles and nods.

Yuxian spreads his hands out, "Where's my hug?"

Alby rushes into his arms as well.

Dharuna walks up to Jian, "I'll make the egg recipe to remember you?"

"So you were listening," Jian narrows his eyes at her. They both laugh and give each other a tiny hug.

"Mon! If you ever wanna join the Black Jacks, they will take you in a heartbeat!" Yuxian calls out to her as she sits on her workdesk, focusing on the task at hand with her clockmaker-glasses thing.

"Keep dreaming boy!" She calls back at him and her thick French accent makes it seem a whole lot cooler.

My mom would never leave me for the Black Jacks, I think proudly to myself.

"Yuri! Your timeout is over! Take them to the airport!" I call out to her as she is still in the corner.

"I am the driver, but I'm not a chauffeur," Yuri grumbles while putting her shoes on.

I hit her upside the head, "Don't you love driving? The open road is yours."

Yuxian looks around, "Where's Kai?"

"Probably sleeping," Minji says, looking him directly in the eye.

He faces downwards then turns on his heel to head out of the door first. Jian and Yuri follow suit.

As much as the taller one was sometimes a pain in my beautiful booty, I will miss them. They were a lot of fun, and a refreshing change from all these weirdos I am with, all the time.

And I think I get why Yuxian is liked by everyone. He makes sure no one is ever sitting alone.

Just as the elevator door is about to close, Jian's head pops outout, and he looks directly at Blaise who is standing next to me, "I was protecting you that day, not sabotaging you."

And they are gone.

And next to me is Blaise. Terrifyingly still. As she stares at the closed elevator doors with blank, emotionless eyes.

I'll have to admit, I'm a little scared.

*****

So anyways, we are all huddled around the plans, trying to carve out a clean escape for Kai. And we have been staring the at plans for a solid hour now, and no one has any suggestions.

Mon, Minnie, Elara, Blaise, and I are sitting so close to each other looking the documents, that our cheeks are touching each other's.

And Elara's face is alarmingly soft. Like a pillow. It is embarrassing how reluctant I am to stop touching it. What lotions do these French people use?

"Putain c'est dur," Monique speaks in French. This happens on rare occasions when she's stressed out.

Elara smirks, "C'est ce qu'elle a dit."

I move my face away from hers and give her a disappointed look, "Mec arrête!"

"Hey y'all can we converse in a common language? Thanks," Kai scoffs.

Suddenly the door of the suite bursts open and Cassie runs inside looking a little panicked.

I stand up, looking at her with concern, "What happened?"

"So um... I have some bad news," Cassandra looks down.

"Not the best time to keep us in suspense," Minnie mutters under her breath.

"The hidden rooms... They are privately owned. The owners have the keys. The spare ones are kept in the hotel's safe. The very inaccessible one."

There is silence in the room. A long one.

"Does that mean we're gonna have to track down the owner of the room, for the job?" Elara asks after raising her hand.

"And get the key from them, somehow," I sigh and put my head in my hands.

Blaise heads to the laptop, "They must be registered somewhere.... "

She then looks directly into my eyes with a tired look, "They have a different firewall set up for old records. And the security system is from a different company."

God damn it, this job is not going so smoothly. Damn you, Alicia. You greedy bitch. You could have just chilled in fucking Ireland with the trees and the mountains and the leprechauns and the alcohol.

After a few moments, I tiredly turn my head towards Blaise, "Ms. Hacker, we need the twins' hands on deck again," I look down at my watch and jump up, dialling Yuri's burner cell, "Their flight boards in twenty minutes, haul them out of that fucking airport."