Red Lipstick

"How is the Chairman?" The man asked the woman who sat opposite him.

"He is fine, the treatment process will be over next week." Replied the woman with her lips glowing with red lipstick.

President Zain's paid close attention that he could capture every single word that came out of the woman's mouth. It was his first close acquaintance with the infamous Orana Avak from Indian Pipe. At first he had negative assumptions about her according to the rumors over the years, but still decided to meet her so as to prove it by himself. Orana Avak had impressed him with her knowledge of art, for that was his greatest interest. She had only mentioned the piece of land close to area X at the beginning of the conversation and later talked about the recent art exhibition which was sponsored by him.

"I must confess, I did not expect you to be interested in art at all. No wonder chairman Xanti keeps you around." President Zain laid back on his chair to get a better look at the woman in front of him.

" 'so vast is art, so narrow human wit.' That's a quote from Alexander Pope. I am always misunderstood by the world, art has always been my greatest escape. Talking with someone like you, gives me great pleasure." Orana took deep breath as memories of her past quickly flashed through her mind. Painting and reading books was indeed the only thing that brought peace into her life. From childhood, it had been her dream to live in a small unknown city and be a painter till the day she died, but all hell broke loose when she found out about herself.

"I got surprised by your call tonight. We only met once at a charity organization and I never expected to hear from you again, considering the number of people you had met that day." President Zain had noticed the change in Orana's emotions and decided to switch to another topic.

"Hahaha please, you are making it sound like I am someone special. I actually thought you would contact me first, but since you were silent, I thought about taking the initiative myself." Orana politely explained. It was a lie, but it wasn't the first time she had smiled and said it. Almost every single word that comes out of a person's mouth was a lie, it all depended on how strong one's discernment was to realize it. The business world was filled with nasty deceitful people anyways, who would blame her for being just like them.

President Zain was attempting to give a reply when the door to the room flung open interrupting their conversation. The man walked slowly into the room with a bright smile on his face, like he had been late to his own party. All the other men in the room seemed to know him for they greeted each other in a very friendly manner. Orana knew who it was before he made his own introduction. The night had ended up being successful, for the person she had been waiting for finally came. Like a mouse, he had fallen into her trap. It wasn't just any kind of mouse, but a big fat mouse.

"I am Edward Aram, the owner of the casino. I believe we have met on a couple of occasions." Edward extended his had to give a formal greeting.

"Yes I remember you, I am delighted to finally meet you Mr. Aram." Orana recieved the handshake with a tiny smile on her face. Just like what her teacher had said, human nature was predictable.

"Frank, Xavier told me you were here, so I decided to come and greet you. I hope I did not disturb you." Edward falsely apologized to President Zain.

"Not at all, you are like my little brother. Please have a sit." Président Zain hand gestured at the sit next to him but Edward quickly rushed to take the sit next to Orana. It was now obvious why Edward interrupted them that evening.

"Thank you." The bright smile on Edward's face only got brighter as he made himself comfortable on the seat.

"How is the casino business going lately?" President Zain started the conversation.

"Perfect, as you can see. Have you visited father lately?" Edward asked as he poured himself a drink.

"Yes I was with him yesterday. I decided to have a few drinks with my associates tonight when Miss Orana suddenly joined me here." President Zain tried to explain the unusual meeting before he was misunderstood.

"I see. This is the first time you officially meet." Edward brought his glass forward, aiming for a toast. "To friendship."

Edward had been exactly what Orana thought he would be. The casino was her favorite meeting point and getting to know the owner was the first thing she did. There always seemed to be something dark behind his laughter and smiles, but Orana never cared enough to find out what it was for it meant nothing to her. His physical demeanor was perfect, it must have been due to hours of hitting the gym, and he had managed the casino excellently throughout the years, showing how capable he was.

President Zain glanced at his watch to make an excuse. "Miss Orana, why don't you sit for a while, I have to get back home before my wife starts getting worried. Edward please take care of Miss Orana."

"Very well then, let's talk about the piece of land close to area X next time." Orana stood up to give her farewell to President Zain.

"Alright, have a good night." President Zain was surprised at the mention of the piece of land, but he bid his farewell to the other people in the room and left.

There was silence between Orana and Edward after President Zain left the room. The only sound heard was the cards being tossed on the other side of the room. It was almost midnight and Orana had spent half of the night at a casino. Not very lady like, but who cared about such formalities.

"Mr. Aram."

Edward cleared his throat before he answered in a tone that surprised him too,"yes."

"I am still waiting to answer your questions." Orana fully turned her body to face him.

"Why would you think I have questions?" Edward started to stammer for he did not expect her to be so straightforward.

"From President Zain's reaction, it seems like this is the first time you joined any of his meetings without an invitation. So I have deduced that you wanted to meet with me tonight, that is why I haven't left yet." Orana explained with her eyes not giving him a chance to escape.

Edward had never taken the time to carefully look at Orana Avak before. He had expected her to be a cunning woman as the rumors had claimed. Not that he actually believed them but for the first time, right at that moment, he started to wonder what type of woman she was. The original intention of coming to the room had disappeared from his mind and for the first time in a long time, Edward had regretted making a rush decision. If he had waited, surely Xavier would have told him the outcome of the agreement, but why did he have to come all the way? While still questioning himself, the bright red lipstick got his attention.

"Mr. Aram?" Orana called out.

"Ah err, you got it all wrong. I really just wanted to say my greetings, that's all." Edward lied as he tried to avoid any possible eye contact with Orana. Something else made him uncomfortable inside, and he never knew that the conscience feeling in him still existed.

"You are not a good liar, or maybe it's just not a good day for you." Orana grabbed her handbag and aimed for the door, leaving Edward in the same position.

After taking a few steps away from the VIP room, Orana noticed the man who was coming before her. She quickly stopped and grabbed the phone from her handbag.

"I checked your intel,.." Orana waited for a reply on the other side of the line.

"It could be true that the Freya's company want that piece of land you stated." She continued. "We must get that land for the Project. Call me if you get any new information."

After putting the phone back in the handbag, a smile came upon Orana's face, as her plan was proceeding just the way she wanted it to.

Edward was still in the VIP room, his mind filled with random thoughts. The red lipstick, the piece of land, the red lipstick again, Orana. It was all like a puzzle to him. Brian's voice brought Edward back to his current surroundings.

"Edward." Called out Brian.

"Ah yes, we should go home." Edward slowly got up from his chair.

"I have something I need to tell you."

"Not here let's go outside."

It had appeared that Brian heard a phone conversation that was connected to the Freya's company. The company was one of the biggest construction companies in country Z and had always been in competition with Indian Pipe company. The two big giants always had a bloody war in the construction business, let it be for resources or clients. Edward was the second son of the Freya's company chairman. Unlike the other siblings, joining the company had never been a priority to him for he wanted to live a life according to himself. The close connection with Antonio Aram, the first son and apparent heir, had made him to know a few company secrets which were of no use to him. The family had been a great support to Edward and never interfered in any of his life choices. Any information concerning the Freya's company in the casino, was directly reported to him. Most of the information wasn't useful because people always seemed to be careful what they had to say concerning the Freya's inside the casino.

"Was the woman in red lipstick?" Edward tried to confirm his suspicions.

"Yes and she was very beautiful." Brian impulsively replied.

"Beautiful.." Edward laughed, he didn't notice anything beautiful about Orana and was glad about it. " You have never described a woman like that before to me."

"Ah yes, it must have been the lighting that confused my judgement." Brian defended himself.

"The lighting indeed." So many beautiful women in the world, but Orana could not be placed among them. "Gather all information about Orana Avak."