Danielle Hayes

Anastasia's lounge was dark, heavy and ofcourse, hot. Shimmering red lights cascaded down and the music was arrhythmical. My heart immediately skipped a beat.

Sleek men and women danced back and forth on the dance floor.

Through the crowd, I spotted a red haired lady in her tight business suit.

"Is that her?" I asked Mr. Prescott.

"The one and only."

As soon as her eyes fell on us, putting her phone down, she pushed through the crowd.

Her dazzling green eyes locked with mine as She headed towards us. Heading towards me.

Mr. Prescott introduced me to her but as the beat was on swing, I couldn't quite hear them.

"At last." She said, crossing her arms.

As soon as her hand took mine, the lights flared. I pulled my hand away. She gave me a sly smile before The crowd pressed her towards me and Mr. Prescott was lost in the crowd.

She leaned closer, her lips touched my ear as she spoke. "Ask me. Anything."

"Good thing that I have multiple questions for you then."

"I am the maximum shareholder. I believed in Bennet corp, in Oliver and that's the reason why, I invested in the company when no one did. I needed him."

"Lara told us about it but what happens to Bennet corp now? Will Noah take over?"

"Honestly, Not Noah. He doesn't know anything about it and He's a bit unstable. I heard he has a girlfriend." She said, smugly.

Girlfriend?

"Do you know her name?" I asked as my curiosity peeked.

"Leave them alone." She rolled her eyes. "Let young love blossom. Don't destroy it before they even have a chance."

"We need to find her before the cops do." I yelled, as the music was on high pitch. Mr. Prescott was still nowhere to be found.

"She's near by. Noah never goes out."

I tried to think but seemed impossible with all the heaviness in the lounge.

"Did you know Oliver was having marriage troubles? Maybe it's worth looking into."

"I heard the rumours." I nodded.

"I didn't like his business trips with the PR, Lara. I found them sneaking out of the meetings, together, several times."

As the bass rose up, the crowd increased causing her to press against me.

"Where were you when Mr. Bennet died?"

"I was showering after my jog."

The scent of her rose shampoo hit me right in my nose.

"What do you think is it? Suicide or..."

"Who said it was suicide? What do you know?"

Her expression changed from neutral to perplexed before she contained it to normal.

"His output was slacking, he got slow in coming up with solutions. He knew he had to do it. That's what I think. By the way, I heard he called you earlier. What was that about?"

How did she know?

"I would love to find out."

Once again, the music rose up causing the crowd to shake their bodies off.

"I'll come back later."

She mouthed me 'okay' before I stepped out only to find Mr. Prescott standing there, leaning to the wall.

As his eyes trained on me, his eyebrows shot up.

"Was she hitting on me?"

He chuckled.

•°•°•°•°•°• 💙

The next day, we entered Lara's office yet again.

A reporter was questioning Lara via satellite.

"Why was Oliver Bennet murdered? Is the killer in the building?" She asked.

Lara soon saw us and grinned.

"Here they are! The great detectives. I am sure they will answer you."

The cameras were turned, as the light hit us. We were on air. Live.

"Turn off the damn camera. Now!!" I yelled but it went unheard. Meanwhile Mr. Prescott shook his head.

"It's a pleasure being here." He smiled.

What?

I looked at him. He stood surprisingly calm about it and answered the questions patiently.

"Who are the suspects?"

"Mr. Bennet had come across many. We are checking several promising leads." I said. Her eyes twinkled as she focussed on me.

"We are all wondering: Are you and Detective Logan Prescott together? Are you crime fighting couple?"

"Me? I wish. Someday maybe?"

As soon as the words left my mouth, everyone's eyes widened in astonishment. Slightly embarassed, I tried to cough it off.

Surprisingly Mr. Prescott didn't tell anything either.

"One last question, is it related to suspicious death of Oliver's first wife?"

What the-

"No comment." We both said almost at a time.

Later, Lara perched towards her desk. We sat opposite to her, ready with the questions.

"You were seen sneaking. Along with Oliver."

"By who?" She glared.

"It doesn't matter who? Just tell us."

"I won't say anything. A lot happens in my private life." She groaned, flaying her hands.

"Don't you want to avenge his death, Lara?" Mr. Prescott asked, drumming the table with his slender long fingers.

She remained silent. Slowing taking her purse out, she spoke. "I think, you guys should know about the motel."

"I think we should." I nodded.

"And also about the Secret laptop there." She added, looking at Mr. Prescott.

"Yes!"

She slipped a key into my hands. The key of the room at the Inn of Dreams.

"I don't need it anymore." She bursted into tears.

Her assistants glared at us, surrounding her.

