Irresistible

It was a sunny day, and their conversation was black and hotter than freshly brewed coffee. Alias Brandon had summoned the most wanted killer in the west, Kwan Moldrick, for an important mission.

Moldrick was recommended by Brandon's cousin, Monsieur Denisse Lucresse, who came from Marseille. Denisse assured Brandon that Kwan had never failed any tasks that were given to him, but Brandon was still skeptical.

"Who summoned me here?" Moldrick asked as he entered the door. He looked suspicious, having a different appearance than what Denisse illustrated to Brandon.

Brandon thought he would meet a creepy man, like a mysterious assassin, but the man in front of him has a calm, composed, and collected demeanor, and a serious face.

"Mister Moldrick!" Brandon, who was sitting in his swivel chair, stood up and walked towards him.

Brandon introduced himself, then offered a handshake, but Kwan didn't accept it. Kwan's right hand was holding a cigarette, and the other was inside the pocket of his long overcoat. Denisse might be wrong; this man seemed inflexible, Brandon thought.

"I'm as flexible as you can offer me something interesting," Kwan said, as if he knew what Bradon was thinking. He emitted smoke, making Brandon step backward.

"I got it. But be fair by not making us beggars." Brandon slipped his fingers inside the pockets of his jeans, as if he were conscious about what the price would be.

"Twenty million; I'll do it quickly," Kwan suggested brusquely, as if he were the boss.

"What a shameless man!" Brandon screamed in his mind. "It doesn't matter; I'm wealthy enough to buy someone's life—someone who's very important to disappear or might become a hindrance to my sovereignty in the east."

"I'll give you one month," Brandon said.

"Won't you offer a down payment?" Kwan demanded as he swallowed his cigar, the cinder slowly approaching his lips and smoke spiraling up in the air.

"Get the case!" Brandon ordered, clapping his hands for the men around him.

One of his men took the bulging, black attache case from the floor and dragged it near Kwan. The man opened the attaché case, while Brandon went towards his chair and sat down. He crossed his legs, leaned on his chair, and lit a cigarette.

"That's half the price, so you can't withdraw the deal when you accept that," Brandon remarked, holding a silver lighter and a cigarette in his lips. "You may count them to be sure."

Ten million was huge enough to support his family's safety and necessities, but Kwan knew how valuable his conscience was. He spent a few moments alone in the silence before making his final decision.

"Maybe you're scared of what can happen to you if you get caught by those cops." Brandon broke the silence and laughed derisively.

"I'll be back with her head!" Kwan made a promise, took the attaché case from the floor, and immediately went out of the mansion.

"Just make sure. Hahahahaha!" Brandon's devilish laughter gradually disappeared as the sun went down and vanished from view.

Far away in the east, where the sun always rose, the mansion of San Jose stood on vast, untouched land. A lovely lady was assisting her parents on their farmstead when someone called their attention from the steel gate behind them.

"Oh! There he is!" Elfedio exclaimed in a happy tone, welcoming their guest. "Meet Emerson Bevilla, our new gardener!" He opened the gate and let the man in.

As he looked up after bowing his head to show some respect, the young lady's eyes met Emerson's. He smiled at her, but the lady just ignored him by looking somewhere else.

The young lady started thinking about the man's physical features: he has brown eyes, a high French nose, hard facial lines, and undercut hairstyle.

Emerson's eyes didn't leave the lady, although she wasn't looking at him. He didn't know why even her long, curly, blonde hair, which wasn't even tied, seemed to be pulling him closer, and he was getting mesmerized as his foot brought him near.

Bernadette faked a cough to catch their attention and asked, "So, you'll be starting your work today?"

"Uh, um, yes, ma'am, sir," Emerson stammered in surprise as he shook his head while being freed from the mesmerization. "I will start working today."

"That's great. Child, why won't you show him around first?" Bernadette asked the young lady, her daughter.

"Why me?" The young lady asked in her mind. But there was no one else around, so she had no other choice. She acted like she didn't know where to go first, feeling uncomfortable. "Follow me." She whispered enough for him to hear.

Emerson cautiously followed the hem of her swinging white miniskirt. He couldn't help but secretly enjoy every glimpse of her small but perfectly trimmed waist, shapely legs, and flawless skin.

"Okay, Mister, I will leave you here. This is Mario, one of our agriculturists and the head worker. You may ask him if you need something," the young lady said as she hastily turned to leave, noticing that the man behind her seemed to want to commit sexual assault. "Why would dad hire someone like him?" She wondered.

"But miss! I don't even know your name!" Emerson shouted, but the lady hadn't heard him, or at least she just didn't want to as she continued walking.

"She's Rebecca," Mario told him while picking up the trash from the ground and putting it in the wheelbarrow.

"What a lovely name," Emerson complimented. A sweet and charming smile appeared on his face.

"Yup, she was born not just beautiful but also wealthy. She's talented and clever, too. There's no other woman who can be as perfect as she!" Mario exaggerated as he continued his work.

Emerson fell into the snare of reverie for a while, thinking of what he heard from the headworker. He didn't know why he, himself, was showing a lot of interest in the lady—was he attracted to her glamorous beauty?

"Hey!" Mario exclaimed as he noticed Emerson was doing nothing. "Are you here for work or not?"

"Oh, I forgot that I needed to work!" Emerson replied, having freed himself from his own imagination. "Why does it seem that she's the only one playing in my mind?"

"Let's go to the front yard and help me trim the weeds there; then perhaps you will know. You must not be lazy if you want to stay here longer," Mario advised.

"Thank you for your advice, but I need to talk to Rebecca first." Emerson stepped out, attempting to leave, but Mario grabbed his arm, preventing him from going.

"F**k! If you don't want this spade to break your legs, stay away from the young lady of San Jose," Mario warned before letting him go.

Emerson was surprised by both Mario's demeanor, which suddenly changed, and the fact that he called Rebecca the young lady of San Jose. He remembered something: that he had found what he was looking for.

Mario pushed the wheelbarrow in a mad or envious manner, and to avoid any trouble, Emerson followed him to the front yard to help trim the tall weeds. It wasn't because he was afraid that he would break his legs using the spade.

While the two men were working in the extensive garden, from the window of her bedroom up to the second floor of the mansion, Rebecca San Jose was also staring right at them, especially at Emerson.

"He's not so handsome at all. He even looks like a swindler or as if he were just released from jail," Rebecca soliloquized. "Why would I be interested in someone like him?"

"Miss Rebecca, whom are you looking at?" The personal maid asked as she entered the room. She then peered through the window to see, "Oh! The newbie gardener? I think he's handsome."