I was enjoying a drink uptown a few days after I arrived in Manhattan when I got the message. It was the message I was waiting for. This what was going to start it all. Finally, my first job. I was told to get in the car with my chauffeur Francois, and he was going to bring me to be debriefed.

I got into the car and off we went. I wasn’t really paying attention to where I was headed, plus the windows in this car are so heavily tinted, it’s hard to even see out the car. However, when I got out of the car, the great big gusts of wind and seagulls gave me some sort of idea as to where I was. I was by the Hudson River. From around the corner, a man in a peacoat appeared.

“Kevin, I have your first job. This is how the organization will know if you have what it takes. Are you truly wonderful? The Montague Empire, ran by Monty Montague has been attempting to get in the way of potential business dealings. He believes that due to his elite status that he is untouchable. We want you to show him that is not the case. He is throwing a party as a send for his son who’s headed down to Yale for school. Everyone important has received an invitation. Including you…Well, Timothy Bergeron did, and you will be him. You will need to bring a woman with you. Preferably one who looks more than decent and can keep a good conversation going. I’m sure she’ll come in handy while you scope out the place. What you do is up to your discretion, just get it done. We don’t take kindly to failures around here.”

He handed me the invitation, and before I had a chance to look at it, an unmarked car rolled up in front of me and the man in the peacoat hopped in.  Before I could say anything else, he was gone. I wasn’t too sure what I was going to do, but I had an idea. First things first, I was off to Hell’s Hundred Acres to find me a woman. 

tbc

You didn’t need to be in New York very long to know that Hell’s Hundred Acres was a little sketchy. In fact, I hadn’t been in New York all that long and I knew that. However, I needed to find myself a jaw-dropping woman, and I needed to find her quickly, the Montague party is tomorrow night.

I told Francois to drive slowly, there were women all over the place. I’m not quite too sure how I feel about picking up a woman off the street, especially one I didn’t want to sleep with. Francois explained to me that there was a Grand Madame who could find me any sort of woman I was looking for. Even twins he said. So I asked him to bring me to her since he was such an expert.

He dropped me off at a corner and gave me strict instructions to only leave with one woman. I entered a tiny little storefront to be greeted by a secretary. I asked for the Grand Madame and was escorted to an office. Through another door came a big-boned woman with hair that had tons of volume to it. She stared at me with a blank judgemental face while I told her what I was looking for. A gorgeous woman with nice curves who can talk all night long. I had to explain to her my intended use for the woman so she didn’t think the talking thing was some sort of kink. Once I was done fumbling my words to explain myself, she seems to understand that I was simply looking for a woman to accompany me to a fancy elite party. She left the office room and I sat in silence for what seemed like eons. Finally, the Grand Madame returned with a brunette. She introduced herself as Isabella and pointed out her two favorite things were talking and meeting new people. I guess she fits what I needed. She isn't the curviest girl, but she really has a gorgeous face. Big brown eyes you could get lost in for days.

I handed her fifty dollars and told her to buy a dress that made her feel like the most elegant woman. She seemed very excited and even kissed me on the cheek. I had to stop for a moment to remind myself that I would probably be the only man she will ever go out with that won’t destroy her and return her after a few hours. I handed the Grand Madame five hundred dollars for Isabella’s company for the next week. She quickly grabbed my money and was in a hurry to get me out of there. I told her I would be there the next day at seven in the evening to pick up Isabella.

I left and waited for Francois to pick me up once more. At least this part was complete and I could begin to focus on the actual job itself.

tbc

It was almost that time to pick Isabella up and attend the Montague party. There were a few things I had asked Francois to grab for me and have in the back of the car just in case. Things such as a small flask of gasoline, a knife, some rope, you know, classic bad guy stuff. I wasn’t too sure if everything would be needed for this particular mission, but it’s always proper to come prepared. Of course, most importantly, I spent a pretty penny on a beautiful flower arrangement both for Isabella and Mrs.Montague.

After picking up Isabella, we were on our way.  She was wearing a very elegant silver gown with a matching costume jewelry set, and a faux fur coat. On the ride over, she was quite talkative. She had several questions as to where we were going, what kind of people were going to be there, and what the events of the night would be. As briefly as possible, I told her the plan for the night. We were to spend a pleasant evening socializing and networking. She was to be polite, engaging, and under no circumstance was she to call me anything other than Timothy Bergeron. I told her that if she potentially wanted to leave with someone else she was to do so discreetly and that I had paid for her services for a week, therefore she did not have to return to work until then. She seemed quite delighted.

Francois dropped us off at a small brownstone. It looked small from the outside, but I wouldn’t underestimate the size of the inside. The outside had a lovely well kept front lawn with lights on the walkway leading up to the front door. Before I forgot, I returned to the car to get the flower arrangement for Mrs.Montague with an envelop with a cheque for boy's studies. I really hope they don’t cash it until I get paid for this job (If I am even able to pull it off, if not, It’ll definitely bounce).