•°•°•°•°• 💙

Inn of Dreams Wasn't a large one. It was a small motel, countryside. We opened the room, that was on the second floor.

Time to find out the truth.

It was quite cosy. Neon stickers were on the Purple washed walls. A laptop was on the bed, glowing.

We started searching the room for any possible clues. I took the room while Mr. Prescott, the bathroom.

Finding a shim pitted bottles on the night stand, I took it to examine them.

"The shim's here. Fresh and not oxidised."
I said as he walked out if the bathroom.

"I found Blue hair in the shower. Maybe It's Lara's."

I kneel on the bed, examining the laptop. It looked quite new with an amazingly new prototype that hadn't been released yet.

"Can we take it?"

He shook, Indicating his hand at the security chains that chained the laptop to the head board of the bed.

"It's connected to the back of the laptop, so there's a chance that it gets alarmed when the chain's cut."

Slowly, I touched the screen. A touch pad popped up for unlocking in. I search around for for any sort of written combination but in vain.

"Do we have a combination, sir?"

"Do we now, Danielle?" His eye brows shot up and he slowly approached me.

Was he testing me? Again?

"Let's keep that aside. Is the room clear?" I said, checking under the bed.

"Affair confirmed. Found the polaroids. They are hot."

He just hummed in reply, rummaging through the drawers as something caught my eye.

The shim sparkled under the neon light. But was it really that?

"I am going to test it. Do you want some?" He shook his head.

I took it from the silver cup, to taste it. Just when the crystals touched my tongue, it tingled in my mouth.

"It's weak, Mr. Prescott. This couldn't have killed him." I confirmed.

But it was enough to give the room, a rosy glow. I felt more alive and more, hot. Feeling weak in my knees, I sat on the edge of the bed, looking out of the window.

A ring on my phone brought me back from the daze.

"I'll answer it." I stood up, with my wobbly legs and trudged to the phone.

"Hi sweetie! This is Aaliyah. The clerk at the front desk." I heard a sweet voice.

Sweetie? She thought I was Lara?

"Hey Aaliyah! Wow!" I said, trying to sound like Lara.

"Ha yes! I see, you two love birds are back. Would you guys like to extend your stay?"

"Uh!... Yeah! Five stars."

"I don't know. Lemme check. I'll read the details to you." She read Oliver's secret credit card details.

"Yep! Thanks sweetie. You are awesome." I wooed her. Putting the phone down, I turned to him.

"What's next Mr. Prescott?"

All of a sudden, a dangerous impulse ran over, pulling me into a trance. Maybe because of the shim or... Was it because we were here, together?

I sat on the bed, dangling a shoe off my feet.

I was feeling strange and his appearance was a massive turn on.

"Knox?" He looked at me, surprised. "Come here, please."

Smirking, he walked towards me. "Yes Danielle?"

"The motel clerk gave us another week." I said. "Tell me Knox... Shall we lie down for five minutes?"

"Why?" He asked, sitting beside me. "Are you tired? Shall we leave?

"Nah! I wanted to feel how it was. For them."

"To put yourself into Lara's mind." His eyebrows rose up.

"And you into Oliver's. What did they see? What did they... Feel?"

I moved the laptop aside, stretching out on the bed as he watched my every move. His eyes travelled up my body.

I smiled.

"What do you see, when you look at me?"

"I see a star. A sun, that's brightest of all." He said immediately. I could see the honesty in his eyes. "Everyone's eyes are drawn to you. Whatever it is, you have it."

"And, I was so desperate to find you." He said looking deep into my eyes, in his deep, husky tone.

"For finding the truth ofcourse. Else why would you?" He just shook it off.

I took his hand into mine, Interlacing my fingers.

"I wanted to confess something. I want to tell you something about me." I looked at him. "But, why are we wasting our beautiful time here?"

I leaned in, touching his neck. The sweet spot. He just closed his eyes, breathing ragged.

"Knox... Touch me please."

I felt vulnerable. What was happening to me?

God!! Stop it. I couldn't stop it.

Just then, he pulled me against his body. Strong and warm. He wrapped his arms around me in a possessive sort of way.

"Is that okay?" He whispered, huskily, shaking my insides.

I nodded, wetting my lips. My eyes darted between his eyes and his lips while his eyes solely rested on mine. I leaned in only to get stopped by him.

I gaped at him, as his fingers brushed my lips. I felt hotter every passing second.

"I am simply warning you, Danielle." He spoke.

"Warning me about what?"

His gaze dropped to my mouth before slowly lifting it to my eyes, once more.

"That, next time you look at me like you want me to kiss you... I will."

******

Hey guys!!! Hope y'all liked this chapter.

Favorite cartoon ?😅

Mine's Doraemon.

Love 💕

Mikaelson