Naressa Navaro
FC: Blanca Padilla
Age: 24, Jan 9th
Heritage: Colombian Cartel,
Business Info: Ártemis, auction house (art dealing), which is a cover for Rojas del Sul, cartel (arms dealing).
Interests: Antonio (RI). Cyrus (RI, might drop because it takes me a millennium to write everything I want). Gavin(shit, a bit of RI too)
Mission Interest: Hector, maybe? IDK yet.
Classes: Looting Pro 101 & Mutilated Measures
Snooping around... Chemistry Lab
lies & games
"This is your office, no?” she says, walking through the hall behind Gavin. He looked back, nodding.
“My family used to use it, and if there’s one thing our old man always does, that’s making sure he’s never without a way out, he explained a little bit.
“Yeah, I’ve got that lesson too,” she mused - only her father didn’t find a way out in the end. She keeps up the pace, trying not to pick up every piece of debris or spiders web on her way out, pulling her hair over her shoulder.
Nare pulls, trying to find the place where the fake hair was braided into her own, finally setting a huge chunk of the heavy braid behind her.
“You saw the name?” Gavin asks, leading their little two-men show.
“I couldn’t miss the name, splashed on the fucking wall,” she chuckles - why the hell did she take it this well, she had no clue. -“Big ego, thank you for that,” she can hear him snicker lightly from the front.
It’s a long walk, she considers taking her shoes off, but risking a cut seems worse - she didn’t know where they actually were. As per usual, Samar’s is the voice of reason in her mind.
One step at a time.
She can think about shoes once they make it to the end of the tunnel.
“So, Nare, do you have a full name or are we gonna spend this little walk talking about me?”
She exhaled, nodding, biting her lip for a second.
“Naressa Sofia Rojas de Navarro,” she exhaled in one breath. -“Nare, to friends, enemies, curious minds,” she concluded, to his uttermost indifference. -“Tough crowd,” she says, trying to lighten the mood a little or avoid talking about herself, even for a moment.
“You don’t need to try to impress me, your potential is quite clear,” she snickered, genuinely amused by his words.
“Parcero, if I wanted to impress you, you’d be head over fucking heels,” she mused playfully, making her way to the front, exit in sight. She paced up, Gavin following, semi amused this time.
“Finalmente,” she pushed the words as she reached for the handle, stopping herself for a short moment, before carefully pushing them open - it provided with enough pushback to make her work a bit harder for it before Gavin stepped it, and the doors opened.
It was already breaking dawn outside, soft rays of light burning as if she stood on the surface of the sun, she squints, hearing a faint sound of the helicopter in the distance. She turns towards the sound quickly but diverts her attention to a sound closer to her.
“You made it out,” the man smirks, leaning onto the black G63 car, taking a step towards the door, opening it for Nare. He nods politely, glancing at her surprised look as Gavin made it to the passenger seat, sitting down.
“Let’s go,” Gavin replies, sitting into the vehicle, and she assumes they know each other, making a conscious call to sit down. She slid into the vehicle, subtly getting rid of her heels once she did, settling closer to the door in the car - should something start to feel horribly wrong, she can wait until they stop, or slow down, and make her way out of the car. The man walked back to the driver's seat, started the engine and the three of them were on their way.
She’s trying to figure out the location as they drive by things, feeling the gaze on herself, checking the rearview mirror and locking eyes with the driver shortly. He leans back a bit in his seat, the mirror allows her to catch the glimpse of his jawline, lips and - smile, perhaps? - she starts to think she met him before.
Lost in a silly moment, she sees the drive ahead is set on a road basically surrounded by sea on two sides, going towards an estate of some kind. She considers, for a second, making a run for it, but the car speeds up, leaving her just sitting there.
“Where are we going?” she asks. -“Who are you?”
“That’s usually something you ask before getting into the car,” the driver smirks, and she’s sure she can hear Gavin snicker at the comment. -“Don’t worry, Naressa, you’ll find out everything quite soon.”
As she looked away, the view in the mirror reflects the smirk she is now certain she’d seen before.
x
Heels in her hand, she walks into the house, few heads turn, everyone scattered at different points, and she stands a little bit behind Gavin, back turned to no one, checking out all possible exits in the house before she turns the attention to the people. Before she can decide on what to do next, she is presented with a flute of champagne to her huge surprise, and a tiny Latina woman steps down a few steps on the huge glass-encased staircase, grabbing the attention naturally.
“Welcome initiates, and welcome back apprentices, to Mass Acres academy” she holds her glass up, waiting for everyone to hold a drink in their hand - she notices Gavin’s unsurprised - welcomes back might be his category in the end. -“You should be proud of yourselves, you are now truly part of the selected group of individuals fit to reap the benefits we can offer you here,” she continued while Nare tried to remain calm: her uncle got what he wanted, she was out of his way.
The Baroness made everything quite clear: she was in charge, this was in no way a democracy and they were there to make progress, to learn, to fill out their potential first. The rules are quite clear and simple, somewhat easily avoided Nare concluded, and the staff is there to teach them various things.
The words seemed quite unreal, she stood there pissed - more than anything else, confusion can be done at a later time. Anger, however, demanded her undivided and immediate attention.
She thinks about Matias and whatever the hell he was doing at that point, now that she was out of his way - or out of sight, which might as well be gone. And then, as she believed she could not have felt worse about this, she realised the overwhelming feeling might have been the fact she felt - without a doubt for the first time - completely abandoned. She shifts back into reality, gulping the rest of the champagne as the small group dissolved slowly.
