by Watkins, TM
project x
By TM Watkins
Copyright 2016
TM Watkins
Copyright © 2016 TM WATKINS
This book is a work of fiction. The names of characters, places and incidents are products of the writer’s imagination and are not to be interpreted as real. Any resemblance to persons, living or dead, actual events, locals or organizations is entirely coincidental. With the exception of quotes used in reviews, this book may not be reproduced or used in whole or in part by any means existing without the written permission from the author.
If you wish to make contact with the author, please visit:
http://www.tm-watkins.com
All rights reserved.
~To my wonderful followers from Wattpad,
thank you for your love and support~
Contents
Part 1: Secrets and Lies
Chapter 1: The Interview
Chapter 2: Reporting the developments
Chapter 3: Gringos
Chapter 4: Creepy guy says hello
Chapter 5: Meeting @ Indigo Rain
Chapter 6: The Honey Pot
Chapter 7: Oh-em-gee
Chapter 8: Texting in the dark
Part 2: Playing the game
Chapter 9: Jack of all trades
Chapter 10: Eye spy with my little eye
Chapter 11: Daydreams
Chapter 12: Private & Confidential
Chapter 13: Crazy like a fox
Chapter 14: Delicious deliriums
Chapter 15: Death by chocolate
Chapter 16: Front door shenanigans
Part 3: Avoiding temptation
Chapter 17: So that's what the gloves are for
Chapter 18: KC has a light bulb moment
Chapter 19: Pestering the barista
Chapter 20: Liquid lunch
Chapter 21: MIA Amy
Chapter 22: Diamonds and Schematics
Chapter 23: Holy mother of mayhem
Chapter 24: Whispers on the dance floor
Part 4: Distractions
Chapter 25: Help! There's a barista in my house!
Chapter 26: Harassing Hiroki
Chapter 27: Fornicating Friday
Chapter 28: No selfies allowed
Chapter 29: Fishbowl
Chapter 30: Red soled woman
Chapter 31: The media's darling
Chapter 32: KC the lifesaver
Part 5: Unravelling the lie
Chapter 33: Daddy dearest
Chapter 34: KC the gun slinger
Chapter 35: One shade of brown
Chapter 36: Red door
Chapter 37: What a load of bull plop
Chapter 38: Moonie-lighting
Chapter 39: Fangs for the memories
Chapter 40: Kiss of death
Part 6: The beauty in death
Chapter 41: The rising sun
Chapter 42: Down boy!
Chapter 43: Pay day
Chapter 44: Inferno on Main Street
Chapter 45: Hairs to you kid
Chapter 46: Take two
Chapter 47: Knocking on heaven's door
Chapter 48: KC and the man from the wilderness
Part 7: At the dawn of a new day
Chapter 49: Doctors and Nurses
Chapter 50: Creepy guy returns
Chapter 51: A second attempt at a second attempt
Chapter 52: Ding dong, your local psycho is at the door
Chapter 53: Bang, bang daddy-o
Chapter 54: Swimming in the fishbowl
Chapter 55: The devil in her veins
Chapter 56: I love you, creepy guy
Part 8: Don’t I get a say?
Chapter 57: The spy that loved me
Look for these titles by TM Watkins
About the author
Acknowledgements
Part 1: Secrets and Lies
When I look back upon what happened,
I could see every little mistake I had made.
I could see how much of a fool I had been,
how I had been played. But how could
I have seen the treachery when I was blinded to it,
masked in a veil of indifference and nonconformity?
Chapter 1: The Interview
Warm hazel eyes looked up at me from over the piece of paper that was my resume. It wasn't the largest of employment careers but it was solid. Madelyn Cooper was the head of the human resources for Aphrodite International, a cosmetics and beauty products company. Their head office was located in heart of the city, a place that I knew well yet I had to pretend that I had just moved here.
Play it cool, my mind whispered.
The room became stifling hot as she looked at me, scrutinizing my every movement. She returned to the document and I continued to look at the wall plaque behind her. It was the company logo of the Greek goddess Aphrodite, the banner of the company name looked like a long ribbon that she held in her hands. The walls were a stark white, void of marks and looked far too perfect. But everything in this place was. Everything looked perfect. All of the women were dressed to business perfection, styled and primped.
I had seen a few people as I walked into the place and to this woman's office and in that time I saw men in expensive suits and women in designer clothes. If I was going to work here, I would have to fit in. That would be interesting, I couldn't afford to buy designer clothes. I couldn't afford to have my nails manicured nor my eyebrows threaded, hair glossy or a fake tan. I was out of my league here. There seemed to be a few blonde women here, I guess I had that going for me as a positive.
As Madelyn read through my resume I mentally checked off what physical qualities I could use to fit into this place. Blonde, blue eyes, there were a few of them. Underfed seemed to be a common theme much to my disgust, I liked food. I guess I was lucky enough to have a high metabolic rate that kept me in the mid-range of weights.
