The Siren

Posted originally on the Archive of Our Own at http://archiveofourown.org/works/45557092.

Rating: Explicit
Archive Warning: Choose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Category: F/M
Fandom: Narcos (TV)
Relationship: Javier Peña (Narcos) & Original Female Character(s)
Character: Javier Peña (Narcos), Miguel Rodríguez Orejuela, Diego "Don Berna"
Murillo Bejarano, Original Male Character(s), Original Female
Character(s), Hélmer "Pacho" Herrera, Daniel Van Ness, Chris Feistl,
Other Character Tags to Be Added
Additional Tags: Enemies to Lovers, Slow Burn, Female Anti-Hero, Mutual Pining, Smut,
Graphic Description, Alternate Universe, Age Difference, Rough Sex,
Oral Sex, Other Additional Tags to Be Added
Language: English
Stats: Published: 2023-03-07 Chapters: 1/? Words: 6321

The Siren
by Sweetsummerlilys

Summary

"It's true that the deadliest weapon is a beautiful woman, most of whom never realize their
full potential. Of course women can be naive too, but not in the same way that a man is.
Men crumble from a hot breath brushing their skin, and completely relinquish control from
a seductive glance. That is powerful. The way I look at it, the ability to make any man your
devout pawn is a skill that should be harnessed, not wasted."

****

Xile Sterling has the art of manipulation down to a science, and the course of her life pre-
determined. She's avoided nearly every conceivable emotion for as long as she can
remember with only one goal. But when a surprise encounter with Javier Peña guides her
towards fulfilling her self-proclaimed "destiny" she's faced with the reality of the pieces
crumbling around her and the severity of her infatuation.

****

Just a side note, this is a narcos centered fic but you don't need to have watched the show to
understand and enjoy this story. It is set in an AU where the main character has a big role in
the demise of the cartel so I do my best to thoroughly describe characters from the show
that are unfamiliar to non-watchers.

It was 6 o'clock p.m. when the memo relayed through many, had finally reached my front
doorstep. Signed, sealed, and hand-delivered with the uttermost formalities.

Within seconds of acknowledging the commotion outside through my front window, It became
obvious that Don Pacho, endearing yet ruthlessly persistent, rounded up his proclaimed “most
competent” putas, for the delivery of a formally stamped letter and an enticing white box sealed
with a red ribbon. The entire scenario panned out in a style that seemed all too mid-century and I
was certain if it wasn't for the overpowered lure of my own curiosity, I would have laughed at the
overtheatrics of it all.

I rested my hand on the doorknob before pulling it open. Taking a deep breath, the faux smile that
had been reworked to near perfection subconsciously found its way back to my face. After another
moment I twisted the handle surely, approaching the men who had now worked their way up to my
front porch.

With a glance to each of them in a welcoming exchange, I took note of how each one straightened
their posture and wore an involuntary smirk on their faces.

Flustered. Each and every one of them.

“Man” was too generous of a word and not accurate enough of a depiction to capture the
unattractive charisma-lacking guys that stood before me on the porch. Despite the fact that I'm
surrounded by them daily, and have endured interactions with guys from many different walks of
life, none of them were men. No, they were boys. All the same as the others. Incompetently
submissive beyond the means of their own awareness, and entirely susceptible to persuasion. Well,
that is if you play your cards right.

It's true that the deadliest weapon is a beautiful woman, most of whom never realize their full
potential. Of course women can be naive too, but not in the same way that a man is.

Men crumble from a hot breath brushing their skin, and they completely relinquish control from a
seductive glance, and that is powerful. The way I look at it, the ability to make any man your
devout pawn is a skill that should be harnessed, not wasted.

None of the men dared to speak, not uttering a word. Instead they looked at one another and
exchanged suggestive glances before returning to the ogling state they started in. After a few
seconds of letting them admire from afar, the deafeningly loud silence became quite unbearable. So
I prepared to address them, snapping them out of their delusional state.