“Naressa Navaro.”
The accent is Colombian, possibly Bogota, and she raises her eyes to meet the person with a perfectly blank face. He is tall and walks up to her with confidence, extending his hand to her.
“Hector Rodriguez,” he says and she tries to recall his face, his name, anything. It could be that he knows her name because he works for the Mass Acres, but she finds it hard to deal with the fact someone is coming from Colombia that does not know of Rojas del Sul. -“I don’t think we’ve met before, but I’ve met your father a while back,” he noted with a polite smile and comforting language. Nare managed a tight smile, trying to recollect the conversation she had with Samar ages ago.
“Nare,” she adds, nodding. -“I never agreed to be brought here,” she speaks very clearly. He seems a bit surprised at the reaction, staying silent for a short second, and nods.
“Perhaps you can go to see your things, then think about all of it,” he replied. -“It seems wasteful to reject resources such as these when they are given,” he replied. -“Consider that, because this is not actually an option, and perspective is easily changed when you’re willing to change.”
long brown hair, foolish eyes
There was a familiar comfort in Samar’s voice that would usually balance her out no matter what the situation was. She believes, in some weird part of her brain that casually dealt with emotion, that it was the same certainty she could sense in the voice of her parents all those years ago when she broke her femur bone which stopped her from doing ballet for the rest of her life.
The thirteen-year-old had no way of knowing that twenty-four-year-old Nare would go through the rest of the years with a very fucked up little what if, carefully webbing soft anxiety in the back of her mind, making connections out of things unrelated.
Still, Samar calmed her.
It’s not forever. It’s a school. It’s an opportunity. It’s prestige.
And okay, the change came in a form of revelation: it’s yet another thing she has going for her to set her position clear. They will talk, years from now, how the Queen of the Rojas del Sul spent her youth studying at the most prestigious, most closed, most selective educational facility in the whole fucking world.
Or she tried this version of events as if trying on new clothes. It fit, but she was not enthusiastic about it.
The phone came as a part of a care package, with a lot more than just a laptop, phone and some gadgets she found amusing. Guns fit her usual taste, might have been her own stash from what she knew, and there’s a very nicely made telescopic Bō staff, and another one she noticed a moment later. She browsed through the rest of the things while keeping her eyes on the door, trying to figure out another way out of the room.
Someone knocked, alerting her immediately, as she took a staff, standing a bit further from the door. They open, Gavin walks in - he’s had the time to shower and change, and the audacity to show up.
“Hi asshole,” she greets him upon entering. It’s sufficient to say he was not super thrilled about the greeting, but she smirks, settling back into the bed.
“That was uncalled for,” he replied, standing at the same place, hands in the pockets of the jeans he wore. Nare looked him up and down in this light - Gavin was actually quite cute - she smiles.
“You made me jump through some hoops, Rizzo, that was called for,” she replied, throwing the phone to the side.
“All part of the bigger picture, Nare,” he seems quite happy with himself, shrugging a little bit, still standing very straight in the room, as they just stare in silence. -“Let’s go have an espresso or two, so we can chat.”
They settled on a small terrace, with actual proper coffee. Nare took mental notes of all the exits, stepping into the deck to check the parameters.
“No tour this time?”
“Later,” he said. -“We’ll get to know each other better, don’t worry,”
“Is that a threat or you’re very badly flirting with me?” she fell into the huge chair, the wall behind her back, eyes on the door.
“I’m your student advisor, I’m here to make sure you’re initiated as good as possible,” he explains very vaguely.
“By the sound of it, it can include anything from hot iron branding to some weird Eyes Wide Shut thing,”
“Don’t be ridiculous,” he scrolls through his phone. -“Initiation is done, you’ve passed the test already,”
“I’ll keep my eyes open, just in case,” Nare nodded, and the phone in her pocket moved, but she tried to focus on the conversation - or attempts of it - happening right now. Gavin Rizzo seemed like someone who’d feel seriously insulted if the attention was not solely on him, so she tries to keep in check as he tells her more.
About the school, about the elusive Baroness, the staff who made it to these insanely exclusive positions they hold and, naturally, he did not fail to mention he is the apprentice to the Sommelier. She met him, he declared - twice, she concluded only a moment later.
For a second there, she forgets about the reality beyond the deck.
Then the phone rang, Samar on the other end. She answers and despite the charming personality of the man sitting opposite to her, she slips into Spanish with a tiny bit of Taironian sprinkled in for a good measure and a clear sign she is not willing to speak openly.
“Shit,” he replied. -“What’s happening?”
“I’m not sure,” she smiles through the foreign words, glancing occasionally at Gavin, smiling. She was honest: it was just the feeling everything was somehow going wrong, without any legitimate reason to actually feel this shitty. Gavin glanced back. -“What is he up to?”
“Getting a shipment ready?”
“A shipment? Whose shipment?
“If I knew, I would have told you,” he replies.
“And mother?” Nare asked, but he stays silent. -“Close by,”
“She says hello back to you, she was so worried,” he replies. -“Perhaps you could call her before the classes start,”
“Perhaps,” Nare replied, feeling her heart drop a bit. -“Tell her I love her,” she says in Spanish. -“Please take care and let me know when you find out more.”
Gavin chuckled, mockingly, and she looked up, blankly staring back.
“Touching,” Gavin mocks.
“I’m sure the Italian boy in you is touched,” she smirked. He didn’t seem that amused. -“Are you going to have an issue with everything I say?”
“Only the annoying things,” he replied and she chuckled.