“You certainly seem over qualified for the mail room Miss Ryan, are you sure you are right for this position?”
I smiled at her, hoping that the façade would hold.
“Everyone has to start somewhere Mrs Cooper and I am happy to start at the bottom and work my way up.”
“Of course.” She smiled brightly at me.
The resume had been overdone, it painted a picture of a woman that had all sorts of awards and a glittering college education. A college education for the mail room, no wonder she was questioning me. But it was done in the hope that it might open another door for me, somewhere else in this establishment.
“Well.” She sighed. “Once your security checks come through we can move this to the next phase.”
Madelyn glanced at her watch, the gold and the diamonds sparkled bright in the harsh fluorescent lighting.
“Maybe we could move onto the company’s protocols while we wait for my assistant to return?”
“Of course.”
“This building houses everything from the management right down to the scientists that work on the products. As you can expect there is a great level of security in this place and it is expected that everyone is to go through the security requirements every time they leave or enter this building. You walked through the green hallway earlier, that was the security scanner. It checked you over and ensured that you weren't carrying anything untoward. We've had everything from spies to animal activists try to get into this place and I can assure you that they have all failed.” She frowned momentarily. “We don't test on animals, just so we are clear.”
“Oh, uh… I already knew that.”
She looked at me curiously.
“Research.” I shrugged. “I wanted to work for a company that was ethical in their research so I looked at your website.”
“Excellent.” She s
miled supremely. “I like someone that does their homework.”
I felt the rush of excitement, I was winning Madelyn Cooper over. Yes, I had done my homework but it wasn't for the reasons she thought.
“Now, we also do random drug and alcohol testing. It's not that we care about what you do in your social life; we care about how your mind is when you are here. The equipment in this place is worth a small fortune, some of the items are dangerous and could even be deadly. We ask that if you were to enjoy your life to do so when you know that it won't affect your work.”
“I don't do drugs Mrs Cooper and as for drinking, well that's only socially and it’s rare anyway so I don't see it being an issue.”
“Very good.” She hummed with delight.
Chalk another one up.
“Mail room duties are pretty easy, I'm sure you won't have any issues. We pay at the award rate for your three-month trial and then you will go onto a pay system that builds per year. At the anniversary of your employment officially beginning you will be reviewed and a pay rise will be allocated based upon your review. If in that year you get promoted, then the reviews are broken between the two jobs and a time percentage is allocated based on the time spent in each job. It's rather complicated so if it happens I can go through it with you in further detail. How does that sound?”
“Great.” I gushed.
She smiled broadly at me, shining those perfect white teeth at me. Add that to the list, teeth straight and white. A soft knock on the door roused her from her picture perfect smile to the assistant who was at the door. Madelyn wordlessly gestured for her to enter, taking the documents from her. The assistant scurried out of the room without a sound and I turned back to look at a confused Madelyn.
“You don't have a Facebook account?”
“No, should I? Do you want me to create one?”
“Oh, no. Sorry.” She frowned as the confusion started to slip away. “We include social media as part of the security check and it just seems odd that you don't… you know, have one.”
I shrugged as I thought about it.
“Well if I did have one it wouldn't be interesting. I could tell everyone about what I ate for breakfast but that's about as interesting as I get. And no one would be reading it anyway, my parents are too old for anything that technological and my only friend is my roommate so she knows what I ate for breakfast.”
Madelyn let out a laugh, it was small and quiet but she had found amusement in my pitiful social life which was fine by me. I was desperate for this job and if she wanted to laugh at something about me, then I was cool with it.
“Well, it all checks out. So you've passed this phase. We've still got a few more candidates to interview so I will call you in a couple of days if you've got the job. If not you will get a letter in the mail, okay?”
“Sure, that's great. And thank you for your time.”
She smiled at me weirdly and stood to her feet, guiding me out of her office.
It was awkward as we walked through the long green corridor, more so now that I knew there was a lot of security checks being done on me as I walked behind Madelyn. I wondered how many security guards there were behind the walls.
It was called the green corridor because the carpet was green, the walls were a smoky green glass that I now knew held so much more than our image. Was it just heat sensors or was I being subjected to some kind of mutagen x-ray device? I inwardly scoffed at myself, chastising my mind for insisting on reading too many comics. Everything was a mutant of some kind, caused by some kind of ray or exposure to radiation.
As we reached the end, two large frosted glass doors slid open for us, exposing us to the grand lobby. It was a tranquil room, the sounds of a waterfall echoed around us and gave a sense of peace that did wonders for a freaked out soul. The waterfall was behind the security desk, layered between to pieces of glass. It spanned several steps in width and was about three levels high. The whole lobby area was opened to the great height making every little sound echo. When women walked their shoes clicked on the gloss stone floor, when people spoke they did so in a soft tone. The company logo was halfway up the glass panel behind the security desk, a colored version of the picture rather than the black and white one in Madelyn's office.
