3
Werner was still in the back of his vehicle as it took him back home with his wife and daughter in Virginia. He seemed impatient with something, since he fussed with his tie and phone, as if he waited for the solution to all his problems. The visit to the Beltway Gazette had been a little too fishy for him, and his intuition screamed that they were hiding something as soon as he said Caffrey’s name. As they crossed a bridge that connected DC with Arlington, his phone vibrated, and that action made him jump of the scare. His driver offered a glance as well through the rearview mirror, but didn’t dare say a word.
“Norah?” Joshua asks to the caller, believing it was his wife.
“No, Senator. I’m not your wife bitching. It’s me” he replied. The caller was, in fact, the P.I. he had asked help to earlier.
“What do you have for me?” the Senator asks with growing anxiety.
“I’ve pulled up information regarding this woman you told me about...Lauren Casenave. Thought you’d be interested to hear”
“Tell me all you have on her” Werner demands.
“According to my findings, her father died serving the nation and the mother abandoned her. Twin sis died at birth...Uh...Cornell grad in journalism, living at Cherry Tree apartments near GWU for the past 20 months. A few hours ago, she was spotted returning home”
“A loner? That’s sad” he mocks.
“That’s all I could collect for the time being. If there’s anything more relevant, we’ll be in contact”
“Thank you, that’ll be all” Werner says and hangs up, leaving the mobile on the seat. With the information on his end of the field, and assuming Norah could take a little too long in picking up Violet, he came up with a plan.
“I need to make another stop” Joshua decides as night fell over the capital.
“Where are we headed to, sir?” the driver asks, not really happy with this, since all he wanted was to call it a day and go home.
“Cherry Tree Lane. Near GWU”
“Is there any reason why we’re headed there, sir? It’s too far from your usual route”
“I just want to pay an acquaintance a visit” he replies. The driver doesn’t dare asking more questions. If his boss wants to tell him something else, he would say it in good time. Without another word, the car finds a place to turn around, and heads in the opposite direction.
“God, this isn’t what it looks like” Werner tells himself as he looks out the window. The apartment building that was Cherry Tree Lane is nothing like he’d seen pictured in magazines.
“Where would you like me to stop?” the driver asks, bringing Joshua back to reality from the rants and initial shock.
“Just over there, by the entrance” the Senator replies. A minute later, the engine has stopped.
“I’ll wait for you here, sir”
“Okay, thank you!” the Senator hollers and gets off, quickly walking towards the entrance. The buzzer downstairs doesn’t work, but, as a take-out kid was leaving, it gave him the chance to walk inside as fast as he can. As he takes out the sheet with the P.I. information, he is absolutely disgusted with the environment of his surroundings. Eventually, he reaches apartment 717 and knocks on the door, only to see it slightly open.
“Why don’t residents invest in better quality things?” he asks himself as he carefully steps in. His senses are on full alert, because he’s worried with two things: The first, not being spotted because that would make him look awful, and two, that someone else might’ve broken in. Settled in, Werner looks around. The apartment is small, and with simple decoration that is cheap under his standards. This surprises him for the following fact: Why someone who would make a good amount of money could live like this? Walking further, he starts to hear bossa music coming from one of the rooms, causing a mental ‘wow’.
“What in the name?” he asks, now more than confused. He now feels warm air and the smell of lavender coming from the room: The perfect incentive to walk in further and investigate. Now Werner sees light through the crack and a female shadow in the tub. Thinking of the worst-case scenario, he goes in and shrieks loudly: The shadow wasn’t a corpse, but a lady soaking after a hard day’s work. Lauren screams loudly and sinks in fully, hoping it would go away.
“I’m...so sorry. I didn’t realize...I mean, I didn’t think...I mean, the door was open, and...” Joshua blurts out, not being able to form one coherent sentence because of the shock and embarrassment.
“Thief! I’m going to call the police!” Lauren says once she has emerged to the surface and goes for the phone that is near the towels.
“I’m not here to steal...I was just here to speak to you, miss”
“I don’t know you” she mechanically replies, not even wanting to look at this person.
“You should, you write enough about me” he says, now taking great pleasure with the facts: He has just put a face to the enemy.
“I said I don’t know you. Why should I write about you, then?”
