Honorable Associates

The night buzzed with laughter and glass clinks as a jazz band played in the center of the room. Plates of elegant food floated out on the hands of impeccably dressed waiters. The room was softly lit in an orange haze by musty candles on top of golden candleabra's that seemed to forever burn without a drop of wax.

Elaina was greeted in the foyer by a server who took her straight through the lavish restaurant. Black satin swayed at her ankles as she passed the ambient tables of inebriated guests. The server finally came to a halt and gestured to the table in front of them where a dark man in a navy demin suit and gold tie sat.

"Mr Aldridge." Elaina said in a smooth voice.

"Elaina. How lovely to meet you. Please sit." Mr Aldridge's voice resonated with that of Idris Elba. He rose to take her hand softly and helped her into the velvet chair opposite.

"I must say, you have an incredible fashion sense." Elaina commented as she said down in her new dress.

"You like what I picked for you? I learned a thing or two from my mother and many sisters. But I hear black is much more your color these days." He smirked charmingly.

"It's certainly more comfortable." Elaina smiled with a soft laugh.

A waiter came over to the table, tray in hand, with two glasses of the house Merlot. Elaina could smell it before he put it down in front of her. Sweetness bounced out of the glass as the crisp scent was followed by an oaky lingering in the back of her throat. Without even tasting it, she could feel its age, remembering all the times her father would pop open a bottle from the basement wine cellar and give her the cork to inhale ritually.

"Thank you." Elaina whispered, bringing herself out of nostalgia.

"So Victor tells me you're his crowning jewel?" Aldridge said, taking a sip from his glass.

"I'm to carry out his plan, yes. But I'm still unsure as to the role you play." Elaina relaxed now after the first sip of her wine. She was trying not to sound too condescending to her handsome guest.

"A few months ago, Victor came to see me, predicting circumstances of his possible death. He knew he was going to be killed, but not die completely. He offered me something I could not refuse and in return, I would help him get his life back."

"And you have the ability to do that?" Elaina questioned slightly.

"Not completely. I do have the power, so to speak." Aldridge joked to himself. Elaina wasn't surprised in the least.

"So what exactly did he offer you then?" She asked, taking another sip.

"My company has become so self-sufficient and owns almost everything in this city that I have nothing to do anymore, so, why not take a step up?" Aldridge sat back further in his sat and swirled his wine slowly.

"He offered me the power of another species, complete control of this world and the next. An army ten times better than anything we have here on earth." His eyes lit up with power and vengeance.

Elaina grinned.

"And why would you need limitless control? Why now?" It was only at that moment that Elaina realized she had just met a man more power-hungry than Victor.

"The world is full of empty promises and unfulfilled threats. With these 'great' world leaders sitting back and waving their flags, someone needs to take charge to end all that." Mr Aldridge's eyes had filled with a familiar darkness Elaina knew all too well.

She took another sip of her wine unphased.

"I see why Victor likes you so much." She mused and they both exchanged smirks.

"Same to you." Aldridge said and they clinked their emptying glasses before ordering more into the never-ending night.