I waited for Thomas Bouven, or Bo, as anyone who knew him called him, outside a pretty decent looking apartment complex, a cigarette dangling from my lips. I yawned as I put my cigarette out with the tip of my white ballerina flats and looked up at the dusky sky.
I'm not usually up at seven in the morning but I knew he'd be coming out of this building in a hurry and it was my style to catch people when they weren't really paying attention. Plus, I had to make sure the Charmeine Sisters didn't get to him before I got a chance. I hate those whores. I looked at my electric blue watch out of habit and rose my head just in time to see the boy speed walking out of the apartment. He was a pretty boy, with bright blonde hair and dark blue eyes; he was a bit too muscular for my tastes but he was tall and had nice shoulders. I trailed behind him a few feet back noticing his untied converses and sex hair. He had definitely just fled the scene of a one night stand the jerk off. As soon as he was safely away from the building he slowed his walk and went into a corner coffee shop. I waited outside for him, lighting another cigarette.
The Reaper business is an irregularly competitive one; it's kind of like the Tow Truck business. Sure there are tons of cars to tow the thing is there are also tons of tow trucks. So to keep a sort of fucked up balance among all us Reapers we work with the food chain theory; the strongest Reapers get the most souls and there's nothing us little kids at the bottom can do about it except hope to be accepted into a large Reaping clan. Audrey is the head of one of the largest Reaping clans around here, so I guess you could say he's one of these head assholes. He lured me in while he was just getting set up at the top so he trusts me more than most of his other Reapers. Audrey only does high profile reapings nowadays, things that'll give him more status.
The Charmeine Sisters are his greatest competition, they're the only real threat to him at this point in time, which is why he likes to steal any reaps they really want before they get a chance. I'm guessing this Bo kid was one they wanted, for whatever reason.
I saw Bo come out with a bagel dangling out of his mouth as he peeled the lid to his coffee off and threw it inside a trash bin. I could feel the moment coming, a wild stirring inside me, exciting me. It happened so fast anyone that hadn't been watching for it would have missed it. Poor Bo was now stuck between two cars, the only thing visible was his heavily coated in blood upper half. I let out a sigh as I walked up to the scene.
"You ready?" I asked the confused looking boy standing a little ways from his former body.
"That's really not fair." He let out with a whine. I shrugged with all the emotion of a snake.
"Don't worry about it." And then I was grabbing his hand. We stood there until he was gone, the only evidence of him, besides his body, was a faint glow in my palm.
"You did good today, Red." I ignored Audrey as he slid in next to me. It was semi-tradition to meet here after a reaping; The Pirate's Pub. And always in the second to last booth on the right side of the place. It was dark and cold, just the way I liked it.
"Still mad at me?"
"I'm always mad at you." He nuzzled his face into my neck and I could do nothing to stop him or the shivers the action gave me.
"Well don't be. Your hair looks good." He said while twirling a long red lock around his finger.
"Although you know I prefer the blonde."
"I hate blonde."
"You're so ungrateful."
"Why would I be grateful of something I didn't get to choose?" Just then Carla, one of the many beautiful blonde waitresses who worked here, came over and winked at Audrey.
"What can I get you, lovely?"
"The usual Carl, thanks." They exchanged a moment and I resisted the urge to splash my vodka on their faces. Instead, I finished my drink in one large gulp.
I made to slide out the other end of the booth but Audrey's hand on my wrist stopped me. He pulled me right next to him, so that our hips and legs were touching, and he brought his mouth right by my ear.
"Don't be jealous sprite, you know you're my favorite."
"I'm not jealous, especially not of her. If you want to sex up stupid silly little girls then go for it, what do I care." He grabbed my chin and turned my face to his.
"Shh, my little one, we can leave right now if you want and I'll show you just how fond of you I am." My face was hot and I couldn't stand to look at his light blue eyes any longer, so I looked at his mouth. His full wide lips that curled at the ends in a wicked kind of way. My eyelids were getting heavy and I couldn't tell if I was breathing or not, but I did notice myself leaning forward, towards him. He placed the hand not holding my chin on my thigh the heat from it a very pleasant feeling. Then suddenly he was giving me an unreadable look and letting go of me altogether. I was surprised at first, surprised he leaned away from me, surprised he crossed his arms behind his head, and surprised that he hadn't kissed me the first time I had shown interest in being kissed by him. I let out a breath of air through my nose.
"Don't contact me for a while, I don't want to see you." I said as calmly as I could muster. I got out of the booth and looked to him for a reaction. All he did was shrug.
"Sure thing, I guess I can get Lulu to cover for you for a bit. Consider it a little vacation then." Bastard. He knew I hated Lulu. He was always rubbing how replaceable I was in my face, how little a damn he gave about me; he knew I'd forgive him anything. I was about to say more but Carla had returned with his drink and I didn't find it necessary to interrupt their flirting.
Once outside I lit a cigarette and inhaled sharply before starting the walk to my tiny dark apartment.