Margaret 

Ace practically force-fed me with soup, so I don't become dehydrated. Tension slithered through the air, my hands shaking against my orders. All I could think about was getting those pills.

Leaning against the wall, arms crossed, he seemed to always look through the window. Is he keeping watch?

"How did you know where I live?"

Not turning to me, he responded.

"The visit card that I gave you. It contains a tracking chip, so if anyone is near me when I don't want them to be, I would know."

"Isn't that a gamble? What if I were to throw it out?"

He shifted sideways, giving me a response.

"I guess people think of my contact info as too important to do that. It hasn't happened yet."

He is either paranoid or cautious. I think he is smart. 

Even with faux candlelights that warmed up the room, the pressure was unrelenting, as I saw that they had another post-off tonight. That means, they changed their post-offs to weekly perhaps? Calmed with enough credits to cover the post off tonight, but what about the next time? I need to coddle him to let me go.

When he thought I wasn't looking, Ace ran his fingers through the top layers of his stylish undercut, the movement making the sleek strands fall back into their original place perfectly. I couldn't help but notice the flex of his bicep, stretching the fabric of his white blouse, an odd flutter in my chest reacting to the sight.

Suddenly, he turned his head and caught my gaze. I froze as he caught me staring, but a smirk played at the corner of his lips, stormy eyes sparkling with mischief. Ace closed the space between us, putting his hand in his pockets. He leaned in closer to me, his perfume in a seductive combination with the heat emanating from his body.

"You like what you see?"  

My throat dried up at the suggestive tone. 

"Because... I could swear that you were checking me out several times so far."

But I wasn't about to be a flustered damsel. 

"Interesting you should say that because I was about to ask the same thing." 

Pulling back, his eyes burned with desire.

"If you wanted to run your fingers through my hair, all you needed to do was ask. I wouldn't mind."

The iris of his eyes expanded, as he licked his lips. He reached out to caress the nape of my neck, goosebumps spreading through my skin like wildfire at the contact. 

Suddenly, I remembered that I have a tattoo there, and I snapped the spine of the spell between us.

"I think we are both having a case of cabin fever, don't you think?"

Noticing the sudden drop in temperature, he pulled back his hand, Adams's apple jumping as he swallowed. He didn't say anything to that, he only nodded, dejected. 

"Well, we will be here for a while, so might as well get to know each other a bit better."

"Alright, I will play your little game. But let's make it more fun and have a bet." Ace said.

"What kind of bet?"

"I will be able to call you out on any lie that you say. If you are successful I will let you go, but if I win, you will tell me how did you manage to keep your thoughts unposted."

Why is he so insistent on this? Could he possibly see through me?

"Wow Mr, Montague. How highly you think of me. How will you know if I am telling the truth though?"

He smirked.

"I do actually think highly of you. I also know that you are dying to get out of here, and I am willing to put an end to the questions until I get at least three truths. Otherwise, we will be stuck here."

Is this how it feels like to make a deal with the devil?

"Fine."

He grinned, and I already regretted agreeing to this.

"I will start with something easy. Why did you really apply for SierraTech?"

Inquisitive, but the general and widely accepted answer surely won't give me away.

"Girls gotta pay the bills Mr. Mountangue."

With an expectant gaze on my face, waiting for me to go on. 

"And that's it."

I bit my cheek. 

"Well, you didn't say that back then."

"Of course, I won't. No one would are you kidding me?"

"No, I mean, you weren't as nonchalant about it as you are now."

I gotta play into this story I have concocted. 

"What could an elite like you possibly know of the troubles of common folk like me? It's difficult when you only have yourself to rely on."

Nodding in response, I hoped that I got that one right. 

"What about your parents?"

These questions were personal for no reason.

"My mother and father were taken in the time of resistance. Just before all this fuckery with software started."

He swallowed and looked down at the surface of the desk. "I am sorry to hear that."

"How about you? Why do you work where you do ?" I asked. 

"I didn't really have a choice. Alin owns this business, so it was natural that I follow his steps too. Granted I didn't have it all handed to me. I had to prove myself as a person, as I still do now."

"Oh? And here I thought that you were always a privileged person." 

I wanted to say asshole, but I decided that I will keep it to myself.

"While I do recognize that I am luckier than most people in this country, Ms. Pamotia,  I did have my fair share of struggles. My father tearing me apart from my brother and mother, leaving only him alive to fend for himself, left a heavy toll on my consciousness. I have been trying to find him, but I haven't really been successful. There was also other more personal stuff that I don't want to talk about."

He lowered his head in, regret, perhaps?

"I see. "

 I felt sympathy toward his brother. I can only imagine having only brother taken from you, and being all alone on the street, and your brother gets to have everything he wants. Maybe he was also sad about what happened, but I was a firm believer that only people who actually went through poverty had the capacity for sympathy. I know that was judgmental, but I have yet to be proven wrong.

"Even though I resent him, I wish my father cared for me as you do for your daughter. "

 Ace is surprisingly open when I don't expect him to be. 

"Yeah, but I suppose we can't change our parents."

