Ms. Williams

It was a night like any other night. The usual suspects filled the upscale interior of one of downtown's most prestigious bars. The Primrose: home to the Big City's elites; frequented by high profile lawyers, city officials, and wealthy business owners. Smoke from only the most expensive cigars floated around the air amongst the crowd of business suits and conversation of business and politics. Topics that wouldn't normally be discussed during the indulgence of libations if not for the fact that this elite group of people were mostly driven by money and power and therefore only had time to laugh and relax if it involved making progress in their own personal agendas. The elitist group of regulars bounced from table to table, making deals and selling ideas, preferring to wave over the waitress when it was time for another round as opposed to going to directly to the bar. Although this was the typical behavior of The Primrose's regulars, there was one particular patron who mostly kept to herself.

Ms. Williams, a mid-level defense attorney at one of the bigger law firms in the city, Feldstein and Feldstein. A father son duo whom have defended many of the highest profile cases to ever land in the Big City. Although Ms. Williams didn't fit in the same tax bracket as the rest of The Primrose's customers, she was more than welcome to be a member of the crowd. Although she was highly intelligent and had the education to compete with the best of the best, her knowledge was overshadowed by her absolute stunning beauty. Her perfect brown skin was always glowing, her hair and makeup always flawless, and her attire would make you think she was the most powerful woman in the room. She didn't use her beauty to get this far but she also wouldn't hesitate to show her legs in a designer dress and pair of heels. She had such a presence that the eldest Mr. Feldstein refused to call her by first name, however this didn't stop him from bringing her any and everywhere to show off to his colleagues and peers, including the exclusive Primrose. This was her ticket into the door, and even though she knew she was touted more as a trophy than as a successful attorney, she was willing to deal with it because she knew being in the presence of money and power would one day give her the opportunity to obtain those same fortunes. After all she was just as driven by the same aspirations as everyone else in the room, one of the reasons she chose her profession.

A room length bar wasn't the focal point of The Primrose's establishment, that was the plush tables and seating areas that had seen more business deals and off-the-record agreements than any other place in the Big City. Ms. Williams preferred this location however, because it provided a little more lighting, higher seating, and a much more solid surface. It was elegant, with a glass top that was backlit with a light blue hue. Behind it was an excellent bartender dressed as if he himself where one of the businessmen in attendance. He was surrounded by every tool, bottle, and glass you could possibly imagine he would ever need to do his job and then some all in a setting that screamed a million dollars. He didn't talk much, but he always smiled and was right on time. This bar was perfect for Ms. Williams. After saying her customary hellos to the people she needed to in order to keep Mr. Feldstein happy she would take a seat at the very end and pull out a very nice pen and a little black book from her purse and set it in front of her.

"Grey Goose and tonic, two ice cubes" the Bartender said as he placed Ms. Williams drink in front of her before she could even ask.

"Thank you Mark" she replied pleasantly.

"My pleasure and I hope you are having a wonderful evening" he said as he walked away to tend to his next customer.

Although the conversation was short, Ms. Williams always enjoyed her exchange with the bartender Mark as it seemed to be the only conversation she would experience during her time at The Primrose that didn't have some sort of agenda behind it.

As she got comfortable in her seat she opened her little black book, set her pen inside and began to take a look around the establishment. She was an acute observer. In fact it was her favorite thing to do when visiting the bar. She got enjoyment out of watching and listening other people interact while mostly keeping to herself. Tonight however she noticed something different. It took her a few minutes to realize it, but one of the regulars was missing. She flipped through the pages of her little black book and found the person she was looking for. Mr. Romano. His peers called him Anthony and according to her documentation he was a wealthy business man who owned a transportation company that specialized in shipping goods that required special handling whether it was refrigerated products or hazardous materials. Ms. Williams little black book was full of these profiles.

Being as attractive of a woman as she was she was constantly bombarded by men wanting to buy her a drink, flirt with her, or take her somewhere out of town. She never accepted any drinks, in fact she only drank enough of her one drink to take of the edge, anything more than that and she would lose focus on her observations. Ms. Williams would however entertain the men when they spoke yo her. She imagined most of them had wives at home and thought that their money made them more attractive than they actually were to her. It was especially entertaining to her the ones who would get frustrated with her lack of interest but knew her powerful boss was in the room so wouldn't go as too far to speak ill on her, or even those who were just celebrating a completed deal and were too drunk to complete a sentence. Ms. Williams documented all these interactions. She had a page in her little black book for each one of the men who ever approached her and even the men who she just caught staring at her from across the room. She didn't do this so much as out of a fear that something would happen to her but more because found enjoyment out of creating profiles of all these men. The conversations she heard and things she observed from all of them allowed her to get pretty in-depth and even sometimes create stories of her own about them which she got a kick out of.

Mr. Romano was one of the men whom she had caught staring at her from across the room. She had never spoken with him before but he and his colleagues were a fairly rambunctious group. They never caused any real disturbance yet it wasn't hard to get information on him because even though they were across the room their voices could be heard over almost everyone else.

"Still doing alright Ms. Williams?" Mark asked as he approached her while cleaning out a glass with his towel.

"Yes, I'm fine. I was just noticing that Mr. Romano isn't in attendance tonight."

"Yea it's pretty strange actually. I haven't seen him in several days. His buddies have been here though. Not nearly as noisy in here without him here riling up his guys." Mark said jokingly while going to pick up another cup to clean from the bar.

