"Who are you?"
"Call me Phillip, a driver who was sent to get you out of shit."
"And who sent you?"
On a stirring wheel with his foot on gas of a G-wagon as it ran on the highway;
"My boss... where am taking you right now. He has already set up a table to have lunch with you."
Surprised, Ishtar chuckles:
"Oh! A table; Lunch; With me! He seem so proud of himself...? Besides, does your boss even have a name?"
Phillip shrugged and said:
"He's in the right position to tell you that! As of now, get yourself together, relax your mind and enjoy as I do what I do best."
"Which is?"
"To drive of course."
Silent for a few seconds, Ishtar snapped and faced Phillip.
"Wait a minute.... do you have an idea who I am?"
Phillip glanced at her, then focusing on the road and replied with a bit of confidence:
"Yes ma'am. You're his wedded wife and both of you have a child together."
Ishtar snapped against his reply:
"You think it's funny?"
Of course it sounded a big joke according to her. Because, in the archive of her memories she doesn't remember any man proposing to her, put a ring on her finger and ask her for marriage. Her memory starts and ends with Mr Beard, whom she knows as her father and the only family.
Phillip replied:
"No ma'am. But that's what he said you're. That he's been searching for you everywhere for years."
Phillip added:
"He couldn't believe you're the hired gun; paid to take lives when he saw you on hotel cameras."
When Ishtar got to know all this including what Phillip claimed to know about her, she was deeply troubled in the mind.
"You know what...? Shut up and drive."
She thought of one strict rule that governed the assassin job: never to be seen by a client. Once the client sees your face, they must die.
At the back of her mind she stated:
"Am gonna kill this bustard and his fuckin' boss."
However, she couldn't just sweep the words Phillip said under the carpet like that. Due to the on and off flash images that had made it a habit to raid her mind on several occasions, somehow, Ishtar was burdened. Unrelaxed, with an inquisitive gaze, she sat back in a heap of thoughts and placed her head on the head rest as the G-wagon sped on the highway.
Before she wore a calm smile, mentally she told herself:
"Relax young lady, in less than twenty-four hours these two matherfuckers will be dead and you'll be in the skies on a plane enjoying a smoothie."
Later on, as the G-wagon made its entry at his residence, Bob Lee was standing at the balcony with his arms leaned against the bar. With his German shepherd wiggling its black tail beside him, he raised up straight with an excited look.
"Finally... the long wait is over. Here arrives my special guest."
Him and his best friend _ the dog, walked back in the house, down the stairs and found their way to the compound to welcome Ishtar. So impressed by the fine mansion as Phillip pulled over, Ishtar was muted by the beauty of the floral life of the compound with green everywhere. Finally the G-wagon parked and Bob Lee walked close. He gently got the door for Ishtar to step out.
With a charming smile:
"Great pleasure seeing you again, Ishtar!"
On Ishtar's mind when she looked him over:
"The yellow scarf around his neck is perfect complement to his casual outfit. He's more handsome than in the picture Mr Beard sent to me... and in weird flash images I get in my head too!"
Gentleman way, Bob Lee gave in his hand for the beautiful young lady to hold onto as she brings her legs out, but Ishtar gave him a cold shoulder. Wearing a bothered face, she ignored his gentle treat and supports herself out, leaving him embarrassed. And as soon as she put her feet on the ground, she rudely asked:
"Who are you? And what am I doing here?"
Bob Lee, unbelievably grinning, he gazed in total suprise. He expected a very different approach, more so a bitter one from Ishtar _ a woman he once convinced to marry him and accepted, then mistreated her with constant sleeping outside of the marriage with another woman and finally, stubbornly dumped her at her lowest when she had just given birth, with a terribly bleeding wound from a scissor section on her tummy.
He thought:
"Is this a game she's putting on? Pretending not to know me? Oh, its probably her way of punishing me for all that I put her through."
He added:
"Truthfully, she must be having unwavering commitment to hate me. I need to relax and take it easy on her."
Out loud, with a warm smile on his face, Bob Lee politely requested:
"You must be hungry. Can we at least go to the shade and catch lunch together? The table is already set."
Like she had no idea at all who Bob Lee was, Ishtar pretended that being brought here was a complete disturbance and wastage of her precious time, so she needed out as soon as immediately.
"Don't think because you saved my ass out there at the hotel, I awe you anything. I never asked for your help."
With a commanding glance, she turned at Phillip and added:
"Keep the engine roaring. Am only having a meal."
But at the back of her mind, the party had just started. She loved the environment, and the handsome Bob Lee. She liked his charming dog too, she bent over and tickled it's neck. Nevertheless, in her assasin ways, she was taking calculated moves, doing everything on purpose.
Ishtar's intention were hidden and terrible.
"Can I kill these two bustards here right now? Or, I first lay down with his handsome skin, get a sexual healing and then unlive him? Of course I will be free from the burdens of the haunting flash images of him!"
As Bob Lee led the way through the hallway that connected to the shade dining table, he sighed to himself:
"She wasn't stubborn like that."
In an open shade next to the main house, a beautifully arranged dining table captivates Ishtar's eyes.
A centrepiece bouquet of fresh wildflowers on a white linen tablecloth and a pair of gleaming silver candles that flickered gently on both sides of the table, a mixture of green salad, a delicate grilled whole chicken well seasoned with herbs, glasses of sparkling water reflecting sunlight, and a small carafe of chilled white wine to invite a toast to the mid-day respite.
She said:
"Wow!"
And he said:
"I know your taste."
As he pulled a chair for her to take her seat, the chef approached with bread in a woven basket. Immediately after Bob Lee took his seat too, the basket was placed on table.
The delightful atmosphere and breeze set a perfect stage for enjoyment of the meal and engaging conversation.