The Aftermath

A single girl sat at the pier, waiting with a single luggage carrier and a carrying bag. She wore a light blue sundress and a well fashioned straw hat to match. The sun was on its way to setting, throwing an orange-ish hue over the scene, and she seemed to be leaning on the carrier’s handgrip with as much pressure as she could without it falling over. Any who managed to look her in the eye, as well as roll in the right circles, would recognize the young miss Penelope Hershall.

From behind her, another young lady joined in, “Excuse me. Are you… Do you know Trevor Willet?” She slid into a spot next to the pretty young lady and sat down. The newcomer had short black hair, just a touch wavy and a small beauty mark to the right of her nose. “I was told that I might find you here.”

Immediately Penelope sat up, light in her eyes that spoke of young love. “You know Trevor?” The girl said in a voice unnaturally excited, but also a bit strained. By the sound of it, and the look on her face, she had been crying recently. She relaxed herself and “Where is he?” She turned her head to and fro as though he had been hiding just off frame or behind a nonexistent tree.

“I’m sorry to say that he’s not coming. Please just listen, okay? Okay,” The girl presented a small manilla folder, “My name is Melanie. I used to work as a freelancer for a paparazzi magazine. You know the Fiore Filter? Well, I was put on duty of taking some pictures of you and your new fiancé. I guess people are interested in you because fo your dad. Don’t worry, I didn’t give any to my editor! I realized that it was a really scummy thing to do. So I decided that I couldn’t do it and quit. But before I did, I took these.” She handed over the folder, which Penelope immediately opened. Inside were pictures of Trevor with various women on dates. There was irrefutable inappropriate touching, closeness and generally the exact opposite one would expect from their fiancé and another person.

“I don’t understand,” She said. “Where…?”

Of course, there was no such person as Melanie, and Fiore Filter had nothing to do with it. Akemi, dressed as Melanie, began to explain what she’d gathered about him. The shitty thing was the photos had been real. They’d been Akemi’s backup plan to shame the young Willet boy in case the kill authorization had been rescinded. Since it wasn’t, she figured it would be used to help Penelope get over the sleezebag and not look for a body. She had come back from informing the higher ups that Willet was dead, having taken his own life following a tragic breakup with one of his lady friends. She took her own time (with permission) to contact Penelope and ensure that she had some closure on her end, rather than attempting to find him and finding more heartbreak instead.

Hours earlier…