“ Hola Gentlemen.”

They simply nodded their heads in acknowledgement.

The man who was holding the letter and box spoke at last, his voice a bit shaky.
“ Buenos noches, La Sirena ”

He cleared his throat. Realizing his unsteady and flustered persona, he retorted, attempting to cover
the mishap by clearing his throat in order to reassert his presence.

Nonetheless, he persisted and spoke once more.

“Señorita, se le solicita esta noche

( Miss, your presence is requested this evening.)

I offered him another smile and nodded knowingly, suppressing my internal annoyance at the
extremely late notice of this evening's forthcomings. With a final glance he routinely placed the
box and the letter from his hands into mine. It was a working system at this point, and late or not
the message had been relayed.

I softly shut the door being extra cautious upon my departure to cater to my flattering persona. No
one, especially those in this circle, needed to know or suspect anything otherwise.

Sauntering down the hallway, I reached the bedroom, admittedly eager to know what contents lay
in the box before me. First and foremost this was a job, and high risk when it came to whatever
operation being executed was always a given. But somewhere along the way the reward slowly
began to make up for it. Glamorous perks, Unprecedented bonuses, and thousand dollar outfits
that are hand selected admittedly stirred my excitement. The way I look at it, succumbing to the
lure of material items didn't make me bad, it just made me human. We all have our guilty
pleasures, some worse than others. And this one happened to be more than manageable. Milk them
for all they're worth, shit like that.

I decided to start with the letter, fighting off the better urge to reveal the box's contents. Carefully
peeling off the wax made stamp, I made sure not to tear the fragile paper and swiftly unfolded it.
My eyes averted to the carefully inked calligraphy header,

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

La Sirena,

Eliptica Nightclub -

Santiago Rivera, Jorge Ramirez, & Juan Gonzalez

You are to listen, lure, & extract Riviera to the southeast exit in the back of the building.

An SUV will arrive at 11:30 p.m.

No Further Instruction.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The letter wasn't even signed. In true Cali fashion, it was quite…Discreet. It didn't matter whether
or not they added in unnecessary formalities, the invitation was still an usher to tango with the
devil. Although through the job I found it adamant that he lives in many, from time to time myself
included.

Regardless I continued sifting on, focusing my attention on the box to see what character the boys
had planned for me to play tonight.

I could feel the gasp audibly escape my own lips when I pulled out the stunning dress that now laid
before my very eyes. It was corset style, strapless with black lace patterns interwoven between the
mesh tan fabric. At the bottom it was draped in a black lace sarong that barely surpassed the
beginning of my thigh, leaving just enough to the imagination and completely tying the ensemble
together.

Whoever had been tasked with finding tonight's outfit deserved a raise.

The shoes were equally as beautiful to pair with the dress. Simple black lace up stilettos, but they
were enough to make anyone swoon. The whole outfit together was just perfection, and the
anticipation to put it on was my favorite part of it all.

I decided to do the next thing that seemed logical after being overwhelmed with excitement, and
call my bestfriend. After no more than two rings I heard the receiver indicate that he had answered
before speaking in what I now realize sounded more like a scream.

“ Manuel I NEED you to come out with me tonight and I know you said you're taking the week off
to cleanse your liver but its a last minute emergency and I really don't want to go alo-”

He tried to cut off the rambling and replied,

“ No, let's do it, I'm absolutely down. Im gonna be so fucking real, screw the cleanse the chance of
early onset alcoholism because im honestly over it.”

