The Last Messenger

Chapter 10 - First tell me who you're working for

There were more people crowded outside the Latte Shop. Mallory pushed her way out of the swarms of people peering over to see the fire. Finally reaching outside the compacted cluster of people, she looked back for any sign of Eleta. She's probably getting burnt to a crisp now, she snickered. Mallory imagined seeing Eleta all burned and hiding her complexion. It pacified her bitterness for Eleta and felt pleased about how every circumstance that led up to here was favoring her.

Mallory slipped her phone out of her pocket and pressed her thumb against the screen as her driver's number popped up. Pressing her phone against her ears, the dial tone echoed in her head until the answering machine began speaking. She cursed. That useless driver is probably on his break again, she thought. Whatever. She wouldn't let that spoil her mood.

Gripping onto her phone, she observed the people waiting outside the Latte Shop as a bit of smoke fumed out of it. Eleta's angered face popped in her mind unexpectedly. What was that expression, she wondered, it was as if she knew what I did to snatch away her spot...that couldn't be possible, right?

She remembered the calm face Eleta had even after the rude comment she remarked then. Only her coworker was glaring at me at the time and Eleta didn't. It was only when I thought about that bribe... She shook her head. It was probably nothing and Eleta just had a late reaction to my earlier comment. Walking away from the Latte Shop, she stood at the edge of the sidewalk and pulled out her beret from inside her purse and her new pair of Tiffany sunglasses hoping to not be noticed by anyone.

She waved her hand to a nearby cab driving by. The driver noticed her hand and pulled over to the sidewalk where Mallory stood. As she climbed in the car, the driver glanced at his rear-view mirror and spoke up.

"Where to ma'am?"

Mallory pushed her sunglasses up on the bridge of her nose and clutched her bag tightly. She mumbled.

"Drive me to the house NEXT to the Beckham estate."

The driver raised his eyebrow at her but didn't question anything as he pushed the turning signal on. Mallory hoped the driver didn't recognize her. Having to drive in a taxi instead of her expensive limousine was embarrassing enough! Not even her wealthy friends would be caught dead driving in this. It was basically an unspoken rule among the wealthy and she didn't want to tarnish her family name by driving in a cheap automobile. It would be social suicide!

She observed the driver from behind the yellow cap pressed against his damp gray hairs on his head. Her eyes wandered around the cab at the old cushion and padding on the doors. Some areas were scratched and tattered. Annoyed, Mallory scanned her eyes out the window as the cars and people moved across her view one after the other. The small buildings gradually grew bigger and cleaner as the taxi neared Mallory's home.

The car slowly glided to a stop at a lamp post which was a few blocks away from the Beckham Estate. Mallory flipped in her wallet and handed the driver a twenty-dollar bill before exiting the car. The driver looked ecstatic as he shoved the bill in his back pocket, but pulled out an envelope from the other pocket. He waved it through the passenger side window as Mallory hesitantly took it from his grubby hands.

"This is for you, Ms. Mallory."

The driver quickly sped off leaving Mallory standing with an envelope in confusion. He recognized her! She panicked. He wouldn't sell the information of her riding a taxi to any tabloids or magazines, would he? And why did he give me this? The lamp post flickered on above her as she tried to look at the envelope carefully. Darkness was slowly creeping around as the sun dipped down. Shivering at the new breeze that was floating about, Mallory shoved the envelope into her bag and pulled her sunglasses off making her way down the street towards the estate. I'll just have to read it in my room for now.