We paused by the security desk as I handed back my visitors pass, the man behind the desk took it with little interest.
“Well Miss Ryan it has been a pleasure to meet you.”
She held her hand out and I took it, hoping that I wasn't sweating.
“And you too Mrs Cooper, I hope to hear from you.”
A smile was offered and she let go of my hand, retreating behind the safety of the frosted glass doors. The security guard gave me a warm nod and returned to his paperwork. I hadn't noticed it previously but there was another man behind the desk, he was in a suit rather than the security guards uniform. His cold expression sent a shiver up my spine, his eyes pinned to me. I offered a hesitant smile and scurried out of the lobby, eager to get away from him.
Chapter 2: Reporting the developments
I didn't want to think about the man behind the desk and how his eyes never left me. Sure it might have been fascination but he seemed so menacing I don't think that I would ever consider something with him. But he was like the rest of them, good looking. I guess working at Aphrodite International had its benefits. His hair was shades of brown and auburn, deep green eyes pierced into me as his stoic and watchful stance stood without even a flinch of movement. It was almost like he was a mannequin except I saw him blink.
I fumbled in my bag, searching out my phone with the knowledge that it was expected of me. The city street was howling with a brisk wind this morning, my thin shirt and skirt were no match against the chill. I had to warm up fast. My phone rang a few seconds after I switched it back on, almost like I was being watched. It was likely to be true, my life was complicated to say the least.
“How did it go?”
His voice was dull and sounded disinterested even though I knew it was quite the opposite. I wanted to huff at him, his lack of etiquette always got on my nerves. Bustling my way through the crowded street, I tried to avoid being knocked over which was the usual for me.
“Fine. She was lovely.”
“Lovely? You weren't there to be her friend; you were there to get the job.”
I rolled my eyes.
“I know that.” I said dryly. “I won her over with my charm and good humor.”
Stopping at the newspaper stand, I handed over the change that I had in my bag and grabbed a paper. The dear old fellow gave me a sweet nod and waved goodbye to me as I set off to meander my way through the city crowd.
“Somehow I doubt that. Did you get the job?”
“She said they've still got a few more to interview.”
“So that's a no then.”
I stopped completely, stunned by his lack of confidence in me.
“She never said that, I passed all of her requirements even if the resume was overdone.”
His silence was perfect, I smiled supremely. He was the one that had done it up, he was the one that insisted on how I was perceived.
“If anything she thought that I was overqualified for the job and questioned it. You're lucky that I was quick thinking and said that I was happy to start at the bottom and work my way up.”
“Call me when you hear from her.”
And then he hung up.
“Bastard.” I huffed and turned the phone off, putting it back into my bag.
I pushed through the door of the local coffee shop, a familiar grin from the barista warmed my frustrating morning.
“Morning blondie, where you been?”
I smiled at Walter as I let go of the glass door, letting it slowly swing shut behind me.
“Job interview. I think I need a pick me up.”
“Sure, sure. The usual?”
I nodded and passed the change over to him.
“So how'd you go?”
“Not s
ure.”
He nodded as he played with that stupid lip ring.
“I'll bring it over.”
I settled into the long lounge was hard up against the window and the wall, allowing a comfortable seat whilst looking out at the passing world. The lounge was long enough to accommodate four small round wood tables; the same tables were dotted throughout the quiet coffee shop.
Unfolding the newspaper, I was greeted by another doom and gloom story. Someone had gone missing. It was the second male in this city to disappear without a trace, because they were only two months apart the police were hinting at a serial killer.
“Capsicum spray and self-defense classes.”
I looked up at Walter who had my Grande latte in hand.
“Glad to see you're looking after yourself.”
He nodded and placed the coffee onto the table.
“They think it's a dude who is like some gay killer.”
“How would they know that?” I huffed with a light laugh.
“Both those guys were out but I still watch my back in case their theory is wrong. Maybe it's a chick.”
I looked at the picture of the guy, he seemed pretty built.
“She would have to be strong. I'd lean towards the male killer theory if it were me doing the investigation.”
Walter nodded and walked away. Two didn't make a serial killer but it was certainly worrying.
A shadow loomed over me, beneath the trench coat was a woman that I loved and loathed. I looked up at her, the blonde hair was gone in favor of black for her latest job.
“Morning KC, how'd the interview go?”
“Great.” I mumbled before taking a swig of the coffee.
“The usual Wal.”
Tilley sat on the chair opposite, unbuttoning the buttons as she moved. Underneath was the clothes that made everyone raise their eyebrows, the black leather and jeans, the army boots and chains. I didn't want to know what she was up to; it was best not to know.
“So… great huh?”
I shrugged and folded the paper away, figuring I wouldn't get to read with now that Tilley was hunting for information.
“The resume was overcooked, she questioned my qualifications. On the plus side my security checks passed.”
