8 days before the job

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"Chop chop," I place a cup of coffee in front of Pandora.

"Say that again and it will be your head that will be chopped."

What a wonderful way to start the morning.

I go over to where Blaise and Jian are sitting, deep in concentration, as their hands move in sync.

"What do you want-"

"Shut up!" They say together.

Okay. Rude. No coffee for them.

Yuxian swaggers up to me and places a hand on my shoulder, "Don't mind them, they are very close to making an entry into the system and it's very hard to be undetectable."

"Oh, okay," I avert my eyes from the two hackers and fix them on Yuxian, "You seem to be in a great mood."

"We're finally gonna crack the security system, why wouldn't I be? Plus Kai apologized to me, for being mean. When was she mean?"

"Oh... "

WHAT THE FUCK IS THIS KAI HAS NEVER APOLOGIZED TO ME FOR ANYTHING SHE JUST IGNORES MY EXISTENCE AND STEALS MY COFFEE THEN DOES THE SPIDERMAN ON HIGH PLACES AND DRINKS THE DAMN THING WHAT THE FUCK.

"Also, you never tell me the gossip of your own group, come on, tell a homie," He sits down on the couch and pats the seat next to him.

"You just wanna know if Blaise is dating someone, don't you?"

He narrows his eyes, "I mean if you wanna tell me then sure."

"Ariadne is a boy magnet; Pandora is the repellant; Rey prefers streetfights over boys; Yuri doesn't understand the concept of flirting or dating; Dharuna is complicated, so is Monique-"

"Wait are they not together?" Yuxian looks confused.

"Will you let me finish my train of thought? Minnie is the toughest person to crack, and I don't have the time for a boyfriend."

"Oh you definitely have someone, I can see it in your eyes," He nudges my elbow.

"You disturbingly act like Yuri sometimes."

"I will take that as a compliment," He retorts.

"I knew I liked you," Yuri shouts from the kitchen behind us.

They both shoot finger guns at each other.

"What about Kai?" He asks.

I smirk, "Wouldn't you like to know?"

No answer. He just doesn't meet my eyes.

I continue, "Kai-"

"WE DID IT!" Blaise shouts out, "OH MY GOD WE DID IT!" She jumps up from where she was sitting, and so does Jian.

"Told you it was easy," Jian tells a jumping Blaise.

"WE DID IT," She hugs him tight at the waist because he's freakishly tall. He just goes completely still and stares at her head with wide eyes.

Okay what the fuck.

WHY DOES SHE HUG EVERYONE BUT ME.

No one loves me.

A small smile appears on his face as he places a hand around her back.

Okay I don't mind, this is cute.

"Aww," Yuri has the audacity to comment.

Blaise pulls back, then clears her throat.

Yuri you fucking bitch-

"Sorry," Blaise tells Jian before walking over and hugging Yuxian instead.

Now Jian looks like a sad little puppy. Fucking Yuri. That little bitch.

Yuxian pats her back and she let's go.

I open my arms with a smile. She walks right past them.

Yeah fuck Jian as well. He can be sad all he fucking wants.

I plop down with sadness, on the couch and eat the yogurt I had kept on the coffee table untouched. I can only taste melancholy.

And then my face is buried in Yuri's hoodie as she engulfs me into a bear hug. Wait a minute, this is MY hoodie.

"I hate seeing your hugs get rejected," She tells me in a baby voice and hugs me so much that I can't breathe.

Aw.

****

"I seriously hate this blazer," Rey mutters beside me as we walk into the Munir hotel yet again.

"It's an educational trip," Ariadne says, seeming very chipper.

It's the first time she's visiting this place, and she seems to fit in perfectly. Her clothes are immaculate, and so is her makeup, her short black hair styled sleekly around her face, her dark brown eyes have a confident twinkle and her walk makes her seem all high and mighty.

She looks like our boss. The receptionist seems to think that herself as she only addresses Aria even though I was the one who made the reservation.

"I like this place," Pandora looks around, "Smells like brandy and cheating wives and sugar daddies."

"You need help," Ariadne comments.

"Well she's not wrong," Rey says, after blowing a raspberry.

"The only thing you need to smell is the ring and someone whose aliases we can steal," I look around at the reception where brilliantly dressed people are drinking whiskey.

We slyly sneak into the area where the guests of the auction are gathered for a small party. I hate this atmosphere, full of rich condescending wives and men who think they are above the law.

But then again I'm a thief, who am I to judge.

Also, we're here on a mission, we need seats in the auction.

"So we're looking for people who are not too important, we're talking people invited to fill in the seats. Relatives of the Royal family are out of bounds. So is the executive team of the hotel. And celebrities. Every other person is just a weed so rip them out," Cassandra scans the place.

