As If We Never Met

*This story contains adult language and situations.

“Excuse me, but have we met before?” She’s standing too close to me. But she really doesn’t have a choice. The fundraiser is a “white party” for the re-election of the governor. The venue is a private members only club that I otherwise would never be in if it were not for this fundraiser. The dresses on the majority of the women cost more than my first car. The jewelry they are decked out in cost what I probably make in a year. But, I can’t complain because we are in good company- A-list celebrities and a smattering of whose who from the state.

“No. I don’t believe we have.” I take in her sharp white suit and ivory tie and her dark hair is in a sleek undercut. She smells incredibly good. In the low lighting I can’t tell if her eyes are blue or green, but they are beautifully rimmed in long dark lashes.

“You look very familiar.” She persists.

I adjust the strap of my dress as it has slipped down my shoulder. I see how her eyes track my movement and feel a heat of blush crawl over my cheeks. “I promise you. If we met, neither one of us would have forgotten.” I wonder where this burst of confidence has come from. I’m normally not this bold.

Someone in the crowd backed into her and she pushed into me, pinning me with my back against the high polished mahogany bar. Luckily for me, my drink was empty or it would have been down the front of my white satin dress. She is pressed against me. I can feel the curves of her body and the jut of her hipbone against me. Did I mention she smelled really good? Spicy and earthy and a hint of citrus. Her hand glided down my arm, her thumb grazing the inside from my elbow to my wrist until she eventually had my empty glass in her hand. “The least I can do is at least buy you another overpriced drink. Which was?” Her lips are barely a hair away from mine.

“Cosmopolitan.” My freehand is on her shoulder. I could easily push her away but I don’t. There’s a pause before she subtly licks her lips and moves to the side and flags the bartender down. She places a large bill on the bar.

Another electric pink drink is placed in front of me. “So. As I was saying, you look very familiar.”

“As I’ve insisted, we’ve never met.”

She nods. “So you insist.”

“Is this your way of trying to flirt?”

She gives a half smile that could be considered cocky. “No. If I were flirting with you, you would know.”

I roll my eyes and take a sip of my drink. “Are you not getting yourself a drink?”

She shakes her head. “No. I’m working.”

“Ironically, I am as well. Technically anyway. Except no one will mind if I have a cocktail.”

“Or two,” she finishes for me.

I smile at her. “Yes. Or two. Thank you, by the way.”

“What do you do that allows you access to this event and cocktails?” She leans against the bar.

“Legal advisor for the governor.”

“That’s why you look familiar then. I knew it. You seem to be with him in a lot of photos. Interviewed a few times on the news.”

I nod. “And you?”

“Security.”

“For?”

“If I told you, I would have to kill you.” She chided.

“You don’t look like security.”

“You don’t look like a lawyer.”

“You are infuriating.”

“I can be.”

“I’m Shannyn.” I take another sip of my drink.

“I’ve realized that now.”

“And you are?”

“Infuriating, remember?”

“For fuck’s sake.”

“Is that an official statement from the office of the governor?”

I huff as she smiles. “Shouldn’t you be guarding someone?”

“I’m not the only one on duty tonight.” She shrugs.

“So, you are just going to stand here and give me a hard time?”

“Really?”

“Really what?”

“You think I’m giving you a hard time?”

“Absolutely.”

“I thought you said I was flirting with you?”

“Oh. My. God.”

She goes to say something but I hold my hand up to warn her to not even go there.

Instead she winks at me. “I’m just saying.”

“Does this work for you? Normally?”

“I don’t know. Is it working now?” She reaches over and gently pushes a stray lock of my hair back behind my ear. I can’t help but to shiver as a current of electricity shoots through me.

“If I said no, would you walk away?”

“Only if you want me to walk away. Is that what you want?” An eyebrow is raised. She’s totally challenging me.

Strangely, it’s not what I want. But I also don’t want to admit that. So I pause trying to think of what I should say in response.

She takes my silence for acquiescence. “I didn’t think so.”

I shake my head at her. “So, no name?”

“You haven’t earned that information yet.”

I roll my eyes and set my drink on the bar and smooth my dress. “Okay. It’s been real, Ms. Anonymous.”

I go to walk away but her fingers lace through mine and she gently pulls me back to her. “Stevie. My name is Stevie.” She relents.

“Nice to meet you, Stevie.”

“So, do I get to meet the governor if I’m hanging out with you?”

“Maybe? Is that what you want with me?”

“No. I want to take you to dinner this week. But I’m just curious.”

“What if I’m busy this week?”

“Are you?”

“No-”

“So, can I have your number so I can call you?”

“I don’t answer my phone.”

“Okay. So, can I have your number so I can text you?”

“Hand me your phone.”

“So I’m not really that annoying am I?” She grins at me as she hands me her phone.

I enter my information into it and hand it back to her.

She immediately types something into it. My phone sends off an alert as soon as she'd finished tapping out a message.

“I was just making sure you gave me the right number. Good girl.”

I snort out a laugh. “Good girl? Am I a dog?”

“Absolutely not.”

