Chapter Two (use the links on the side to navigate to a different chapter)

The next morning we checked for any job offers as usual. Upon finding none, we decided we should go shopping.
By rule we never spent extravagantly in any single trip. Drawing undo attention to our income may raise some flags. This however was the first time, aside from getting her new clothes, in which Chaos had gone shopping with us. We made sure she knew the rules but we knew that even if she did go a little overboard it wouldn’t really matter. Granted we’d tell her to be careful to not do it again.
When we were in the heart of town we parked, locked the SUV and went our separate ways. We all had our favorite stores and items we wanted. We’d get what we wanted, do some browsing and then, at the designated time, meet back at the car.
Once away from the rest of the group I headed for the tailor. My old suit had met an unfortunate end and I needed to order another. Other than that there were a few new book releases I wanted to check out as well as a few movies and games. I also wanted to get something special for Chaos. It’d been a while since a girl had caught my eye the way she has. Maybe that’s because it’s been a while since I’ve taken this much time to get to know a girl like this. But I felt like I may be able to forge something with her if I got her a gift to break the ice.
After I ordered my new suit, which took little time as the tailor still had my specific measurements and specifications, I went to the bookstore. I grabbed a cup of coffee in the in-store Starbucks then continued to browse through the shelves. I found a few firearms magazines that I frequently read to keep up on advances in the technology, as well as a few horror novels. It’d been a while since Id read any and I could use a break from the spy novels.
Before I returned to the SUV, a few minutes early, Id made a stop at the electronics store, picking up a new RPG and the newest straight-to-DVD zombie movie then made my way to a women’s clothing store, named Sleeping Beauty, which came highly recommended by my own tailor. Although they specialized in women’s nightgowns as the name implied I managed to find a nice outfit that would work either way. It wasn’t long before the rest returned, and we were on our way back home, jabbering about what we bought and people or things that’d caught our eye.
Sayn’t had, as usual, stuck with getting a few books and a chain, which we assumed was to replace the one he planned to give to Chaos. One and Link had apparently went off together to buy a few games and look at new cars. They were thinking of trading their personal cars in for something newer. Chaos purchased some jewelry of her own as well as an ornate box to put it all in as well as a small hand mirror, plated in gold and embezzled with pearls around the frame topped off with a few new outfits, a dress outfit included. When asked what Id bought I left out the nightdress.
Later, at the house, I waited until everyone had headed downstairs after placing what the bought in their room before I placed the box with the nightdress in Chaos’s room on the bed. I had taped a card on the top that said only, “Lobito”, and then I too went downstairs. On the way down, as I began to hear the sounds of Chaos cooking and the rest watching the news, I realized how silly it must seem that I’d taken a liking to the girl in just a few days. Then again, when you make money the way I do opportunities to socialize and romance never really present themselves.
When I reached the stairway’s landing I could see that everyone was watching a news update about yesterdays “incident” on the bridge in which a man, suspected to be the leader of a terrorist cell, was killed in an explosion that also took several other lives. None of the witnesses claim to have seen what caused the explosion and could only comment as to how lucky they were they could stop in time.
As I sat and watched the program with everyone I became aware of the smell of oriental food cooking in the kitchen.
She likes her sushi.
Shortly before Chaos came announcing dinner, they named the civilians harmed or killed in the explosion. Each name stabbed like a knife. People that didn’t deserve to die like that, and that had nothing to do with the target save the fact that they were on the road with him. I got in this job because it’s what I’m good at and I get to deal justice to some legitimately evil people. These innocents were “collateral damage” as the rest assured me. I hate that word. It takes their humanity and individuality away. Who knows? Maybe I just feel this way because, secretly, I think it will absolve me of my sins: A silly thing for an atheist to think.