I know he could hear me giggling childishly on the other end of the line.
There are many reasons Manuel is my best friend. Mainly because he is seemingly able to
understand me on a level of consciousness that not even I can understand yet, and secondly
because he's extremely candid which not many people can handle. Manuel has been by my side
since we were in highschool. He grew up very shy and introverted, always struggling with his own
self image and confidence, but by the grace of whatever higher power that be, we were brought
together. It was actually because of our sophomore year art class. He made the shittiest pottery ive
ever seen in my entire life but despite that I guess I just saw something in him, and he saw
something in me and we've stuck by each other's side ever since. He came out as gay one year later
when we were still in high school, our junior year. His parents had been supportive but his abuela
never was and couldn't possibly understand how a person could “stray so far from god's light” and
it broke his heart. It took him a while to fully accept who he was, and portray the version of
himself that he had always wanted to be. But now seven years later he is the embodiment of his
own manifestations, and it's absolutely beautiful.

Not only is Manuel constantly making up for the lack of confidence he had in his youth, but hes
making up for lost time playing the field, in which I mean he grew into a smoking hot man. His
physical attributes were by all means a direct blessing from the heavens. He was tan in a way that
somehow always looked like he spent the day at the beach even if he hadnt seen the sun in three
weeks. He also channeled himself into the gym which only did wonders for his body. And to top it
all off, he had the highly justified taste and fashion sense of Madonna herself. Talk about the
ultimate package, seriously. And one day he will make a lucky man very happy if he ever stops
sleeping around for sport.

But best and most important of all, Manuel is the only person in the world who has the ability to
make me piss my pants laughing.

I re-situated the phone in my hand, twirling the cord and smiling to myself at his remark before
parting my lips to speak,

“ I love you, seriously. Call times 11 o'clock…”

I decided to pause for a moment to let him register the information before raising my voice a few
octaves to shift to a tone that was much more of a tip-toed around question than a statement. I
spoke again,

“Now lets just say you had a friend who absolutely loved and adored your company… And lets just
say she also happens to be a bit impatient and would love for her bestfriend to make his way over
here to serve as the sole source of her entertainment?.....like soon?....you cant see her but im sure
shes giving you her “please” smile”

And you can bet your ass I was grinning into the other end of that phone.
I could hear him laughing sarcastically and I automatically thought of the image ingrained into the
back of my mind of his signature eye roll. He huffed before uttering his reply,

“ Xile Just do us both a favor and shut up already. I'll be there in 20.”

—-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Fifty-five minutes later Manuel finally decided to grace me with his presence (and make it known
to the entire neighborhood) when he threw his car in park, accompanying the blaring stereo with
what appeared to be a botched rendition of a Selena Song before skipping up to my front doorstep
with two bottles of wine in hand. He was nothing if not exaggerated.

As soon as I swung open the door he started rambling on and threw his arms around me as if he
hadn't seen me in years…We were together two days ago.

“ Bitch I swear to god this has been the hardest week of my entire life. First of all Julio decided to
stop seeing me completely because his wife doesn't agree, and I quote, with his “homosexual
lifestyle”. Then at work this morning I was in the middle of a lesson right, and one of my kids just
started projectile vomiting, I swear to god. Did you know they did that? Kids? Yeah they barf all
the fucking time for absolutely no reason.”

Yes, you heard that right. What comes as a complete surprise to most, and sometimes still to me,
Manuel spends his days working as a second grade teacher and loves every second of it. Well…
almost every second. Despite having a degree in early education the only thing Manuel knew about
kids going into the job was that they ate, slept, and used the bathroom. Let's just say it was a very
rude awakening. But he persisted and picked everything up quickly. He truly does love his job.
You'll never hear him admit it out loud, but he loves those kids too.

At the thought of Manuel attempting to manage a vomiting child, I huffed a laugh under my breath
just loud enough so only I could hear it and spared him the further shame. I spread a smirk wide
across my face as I spoke,

“ Manuel, baby, I promise you I'm about to fix all of your problems.”

And with that I had successfully captured his undivided attention, barely being able to contain my
excitement as I sauntered down the hall, gesturing for Manuel to follow close behind.
As we rounded the corner into my room his eyes immediately spotted the box and at this point his
curiosity was practically bursting out of him, eyes lighting up like a christmas tree. He rushed with
a hurried pace over to it where he took just a moment to admire the chic packaging and obviously
careful holdings of whatever laid inside before picking it up.