"You're brutal," I look at Cassie sideways.

"Hey wait, where's Aria?" Rey says, looking around.

And she walks up to us, wiping some smudged lipstick off her chin.

And she holds up a golden and purple card, "Oh well someone invited me to the auction as a date."

Well that's that. Guess Aria is coming to the auction.

"We still need the invites so come on!" Cassandra doesn't seem to care, as she opens up her compact and touches up her bony cheeks.

"Yeah... Rey and I are not good at this, so we're gonna be on standby at the bar, ping us if you need backup of any sort," I tell my lovely grifter. Alby is already chatting around, looking lovely in the ginger wig Pandora put on for her. It really suits her.

We both take seats at the beloved bar and order two scotches.

Well I ordered a scotch for Rey because she needs to diversify from root beer and coffee.

We'll make her eat sushi next.

"Ariadne and Pandora look so amazing in these outfits," Rey looks at the two moving around, getting called by random people for introductions.

I look at them, slender legs moving in unison in the perfect fitted pencil skirts and shirts. They look so chic.

"Pencil skirts and long legs work really well you know?" I take a long sip of my lovely drink.

Rey looks down at her own short legs and sighs, "Yeah, long legs do look better."

I hit her arm, "But your ass makes anything look great."

Her frown turns upwards as she hits my arm back, a lot harder, it might probably leave a bruise, "That was very heartwarming and equally creepy, never say that to me again."

I just smile and clink my glass with hers.

I get a ping on my Bluetooth and turn it on to hear Minji's voice, "Update, we have one woman, we need at least one more, just to get the grifters in."

"Got it. Allie, Cassie, how is it going?"

"It is difficult to find the right people," Alby's voice floats through the audio piece.

"Take your time and make the right move, if possible, scan their phone with Mon's glasses so that Blaise can cancel their invite and send us one instead."

"On it," Comes Cassandra's voice.

My phone suddenly vibrates, just for me to find an email, from William of course.

I don't know if you would want this information fellow dragon, but all of us are doing well here. Lucas is thriving again, going on dates and visiting bars to meet up with our friends. Thank you for the help, we appreciate it.
- W

I smile widely to myself. No more glitter on the ear and drinking alone. That's amazing!

I start typing a reply when my bluetooth pings again.

"What's up?"

"Turns out, both Allie and I got a person, so we have room for one more person on the party," Comes Cassandra's voice.

"Perfect we'll send Minnie with the two of you," I whisper.

A booming voice distracts me from my call, "Ah I found some kindred people."

I jump to see a large man in a suit sitting in the empty stool beside me, looking a little uncomfortable, probably because the stool is a little small from him.

As my habit, I scan him from head to toe. A pile of business cards are stocked in his breast pocket, he collects contacts. Neatly trimmed and dyed beard, and well kept short hair, without any cuts or faults, that means his face has a certain value, and he has people taking care of it. As for age, judging the slight wrinkles and posture, I will throw in that he's probably in his late forties.

The belly though, man's rich and married for sure. Doesn't feel the need to take care of the physique.

His ear has an audio piece similar to what I am wearing, but he's definitely not a bodyguard, considering his build.

He is most definitely an executive of this hotel, if he belonged to another company, why would he be on call here? At a party reception.

He could be a spy, but then again, the build makes it unlikely. Plus the age, spies must have their retirement ages similar to athletes.

"Why are two beautiful young ladies such as yourselves sitting here, instead of socializing?" He asks in a thick Middle Eastern accent.

"Great day to drink," Rey takes a sip.

He laughs heartily, then clinks his glass with mine and Rey's, "Yes, yes very true."

"It's nice to meet you sir," I raise my glass with a nod.

"Oh please, don't bother with the formalities," He laughs again, "Are you attending the auction in a week?"

I shake my head, "Unfortunately we are not, though we are great enthusiasts of the Royal family. The story of how the senior Sheikh asked for his wife's hand in marriage is so touching," I tell him, trying to remember whatever I read on Wikipedia.

He nods, "Yes yes, great story to tell the children, isn't it?"

I tilt my head, "That's not what happened?"

"Love stories are true only in the books," The man scoffs, but then a sudden realization strikes him, "Let us not talk about that. I hope you will keep your quiet about it."

I smirk, "We will think about that. By the way, a group of us will be checking in tomorrow, by the way, for a week."

He hesitates but smiles at us widely, "What number is your party? You will be honored guests here! We have some wonderful suites!"

Perfect.

⚜️

Okay people here's the result of a burst of stress-writing. Hope you liked it. And ahh I hate to admit this but I've started to get a tiny writer's block.

There are a few more chapters in the bag, but I don't know what will happen with the updates. I'm sorry about that.