The dim lights of the abandoned warehouse around her barely illuminated the silhouetted figure of the tall, broad-shouldered man that approached her. Ordinarily, given the circumstances, she wouldn’t have stuck around in a place like this to meet this man. But Elyn wasn’t exactly in a position to make that kind of choice.
The warehouse around her was old but still clearly in use, in spite of its supposed abandoned status. She could see wooden beams along the ceiling, holding up a corrugated steel roof. Several lights hung down from the roof, only barely in working order, shining down a yellow-ish beam onto her form. And onto that of the silhouetted man. As he slid open a large receiving door and entered, he strolled toward her between full wooden pallets stacked high with wooden crates. Elyn knew what was inside those crates. And that was why she had been tied to the chair she was sitting in...
Coarse rope, expertly tied, held her wrists together behind the back of the chair, held in place by a rope wrapped around her waist. More of the rope bound her arms and torso, tightly pinning them to her sides, a thick coil wrapping her up from elbows to shoulders. Her legs were tied together at the thighs and her ankles were each tied to one of the chair legs. A thick cloth had been stuffed in her mouth and her own, black scarf that she had been wearing was tied on tightly over her mouth, keeping her gagged and silent. As she struggled, she felt the ropes dig in to her body and crease her clothing, hoping at least that the rope didn’t ruin her outfit.
She had dressed casually for this day, trying to blend in and avoid being noticed. That had failed, obviously, but it wasn’t due to her clothing. Maybe her short, thick orange hair with its long bangs or soft orange eyes might have given her away. But her clothing was fairly ordinary. She dressed in red and black, as she usually did, with black ankle socks poking out just enough from the red running shoes she wore on her feet. These socks matched her denim short shorts and her shoes matched the tight, red t-shirt she wore.
Elyn stopped struggling as the man finally stepped into the light. He was tall, rather imposing, and had rather broad shoulders. He wore an all black suit with a long overcoat and thin brimmed fedora. He looked every part a stereotypical gangster. And that was exactly what he was.
His tired, grey eyes locked with hers and the dim light from the glowing end of his cigarette illuminated the scruffy, brown beard on his face that matched his short hair.
“You brought this on yourself, you know,” he said, taking a long drag from his cigarette. He spoke with a slight accent, though Elyn couldn’t place it. It was like he was stuck in a black and white movie and trying to match some vague part of a New York accent from... anywhere, really. It wasn’t consistent with anything, as though he’d just made it up on the spot.
“If you’d just kept your nose where it belonged, out of our business, then you wouldn’t be in this... predicament.”
“Mmmrrpphh...” Elyn said, growling beneath her gag and glaring at him.
He took another drag of his cigarette, seeming to punctuate his words when he finished speaking with a puff of smoke around his head.
He tapped one of the crates with his free hand, rapping his knuckles against it. “So then... looks like we got ourselves another diamond for the stash. Only this one’s a bit... difficult to transport. You catch my meaning?”
“Hhmmpphh...”
“I’m sure you do, doll...”
With another drag of his cigarette, he seemed to hesitate. He stared at the concrete floor for about a minute, as though trying to think of what else to say.
“We got ourselves a problem,” he said. “This diamond, see, she’s not exactly our regular cargo. And we were thinking... it might be time to help her out a bit. She looks a bit sleepy. So we think a nice, long dirt nap ought to fix her...”
“Hang on, stop.”
A woman’s voice interrupted him and the lights in the building came up. He pulled the cigarette from his mouth and turned to one side to see the raven-haired, caramel skinned woman approaching from a door to his left. She wore a sparkling, black dress with a split up one side of the skirt, matching heels and long, silky gloves past her elbows. She spoke with a slight Hispanic accent.
“What?”
“What the hell was that?” she asked. “Dirt nap? You’re a walking cliche.”
“Well it’s not like you gave me a script or anything.”
“And what’s with the voice? What is that accent?”
The man let out a short breath. “I’m a gangster! Like in the old movies.”
She sighed and lowered her head into one hand. “That’s really the character you’re going with? You can’t come up with anything else, Jonas?”
Jonas looked back and forth between his two friends, wondering how in the hell he got mixed up in this ridiculous idea. “You’re lucky it was Elyn that asked me to do this, you know. I wouldn’t even be here. I’m doing this for her. Not you, Aurora.”
“Then let’s do things right,” Aurora said, looking at him again. “And don’t ramble forever. You’re supposed to cue me in at some point, remember?”