“We will have such a good time here,” Nare replied, even more, amused. -“So, when is the rest of my tour coming?”
a dustland fairytale
Dawns are the most beautiful to watch from the deck, as she sits with the laptop on her lap, trying to log into her own servers remotely, wondering where the fuck is Matias shipping this time. Talking with her mother resulted in absolutely nothing, but she doubts she had much more information other than the fact everyone knew the Rojas son was back. The subtle changes in the narrative of the national things can be easily missed by anyone looking at the surface level of the entire thing, but those who knew what they were looking could easily read between the lines, translate the headings, make use of the public information when put to context.
Matias Rojas returns to help his sister and niece running the multi-million dollar company!
Sophisticated self-made millionaire returns home amid the darkest hours to help with the most complex art transactions in history
Focusing on the charity work, Silvia Navaro hands over the business transactions of the auction house to her twin brother, Matias Rojas.
Nare is getting heated up over the annoyingly wholesome image painted around the very obvious hostile takeover happening within the Rojas. She scrolls down a bit more, clicking on the link that leads her to the article about an event that took place last night.
Her mother, accompanied by a family friend - Samar - was asked about Nare, and bothered to give a statement about her daughter’s hunger for knowledge which landed her a prestigious position at a very competitive MBA, which will subsequently leave Nare out of everything for the indefinite amount of time.
Had Nare been a fan of true crime podcasts, it might have sounded like someone killed her and her mother was covering up for the killer, which annoyed her additionally. Luckily, the phone next to her chimes - Gavin hoping to have breakfast together after his workout - and she decides it's the perfect time to actually go and discover what else you can stumble upon in this place.
It would not be a huge overstatement to say Nare isn’t always the one following the rules, since they usually feel more like guidelines to her, and for the majority of her life, she’d chose to apologise over asking for any sort of permission from her family. You’d either get away with a warning, paying a hefty fine or, during her less proud moments, serious punishments that would be a valuable lesson for the future
Compared to asking for permission and being told no, it felt like a better deal.
She made her way from the room floor to the main one and then one floor below, but she got stopped very soon.
“Anything I can help you with?”
The smile she makes is almost an involuntary reaction to the sound of the familiar voice - she turns towards - and the man stands there with a book in one hand, and his sunglasses in the other.
“Yes, actually,” she replied, walking in his direction. -“I never got your name,” Nare said, looking straight into him.
“You never asked for it, Miss Navaro,”
“Given you know mine, it would only be fair if you told me yours,” she replied quickly. -"And before you say something along the lines of life being unfair, I would love if you could indulge me and pretend, for a second, it is, would you?”
So, it might have been a hint of a smile, or it could have been her overactive imagination at the line she might have cringed to in other circumstances, but she keeps the light smile on her own lips, waiting for his response.
“Antonio Salvatore,”
“See? It already feels like a fair game,” she replied playfully.
“Unlike this floor you are trying to visit,” Antonio replied shortly. -“What are you looking for, Naressa?”
Normally, she’d reply with something a bit more direct, but she finds herself considering one or two scenarios that would include both of them, fewer clothes and conversation.
“Nare, please, we’ve basically entered this year together, Antonio,” she smiled, but he seemed like he was still looking for an answer - surprisingly, she did not want to lie. -"Very well - I have to admit I was going to see what's being kept from us down here, but stumbling into you seems like a much luckier choice,” she continued, pushing her hair back a little bit. -“Or it could be the real reason I came here if we were to be honest,”
“And if we were to be honest,” he started -“would you admit talking yourself out of various compromising situations and diverting the topic is your modus operandi?”
“Wow,” she lets the accent shine through. -“I honestly love how naturally you use Latin in the middle of a sentence,” she adds playfully. -“And I would be up for admitting that if you would be open to accepting the excuse I just gave you.”
This time, a smile slipped on his face - and she smiled back.
“Come on,” he gestured towards another hall, into the darkness. -“We’ll let ourselves out through the back door.”
She took the suggestion, taking the first step and he follows closely. Nare walks confidently, his presence playing a huge role in the fact she stood up a bit taller than she might have normally. She walked past the long hall, peaking through the door every time they were open.
“Goddamn!” she exclaims all of a sudden, taking a sharp turn, back towards the open door, heading inside. -“Is this the original?” she turns to him for a second.
She doesn’t consider for a second there might be other people there before entering, but heads in the direction of the La Centaure Porte-Cle displayed on the wall of the room.
“Do you usually just act on your impulses?” he asked, not answering her question.
“Only in case of a good company or good impulses,” Nare smirks. -“I thought the Tate got it last year,” she moved a bit closer to the painting. -“Smaller than I thought, I have to admit.”
“They tried procuring it, as with most of his work, but they had no luck with this seller,” he replies, tucking the book under his arm, pushing his hands into his pockets.
“I’m sure luck had nothing to do with it,” she smirks, glancing over her shoulder and into him looking at the painting. -“Getting close enough to Masson’s heirs to buy it has to do with someone’s desire to make money, their preference in art or both,” she replied, now standing directly next to him, still looking at the painting. -“Which one is it?”
“Care to guess?” he seemed amused.
“If we’re still being honest, I’d rather guess which one of Masson’s grand-granddaughters you managed to bed,” she grins mischievously. -“They are infamous for mixing business and pleasure,”
“I’m afraid that you’d have more luck with either of them than I would have,” he glanced at her smug expression, before turning around and gesturing to the door again. -“I’m afraid the tour should come to an end now,”
“I promise not to tell anyone I was here,” Nare follows him out, walking through the hallway and out of the building, into the sun - he pulls the sunglasses, putting them on as he holds the door for her to walk out.
