The elevator dinged and the doors slid open. A woman walked out, her presence alerted by the clicking of her heels against the hardwood floor. Her body concealed behind a thick oversized trench coat. The men in the hallway smiled her way, as she passed, despite the disapproval stares of their spouses. At the end of the hall, two large doors guarded by two men donned with black and white suits and thick black sunglasses. They would have been excellent candidates for the movie "Men in Black." 

The bulkier of the two stepped forward and raised his hand waiting for his tip. The woman procured a rod of cash and placed it in the man's hand. Both, with newfound smiles seamlessly walked away forgetting all about the young woman they left at the door. She tapped twice on the door before she heard the latch unlock from the other side. The door swung open to a drunken man still fondling a half-empty bottle of whiskey. He looked at her top to bottom, took a swig of his drink then turned his back to her, too fast, and caught himself on the handle of the door. 

"Who ordered the whore?" He shouted. His words slurred from the taint of alcohol. 

The woman walked in, despite no one having answered the man's question, tempting the man at the door by caressing his cheek. He gladly obliged and closed the door behind him. Inside the embassy suite, was a fireplace kept lit by a man who seemed more composed than the others. Two more were at the back on the pool table, another behind the bar, and the last on the couch that was facing the fireplace. 

All men looked at her as if she was their next meal waiting to be devoured. She motioned them to sit on the couch and they happily obliged. There was a stereo sitting on the counter and she turned on the music, making sure it was loud enough to block out any noise coming from inside. Moving slow and purposely swaying her hips she stepped on the small coffee table. She danced with the beat, making sure to slowly unbutton her jacket with each beat of the music. All eyes gazed upon her if only the men knew her real intentions but lust kept them blind. She accounted for that and turned so her back faced them. Teased them more by allowing a portion of her jacket to fall from her shoulders. 

When the bass hit she spun around, let her jacket hit the floor and she raised two silenced .45 ACP pistols. The expression on the aroused, drunk men quickly changed from amusement to fear to their expression being permanently marked on their face and a bullet between their eyes. All dead, except one. The one who answered the door. He had soiled himself. 

The woman stepped off the table, hid her thick hourglass body and her smooth caramel skin back in the trench coat, and sat on the table's edge; her gun remaining fixed on the survivor. 

"Do you know who I am?" She asked. "Think carefully before you answer."

"...No..." She shot his foot. He screamed from the pain.

"I'll only ask you one more time. Look at me carefully."

"Yes...yes I know who you are."

"Good, then you know why I am here. I'm going to ask you something and depending on your answer, it will depend on whether you walk out of here alive. Who killed my mother?"

Four years ago...

The ambiance of the restaurant was loud with couples wining and dining. Waiters and waitresses rushed around delivering food and taking orders from guests while the chefs in the back cooked to their heart's content. A couple approached the door and the gentleman held the door for the lady. She stepped in with a smile and looked amazed at how beautiful the restaurant was. 

"This is beautiful. How in the world did you get a reservation here?" She asked, taking off her bright red scarf and folding it over her arm.

Her date stepped beside her and lightly grabbed her shoulders. His hair was gelled back with a shirt and tie recently ironed. "I know a guy who owed me a favor." He kissed her cheek then checked in at the front counter. Moments later they were seated.

 "The food was delicious. Thank you, Travis." She put down the fork and wiped the leftover grease from her mouth being careful not to smear her lipstick. "So are you going to tell me what you are up to? I know you have something up your sleeves, especially for a place like this."

Travis smiled and wiped his mouth, placing his napkin on his plate. "You were always too smart for your own good." He brought out a small black case and placed it on the table. He stared into her brown eyes as if looking at an angel sent from heaven just for him. Of course, she was giving him that confused face, a raised eyebrow, and a smile that told him she was happily satisfied. 

"You're still wearing that blue ribbon. I remember the first day I met you, you wore that ribbon to school. All the kids made fun of you for it but, you never once took it off. That was fifteen years ago. I guess when you just love somebody so much, time flies. The night I first saw you I found you hurt, going through a lot of emotional pain. And I made it my goal, my dream to see that through that smile of yours the pain is erased. But the exact opposite happened. You helped me. All the pain, all my suffering, all my regrets you washed away. You, the one I was supposed to heal, healed me. Made me the man I am today and I could never thank you enough..." 

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The song AT LAST by Etta James cued on the restaurant stereo.

Oh yeah, yeah you smiled, you smiled...

"When you smile, it was like the hole that I felt in my heart became filled. Just like this song a spell was cast on me and at last, my lonely days were over. My love came along and five years later my love is stronger, I have a new vision. I have a career. I found a thrill all because of you." Travis stood, walked around the table and bent down on one knee. It seemed all the noise silenced, all wondering eyes were now on them. The song is still playing in the background. He pulled out a small black box from his pocket and opened it revealing a ring any woman would be proud to wear. 

