Heaven and Hell

Jill slithered into her leather pants and bright red halter. Her feet slipped into towering stilettos. Perfectly manicured hands ran quickly through her hair. Though Jill normally delighted in examining her reflection, tonight there was no need to look in the mirror. Appearances mattered little for what was in store.

Jill sauntered into Heaven and Hell, enjoying the attention she received from the entire male population. She smirked at the stares and whistles, shook her curls over shoulders and added a little extra sway to her hips as she made her way across the dance floor to the bar. None of these boys had what she needed tonight.

Finally reaching the bar, she flagged down the bartender who was all too eager to stare at her abundant cleavage when he should have been taking her order. “Johnny Walker Blue,” she commanded in a husky voice. “Leave the bottle.” The bartender raised his eyebrows but
quickly pulled the bottle off the top shelf. He set it on the bar along with a glass and, sensing the fuck off vibe she was sending, quickly scampered over to the next customer, a blonde bimbo with larger than life breasts spilling out of her top.

Jill rolled her eyes and poured herself a drink. Lifting the glass to her lips, she downed the contents quickly. It was smooth and warmed her from head to toe. She would pay a hefty sum for the bottle of Blue, a fact which annoyed her since she had a perfectly good bottle at home, but she couldn’t stand to be there tonight.

Jill had returned home from work at the Agency earlier than anticipated. But that phone call had changed everything. The nondescript voice told her to open her desk drawer, that he had left her a present. Sure enough, there was a large manila envelope inside. She briefly wondered how it could have gotten there, as the drawer was always locked even when she was in the office.

“Go ahead. Open it. I’ll wait.” The voice told her. Jill knew nothing good would come out of giving in to her curiosity. Still, she slid her gold letter opener through the envelope and removed the contents.

The vivid images pummled her. Robert, her Robert, with another woman. Several other women, in fact. All those late nights at the office, all those business trips. Fucking lies. But it was the last photograph that made her heart skip a beat. A gun loomed larger than life in a hand that looked curiously like her own.

"They're home now, Jill. In your home. In your bed. If you hurry, you can catch them."

Jill raced from the office. She tore out of the parking lot, daring the cops to pull her over, arriving home in mere minutes. Jill parked down the street and entered the house through the basement door so there was less of a chance she'd be heard. She didn't want to believe the voices but with every step, she knew it to be true.

When she reached the main level of their home, she heard music playing softly. She saw an open bottle of wine, two glasses. Jill lifted a glass, staring in disbelief at the pink lipstick that marked the rim. Then she heard them. Jill's grip on the glass tightened to the point where it shattered in her hand. She stormed upstairs to the bedroom, letting the door slam into the wall as she flung it open.

"You bastard," she hissed. Jill tore the covers off the lovers, leaving them naked and their transgressions fully exposed. The woman, a perky young blonde, bolted for the door, scrambling to grab her clothes as she ran. Her panties lay at Jill's feet. Plucking them off the ground and holding them at arm's length with two fingers, Jill chided scornfully, "Don't forget these, honey."

When they were alone, Jill turned her fury on Robert. He tried to apologize. Tried to claim he had slipped just this once. His pleas fell on deaf ears. Jill threw him out and began plotting her revenge. There would be no tears, only cold calculations.

Jill lifted her glass and whispered a quiet toast in fluent Russian, certain no one in Heaven or Hell would understand her words. The angels and demons warred within her, anger tempered with pain, rage fueled by conflicting feelings of loyalty and betrayal. Jill pounded another shot and slammed the glass down on the table. Nodding to the bartender, she moved from Heaven into Hell acutely aware that her every movement was being watched.

She sat at a small table on the other side of the bar. A man walked over and, uninvited, straddled the chair across from her. He was ruggedly handsome and filled out his leathers nicely. Muscles rippled under a tight black shirt. He said nothing, only casually drinking his beer while he waited for her to speak. "Outside. Now," she ordered.

He nodded and followed her wordlessly out the back entrance. Alone in the alley, he backed her against the brick wall. Hard eyes glared into her own. He grabbed her hair, forcing Jill's face to tilt up to his. His lips pressed firmly against hers and his arms went around her, pulling her close. There was no passion behind the embrace. It was no more than a means to an end, but the display was necessary in case they had an audience. The man in black left much in the same way he arrived, silently and efficiently, leaving Jill in the alley.

She smiled wickedly, removing the gun from where he had placed it moments before at the small of her back. The gun was hard and cold in Jill's hand. She slammed the clip in place and set off.

It was time to play.

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This week's theme was bottle. Check out the other Theme Thursday bottle posts here.