Into My Heart

XXXVIII

SAMANTHA 

"Is it too late to change my mind yet?" I ask in a whisper, terrified. 

We have been planning my insertion inside the Press family's ranks for a week now, and everything seems so blurry to me still. 

But now, we are standing beside Becky and her daughter, both armed with guns, glaring at Shelina and I in disbelief. In front of us, facing us with all impunity possible in this world, are Channing and Tyler Press, Christen's older sisters, and they do not seem so thrilled to see me. 

Before either Shelina nor I can say anything, one of them asks (Tyler, I think):

"You have thirty seconds to explain your presence here, Mewis, and then I'll kill you."

Hardly swallowing my saliva, I do not manage to talk. As the seconds are ticking, Shelina steps forward, and says in a sharp and incisive voice:

"Mewis works for me now, and if one of you have any contrary thoughts on this, then I advise you to think long and clear about this: we all know your father trusts me more than the two of you combined, and that only in a few months compared to your whole life. In other words: do not mess with me or my choices, because both have been approved by your father, and he, after all, is the boss."

I can feel the tension between the Press sisters and Shelina, as they stare back and forth between the Canadian and myself. While Shelina is composed and magnificent in her role, I, for one, am melting under the pressure.

In order to back me up a little more, she adds:

"You both saw what Kristie Mewis did to her sister this week: blaming her for their father's death in front of the whole city of Orange during the Investiture Ceremony of the new Mayor is not something one can forgive, ever." (long story short: Kristie pulled a Kristie DiCaprio before the whole town to make the Press believe that I wanted to get revenge on her since she is 'dead to me', lol.)

"I do not believe a word of it" Channing states, aggressively staring at us. While her sister also nods, she asks: "Tell me, dear Samantha, what do you plan on doing to get revenge?"

I nod my head slowly, staring at me in fear. 

"S-she... My boyfriend left because of her" I say, almost on the verge of tears (true story: Pat left yesterday because he wouldn't deal with all my secrets and shady stories), while Shelina stares toward me, obviously concerned about my true well-being (no, she did not know). Taking a deep breath, I state, and every word I pronounce is heartfelt: "I have nothing to loose anymore."

The Press sisters, obviously believing me, only nod.

"If Father approved" Tyler starts, "then we must trust his choices."

"But-" Channing starts, but doesn't go very far before her sister says: 

"It is as it is, Sister. Now: we have matters to attend that are way more interesting than you, ladies. Let's go."

And, just like that, they both leave, followed by Becky.

Rachel, on the other hand, just stands there, obviously watching us, along with Crystal, one of Christen's bodyguard, that now has transformed into Shelina's. Speaking of which, the Canadian seems concerned: maybe she did not anticipate that we would be guarded. 

Setting her jaw, she throws me a meaningful stare: just wait and do nothing stupid. Gathering her immense acting skills, Shelina addresses Rachel coldly:

"That will be all, thank you Rachel."

But the Brit is not convinced.

"I have been ordered to guard you" she says, and never have I heard such a serious tone from her before. The Rachel I had known before totally faded, as she continues to convince me : "Some of the Press family members do not trust you, and neither do I."

"Well, in that case" Shelina immediately responds, turning toward me for a brief moment, "I must order you to leave, since I, too, am legally part of the Press family. See, Mr Press made me sign papers that would attest of my taking the place of my fiancé, so you must obey my rank."

"Very well, m'mam" Rachel finally agrees, before nodding her head and leaving the room.

As soon as she's gone, I get my computer out of my bag and immediately plug it into Christen's, that has been lying on Shelina's desk for some time now. Mr Press had granted us our own personal room to conduct our operations - only, he thinks that we would solely investigate on some close friends of the family, while we would really do that plus searching information that we could use to take the Press down. 

Shelina sits down next to me, starting to launch programs on her own computer.

Quite quickly, I manage to gather intel on Dan O'Hara, who is to possibly become Orange's next mayor, and who works with the Press, actually. His daughter, Kelley, had met with Christen and Shelina many times, and it occurred to the latter that the O'Hara have been investing in local gangs, probably owning some of them. In other words, it is another enemy to be for us, and we needed to take his campaign down without anyone tracking this loss back to us.

My hand starts trembling, and Shelina immediately notices, as she says in a soft and calm voice:

"It's okay to be nervous, Sam."

I nod my head in silence.

Truth is: I could not mess that up, otherwise everything would've been for nothing. I mean, Abby's a mess, Pat left, and Kristie's security depends on me. So I could not be sweet could-not-kill-a-fly Sam. I needed an update: maybe to badass Sam, or just Bad Sammy, although that sounds too much like the singer Bad Bunny.

Either way, I could not mess that up at all. 

"I'm fine" I coldly answer, not the way I intended to. 

Shit.

"Alright, if you say so..." Shelina lets out, obviously concerned for the operation. Or maybe she was just concerned about my mental health, because she quickly adds: "Listen, I know we're united by obligation, but you can think of me as your ally, alright? Like, you can talk to me, Sam, because we're in this together."

"I said I am-" I start, angry.

"- Fine, I got it" she finishes my sentence, staring at me coldly. 

We both fall into silence, as another all-nighter of work was waiting for us: after all, our time is counted.