She hasn’t been at the beach yet - but it feels like it could be a good place to visit - should he be around, obviously.
“This is where we part ways, Naressa,” Antonio says, nudging to the cobbled path she assumes leads to the house again. -“If you follow the road, I’m sure you’ll find another rule to break along the way,” he said, and she chuckled at what she assumed was a joke.
“I can promise you not to misbehave like this anymore,”
“I’m sure you’re only promising not to get caught,” he replied, heading towards the other part of the beach. She stood there, for another moment.
“If you promise to be the one to catch me, I might reconsider.”
She could have sworn she heard a chuckle as he walked away.
no mires el reloj
She gathered as much from her chat with Gavin, but there’s a new batch of returned people coming in later on Sunday, and instead of actually stepping down to figure them out, she leans on the bannister, watching the new people from above.
“Enjoying the view?”
“I could have been at the beach, or in the sauna, or possibly riding around the grounds, but something tells me this will turn into a fun activity,” she smiled. Gavin stood as if he is posing for the latest ready-wear collection for Ralph Lauren and, honestly, she can appreciate the view more than she believed possible. The golden locks, the good posture, the slightly annoyed expression - she is now worried there might be a type of men she used to like.
“What?”
“You just look exceptionally good today,” she stands up, pulling her skirt down a little bit.
“Something tells me I should be afraid of your flattery,” he smirks, clearly flattered. Or maybe even genuinely satisfied with the compliment.
“Someone you’re looking to impress out of this little group?”
“Of people who made the wrong choice and are arriving here late?” he scoffed. -“Fuck no,” he sounds disgusted, but before she glanced at him, she noticed a familiar purple suit - and an even more familiar cat mask.
“Oh, would you look at that,” she mused to herself, smirking at the guy. Yet another addition to the staff, as it seems, according to the Baroness. -“Who’s that?”
“Are you on a prowl?” Gavin teased and she chuckled at the idea. Maybe she was, so she gives him a little shrug, folding her hands on the chest. -“The Architect, Cyrus O’Leary, he teaches a class on strategies, huge nerd if you ask me,” Gavin said, disinterested in the man entirely.
“Is there anyone you actually like here?”
“We’re not here to like people,” he replied nonchalantly and turned to her. -“So, what did you pick for your classes?”
“Looting 101 and Mutilated Measures,” Nare replied - she assumes both would come in really handy if she is to make a comeback to her promised position within the Rojas. Detaching from the location and the conversation for a short second, Nare slips into the plans. The shipment of whatever her uncle was selling is going to arrive within days, Samar is going to be present, yet she wished for nothing more than to be able to come home.
“…so, yeah, it was a good choice, I guess.”
She blinked, unaware he spoke until just now, but apparently he was unaware she did.
“I’m hungry, Rizzo, we could grab some food, slip to the beach and light up un pareto?” there’s a knowing little smirk curling her lips as she waits for the answer.
They met at the furthest part of the dock at sunset: Nare with some pot, Gavin with a bottle of very good Prosecco, nicely chilled.
“How the fuck did this not get taken away?” he chuckled, relaxed, probably the first time she saw him like this. Nare only smirked.
“The main question is why you have no glasses?”
“What is this, a black attire event?” he replied, popping the cork from the bottle easily, taking a huge gulp before offering it to her.
“You are smoking the purest sativa from the Santa Marta mountains, who the fuck do you think you’re talking to?”
“To someone amazing at avoiding answering any real questions, as it seems,” he chugs a bit more, setting the bottle between them, as she lit up the smoke. It was stronger than she imagined, but she’s thankful Samar did not get preachy about it.
“Don’t you think we’ve had a shitload of smuggling channels around these islands?” she replied, puffing the smoke out. It was, in the end, a given they had channels of getting whatever they wanted whenever they wanted it. -“It arrived this morning,”
“What else can you have shipped in?”
“What do you need?” Nare asked, and he laughs to himself.
“Do you have enough time to hear me out?” he replied, laughing again.
“All the time in this world, parcero, unless you have a way to get me out of here,” she sighs, reaching for his hand, placing the rest of the smoke between his fingers.
“Why the hell would you like to get out of here?” he replies, amused, prompting himself up on the elbows, glancing at her. -“It’s the best place to be, a fucking privilege, amazing opportunity,”
“You’re the PR person for this place?” she laughed loudly, feeling honestly relaxed for the first time since she got there.
“I got into this place first in my family, Nare,” he said, leaning back, and it’s the first time he mentions her name without a bite to it, and she smiles at him. -“It might be an annoyance to you, but trust me, it’s a big deal to be here,”
“Well, congratulations, my man,” she offers him a fist bump, he takes it, chuckling. -“I’m sure everyone is super proud,”
“It’s been forgotten already,” Gavin mussed, closing his eyes. She rested on the dock as their feet dangled from the edge. The sky looked amazing today, she feels sleepy as hell, but reaches for his hand, carefully touching the wrist before taking the blunt back from him, inhaling another. She can feel her eyes closed. -“One more, please,” he says, Nare lifts his hand, but he only pulls it closer, taking another smoke while holding her wrist firmly and smiles.
“Are we becoming friends, Rizzo?”
“Maybe?” he seems uncertain about it himself.
“I’d like that,” she said, taking another smoke before dragging the rest on the wood next to her, setting it aside. She lifts, reaching over him for the bottle, taking a few swings, pleasantly surprised by the tingly acidity followed by a subtle sweet aftertaste. -“Oh, I love this.”
