listen (rio g.g) 1

22

"Everyone has light around them.
Except for you.
You have shadows."
____________________________________________________

"How'd the stakeout go?" Alivia asked Annie the next morning as she waltzed into her apartment, only a few hours after he'd left. The smell of his cologne and the touch of his fingers still lingered on her skin, her mind was still clouded with memories.

Annie remained silent as she sat down on the armchair next to her, crossing her legs, keeping her face blank.

Alivia raised a questioning brow, "You good?"

"I came by earlier," Annie began, head held high, a whisper of anger in her tone. "Thought I'd be nice, bring you breakfast."

Alivia's jaw tightened, already knowing where this was going to end. She leaned back against the sofa, "yeah?"

"Yeah, and you won't believe who I saw leaving the building! At eight in the morning no less." She feigned surprise, causing Alivia to roll her eyes at the dramatics. "None other than homeboy."

"How the hell were you not only awake but alive that early?"

"Nuh-uh," she wiggled her pointer finger feverishly. "This is not about me, it's about you and how you fucked him."

Alivia pursed her lips, "I'd say he fucked me more than I fucked him."

"Are you out of your mind?!" Annie exclaimed, eyes wide and ready to leave their sockets. "You can't seriously be that stupid!"

The door to the apartment opened once more, Beth and Ruby finally joining them, faces furrowed with confusion. Ruby glanced between the two, "What's with the yelling?"

"Oh, I'll tell you." Annie breathed a laugh. "You'll probably want to sit down for this."

"Why? What'd you do?" Beth groaned, taking a seat next to Ruby on one of the bar stools in the kitchen behind them.

"No, not me." Annie smiled in disbelief at the situation she found herself in, but also from not being the one to screw up. "I found out who the guy is. The one that left that hickey a while back."

"Oh, who is it?" Ruby's excitement would be gone in a few seconds.

Annie looked back at her friends and then to Alivia, who looked unbothered at the scene unfolding. "Rio."

Their faces dropped and their jaws opened. The short-lived silence pressed violently against Alivia's ears, deafening her.

It was Beth who broke it. "If this is a joke, it's not funny."

"Dead serious, watched him leave here this morning." Annie had leaned back against the armchair, arms crossed in front of her.

"Get on with it," Alivia told them and their voices hit her all at the same time.

"You're not serious!" Ruby.

"This has to be a joke." Beth.

"What were you thinking?" Ruby.

"Please, tell me this is a joke." Beth.

"How was it? Was it good?" Ruby.

"This isn't just some guy, Liv." Annie cut them off. "And when this ends badly because it will, it's on all of us."

Alivia waited until the room had quieted down and the women had somewhat collected themselves. "Are you finished?"

"Of all people, why him?" Beth questioned exasperated.

"I don't know, it kind of just happened." She began and Annie glared, unsatisfied with the answer. "The tattoos didn't help."

"You fucked him for tattoos?" Annie exclaimed. "Lots of people have tattoos Alivia! And lots of them aren't gang leaders ready to kill us the second we screw up!"

"Can we pause the judgment for a moment?" Alivia let out a heavy sigh. "He's gonna be shutting things down for a while."

"What does that mean?" Ruby asked after a few moments.

"It means we're closed for business. And before you ask, no I don't know for how long." She held up a hand and Annie closed her mouth. "He also took the money."

"What?! All of it?" Beth let out in a high-pitched voice. "We needed that to pay o-"

"Nothing," Annie interjected loudly, jumping to her feet. "We'll be fine."

Alivia glanced between her friends and something in her mind clicked. "You know who's been returning the same cash. And now she's extorting you for money because she found out."

"Don't know what you're talking about." Annie simply said and the others just watched with furrowed brows.

Alivia laughed at the lie. "So, now you don't trust me? Because you think I'd tell him? Let him handle it?"

"Wouldn't you?"