been watchin pursuit of jade these days p nise tbh

The guards don't follow you in.

"Welcome." She rights herself, crossing her legs and showing off a little of her thigh under her miniskirt. She keeps her sharp eyes on you as you make your way over to the sofa facing her. Every step is scrutinized, every breath dissected. Worse, it never stops. She should know better.

"Miss Enami, I presume." Reach for what you assume is liquid gold in her world, bring the glass up to your nose. Notes of deep, sweet, mysterious scents, and age. "You think you can buy me with fancy booze?"

She frowns for a split second, but you catch it before her face returns to neutral. "No, not the booze. It's a friendly gesture, if you will." She pours you more, nearly to the brim, drowning the ice. "Seven hundred million. Surely that's not below your paygrade."

"About par for the course. But you should now, if you're offering me that, that I don't do it for the money."

Her gaze flies off to somewhere behind you, and you know exactly what she's looking for. Raise a hand, call her back. "I said no guards."

"Did you kill them?"

"No. They were just doing their jobs."

"I didn't take you to have a moral code."

"Flattery won't get you anywhere."

She chuckles. It's practiced, and you can see right through it. She's afraid. But not of you.

"So, who's the lucky guy?"

She eyes the space behind you again, and sighs. "No guards, huh?" Enami uncrosses her legs, gets up, heads back to her desk. You can't see it, nor do you care, but the sound of a drawer opening, papers ruffling, drawer shutting, intrigue you. She has a file, how cute.

She slides you the folder. It's got a flimsy collection of information, especially for such an important target. You almost don't even need to look at it.

"You know you're wasting your time, don't you?"

"What I do with my time and money is my business to deal with."

You sigh. "I have a promising young colleague. You'll get this job done for cheaper—"

"If I wanted them, I'd have called them. Please don't misunderstand."

You don't.

She pulls out her checkbook. A premium matte ebony, gilded, scented. You knew she wasn't your type of company.

"Seven hundred million. Or, do you prefer it blank?"

Your turn to chuckle. "Are you really so desperate?"

She puts it away, sighs. Even then, it sits right next to her on the plush white fur of the sofa, sitting like a wound on an otherwise pristine hide. "What will it take?"

You ponder for a moment. There's nothing in her world she can offer you. Not that she needed to—you'd have done this for free if it meant an interesting way to spend the weekend. But seeing the Enami Asa on the ropes, clinging by the ends of her fingernails, clawing for breath, is just so alluring.

"Something unorthodox, if you catch my drift."

"Anything." A pause. A shadow of doubt passes over her face, one anyone else in the world would miss. "I have an idea of what you want, though."

"Then, would you do the honors?" You place your phone on the table, right next to her bottle of whiskey. You mean it as nothing more than a gesture, an attempt to meet her halfway. She accepts.

Gingerly, her hand slides across the table to take it. Once her grasp is firm, she gives you one more look. You think she'd chicken out, but in a rare moment of determination, her eyes give off a sinister glint.

She opens the camera app, aims it at herself. She reaches for the hem of her top, pulls it up quickly, unceremoniously, like any other Monday. Her breasts bounce free, and immediately she throws up a peace sign right next to them. The flash doesn't even bother her.

Once she's done, she pulls her top back down, slides your phone back to you. Hands in her lap, top perfectly unruffled, check still waiting patiently next to her.

"This is the part I tell you there's nothing to worry about."

"I'm aware."

You get up to leave. As you turn around, you're met with the delightful image of Asa's mouth slightly parted. You've