He peered up at me with an asking brow raise and I nodded instantly in approval. Slowly, he lifted
the lid off the top of the box and his jaw dropped to the floor.

“ Oh..My…Jesus christ Xile I could cry, I could actually cry right now. I want you to promise me
you'll have me buried in this when I die. It's yours now but you have to give it to me when I die. It's
my final wish.”

I smiled and jokingly rolled my eyes at his exaggerated response.

“ Okay now that might be a bit over dramatic..”

He instantly snapped back,

“ You're really going to sit here and tell me this isn't one of the most drop dead gorgeous pieces of
clothing you've ever seen?”

I crossed my arms and narrowed my eyes at him until I couldn't suppress my smile any longer.

“ You know…I think it might just be my new favorite.”

Thankfully I had already blown out my hair after showering earlier that day. It was an
unmanageable mess the following days if I was reluctant to take care of it when it was wet. So I
figured i'd spare myself the suffering and just do it then. Which ended up working very much in
my favor.

Manuel started to unload his oversized trunk of beauty products, which I admittedly always relied
on him for. It was cheaper than spending thousands of dollars on makeup products that I wasn't
sure how long I would use and when it came to his trunk of makeup, I was pretty sure there wasn't
a product under the sun that did not reside inside of it.

I started my coveted go to, a classic smokey eye. With my makeup looks, I spent about 80% of the
time executing the best possible color combinations to accentuate my eyes, which were without a
doubt my best feature. I don’t mean that in a way that’s arrogant or biased, it's just an analysis on
what I've noticed, a lifetime observation that led to a conclusion.
In my adult life people have always reaffirmed the apparent beauty that seems to consume my
deemed persona, but since I was a kid people have complimented my eyes. Most would never spare
a second glance in a dark room, barely taking notice. But in the light it was a different story. They
glistened, becoming almost transparent. People would catch a single glance and speak of how
lucky I was, to have striking green eyes that held such beauty, accompanied by my natural tan skin
and long black hair. How utterly breathtaking they were. I brushed them off and It wasn't until I
was a teenager that I realized they were right so why deny it. They were my most powerful asset,
but could also be my most revealing. Sometimes my eyes made me feel exposed, like a crack in my
foundation. Occasionally going as far as to betray me, flashing just a glimpse of raw expression in
an otherwise concrete fortress. But predictable awe-struck men never saw the subtleties, so they
were just another weapon in my arsenal.

The “smokey eye effect” as Manuel and I called it, amplified the allure of my eyes by an
incomprehensible amount, only making my job of blindly compelling men much easier.

I added the finishing touches to the rest of my face makeup; subtle contour, bronzer, and blush
combination to highlight my cheekbones paired with natural lip liner and gloss to enhance the
look.

I was more than ready. It was 11:05 p.m. and Manuel and I had already polished off a bottle of
wine, which was where I planned to stop. Getting drunk on the job made it impossibly hard and
even though I had spent years perfecting my uncrackable act, I still get paranoid at the thought of
an unintentional slip up. So to be safe I chose to keep the drinking to a minimum.

After one final comb through my hair and a lipstick touch-up, I turned to face Manual.

“Okay, it's time. I'm gonna go put on the dress! you really need to hurry up and pick what you
want to wear.”

Manuel just sighed and continued sifting through the pile of clothes he brought in his bottomless
blue duffel bag. He held up a black shirt embroidered with rhinestones along the deep V neckline.

“ What do you think about this shirt with my black flowy pants?”

I looked at the shirt, and then down to the floor where he had laid out the pants in question.

“ I like it a lot. It screams “I'm somebody's high-class mistress” in the best possible way of course
.”

He let out a laugh and reached up to lightly bat me on the shoulder.

“ Okay then it's settled.” He said before standing up and grabbing the clothes, stalking down the
hall to change for the evening.

