Haven’t I Seen You Somewhere...?

Arla stepped off of the bus onto the sidewalk, her coffee perfectly balanced in her left hand, laptop case hanging in the other. Her office building was a few blocks away but the bus did not get any closer to her building than it already was. There was a slight breeze that gust past, causing her to feel more present as she put each foot in front of the other. Another gust sent her beautiful dark brown hair sputtering into her face. She paused her stride and laughed to herself as she attempted to get the strands of hair out of her eyes and mouth.

With spits and hand grazes she worked the hair from her face. She lost control of the coffee in her left hand and it began tumbling to the ground. She attempted to grab it and dropped her laptop case in the process. The coffee cup hit the ground and spattered, her laptop case followed with a crash.

”Ahh man,” a young gentleman exclaimed, lunging forward for the laptop. “I almost had it.”

”Oh it’s okay,” Arla assured him, “I know I’m a clutz, I made sure to have a durable case.”

”Nice,” the man chuckled, “ way to be preemptive.”

He grabbed the laptop case off of the pavement and handed it to Arla.

“I think the coffee might be a lost cause though,” the man said.

“You know, I kind of had a feeling,” she replied with a smile.

”So, you look kind of familiar to me,” the man said. “Do you live downtown?”

”Oh no, I just work at a building out here. Around the corner, at the Steven’s Building.”

”Ahh I‘ve gotcha, that’s it,” he said. “I work in the Chic-fil-a downstairs. I guess you pass by it to go to the elevators all the time.”

”Oh okay,“ she said. The two of them had begun walking. “Yeah I do have to get to the elevators by passing that Chic-fil-a.”

”Sorry, don’t mean to sound like a creep or anything,“ the young man said as they walked, “you just have a beautiful face, kinda stands out.”

“Aww you’re sweet,” Arla said, smiling at him, “that made my day. No it’s not creepy, I know I recognize people’s faces by accident too, it just happens when your mind is wandering and taking everything in.”

”Yeah the mind is an amazing thing .”

”It is indeed,” Arla said.

The two of them got closer to the Steven‘s Building and entered.

“Well it was nice meeting and talking with you,” Arla said, extending her hand.

”And likewise, Ms..?”

”Arla.”

”Arla,” he said, taking her hand. “What a lovely name. I’m Robin.”

”Yours is lovely too,” she said.

They stood and shook hands for a moment. Arla then took notice of the fact that Robin was not dressed in a Chic-fil-a uniform.

“You have a uniform in the back of the restaurant?” Arla inquired.

“Oh yeah they give us lockers. I’d rather not wear it until it’s really time. Kinda hard to talk to ladies in a fast food outfit.”

”I don’t know,” Arla said, beginning to walk to the elevator, “some women would just admire your commitment to going to work at all.”

Arla continued walking to the elevator and Robin watched after her. She passed the Chic-fil-a and Robin turned to walk back out of the Steven’s Building.

* * *

There was a crisp wind blowing as Arla left out of the Steven’s Building that evening. It had been a productive day, she had closed on two sales pitches for her company’s services. She had another call tomorrow that would be very lucrative. Her head was high as she made her way to the bus stop a couple blocks over.

Robin stood adjacent to the entrance of the Steven’s Building; his mind began to fester once he saw Arla emerge from the edifice. For months he had been watching her from afar, waiting for the proper time to approach her as he had that morning. He knew the bus that she rode and he left his post to attempt to catch the same one.

Arla stepped into the bus and chose a seat near the front of the vehicle. Robin entered at the middle section of the bus and sat near the back, nestled amongst other passengers. He sat back in between each stop; when the bus would halt he would lean forward to see if Arla was stepping off. Arla stood with her laptop case as the bus neared an apartment complex. Robin sat forward, prepared to run off after her.

She stepped down off the bus and began walking toward the entrance of the complex. Robin walked at a safe distance so she would not hear his footsteps. Arla entered the first building on the left once she made it through the front gates. Robin made a note of the location and decided to be there sometime tomorrow morning.

* * *

Arla grabbed her laptop case, opening it once more to be certain it contained all of its necessary contents. She exited her apartment and down the stairs. As she was leaving the building a familiar face caught her eye. There, walking by with a dog was Robin, the young man she had met a day before. She was becoming paranoid.

“Hey,” she said as she approached the bus stop.

”Whoa, Arla?” Robin said. He pulled back on his dog’s leash to stop it. “What’re you doing here?”

”I uh, have a friend who stays not to far from here. I’ve been staying with her while my house is being repaired.”

”Oh okay cool,” he replied. “Well small world, this is part of my walk. Well when I have days off.”

“That’s cool,” Arla said, flashing a fake smile. “Well my bus should be pulling up soon, got a big day ahead of me.”

“Oh cool. Well hey, you have an awesome one. I’ll see you next time I have to work.”

”Yeah definitely,” Arla said.

Robin smiled and continued his walk. Arla looked back as the young man continued walking. She showed contempt on her face; she knew there was an angle this young man was working at. She felt like he knew something. In an instant her phone was out and she was placing a phone call.