He’s still looking half asleep, but the smug smile on his face easily tell her he is happy with that reply.
a work of art
Between endless calls from Samar, the fact she could not properly get the hold of her mother other than to chat about the irrelevant things regarding some art business that she was supposed to handle, Nare actually took some time to do the classes here.
There are a few instances she wonders if Samar is just messing with her when he says she is in a good shape, one of those instances being now, plastered to the ground after - finally - coming to terms with the idea she can handle her own against Toni at least for a while.
She moans, exhaling painfully as she hits the ground.
“What?” he asks.
“I didn’t say a thing,” she replies. She might have cursed something in Spanish. -“I could have said I might murder my trainer when I get back home for making me believe I got this,” she jokes, taking his hand to get up from the ground.
“Work in progress,” he replied, politely smiling at her. Nare smiles back. -“And practice makes perfect.”
“So, do you give private lessons?” she smirks playfully, throwing him a glance over her shoulder as she went back to the group seating. -“I would really be into that,” she’s unsure if he did, but she assumes there was a smile there as well.
She made a habit of socialising with Gavin in the late afternoons - she wasn’t sure who said yes to the idea first, but it did not feel like the worst idea ever, and eventually, she decided she liked Gavin. She was sure they had a vice versa situation here, as they sat on the king-sized bed in his. room, eating sushi, and trying to watch a movie.
“I checked out your target practice the other day,” he said. -“You need to mind your balance—“
“Honestly, Gav, I like you, but I’m into the idea of you talking to me about my shooting,” she scoffed. -“I shot my first semi-automatic when I was eight, so believe me, I can hold my own with any kind of firearm, babe.”
“Well, babe,” he mocked, adjusting the pillow, glancing at the TV. -“You should reconsider the idea,” he adds suggestively. -“I could teach you a thing or two.”
“I’m sure you can,” she rolled her eyes playfully, watching him check his phone for the billionth time in the last half an hour. She clicks the lock button on the phone quickly, addressing his pissed look with an annoyed expression. -“How about I teach you how to fucking pay attention first?”
“I’m working on something, Naressa,” he pulls himself up a little.
“How to lose a friend in less time than it took her to start liking your rude ass?” she sighs, but he’s not impressed. -“Our relationship will suffer if you keep pretending I am not as funny as you know I am,” she smiles at her own joke, cross-legged and picking up another sashimi roll.
“Fine,” he does seem a bit amused, eyes jumping between her and the TV. -“You’re funny,”
“I know,” it’s a good-humoured smile this time around. -“I’m joking a little, Gavin, really, for someone growing up with a shitload of people—“
“I’m not close to my family,” he replied, a little bit more serious than she believed him to be. Nare smiles, shrugging her shoulder playfully. -“Especially my brothers.”
“Well, fuck that,” she replied, pushing the plate to the edge of the bed, leaning back at the pillows. -“For a year now, my closest friend is my bodyguard, who I doubt would actually like me if he wasn’t paid to do so, while my mother is peacefully allowing my uncle to take my dad’s place within Rojas,” she bites her lip, trying to make it sound as if she was not upset about finally saying it.
Gavin looked at her for a second, making her uncomfortable - being a centre of attention was fine, but this felt like something else. His phone buzzed on the table, his attention slips from her back to the device.
“I can go,” she rolls her eyes, trying to get up from the bed - Gavin pulls her by the hand before she can actually get up properly.
“Jesus, Naressa, why are you being this impatient?”
“Lifetime of getting what I want when I want it,” she tugs her hand from his grip, and he types something very calmly into the chat, setting the phone down next to him.
“So, how about you join me on this fun project,” he suggested all of a sudden. Nare scoffed.
“I’m no into extra credit, nerd,”
“Good, because I’m not offering extra credit,” he replied, leaning in a bit closer, prompting herself up at one elbow. She slips a bit forward, lips curling into a smile ever so slightly. Nare was amused, maybe even flattered by the fact this turned a bit flirty for a short second there.
“I’m planning on obtaining some information,” he says. -“Maybe you find something interesting in the things I find,”
“In exchange for…?”
“Just joining me in this little quest,” he replied, suddenly getting up from the bed. -“Are you in or out?”
She says nothing for a second, as he locked the door to his room.
“Fuck it, I have nothing else to do here anyway,” she says, pulling herself up a bit again, as he got to the bed, knelt to pull out some blueprints, spreading them across the bed.
She recognised the Russian Cyrillic letters on one bunch, the other two were unmarked, and Nare’s brows furrowed in confusion or disbelief. Both, most likely, but she manages to pull a paper towards herself.
“What the—“
“Give it a second, would you?” he says, turning some papers around, sitting back to the bed. -“Kozlov Medica, Mester Hester and Majestic Farms,” he pointed to three different papers, marked with a couple of different-coloured spots. -“The dots are where the bugs are supposed to go.”
Nare - in a state of shock - stares at him for a second, trying to pull a smile from under a billion questions.
She managed a very underwhelming what instead.
“If time was not essential here, I could have done all of this on my own, but if it’s two of us—“
“You are talking about the same people I think you are talking about?” she asked in disbelief.
“I am,” he replied coldly.
“And you think this is a smart move?”
“I think information is the most powerful thing around here,” he replied coldly. -“How about it?”
“I—“
They are interrupted by a simultaneous knock on the door and a phone ring. He pushed the papers back a bit, something clicked very silently under the bed, and Nare sits up a little, before he went to open, the phone still buzzing on the bed next to her.