"Let's change the subject. If you could go anywhere in the world, where would that be?"

My mind shoots to a place from my memory.

"Where the sky is still blue, and the mountains still stand. Where lakes are so clear that you can see the bottom. I would like to be at a place, where I could be free. "

He didn't speak anything for a brief moment as if to soak up the image, but then he spoke.

" Yes...That does sound like a nice place to be in. " He responded after a quiet moment.

"I have a question, that bugged me. If you had no idea how to care for a sick person, why didn't you leave that doctor with me?"

"My father has frail health, even though one cannot see it, only this specific doctor comes to him each day to check up on him. Sometimes, he stays there for several hours and it would have been suspicious if the doctor didn't come right away. All other doctors are tied to his friends, and I am sorry once again to..."

"But how is it that you don't know a basic thing about healthcare?" I couldn't out myself into telling him I know how intelligent he actually is.

 "I never had to learn such things."

"You never had biology?" Curious about his upbringing, I decided to probe a bit more. 

"No. From the moment I knew how to read, I was taught business."

"That makes you quite reliant on others don't you think?"

"I think I took good care of you anyways, don't you think?" He retorted.

" I suppose...Thank you."

I counted the questions in my head, and as per our agreement, the game should be over right now.

"So are we done?" I said.

"We would have been if you didn't lie."

Motherfucker.

"I didn't lie. "

"Sure." Taking the cigarette, he dismissed my protest.

"Fine, ask me another question." I am so close to losing him.

"I am getting tired. I will leave it for tomorrow. "He smiled, then turned to the window.

What a fucking asshole!

"How do you even know that I am lying!"

"You have a tick. Your voice shoots unusually high."

Even though he had his back turned to me, quite a vulnerable position to be in, I knew that he is smart enough to observe the reflection on the glass.

"No! You are wrong! Let's do this right now. "

"What the rush? Don't tell me you are actually interested to know more about me already. "

He looked like a cat that tossed the cup of water over a stack of valuable papers, and even if you caught it in the act, it would pretend as if you didn't know anything about it, only to be spiced up with a knowing smirk.

"You know what? Forget it. How are you going to get out of this mess though? "

" Me? I think you are also in trouble sweetheart. " Ace responded.

"Yes, that is true, but I can take care of myself. " I stated it as a fact.

"Are you saying that I can't take care of myself? "

"Gee I wasn't saying that... " Except I was.

His gaze changed back to neutral. Did I strike a nerve? Good.

"I don't know how incompetent you think I am, but I have my own way of dealing with it. I promise you. Perhaps even better than you."

Lowering his tone at the last word, I was not too fond of the way he said that, because it felt ominous, and there was a deathly intent in his voice.

"You almost never respond to most of my questions directly, but you blackmail me to uncover truths by force. Don't you think that you are unfair?"

He didn't answer that for a moment, but he shot me a suspicious gaze.

"I guess people should take more care before crossing me. "

A clear warning and I knew he wasn't just talk.

"How won't I know that you won't cross me first?" I understood how obsolete that question was. You can never know if someone will or won't fuck you over.

"I guess you just gonna have to trust me that I won't. And if anything, I should be asking you that. "

"I thought you wanted me to trust you? " I batted my eyelashes at him.

Ace snorted. "That's cold. I am sure you will find it reasonable that I can't exactly relax when you literally tried to choke me moments ago, and," He was making his way towards me, closing the small distance in seconds with long strides, before continuing " I honestly wonder if that has changed. How will I know if you won't just kill me in my sleep? " 

I decided to lean in close, imitating his gesture from before.

"Keep your eyes open then. "

His gaze shifted towards my lips, as he tightened his. Once again air had the same static electricity moments before, and it wasn't because of my withdrawals. I felt as if I could just lunge if I had my daggers with me, and end his life right then and there. Perhaps the knife that was placed next to the plate would do? Too bad it's fucking blunt.

"Such a cruel woman. " He said it with a smile then he proceeded to roll the sleeves back to their wrists. Painfully right-handed, his right cuff wouldn't go quite as easy as the left one.

Then turning back to me, he extended his arm.

"Could I trouble you for just a bit more?"

This would be a great chance to slit his veins.

"Sure."

Too bad that I don't have anything sharp, or that his skin was deliciously rough on several parts of his palms, with a part of it revealing a scar. I could feel his gaze on me, even though I was focused on his cuffs. It could have been my imagination, but I thought I saw goosebumps. Not lingering any longer than needed, I quickly regained my personal space.

"Where did you get that scar?"

Gazing softly at his palm, he closed it and then smiled "I will tell you when we play our little game again."

"Let me guess. You slapped your secretary's ass, not knowing she has a big brother that later burned the same hand you slapped her with?"

"How did you know?" He responded sarcastically.

"I guess you too have your ticks."

He sighed, exasperated- "I know what you are doing Margaret, you are being offensive on purpose so I can kick you out. "

"Took you long enough. Obviously, I am not doing a good enough job."

"It takes more than a few petty words from your pretty mouth to offend me, Margaret.