—-------------------------------------------------------------------------

The car arrived at exactly 11:30 pm, and I was ready to go. Admittedly I felt excited. I felt pretty.
The dress fit like a glove and the ensemble together made me feel like an aphrodite reincarnate. It
truly was overwhelming sometimes to look at myself in the mirror so seamlessly put together. Even
though it was my job to upkeep my appearance, I only looked that way 10% of the time so I made
sure to bask in it as much as I could.

It seems like Manuel felt the same way as he dropped to the floor in an exaggerated faint when he
saw the dress beautifully hugging each and every curve of my body.

“If I was straight I’d be all over that.” He said, smiling wide.

After unnecessarily running back into the house for the 50th time I finally managed to get Manuel
settled into the car.

I greeted the driver after climbing in the backseat and he nodded back in response. Turning to
Manuel, I decided it was a better idea than not to brief him on the discourse of this evening.

“ Listen, it's the same as usual. We'll scout out the guys so I can make a mental mark. Then we’ll
take a few laps, a trip to the bar, and I'll make my way over to Santiago. They told me not to come
in contact with him or his associates until at least 12:30, giving him at least a good hour to be tipsy
enough to let his guard down. Once I'm with them I'm going to try making the whole ordeal as
quick as possible, in and out, half an hour tops…Do you have yours on you?” I said, pulling out
the miniature green pager I had stashed in my purse, praying that I had reminded him to grab his at
the very last minute.

He sifted through his pant pockets, the concern spread across his face morphing into relief as he
felt the small buttons on his fingertips.

“ Oh thank god. Yes I have it.” He said, obviously proud of himself for subconsciously
remembering it.

“Good, okay. Again not that anything should happen, but better to be safe than sorry. when we’re
split up if anything goes wrong on your end, two beeps and we’re out.”

He nodded with a smile, confident in the unofficial routine that we had constructed for ourselves.

Now Manuel himself had absolutely no part in the work that I did. Not that he was against it by any
means, it just offered no sense of convenience and benefit to his life. He made a stable income,
kept his hands clean, and lived his life without a target on his back.

Besides, he was a guy. And when it came to men, the cartel more often then not viewed them as
easily disposable soldiers. Its most likely that Manuel would be stuck doing grunt work or sorting
out someone else's mess, instead of high-class interference. But even though Manuel didn't work
for the cartel, he always offered to come with me on my “designated outings” as backup.

Maneul knew that I was more than capable of taking care of myself and it wasn’t like I ever went
on an outing alone, actually quite the opposite. There was an entire team of men in the shadows of
the building watching our target and their people like a hawk, ready to usher in at the slightest
misstep. But despite that, Maneul never wanted me to hit the floor alone, so a year back ago he
took up the role of my unofficial-official club partner and it's been that way ever since.

—--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The club was packing in as we arrived, and in about an hour it would reach its peak. The perfect
window.

A line of people amassed down and around the block, and Manuel sighed as he registered the time
he assumed we would spend just waiting to get in the door.

But to his surprise, I grabbed his wrist and tugged him behind me, making my way up to the main
door which had an entire security team of its own.

“ Disculpe!” I said, signaling over the bouncer who I recognized as the club's head of security
Geo.

From the time I've spent doing this job, I picked up a few tricks of the trade that turned out to make
my life a whole lot easier. One of the best decisions was familiarizing myself with the staff of the
clubs I most often frequented.

For the most part they were all just genuine people trying to make a living, and it turns out that
offering them a little nod of kindness and acknowledging their presence went a long way.

Geo turned to face us, offering a warm smile and as he sauntered over in our direction.
“ Ah… Mira quién es, nuestros dos mejores clientes.” He said with a chuckle.

( Look who it is, our two best looking frequenters)

“Ah… Nuestro hombre favorito, el nuevo blazer también? Vas a hacerme sonrojar”

(Ah, If it isn’t our favorite bouncer, New blazer too? You're gonna make me blush.)