“Are you going to pick this up?” he glanced over his shoulder, the door slightly ajar. Nare nodded, picking the phone from the bed just in time to see Samar hang up.
She mumbled a curse into her chin, getting up from the bed, slipping into her shoes.
“I have to run,” she says, pulling herself together. Gavin stops her before she leaves the room, with a very smug smile blessing his face.
“Don’t forget we have plans,” he says, letting her go a second later.
little white lies
Despite not being present at the recruits showing up - against the known rules, according to Gavin - it’s not hard to figure out more than one person is opposing this belated acceptance Baroness is eager to jump onto. Once again, she finds herself a spectator whose voice is not valid nor desired to be heard, standing near the whole scene, feeling purely decorative.
She didn’t consider saying a thing, yet she wonders if there is anyone who might. Her answer comes very shortly, but the answer to the idea of the school being a small-scale SIN dispersed before her as the Baroness upheld the monarchistic rules of conduct that got her the name. She was the ruling party and, in the end, two new initiates were accepted. Nare makes nothing of this except that the good old nepotism finds its way everywhere, or she missed out on some other thing, and she’s unsure what Gavin makes of the situation, but considering he is preoccupied with his plans - or, their plans - she dismissed the idea of asking whatsoever, at this point.
She’s out for a jog on the beach - anything aside from sitting still. Of course, she plugs her phones, calling Samar just to hear the news as she’s considering heading back, staring at the stormy clouds on the horizon.
“How are you?” she says between breaths.
“Are you running?”
“I could not spend another minute indoors,” she replied. -“How are you?”
“Tired, to be frank,” he replied, and she managed a chuckle between the breaths. -“And Silvia is trying hard to bring everyone close to the idea of Matias,” he says. Her lips curl into a smile almost instantly.
“What do you mean?”
“You know what I meant,” he replied. -“I can hear you smile through the words.”
Nare runs a little bit faster, stopping at a point, inhaling deeply, and she smiles openly now, biting on her lip.
“Matias is—“
“Outsider to most,” Samar replied.
“My father was an outsider, too.”
“Your father made a name for himself, and made it his mission to rebuild some things,” Samar replied. -“Matias is a spoilt brat who spend the majority of his life outside Colombia. He’s rash, he’s very greedy and doesn’t pick and choose which business he does. He sees everything through money,” Samar replied. Nare exhaled.
“And I am stuck here,” she says, shortly. Angrily.
“It might not be the worst thing,” he said, and she picks her pace up, heading back towards the mansion. -“He is digging his own grave, Nare, I can swear it,”
“You can’t be sure,” she says. She means it. It does sound like a lovely idea, but if there's one thing she learnt so far is that ideas are shit on their own.
“Trust me with this,” he said after a long break. The small storm reflecting the one on the horizon that brewed in her own mind turns a blue sky.
“I trust you,” she replies, calmly. -“Still no information about the shipment?”
“He is keeping everyone who favours you away from any active deals,” Samar said, switching to Taironian. -“I’ll call you later, in the evening.”
He hung up the next second, as she did another little lap, heading back next to the greenhouse instead of her normal route. She tripped on a large cobblestone, almost losing balance, and drops her earphone to the ground. The lack of music makes for other sounds to become audible, and as she got down to pick it up, she can overhear voices for a split second. She looks over, cloaked by the flower bushes outside, watching the newcomer guy passionately talk about something with the Nassir woman and Hector. The trio is preoccupied with their own chat, every one of them looking displeased about the topic of the conversation and she tries to take a step forward to listen in properly - she disturbed the bush, and the sound alerted Hector who glanced around quickly before ushering the two inside.
Nare stays put for another moment, slipping out as she notices them deep in the greenhouse.
Long steps, as she heads up to the mansion, picking her phone out of her pocket, calling Samar again.
“I will call—“
“Hector Rodriguez,” she says, whispering. -“Do you know anything about him?”
“What?”
“He’s part of Lazlo Kings,” she replied. -“He’s also teaching here,”
“I can look into it—“
“No,” she says. -“Maybe someone knows him, but if you ask, I suggest Don Martinez,” she says. -“He’ll keep silent about any questions you might have,”
“Are you in some kind of trouble?”
“No,” Nare replied. -“Just curious.”
“Be careful,” he says. Nare hangs up.
It was not the hardest thing sneaking into the laboratory - especially when you knew where the professor was - and just after a brief exploration of the area unless you find a locked door to a cabinet interesting.
She did, deciding against her saner call - she picks the lock, trying to keep her eyes on the door behind her. She’s sure there is no one around, yet she is not keen on drawing too much attention to herself at this point.
It clicks, the blood rushes to her head, Nare slipping in. The closet is not that huge, but everything is finely put away with great attention to detail, labelling and storing. The symmetry of the perfectly fitting cabin is disturbed, and as she goes closer she realised it was not a simple shelf: it had a purpose of a hidden door.
She opens it, trying to keep silent, stumbling to a set of stairs behind it. She stopped before falling into the darkness. Nare holds onto the frame, heart pacing like crazy.
“Hector, parcero,” she grins to herself - hidden doors seem to be the most popular style of building this entire place, she’s unsure if she’s more amused or amazed by the dedication. She pulls the door behind, leaving it ajar as they were before descending into the smaller room at the bottom - bottles, red light, darkness: she could recognise a dark room if she ever saw one. Photos in development are set in liquids all over the place, it feels like she stepped into a horror movie, with the strings tied around the room for later, and her initial moment of excitement turns a bit darker right now. She considers snapping a photo, stopping herself before doing it not to ruin any photos and disturb the photographer.