Jonas just rolled his eyes. “It’s not like you’ve let me forget...”
“Of course not. Because it’s important.”
“Then why are you interrupting the scene?”
“Because you’re doing so much... weird stuff. For one, you’re smoking like a damn chimney. Why do you keep taking a drag every time you finish talking?”
“It’s called dramatic tension, Aurora! It draws out the tension.” He turned to look at Elyn. “That’s what you wanted, isn’t it? This whole tense, movie-like atmosphere, right?”
Elyn just shrugged as she watched her friend and girlfriend argue, rather amused at their silly bickering.
“And there’s the weird accent, and the cliches... you know what? Do it your way. Just... don’t forget to call me in!”
Jonas sighed. “I won’t. Now, can we get back to this please? And don’t tell me you recorded all that...”
“We’ll cut it,” Aurora said.
“Waste of memory space...” he said. “Hope we don’t run out.”
“Just... get back to what you were doing.”
Aurora left back through the door she had come in and the lights went down again. Jonas sighed, cleared his throat, and placed the fake cigarette back in his mouth, doing his best to pretend it was real.
He let the fake smoke encircle his head and met Elyn’s eyes again. “Did you really think you could get away with getting in my way? This is my town, see. And those smuggled diamonds, they’re getting sold whether you like it or not.”
Elyn furrowed her brow, glaring at Jonas, and struggled against her bonds. “Ymm wmmt gmmt mmwmm wmmf thmmph!”
“Yeah yeah, whatever,” Jonas said, his accent back to its former, muddled place, eternally trapped in an old film. “All you goody-two-shoes reporter and PI types wind up in the same place, in the end. Because this...” he stepped forward, gesturing wide with his arms. “This city... it belongs to me. And people like you... just get in the way. But not this time.”
He stepped back and turned away from her, taking yet another drag from his cigarette. “And you’ve gone and made us so angry... the boss wants to get her hands on you herself.”
“Hmmph?”
“You snoop types always think you got everything figured out, don’t you? Well... I’ll bet you didn’t figure this one out. Ma’am... she’s all yours.”
“Pause, wait. Time out.”
The lights came up again and Aurora stepped back into the warehouse. “Ma’am!? You make me sound like a grandma!”
“Hey, you’re supposed to be playing my boss. Gangsters are all about showing respect, aren’t they? Even if they’re... nevermind. Mobsters like that are always going on about respect, right? Well, that’s what my character would call you. As a sign of respect,” Jonas said.
“But it makes me feel old! Are you calling me old!?”
“Aurora, please, you’re younger than me. I would never-”
“Well then don’t call me ‘Ma’am!” Aurora said.
Jonas rolled his eyes. “It’s not ‘me’ calling ‘you’ Ma’am. It’s my character calling your character ‘Ma’am.’ There’s a major difference.”
Aurora sighed again. “Well... okay. But it still sounds... bad. There must be something else.”
“Madam?”
Aurora curled her nose in disgust. “No! That’s even worse!”
“Um... lady boss?”
“Lady... what the hell... why would you even need to say ‘lady!?’ The pronouns already gave that away! Just say boss or... something! Just not ‘Ma’am!’ Got it!?”
“Right. Got it. Jeez, I’m not some master of improv over here. Cut me a little slack.”
“Just... start that again. That last line. Go from there and just call me boss when you call me in.”
“And then what?” Jonas asked.
“I have my scene with her and then... um...”
“Did either of you even have an ending planned out when you concocted this bizarre game of yours?”
“Yes! We just... never agreed on where it would go... oh! I know! Since it’s already a twist that I’m the one who hired her to try and figure out this whole diamond smuggling thing, how about another twist?”
“Great... Now you’re like that one director who makes all those really awful movies. What next? Am I going to be weak to water or secretly be dead the whole time?” Jonas asked, rolling his eyes.
“Don’t be ridiculous! Elyn will like this. So, even though I’m the big boss who’s coming to kill her, I’ve had a change of heart. I’m just so enamoured with her that I want to save her from you. So I do! But, she wants to stay tied up so... I’ll take her out of here in the chair. Carry her.”
“That might be tough. It’ll be awkward to carry with her in it.”
Aurora scoffed. “I’m just as strong as the rest of them, you know. I can handle it.”
“You sure? Then how’d they keep beating you in the old days? I heard Celia kicked your ass.”
“Hey! No need to get personal now! And those days are over. I’m stronger than I was before. In more ways than one. Besides, this isn’t the first time I’ve carried my darling, sweet Elyn...”