Before I could say another word my boss- the governor - was next to me at the bar.

“Shannyn, good turn out tonight, eh?”

I try to change to work mode. “Yes, sir-”

“Who’s your friend?” He asks, nodding toward Stevie. He had been trying to set me up forever. He worried more about my single status than my grandmother. But unlike my grandmother who kept trying to put me in front of an endless line of men, he had the decency to put me in front of a long line of women.

“Stevie. She’s one of your guest’s security personnel.” I say as I look at him. “What time-”

Stevie extends her hand to shake his. “Can I buy you a drink, sir?”

He laughed. “Sure thing. Are you enjoying the event?”

Stevie notes that the governor has a scotch in his hand. She flags the bartender down and lays down another big bill, and I turn back to him. “So the press release-”

Before he can answer, Stevie is putting a scotch into his hand. “Enjoy the rest of the night- have fun with your new friend. I will text you later about that issue from earlier.” He winks at me.

“So does that mean you have the rest of the night off?” Stevie asks.

“I guess?”

“I don’t think anyone would miss me if I left.” Her eyebrow is raised.

“That doesn’t seem so secure.”

“They’re good without me for the rest of the night.” Her eyes don’t leave mine. I easily read what's behind them.

Before I know it she’s steering me out of the venue and to a car where a driver is waiting. He nods to her and she nods back as she opens the door for me.

She takes me to a suite at a nearby luxury hotel. The rest of the night is a blur of heat and skin and hands and lips. Touch. Taste. Sensation. Exhaustion. Curling up skin to skin under the high threadcount white comforter as I drift off, with this incredible woman beside me.

In the morning, I’m awoken by the relentless ringing of my phone. It goes to voicemail and it rings again. This goes on for four more calls. I finally sit up, blurry eyed and disoriented in the bed where Stevie is notably absent.

“Hello?” I answer- my voice is gritty with sleep. I don’t bother to look at the caller ID.

“Shannyn?” It’s the governor’s wife, and her voice carries an edge of panic.

“Yes. Hi, Jess. What’s going on?” I rub my eyes and look at the time. It’s far later in the morning than I’m accustomed to sleeping. Not that I got much in the way of sleep.

“Bill. Bill is dead.”

“Wait. The governor is dead?”

“Yes.” She is sobbing into the phone.

“How?” This made no sense to me. He’s relatively young for a politician to hold such high office in such a large state.

“We thought he just had too much to drink. We got home and it got worse… And then… Then…” She couldn’t finish.

“Where are you?” I ask as I scramble out of the bed and try to dress myself while holding the phone with my shoulder.

“I just got home.”

“I will be there shortly.”

I look throughout the suite and don’t see Stevie. I see her suit jacket where it was thrown off last night on the floor beside the couch.

There is no trace of her aside from the jacket. No luggage. No toiletries. No cell phone or charger. Just the jacket. If the jacket wasn’t there, it would have been as if she never existed.

I throw the jacket over my arm and feel something weighted in the pocket.

Sticking my hand in, I pull out a small brown glass bottle with a dropper. I read the label “Aconitine.” I sit on the couch and google it. Aconitine is a derivative of wolfsbane. Poison.

I pulled up a local news article. The governor was brought in with last night with symptoms that match those of wolfsbane poisoning.

I think back to last night. Stevie’s insistence on meeting the governor. Using cash. Who uses cash in today’s society? Buying him a drink. It doesn’t take much. It only takes a few drops. It wouldn’t be noticed in a scotch.

The entire night was a beautiful lie.

As if on cue, a text comes through from Stevie. ‘By now, I’m sure you figured it out.’

I responded, ‘Who are you, really? What are you?’

‘I’m not Stevie. I’m not a security guard. This phone is a burner.’

‘Why even reach out?’

‘You deserve that in the least. I’m sorry if it comes across as me using you. For what it’s worth, if things were different, I would have liked to know you better.’

My eyes are welling up with tears. I’m crying for Bill. I’m crying for having been so easily duped. So easily used.

Another text comes through. ‘I know I was sloppy in forgetting my jacket. Which is not good for me. I know you have an obligation to turn it in and report it. I’m not mad at you for it. I did my job. You have to do yours. You’re beautiful. You’re a remarkable woman. Thank you for an incredible night. If I see you again, I’m screwed. If you don’t see me again, know I won’t forget you. But I will probably spend the rest of my life trying to. XOXO L.B.’

I text back one word. ‘Diabolical.’ And it doesn’t go through.

I turn in her jacket. I give over all of the information I have. They get DNA from a hair that was stuck in the lapel. It comes up with no matches. Since I stupidly handled the bottle, no usable prints could be found. The autopsy confirmed the poisoning. No groups or affiliations came forward to take responsibility. Remarkably, the security cameras from the venue were all offline. So there were no usable visuals of Stevie. Or L.B. or whoever she really is.

One week later, as I am paying my respects to the man who was not just my boss, but a friend, there was a breath on the back of my neck and whispered in my ear the words, “Excuse me. But have we met before?” I don’t need to turn around to know who it is. And I find that I can’t help but to smile.