She walks past some images in the very early style of development, careful not to touch a thing, she quickly tucks her ponytail into the back of the shirt, moving through the room to check the photos - most of them still developing - and there are a few in later stages of photos set on the table in the back, and she’s confused a little bit: one of the photos is showing Gavin, and the other is clearly Antonio. Nare tries to pull the other photos a bit closer, trying to figure out who it is on the other ones when she hears a sound coming from upstairs.
Her heart dropped for a moment, as she moves to the back, into the darkness under the stairs. She drops behind the last cabinet in the far back, curling down, one knee on the ground, and her phone on do not disturb before she event hits the ground. She exhales silently, keeping herself as silent as possible, trying to figure out who is it.
Her mind goes straight to Hector, but there’s no way she can actually see who it is. There’s movement, she tries to catch any glimpse of the person moving through the room. As she’s about to try to move, the shadow scared her a bit and she pulls back, hearing the steps go back up the stairs, and the shelves sliding back to the right space. Nare peaked her head out, staying hidden for another moment before glancing up. No sign of the person and she slides up but makes her way to the table before going up.
The photos were gone. The new batch was in the development, she tries looking for the others, before hearing a sound - Nare slips back under the stairs, before deciding it was enough. She makes her way up the stairs, before slipping out the fake door, and out of the lab.
There’s no one in sight, but she can’t help but feel she saw something she was not supposed to see.
lucky
She’s a bit distracted during the class, brows furrowed as she stared at the phone and the fact there’s a tough chance she can share this little bit of her investigation with anyone else other than Gavin.
“Would you like to step into our discussion, Naressa?”
The Cheshire Cat asks, and she flashed an apologetic smile - or tries to fake one. One thing she really stopped caring about while still in elementary school is getting caught not paying attention. Being ashamed or embarrassed is not up to her alley anymore.
“I would love to join, can you help me get back in the loop?” she asked, leaning into her place, staring right into him. -“I don’t want to go overboard, but it might even be curiosity.”
“Glad to hear you’re interested in participating,” he replied emotionlessly. -“Cautiously curious,” he repeated, and she chuckled.
“You can never be too careful,” she added playfully. -“You know about that saying, right? About cats and curiosity?”
Cyrus is about to say something, but there’s a small buzz as a sign the class is done. Everyone picked up their things, Cyrus got back to his desk, and Nare decided to have a bit of distraction today. She sits still, waiting for him to turn back around.
“We’re not going to continue the class because you decided to space out in the middle of it,” he said, turning back to her.
“I considered lingering around, see what happens,” she chuckled. -“No, seriously now, I apologise for not actually paying attention at all today,” he turns around, and she keeps smiling.
“Not the best thing to say at the end of a class,” he replied.
“Well, I decided to uncover my mistake of the day to a not-so-complete stranger,” she shrugged. -“I’ve gotten older, but none the wiser,” Nare finished, waiting for him to either catch onto the wording or perhaps just miss it at all. -“I would love to do some very smart metaphors or find a way to mention cats, Alice in Wonderland or Lewis Caroll into this conversation, but it would be much easier on me if you could just pick up on the fact we have met, but we haven’t,” she replied.
She caught the moment he figured, lips drawn into a smile.
“Naressa Navaro, we finally met properly,”
“Cheshire Cat,” she smiled back. -“Well, I figured we did a bit earlier this week,”
“And stayed silent?”
“I had other preoccupations,” she replied. -“Getting kidnapped, forceful education enrolment, some private messes I had to address. Mainly the kidnapping bit.”
“Excuses, clearly,”
“Clearly,” she smiled back at his playful tone. -“So,” Nare made a short pause, before standing up, closing the book before her. -“Are you going to give me detention for not being present at the class today? Extra assignment, send me off to a torture chamber, what’s the normal thing here?”
“We set up the wrong example for you with the kidnapping test?” he seems a bit amused.
“Kidnapping has that effect on me,” she smiles. -“But, I’ve given you a chance, and you said nothing, so I guess I’ll see you at the next class,”
“Make sure you pay attention,”
“Keep me interested, and I might,” she adds when she’s already out the door.
a foolish heart
They sneaked out for a Saturday night fun.
It seems much less ominous when you put it like this, but the reality of having this many influential people, heirs of wealthy criminal empires, contenders to different positions of power all bundled up at the same place…sounds, well, stupid.
Gavin - in a far better mood than she imagined - makes it clear there is absolutely no way she is skipping this, and if she was to be true to herself, she was into going out - she might not have been into heading out with the same group of people she spent the entire day with. Yet, she makes an effort to look good, feel good, kick the fucking freaky portraits from her mind as she throws back a drink or two with the rest.
“You really look good tonight, Nare,” Gavin leaned in a little, slightly drunk. She scoffed, amused, looking up, hand on his chest for a moment, pulling the bit of his shirt that was unbuttoned,
“Are you flirting with me, Rizzo?” she teased, pursing her lips into a tight smile.
“I could be, yes,” he replied, flashing a very honest smirk if there was ever such a thing. He is confident, that’s for sure - not that he had reasons not to be. There’s a group of girls who seem familiar with Gavin standing not far from them, and if she’s being honest, it feels like he got all the attention today. Nare smiles.
“You fucker,” she chuckled. -“You already have a booty call set up for today, don’t you?”
“Nothing set in stone, let me assure you,” he glanced to the side, still with that smirk on his face and she shakes her head a little.
“This is not the right way to ask someone to join in, you know?”