I retorted with an exaggerated expression, fanning my face for dramatic effect.

He just laughed in response, unchaining the velvet rope in front of us and ushering us inside. We
both offered him a thank you followed by a wave, heading to walk down the long and decadent
prelude hallway that laid before us saturated in ethereal colors and intricate design.

“ You know he totally wants to fuck you right?” Manuel said, coming out as more of a statement
than a question.

“You dont know that…Maybe he wants to fuck you.” I said, raising an eyebrow. Manuel let out a
small laugh as he rolled his eyes in response.

The hallway opened up into a marvelous three story building with a lavish interior, occupied by the
sound of blaring music and miscellaneous voices speaking throughout the crowd.

Manuel and I glanced at each other with a knowing eye and started to make our way across the
room, sauntering by the various tables and VIP booths scattered on the first floor.

As we walked I could feel the glances of countless eyes scorching into me from every direction.
The men who shamelessly let their stare linger for far too long, just to drink in the temporary
fantasies their sinful minds spun. I could feel the anxiety I hadn’t drowned out with alcohol
brewing in my mind and the way that it started to spread throughout my body, heightening under
the gaze of so many conscious eyes.

So I took a deep breath and got myself in check to stop the panic before it started. Fixating on the
clacking of my heels against the solid ground and the way that my hips followed along with the
rest of my body. Each step forward I took felt more powerful than the last and slowly but surely, I
felt the femme-fatal character I played so well rise to the surface, consuming me entirely.

By the time Manuel and I reached the bar I was itching for another drink, but instead had to remind
myself that I was here because there was a job to be done. However, any self control I had only
continued to dwindle when I turned to face Manuel, who was now double-fisting two gin and
tonics. I gave him a questioning look,
“ What? Don't look at me like that, I got one for you.” He said.

I glared at him once more, raising my eyebrow with suspicion.

“ Oh quit playing coy asshole, you know I can't drink .” I snarkily responded.

At this Manuel grabbed his chest in a shocked manner and his jaw dropped to the floor for
exaggerated dramatic effect.

“ WHAT? I am shocked. Utterly shocked. I am so so sorry, I completely forgot…Ugh well…I guess

I’ll just have to drink both of them…” He replied, offering his fake condolences with a sigh.

“Yeah yeah whatever…have your fun.” I said before glancing at the slim golden watch attached
to my wrist, 11:45 pm. I only had a bit of time left to kill before I needed to move in on Santiago
and his men.

I grabbed Manuel in a “follow me now or suffer the consequences later” manner and he quickly got
the jist, trailing behind me like a hopelessly guided puppy dog.

I led him up the dimly lit red staircase to the third floor of the club, where things were much…
fancier. This was the quaintly placed intra club hideaway for those who could afford to linger
there.

Personally, I've never really understood the appeal of spending thousands of dollars on a table
that's in use for five hours at most, and the additional couple hundred spent on an upsold bottle of
don julio. But hey it's not my place to judge.

As I ceased my mind from trailing off any further, I spotted a smaller group of men tucked away in
a booth by the building's large windows. It didn't take long for me to place the pieces together, and
I knew quickly that I had my guys.

I turned quickly on my heel and headed once again to the staircase to avoid coming into their line
of sight before “fate” or whatever dubbed its moment. Manuel seemed to get this memo as well as
he rejoined me in the dimly lit hallway, both of his drinks now empty. I failed to suppress my
laugh, and Manuel quickly took notice.

“ Its literally been ten minutes.” I said, at this point, full on exacerbating laughter.
He shuffled and slyly set the empty drink cups on an empty table next to us and while turning back
to face me placing one finger over his lips followed by a “ shhhh” which only made me laugh
harder.

“Are you going to be okay if I go and hit the floor for a little while? I have a lot of pent up stress
that can only be resolved by the art of salsa.” Manuel said, accentuating the word “ dance ” and
placing his arms in first position.