“If you insist. So, what, you just pick her up and take her away?”
“I’ll drop a smoke bomb, too. To make sure you don’t know where we went and can’t follow us.”
“Wait you just... have a smoke bomb?”
Aurora smirked. “I always come prepared.”
“For what? Just in case we have to escape ninjas for no reason?”
“Given my old life, you never know,” Aurora said. “All right. Now that’s settled, let’s get this going. Start from your last line.”
Jonas sighed. “I’ll try to remember it, then...”
Aurora said nothing more and left the room once again, the lights going down to their moody setting once again.
Jonas took a long drag from his fake cigarette while he jogged his memory.
“Seems to me you snooping types think you got it all figured out. Well, I got something you didn’t figure out. Boss! She’s all yours...”
Jonas stepped back and Aurora made her grand entrance, hips swaying, heels clacking, striding gracefully into view. Elyn gasped and squealed into her gag. “Nmmm! YMMM!!??”
She smiled wide and spoke, making sure her accent was even thicker. “Yes, my lovely. It’s me. I knew you were onto us already. So, I do what I always do. I baited the hook and reeled in the pretty little fish. Hiring you just put you right where I want you.”
Aurora strode confidently across the room, sitting down in Elyn’s lap, her legs straddling the chair. “It’s a shame. You’re so very lovely to look at.”
Elyn did her best to keep acting and glare into Aurora’s eyes, growling beneath her gag and struggling with the ropes. But her mind, and her heart, raced as Aurora pushed herself closer to Elyn’s face, trying not to let herself get lost in her girlfriend’s eyes. But there was no doubt she was having fun with this. What a great idea this was she thought to herself.
“Those eyes, those lips... sorry to have to cover them up. But you understand. Can’t take the chance of someone hearing you...”
“Mmmph! LMMT MM GGMMM!!”
“Oh no, my pretty. I can’t do that. In fact... I could never do that. Let you go? You’re so very precious. Much more so than any of these silly diamonds...”
Elyn felt her heart melt. My god, even when she’s acting she’s so sweet to me...”
“Which is why, my darling... I won’t let them hurt you.”
Jonas stepped forward. “Boss? What’s gotten into you?”
Aurora didn’t even look at him, instead reaching under her dress and taking hold of something she had hidden there. “Silly man.... don’t you get it? How’s this for an answer?”
She threw it down and both she and Elyn were engulfed in smoke as the thing cracked when it hit the ground, obscuring them from view.
“Boss! No!” Jonas charged into the smoke but, to his genuine surprise, Elyn and Aurora were both gone. He looked around for a moment before tossing his hat to the ground in anger, punching one of the nearby crates before storming off into the dark warehouse again.
After a few moments, everyone returned, including Elyn, who Aurora placed back down on the ground, still tied to her chair.
“Well... I’d say that about ends that,” Aurora said. “We’ll get a look at the footage later. Now, I think Elyn and I are a bit... tired.” Aurora said, raising her eyebrows.
“Right. Well... I guess that’s my cue to exit,” Jonas said. “Safe trip home and all that.”
“Yes. You too, scruffy.”
Jonas chuckled. “Wow. You said something nice to me. Is it my birthday?”
“Ha ha,” Aurora said. “I... appreciate you doing this for Elyn. So... thanks. I do... think you’re all right, Jonas. I hope you know that.”
Jonas smiled. “Well damn... Didn’t expect that. Aurora... you’ve changed a lot.”
“Thank Elyn for that.”
“Well anyway, even if it was something I wouldn’t usually do... I was happy to do it for Elyn. For both of you, really. Just to see you both happy,” Jonas said.
Aurora smiled. “Ah, stop it now. You’re going soft.”
“So are you, apparently...”
“Only for my dear Elyn... now get lost. We need to be alone. You understand?”
Jonas nodded. “Right. I’m gone then. See you later.”
“I suppose we will,” Aurora said. “Now get!”
Jonas left in a hurry as Aurora picked up Elyn and the chair together, carrying her to their waiting van. “Well I, for one, can’t wait to watch all that back. But first... how about a bit more fun?”
Elyn nodded and giggled beneath her gag.
“I thought you’d say that. Let’s go, then.”
Aurora shut the door, gathered up their various cameras and microphones, storing them in the back with Elyn before strapping in the chair and shutting the doors. In no time, the van pulled away and took them away from their strange, yet satisfying, bondage game. And there was still yet more for them to get up to. But that would remain yet another loving secret between the two of them.