"Julie, I lived these past ten years officially at your side and the past fifteen knowing you. I can't imagine life without you. You deserve all the love and happiness in the world and with your permission, I will continue to love and cherish you. Julie, will you marry me?"

For you are mine...at last...

"You mean you haven't spoken to Travis since you turned him down two months ago?" Monica asked, pausing from punching the punching bag. 

Julie stepped around the punching bag and sat on the bench putting her sweat-drenched towel over her shoulder. "Two months? It's been that long already?" 

"Yeah, Julie! Where have you been all these months? Poor Travis. Did you at least tell him why you turned him down?" Monica sat across from her and rehydrated herself with bottled water.

"I told him it was complicated, then I left," Julie said.

"Dang...girl that is harsh. You've known Travis for 25 years now, I think he at least deserves an answer. What is so complicated about your life anyway? This is your last year at school, you have a great job which I might add pays you really well for working at a consulting company, I thought now would have been the best time for you two to get married." Monica said standing and walking over to the weight press.

Julie joined her and sat on the bench beside her. "It just is." She didn't want to tell her, although she loved Travis they had recently expressed differences that caused her to stray. He wanted to stay here in this city, settle down, have children, while she wanted to travel the world and get as far away from here as possible. They had many fights the past few months regarding this and she felt this proposal was his last effort to keeping things together. 

"Man, you made me look like an asshole. Travis came to me and I told him you would say yes. Man, poor Travis, now he's going to hate me. See what you've done," Monica nudged her on her shoulder with a smile that Julie saw straight through. Monica was disappointed. Out of everyone she had been their number one cheerleader and invested a lot of her time with advice and even helped with picking out gifts and planning dates. "I still think you should go talk to him. He deserves that at the very least."

Julie let out a sigh. "I guess you're right. I'll go see him." 

Monica sat up. "Good, you better! Poor boy must be going crazy! Shoot if he had asked me out, it would have been yes in a heartbeat! I wouldn't mind having a Detective as a husband!"

"Detective?" Julie asked.

"You mean you don't know? Girl, it was all over the news! Man, you need to get your head of the clouds and come back to Earth! Yes, he was recently promoted. You really need to get over there and get back with your man!" Monica threw her towel at Julie. Julie caught it and playfully tossed it back before the pair exited the gym, pausing out front before they went their separate ways.

"I see you still wearing that ribbon of yours," Monica noted fiddling with the blue ribbon that held Julie's hair in a ponytail.

"Of course," Julie answered.

"I'm glad that is one thing you've kept. Now, just find your sanity and you'll be back to normal. How's your mom by the way?

"I don't see her much anymore these days. Always busy with work." Julie answered. She made eye contact with the man across the street. He was leaning against the picket fence staring at her while smoking a cigarette. 

"What is your uncle doing here?" Monica asked.

"Not sure. I'm going to go find out. I'll catch you later." Julie gave her a hug.

"Alright, be safe, and don't forget. Call Travis! He deserves an explanation and you better make it better than 'it's complicated!" Monica shouted, waving goodbye.

"I will, I will!" Julie answered waving a final "bye". She walked to the crosswalk then joined her uncle against the fence. "What are you doing here Steven?" 

Steven took a puff then tossed the cigarette. "Have you seen your mother?" 

"Why are you asking me? Doesn't she work for you?" Julie responded sharply. 

Steven took off his sunglasses and cleaned his lenses with a cloth pulled from his pocket. "When you see her, tell her to give me a call." He walked away after putting back on his shades.

"Mom, Dad I'm home!" Julie shouted when she walked into her house.

She didn't need a response to know her parents were home. They were shouting at each other in the living room. She walked past the family pictures on the wall that showed the smiles of a family's happiness that extinguished years ago. She walked past her baby pictures and the picture of her older brother she lost to the war against drugs. That was actually when her life changed. Her mother started working late hours, father turned to alcohol and when she was home she would be in her room playing music to block out her fighting parents. 

She walked into the living room and waited for them to notice her, which they did right away and halted their argument. Julie noticed the packed bags her mother carried at her feet. "Oh, sweaty I wasn't expecting you home so soon." She started walking towards Julie but Julie stepped away not trusting the bags she held.

"You're leaving?" Julie asked.

"Yes, umm... Work I should be back soon." Her mother clearly lied. By now she was sweating and the nervousness on her face something was wrong. She was jumpy, and not due to drugs. She had the look of someone who was about to flee the country. 

"I tried telling her not to go but she won't listen to me! I say good riddance." Her father barked taking the last sip from a Coors Light.

"Julie, honey take care of your father while I'm gone." She said and with a kiss on Julie's forehead, she was gone. 

If only Julie knew that the very next morning she would watch the news report of her mother found, in an alley, with a bullet in her chest, not too far from her home. One of the Detectives on the case was Travis.