“ Of course, just do me a favor and stay low on the radar. I need a minute to recoup so I'm gonna
head up to the roof. Find me if something comes up and if not I'll page you when I'm done with
Santiago.” I replied, looking for confirmation in his eyes that the message had indeed penetrated
his tipsy persona.

I took the firm nod he gave me as enough reassurance and held my breath as I watched him frolick
down the staircase.

—-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

As I reached the top of the staircase I flung open the large metal door labeled “ ROOF” and upon
being blasted by a gust of fresh air, I immediately felt whatever part I was playing cease to exist.

I took a cautionary glimpse around, circling the perimeter and to my surprise I was the only one up
here. The vibe was different then the bustling club below. It was quiet, and seemed to exist outside
the bounds of reality. It was…Peaceful.

The speakers overhead started playing “ C.R.E.A.M ” by the Wu-Tang Clan and I smiled wide,
closing my eyes. Humming and nodding along to the familiar tune.

Saunting over to the glass guard wall at the edge of the roof, I perched my hands on the railing,
leaning over the edge.

I took a moment to myself, thinking about the way the city ignited from the lights scattered below.
Oddly, It reminded me of an electrical grid. It made me think of our place in the universe, and how
small we truly are, in the best possible way.

I always find that feeling of insignificance to be comfortable opposed to panic inducing. If

anything it's a wonderful change of pace opposed to the thousands of thoughts constantly racing
through my mind.

“ Cash rules everything around me, cream get the money..” I spoke low, subconsciously
multitasking between my own thoughts and humming along with the melody still playing in the
background.
Tobacco.

The note of the scent instantly diluted my fantasies and pulled me back to reality. Where was it
coming from? Was someone smoking? Someone else was up here .

I didn’t notice when I suddenly straightened my back and shoulders, but someone else sure did.

“ Sorry I didn't mean to sneak up on you.” The person behind finally spoke, who judging by the
deep voice, was most definitely a guy.

He paused for a moment, seemingly to gauge whether I would say anything or if he should
continue. When the silence remained he cleared his throat and stepped forward.

“ Would you like one?” He said, facing towards me and pulling a cigarette out of his carton
before extending out his hand.

I hesitantly turned towards him with a questioning look, and what I saw in front of me was a
pleasant surprise to say the least. The source of the voice was so good looking that It actually
caught me off guard for a moment.

The guy who stood before me was hardened, cut.

He was tall enough that I was looking up at him, his brunette hair laid messily on his forehead and
I couldn't help but imagine what it’d be like to run my fingers through it.

I could barely see it in the light but he had deep brown eyes, and I don't think he realized they gave
away just about everything he was thinking. It was a sight to behold for sure.

It seems that he and I were on a very similar page as I noticed him give me a very obvious once
over of my entire body. When his eyes made their way to my face I noticed that he left them there a
bit too long, almost as if he was tracing over each one of my features and drinking them in like I did
to him mere seconds ago.

After a second of unresponsiveness, he mirrored me with a questioning look.

Suddenly the realization that I had been staring at him far too long presented itself in the forefront
of my brain and I broke the mutual gaze we had unknowingly slipped into.

Taking the cigarette and allowing him to light it for me I looked out over the balcony, muttering a
simple “ thanks.” figuring he’d look away as well.

But when I felt the heat inducing gaze of his eyes still on my silhouette a few seconds later, I
realized that he didn’t.
“ Bit ironic don’t you think?” He spoke, smiling to himself just a bit.

“ What?” I replied, with a hint of confusion.

“Avoiding people at a club.” He said, eyes tracing over my back.

“ You mean because I'm up here?... I mean, I could say the same for you.” I replied, giving him a
once over.

He looked down to the ground grinning before looking back up to find my eyes already on him. He
took a drag of his cigarette and spoke again.

“ Well I came up here for a cigarette, yet you're here without as much as a drink in your hand…So
what's the excuse, just anti-social?”