“Then let me introduce myself: I’m Senator Joshua Werner”
“Yeah, and I’m the Queen of England” Lauren says with clear sarcasm before sinking back underwater.
“Look, Lauren...I came here to discuss what you think you have on me. Would you mind if I waited for you in your living room?” he says, doing his best to avert his eyes. He was a family man with a reputation to keep, so he had to behave for both Norah’s and his career’s sakes.
“Go away” she shouts. Scared, he quietly leaves the room and closes the door. Werner is red with shame because of what just took place in the bathroom. So he sits in the living room and starts to look at the photos on the walls. In between, he hears the sound of zippers and the hair dryer until he sees her walk back into the living room/kitchen, dressed in a navy blue pencil skirt and an unbuttoned white shirt. Casenave thought that the uninvited guest had left, but her smile vanished as soon as her gaze finds him sat there.
“Sir, I thought you had already left” she politely comments while buttoning up the blouse.
“I REALLY do need to talk to you”
“About what? If I’d never seen you before”
‘Time to play my card’ he thinks to himself before moving forward.
“In the Beltway Gazette, you publish under the name of Lauren Caffrey. Correct, Miss Casenave?” he asks, using her real identity to spook her. He knows she’s hiding, and the first step of negotiation is to acknowledge the parts.
“How do you know that?”
“So you admit it?”
“Admit what?”
“If you carry on, miss Casenave...I will be forced to take a picture with my phone and publish your secret” he says, toying with the mobile device.
“Then I’d like to see you try” she threatens, the two being the complete opposite of the other.
“You never stop, do you?”
“With all due respect, Senator...I have plans for tonight, so I’ll have to ask you to leave” she says, putting on some heels.
“I just want to talk. Calm down...it’s only until your guest arrives” he says, politely. Lauren breathes a sigh and has no choice, praying Colette would get there soon.
“Fine. Let’s talk like two grown people. Can I offer you anything?”
“Whatever you have is fine by me” he says, still not understanding how she can live there. Lauren finds some coffee and puts water to boil.
“Talk. You’ve embarrassed me a lot tonight” she replies, setting down the tray on the table.
“I know you’re about to leak a big story. An exclusive about my dealings with members of the mafia”
“You should go figure it out somewhere else, then”
“Lauren, you’ve got the wrong information. The story you were given was planted so as to point a finger at me. The people behind this want you to look the other way” he starts explaining, drinking the sour coffee in between.
“So...?”
“You’re being distracted. If you don’t pay attention, you may never get the real story, and both your short career and reputation will go down the drain” he says, the first part being serious while the other was just to mock her.
“Mr. Senator. I am the wrong person here”
“No, you’re JUST the one I need. Listen...hold off on the story for a while, or at least let me have a look on what you have...Miss Casenave, there’s a whole lot of people you should be writing about” Werner pleads. To get him off her back, she negotiates to be left alone.
“Mr. Werner, if you let me proceed with my evening, I will not print anything on you for a while. Some sort of truce. Take it or leave it” Casenave proposes.
“That’s all?”
“Oh, and the answer to some questions”
“I want those as well, but that’ll have to be in some other occasion. Dinner or a lunch, perhaps?”
“I’m not in the mood to be the ‘other woman’”. The comment makes him angry and now Werner is ready to head towards her door.
“I’ll give you one last warning, Casenave: The guy you want to be talking to is Philip Weiss. He’ll give you the real story. Think about it, or I will reveal your secret. Good night”. With that, Werner gets up and leaves.
“Wait!” Lauren shouts out, having a million questions to ask. But as she calls him back, she sees him head towards the black car through her window. With him out of sight, she gets to the task of cleaning up her small space and do her hair and make-up in her small bathroom. As she was on that, the Intercom in the kitchen buzzed.
“Hello?”
“Miss Casenave, miss Shapiro is here downstairs” a young Latin voice informed her.
“Send her in, please” Lauren says and cuts the call, grabbing her coat and purse for a night out on the town.
A/N: Advanced update just because it helps to vent out frustrations for my lack of understanding at using a Mac in Design & Multimedia class, okay?
.N
(Mood: Frustrated / Now Playing: Duffy - Rain on Your Parade)
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