Ms. Williams laughed to herself as that was one of the things that stood out in her profile of him. She had caught him staring at her many times but he never approached her. She noted that he definitely wasn't shy as he would talk to just about anyone who approached his table and he was definitely the life of his group providing the laughs and the shots (as well as the tab). Her interest in this missing regular customer of the Primrose was now piqued and she felt it upon herself to do some further digging.

AR Shipping Corp. That was the name of Mr. Romano's business. A quick internet search of the business name came up with two addresses. One to their corporate headquarters which happened to be just a few blocks away in an office tower that many of the other Big City elites used, and the other to a shipping warehouse that was further uptown. 117th and Vine. That address happened to be one that Ms. Williams had overheard someone in his group say in conversation which she documented and matched the location of the business' warehouse.

Intrigued, Ms. Williams reached in her purse to grab some cash placed in on the counter, said goodbye to the bartender and Mr. Feldstein and left The Primrose.

Wanting to remain discreet, Ms. Williams thought it would be too obvious to just show up at the corporate office to investigate. It was after normal business hours anyways and it would be highly unlikely that he or anyone else would be there. She had no intentions on questioning anyone about his whereabouts but she did find it quite odd that his entire group would be at the bar without him. She got behind the wheel of her car and decided she would take drive around the location of the company's warehouse. It wasn't too much of a drive as it was still in the Big City's downtown area, however this part of town was much more industrial and rundown. Would she stick out in her business attire, most likely, however she was cautious and being a defense attorney she did have familiarity with shady people and businesses which built up any tolerance to fear she would need to feel safe in her search for Mr. Romano.

She arrived at 117th and Vine around 9:30pm. Sure enough AR Shipping Corp.'s logo was painted on the front of a large dock door. The warehouse was enormous but it wasn't particularly kept up. The paint was peeling and there were cracks in the brick that looked as if they had been let to grow for many many years. The Whole building spanned an entire block, and it made sense that it would need to considering the amount of stuff they had to be shipping out and to house as the trucks and vans required for the logistics of the company to function properly. After riding around the building a few times she noticed that there appeared to be an door slightly open on the side of the building. It was down an ally, but the ally was lit by the buildings lights. She decided that she would check it out. She was skeptical but being a beautiful woman in the Big City, it wouldn't be the first or last time she'd have to pepper spray someone if a creep happened to pop out.

She entered the door, there were lights on that led to a flight of metal stairs. She decided to climb the stairs, but not before turning around to lock the door to prevent any unwanted surprises. At the top of the steps was another door with a window and Mr. Romano's name on it. Peering through the window, she saw nobody inside, the lights again were on and surprisingly the door was unlocked. This gave her the confidence to open it an go inside.

As she opened the door she quickly got a whiff of a strong cologne. Someone definitely had to have been in here very recently.

"It had to be Mr. Romano and he must have left in a rush if he left all these doors opened." she said to herself, adding some noise to the room as to keep from getting creeped out.

That's when she noticed a large briefcase on his desk. It was made of shiny steel and it appeared to have a red envelope on top of it. She picked it up and to her surprise on the front of it was her name written in cursive; in ink that was still fresh. At this point she didn't know what to make of this situation, and for a moment she felt naïve for searching for a man she didn't truly know. She decided she would quickly open the envelope and the get out of the building before anything bad happened, clearly someone was expecting her and that was the last thing she expected herself.

Dear Ms. Williams,

As you know, I have noticed you from afar. I'm positive that you have caught me getting lost in your beauty, and I know that you must be writing about me in your book the same way you appear to do after all the other men approach you. I know who you are and what you do for a living and because of that I'm not sure what to make of your intentions as it pertains to your book. Your an observant woman, I can see that, but amidst all the partying and business I do with my colleagues at The Primrose I also notice things. I fear that all of that documenting you are doing could lead you down a road that you are not expecting. Everything and everyone is not as it seems in that establishment and you should be prepared for what comes with that. I have left you a small gift in the amount of $20,000 cash in hopes that you will no longer document anything you hear about me. You're a smart woman, but I will always be one step ahead.

May I Have This Dance,

Anthony Romano

P.S.

Don't Forget the briefcase.

Ms. Williams put the letter back in the envelope, grabbed it and the briefcase and quickly exited the building and back to her car. She didn't know what else to do, so she headed back where she felt most secure, in her spot at the end of the bar in The Primrose. She couldn't help but reflect on the events and the message in the letter that Mr. Romano had left her on her drive back into the heart of downtown. Upon arriving back at The Primrose she decided to open the briefcase. It was unlocked and inside was stacks of money, $20,000 to be exact, just as Anthony had promised. She didn't know what to do with it so she decided to hide the briefcase and letter in her trunk and go inside.

Upon entering The Primrose, Ms. Williams felt a sudden sigh of relief. Her boss, Mr. Feldstein was still at his table and Mark was still serving drinks and tending to his customers. This familiarity made her feel a bit more comfortable. Mr. Romano and his crew were no where to be found inside. She took her seat as usual and out of habit placed her little black book and pen on the bar.

"Unusual seeing you twice in one evening." Mark said surprisingly "Grey Goose and Tonic, two ice cubes?" he said, more of a question now than an affirmation.

"Better make it a double." Ms. Williams responded as she proceeded to flip her book open and start a new page on Mr. Anthony Romano.