More Than She Bargained For

The woman glances down at her watch, her stomach doing flips as she watches the seconds count up. A clock tower in the distance booms throughout the quiet city as the time strikes 12:00. She steps to the left, pebbles and dust shifting beneath her feet as she props her camera on top of the terrace fence. Shivers crawl up her spine, her saliva catching in her throat when she turned slightly towards the empty doorframe leading into the abandoned building.

"He should be pulling up now," she speaks to the shadows, to the eyes she know are burning holes in the back of her skull. She turns back to the camera, and puts her dry eyes to the lens. The road in front of the government building was desolate, the streetlights flickering dimly, the sidewalks covered in trash and sewage. A small shine in the darkness is the only indication that the town is the home of more than ghosts. She examines the mailbox again. The shape of it can barely be made out in the darkness of the night, but the fresh coat of red paint and polish makes it stand out against the grey bleakness of the buildings. 

"What's so special about that mailbox?" She wonders aloud, her words floating into the smoggy air. 

"You're not being paid to ask questions, Megan," the shadow speaks. It's voice is unexpectedly gravelly in comparison to the glittering eyes Megan caught sight of earlier in the night. Her contact was right, she was being paid to lure the town's mayor out of his home, nothing more. Megan fights the urge to turn and face the shadow, to demand to know what is going on. She needs the money, and if that means knowing as little as possible, she could live with that. 

Headlights illuminate the street in front of the government building. Megan slowly turns her camera to zoom in, and watches as a man in a baggy t-shirt and pants gets out of the car. He leaves it running, and moves briskly towards the mailbox, his head swiveling to look over his shoulder every few seconds. Stopping in front of the shiny red mailbox, he glances around. Megan's breath catches in her throat as he glances her direction, but exhales just as quickly when he turns his attention back to the mailbox and yanks the door open. He inspects the inside of the mailbox before reaching a hand in, and pulling out the package she had placed inside only an hour ago. He rips the package open and carefully pulls out a flip phone. Megan watches as he carelessly discards the package on the ground, and flips the phone on. She scoffs.

"Is something wrong?" the shadow asks. Megan's heart skips a beat as she remembers it's eyes. If looks could kill, Megan would have a bigger problem than committing extortion. Even in a small, near-ghost town like this, the law still applied and the jails couldn't be expected to be any cleaner than the streets. 

"No," she replies hastily, swallowing the urge to give the shadow the finer details. It was very much like Megan to overshare, which she figures is the whole reason she ended up here, on this terrace, in the first place.

"Good."

The mayor shuts the phone and gets back in his car. Megan's toes tap lightly against the pebbles as she feels her hands become clammy and her stomach take her heart on an amusement park ride. The phone in her pocket vibrates violently, jarring her from her nerves. She grabs the phone and waits, 1..2..3..seconds. She answers. 

"Alright, I got the money and the ring. I'm outside the capitol building, now give me the drive!" He shouts into the phone. She cringes at his volume, panic shooting through her body at the thought of someone overhearing them. 

"Be patient," she cooes, "One more stop, and this will all be over. No more drive, no more secrets, no more me."

He sighs into the phone, rubbing his forehead with his fingers, "Okay. Where's this last stop?"

"The abandoned apartment building on Wilson and 3rd. Top floor. No electricity means no lights and no elevator so, watch your step," she hangs up and closes the phone. Still looking through the camera lens, she watches as the mayor pulls his car away from the capitol building and disappears behind another building. She steps back from the camera and takes a deep breath, letting her nerves calm. Her part in this was over now. She can get her money, and go. She takes the phone and removes the SIM card, and then the battery, and then rips it into two pieces. The SIM card and battery are sent over the edge into the street below, and the phone pieces are thrown to the ground and stomped on. When she's certain there is no possible way to trace the call, she packs her camera away. 

"Can I ask one question?" she swings the camera bag over her shoulder. The shadow waits a moment, as if deciding on whether it should just answer her question or kill her to make things easier. Fortunately for Megan, it's not the latter. 

"Sure."

Megan turns towards the empty doorframe, wishing that the door was still there to put some separation between them.

"Are you the woman that, that slept with the mayor?" She runs her hands along the strap of the bag, her fingers dancing on it as if she were pressing piano keys. 

"Are you asking if I was the homewrecker?" The shadow spits out the last word in disgust. 

"I...yes," Megan's confirmation hangs in the air, the words seeming to wrap around her throat and squeeze tight. She coughs, an apology on her tongue when the shadow speaks again.

"Yes...and no," She hears footsteps come close to the doorway, and wishes on the stars above her that she wasn't going to join the battery and SIM card on the street below. 

The footsteps continue, and she sees the eyes again. They are a vibrant green, and cold enough to send shivers down the spines of a soldier. The shadow steps into the light, and Megan gasps at the woman who steps in front of her. Her green eyes and dark skin are breathtaking.

"He loved me first," she says, stepping past Megan and glancing out at the city. "He loved me, not her. Not the woman who has her hair perfect the second she steps outside, who is always caught with that perfect smile on her perfect face." She turns to look at Megan. 

"No, not her. He loved me. He told me so every time we left the house with my hair untouched, and my teeth crooked. But, that all changed one day. Too fast for me to understand at the time, but now," she trails off, glancing at the street below, "Now I understand why he traded his soft touches for punches, and his warm smiles for a cold and hard glare. I wasn't the perfect woman for his re-election, so I became the woman on the side. The homewrecker."

Megan stands in silence, remembering the short articles she read about the woman in front of her. She glances inside the abandoned building, feeling guilty for believing what was written to protect an abusive man in power.

"So what now?" Megan asks. The woman stares at her with her green eyes, studying her. Megan shifts uncomfortably under the woman's gaze.

"Now, we exact my revenge."

Megan stumbles back a few steps, "We?" 

The woman nods, "You need the money, don't you?"

Megan nods slowly, her gut churning .

The woman gently grabs her by the elbow, and motions for her to come inside, "Then come choose your weapon. We have little time to decide before he gets here, so don't take too long."