“What is the right way? Please, let me know so I can ask it correctly,” he teased, diverting attention to her exclusively. She has to admit, she is amused. Possibly more amused than she would have suspected.
“You are so damn cocky.”
“I thought that was a good thing,” Gavin glanced away, grinning.
“Go on,” she smiles back, probably a bit more flustered than she believed she would be, trying to keep her cool demeanour as much as she could. -“Have some fun,” Nare nudges towards the group, finally letting go of the shirt hem, patting his chest twice.
“If you change your mind…”
Nare smiles, rolling her eyes playfully.
“I know how to reach you.”
He went away, and she wonders for a second if she should have said yes, just to have some kind of distraction and, possibly, enjoy the evening a little bit more. She breaks a small chuckle, snapping herself from going along with the idea.
She had another drink, or two, chatting with a person or two, she’s not particularly interested in either right now - she decides it’s soon enough time to go back to the school - she considers getting there, before deciding she’d like to drop by another dive bar on her way out, possibly to see if she notices anyone else who might seem familiar or hear something interesting on her way.
The bar she walked into seems less like a club - the music is still good - but there’s more space for conversation.
She turns around the room, noticing a familiar face sitting at the bar, smiling at the coincidence, as she approached.
“It’s nice to see you outside the class,” she approached, Antonio turning over his shoulder, somewhat surprised to see her there. -“Mind if I join?”
It takes him a second to reply, by which time, she’s already sitting down, purse on the bar to her right.
“Should you?” he gives a soft chuckle. -“You aren’t supposed to be here in the first place, and you make a habit of running into me in locations you shouldn’t visit,” for a moment, it feels like a scold, but the tone is a bit on the playful side.
“You’re right,” Nare smiles, turning around, finding a booth on the other side of the bar before turning her attention back to him. -“Maybe we can go sit over there?”
Toni nods at the bartender, and she orders a Negroni before they change location, moving into the comfortable seating of the leather booth. The bar was up to his alley, she liked the idea of seeing him there, it felt natural and settling in, she can see herself being comfortable there too.
“Your kind of place?”
“We can agree there aren’t many choices around here,” he replied. -“I imagine it’s not your type, though.”
“I feel my taste in everything is quite different from whatever people expect,” Nare replied.
“I imagine dealing with artwork on daily basis does that to a person, it makes you appreciative of different things,”
“Yeah, definitely, art,” she chuckled, nodding. Toni laughs a little, taking the rest of his drink in one sip, and she prepares for this conversation to be a bit more relaxed.
“Long tradition of art trade in the family makes you see things in another light,” he said, raising his hand towards the bartender.
“Oh,” she agreed, taking yet another sip, keeping the chuckle at bay. -“Art is a part of our identity, whatever happens,”
“Family business, right?”
“Legacy, yes,” she replied. -“Something to take over, as intended.”
“You were a part of everything since an early age, no?” he said with a smile in his voice, but there’s something else lingering in the question as she gave it a playful shrug.
“What is early when it comes to legacy?”
“You tell me,” he asks, thanking for the drink as it arrived. Nare glanced to the waitress serving it, shifting gaze to Toni again after it.
“I doubt I have the correct answer,” she replied.
“Good,” Toni smiles, relaxed. -“I didn’t ask for a correct one, I asked for yours,” he continued.
“Again, maybe I cannot give you one,” she replied. -“One thing I feel we could agree is that the exact moment of the beginning rarely matters as much as we want it to, it boils down to the important notion we have to realise: it’s never too late.”
“Is that something you worry about?” his tone is charming, his questions aim to hit a point.
“No,” the lie slips through her lips very easily and she regrets it instantly. There’s a small pause before she returns to the subject. -“I don’t know, maybe, I don’t know why I said that.”
“So, you do worry about it?”
“About what exactly?” Nare sips more of her Negroni, playfully smiling at his question.
“You seem quite skilled in evading answers when you want to,” he chuckled, this time seemingly in a better mood.
“You’re the one to talk,” she exhaled, a bit more relaxed now the conversation seemed to have lightened. she said, trying to ignore the fact there was a photo of him she found in a very secret space within their very exclusive school. -“I know nothing about you while you’re doing your best to try to figure out as much as you possibly can about me,” she replied directly, still with a smile on her lips.
“What would you like to know?”
“For starters,” she sips on the Negroni. -“Is there someone in your life who might not be okay with this?”
“This?”
“Me, sitting here and very subtly flirting with you,” Nare leans back into the leather seating, locking gaze for a second more before finally breaking gaze.
“Is that what’s happening?” he seems flattered, or simply not unhappy with what she just said, but she’s not easily distracted.
“It’s happening, yes,” Nare said. -“But I would be happy to make it a little bit flirtier if you gave me a fitting answer to my question,” she downed the rest of the drink, lifting her finger into the air gently. -“I’ll give you a second to consider it while I order another drink.”
She sways her hips lightly as she makes her way there, leaning on the mahogany bar, before tossing her hair a little, glancing over her shoulder to make sure he was looking.
He was, she smiles, smugness overwhelming her.
When she returned, Antonio sat with his fingers curled around the glass, leaning back as she sat down. Nare clinks her glass onto his, taking a sip of her Negroni, but says nothing until he did.
“Are we being elusive with absolutely every answer this time?”
“Of course not,” she smiles. -“But I feel you already gave me my answer,”
“And what are you to make of that?”
Nare moved a little bit closer to him,
“Whatever I want.”
DONE.I think. Hope.
Last edited by Zaralee (30/06/2021 at 13:26)