I cracked a small laugh followed by a sigh at his persistence, in all honesty too tired and
preoccupied to entertain his banter for much longer.

I dropped my act all-together for the next sentence that left my mouth.

“ If that’s what you want to call it then sure. People piss me off. Besides.. anti-social behavior is a
trait of intelligence, in a world full of conformists.” I replied back in what many would call “true
smartass nature”.

But it seemed to get a rouse out of him.

“ Nikola Tesla?” He said questioningly, referring to the quote I'd relayed in my response.

“ Good man, great mind.” I responded with a simple smile, surprised that he got the reference.

I could tell by the smug look on the man's face that he wasn’t quite sure what to make of it…
Whatever he was conjuring. Surely he was a bit out of his depth here, and hopefully got the memo
that I wasn't interested in his flirty commentary or a quickie.

Still he persisted, opening his mouth to speak again.

“ What's your name?” He said, presumably searching my face for something.

“ Serena.” I said, the lie comfortably leaving my lips.

His face contorted into a puzzling display, almost as if he knew. But if he did, he didn’t prompt me
any further and instead let it be.

“ And you?” I said.

He paused for a moment.

“ Juan.” He replied, extending his hand.

It would be false to say that I wasn’t more than intrigued by this man. Not because he was
charismatic and present, making no effort whatsoever to shadow himself or hide, but because I
could tell that when he declared his name it was also a blatant lie. What was he hiding? Who was
he?

Any pleasantries I offered just a moment ago were now replaced by curiosity, and I couldn't help
myself.

“... How did you know I spoke English?” I asked, now searching his face for reason and taking a
drag of my own cigarette.

He looked at me with his own curiosity brewing, eyes squinted in the slightest in what now seemed
to be an unspoken-mutual recognition of the bullshit pouring out of our mouths.

“Well, you're speaking to me now aren’t you?” He replied swiftly, almost cueing me in for the
rebuttal.

I lowered my eyes to the ground thinking over how I wanted to play this, but i've never been the
passive type. Urgency got the better of me and I was fully done entertaining his elusiveness.
“Sure, I’d buy that…if you didn’t greet me in English before I said anything.” I said, taking an
extra moment to search his eyes for signs of weakness, shockingly there wasn't much. Maybe I had
underestimated him.

The way he looked at me suggested that he was satisfied yet surprised at the competency of my
attention to minor detail, but there was an underlying tint in his glare that suggested something else
entirely, something much more...primal.

If he wasn’t interested before he certainly was now and I’ll admit that I was on the edge of my seat
with anticipation to see where he was planning to go with this.

As he took a breath to speak again the door to the roof flew open, immediately capturing the
attention of us both.

Once my eyes pieced together the identity of the person at the door, simultaneously pulling me
back down to reality, I noticed it was Manuel who was rapidly waving me over to where he stood.

Behind him stood a man I recognized as Carlos, who worked security for the cartel. Occasionally
on outings things would come up, or rather…Obstacles. This required us to adjust a bit, and
improvise to inevitably end up with the same outcome. But one thing they never did was send
associates to the floor. No, something was wrong.

I took a quick glance at my watch and it read “ 12:20 pm.”

Without a second look back to face the man I was prematurely disrupted from, I hurriedly walked
over to Miguel and Carlos who kept their eyes glued to me. When I reached them, Carlos spoke
quickly.

“ We’re calling it DEA’s in the building. nothing goes down tonight, you’re going home.” He said,
escorting Manuel and myself down the stairs.

Putting two and two together led to the quick realization that I had been completely blindsided, and
the culprit was right in front of my eyes. On my way down the stairs I turned over my shoulder
hoping to catch one last glance at the man.

To my surprise he already had his eyes glued on me, accompanied by a cocky smirk. He took one
final drag of his cigarette, and just before I went out of eyeline he shot me a wink.

Well played.

Please drop by the archive and comment to let the author know if you enjoyed their work!
Please drop by the archive and comment to let the author know if you enjoyed their work!