Robin walked his dog back to his car where he had parked to run into Arla. He got inside and opened a laptop that was sitting in the passenger seat of his car. He contacted his commanding officer, letting them know that multiple contacts had been made. He was proceeding with the next step.

Arla’s associate received her call about Robin. She told him that a man was needed to be taken care of before too much was unearthed. Spliff, her associate, was a regular at getting his hands dirty for hire. He had done these missions and transactions numerous times before, but he still got a thrill out of the mission and its ultimate success. He was informed that the guy worked at a Chic-fil-a in her office building; she also provided a slight description of his face to aid in his search. He decided to stake out the area in the Steven’s Building - he headed there as soon as he got off of the phone with Arla.

Arla entered the building lobby with her focus completely trained on the elevators. Spliff sat at a table near the Chic-fil-a, waiting to see a person that fit the description he was given by Arla. He watched as Arla walked past and into the elevators. He swiveled his head and looked to the entrance again. He saw a man entering that fit the description Arla had sent him.

Robin headed toward the elevators as soon as he entered the Steven’s Building. Once he got into the elevator area, Spliff arose and followed. They ended up on the same elevator; Robin was completely unsuspecting. The elevator stopped on the third floor and only two people stepped off, then on the eighth floor two more. At the tenth two more, including Robin and Spliff. Robin made a straight way towards the bathrooms on the floor and Spliff followed in behind him.

* * *

Arla paced back and forth in the conference room. There were three others in the room with her, her most trusted on the advisory board. The office phone was on speaker as Arla negotiated with another crime lord about selling all of her assets.

“So you see Mr. Banks,” Arla continued as she walked, “there is already cash flowing through the entities you would be purchasing. And once you have full control you can then launch the new operations we have planned for debut in London and South Africa, which are projected to yield a fifteen percent return on the investment in the first year.”

There was silence over the phone as well as in the board room. Arla looked at each of her board members with confidence in her eyes.

“And you say you want to let it go for $350million?” Mr. Banks finally spoke up. “Why did you come down off of the price?”

”Well simply put, I am ready to sell. I feel as though this is worth exactly what I previously asked for it. However circumstances cause us to move a little faster than we would like. And so I am more eager to sell. You’re getting this for a steal my good sir, I suggest taking it while the iron is still on. Any lower offers I will not entertain.”

There was more silence. Then Mr. banks spoke.

“Okay Arla,” he said, “I’ll take this off your hands.”

”Excellent. I’ll have my assistant forward you the paperwork and we will go from there.”

”That sounds great,” Mr. Banks replied, “it’s been a pleasure doing business with you.”

”Likewise. You have a blessed day now, sir.”

“You as well. B-bye.”

Arla hung up the phone and clapped loudly; her board members joined in.

“Why did you sell for so low, ma’am?” Roberts, one of her board members asked.

“Well what I just sold it for is about $100million more than it‘s worth at the moment. But if he really launches those other buildings in those regions it’ll be worth way more than what he just bought for it.”

Everyone looked at each other and nodded.

“Plus I had to get rid of some of the off-book assets; I think I’m being tailed by an agent.”

”What makes you think that?” Jade asked.

“Doesn’t matter,” Arla said. “It’ll be taken care of soon.”

* * *

Arla was leaving the Steven’s Building that evening with elation all within her spirit. She was excited about the beautiful amounts of cash she was about to have because of this sale. As she walked toward the bus stop she felt the urge to look behind her, but she felt relief instantly, knowing that Spliff had finished his mission by now. Although she had not received a notification from him. She assumed she would hear from him once she reached her apartment.

Her bus pulled up in front of her complex and she stepped off. Walking toward the entrance, she saw a familiar face standing by the front gate. As she got closer she recognized it to be Robin. He was smiling ear to ear.

“Hey Arla,” he said without losing the smile on his face, “hard day? You look a bit run down.”

”How are, I mean what are you doing here, Robin?” Arla stammered.

“Well we need to get better acquainted, I think it’s time we become more friendly with each other. I got very close to your friend Spliff earlier today. He almost killed my decoy. Luckily I was there to help.”

Arla was silent.

“Oh uh, got your boy on tape too,” Robin said. “He was very proud that he had beaten a defenseless man almost to death in your name. I mean, you did believe I was defenseless right? You just suspected I knew some shit, but you weren’t really sure.”

Arla could do nothing but wait. I had already called my associates to my position.

”What’s your real name?!” Arla exclaimed.

”My name is Arnold Dresker,” Arnold said. “We contacted Mr. Robin and told him we would need to assume his identity and location of living to aid us in solving a case. The decoy was just a matter of finding the right face to match this beautiful visage.”

Arla turned as she heard the sounds of SUVs pulling up behind her on the pavement. Four agents stepped out of the two cars and trained their weapons on her. She turned around and looked at Arnold, who was still smirking slightly.

“Well played, bastards,” Arla said.