As Isabella and I walked up to the door, it was opened by a butler before we could even ring the bell. The butler took her coat and flowers. The ceilings were tall with finely detailed renaissance like paintings. Everything was expensive-looking down to the coat rack. I took Isabella to look for Mr. and Mrs. Montague to introduce ourselves and thank them for the invite. There must have been over sixty people but it wasn’t hard to spot the couple as they were the best-dressed people in the vicinity. I knew Isabella was a great pick as she assumed her role immediately. She was the perfect buffer. She walked up to Mrs.Montague and struck a conversation with her like they had known each other for years. I introduced myself and mostly stood around as arm candy laughing with Isabella throughout her conversation. After a few minutes, I politely excused myself left Isabella to look for one of the help to point me to the nearest washroom. That would be the easiest way to quickly get a look at the layout of the home.

tbc

I made my way to the front of the house to ask the butler at the door where the closest washroom would. He directed me through the main living room to the left. As I made my way slowly, I was sure to take in the details of the home to see what I was working with. There was a large window outlooking the front lawn. Potentially I could just throw a Molotov through the window on my way out and call it a night, but that seemed too easy. I wanted something a little more clever to prove myself. I couldn’t help but notice the hand-carved cuckoo clock that sat right above the mantle of the fireplace. That thing sure looked expensive, also pretty neat. I made it to the washroom. It was as beautiful as the rest of the house, right down to the lighting. Inside the washroom were these very tall candlesticks on top of these very fancy candelabras that looked as if they predated dinosaurs. If they were smaller I would have stolen it to hawk it and probably make the same pay this job would, but I wasn’t here for that, and that wasn’t my style.

I took my leak and tried to find Isabella. There were servers everywhere offering fine foods I have never tried. Caviar on top of french crackers, fresh lobster on top of french crackers… A whole lot of food on top of imported crackers. Even the finest champagne was being served. I was probably on my third drink of the night and my last when I finally spotted Isabella still chatting and making good on our deal. As I was walking toward her, I accidentally bumped into another woman dropping her drink. I felt horrible. Of course, the gentleman thing to do was to apologize. She said she was fine and the help came over immediately to clean up the mess. The woman introduced herself as Mara Greenglass, daughter of prominent businessman Martin Greenglass from Connecticut. She was very mesmerizing and quite flirtatious. So much, in fact, we pretty much talked the whole evening away. She went on about her education, career, and hobbies. I probably learned a little too much for a first meeting, but I wasn’t going to walk away from a beautiful woman with such a high standing in society.

The party had continued late into the night and I had lost track of Isabella. At this point, I just assumed she had left with someone else. She had served her purpose. The party started dying down and everyone started to make their way out. I still had to figure out a way to send a message to the Montague’s and I believe I had just the right idea. I noticed a small opportunity to execute the beginning of my plan. The living room was empty, so I casually made my way to the washroom to grab one of those fancy tall candles on the candelabra. Not to steal it, but to move it to a much better place. Potentially this slight adjustment in the decor would provide much better lighting. I took out my wall it and left it on the bathroom sink. I made my way back to the living room, in hopes that the coast was still clear, and placed the candelabra on the mantle of the fireplace in front of the cuckoo clock.

tbc

To my surprise, Mara Greenglass was waiting for me at the front door. You can imagine I was quite taken aback when she asked me if I wanted to return home to her place to continue the conversation. However, she was from high society, and very beautiful, so of course I accepted her proposal on the condition we took my car since it was already outside.  I escorted her to the car and opened the door. I walked around the car to open the trunk and retrieved the small flask of gas. I put it in the inside of my suit and got in the car. We started to make our way uptown when I stopped Francois and requested we returned to the Montague’s as I had forgotten my wallet. We had made it quite a significant distance from the party, so I was hoping the place was completely cleaned out of guests.

It was ten to midnight. I ran up to the front door, but this time there was no butler immediately opening the door. I knocked and politely explained to the butler that I had left my wallet in the washroom and would like to grab it. He agreed to let me in to retrieve it to the bathroom. Thankfully he didn’t follow me nor pay attention as I made my way through the living I pulled my flask out and dumped the gasoline generously at the base of the fireplace. I went to the washroom, retrieved my wallet, and slipped out the front door without anyone even noticing I had left. It was now six minutes to midnight. I got back into the car and asked Francois to circle the street a few times. 12:03 am we pulled up once more in front of the brownstone home. Through the giant window in the front overlooking the front lawn you could see a beautiful giant orange, yellow, and red glow. It was growing rapidly. An unfortunate event indeed. I believe a candle may have fallen over and started a fire. You could hear the fire truck sirens wailing in the distance. Needless to say, I don’t believe there was a lovely brownstone home left. Again, unfortunate, but losing your home has a way of humbling you. I was sure I would be collecting a nice pay in the near future.

And now I was off to celebrate my first completed job with a woman who outranks me significantly more on paper, and I had no problems with that.

the end.