golden lies.— [annaliese/visser]

V I S S E R
K A N D R O N A

.

In my lifetime, I've learned to never expect kindness. I never had it growing up, and I never expected to receive it as an adult. Of course, as a grown man, I do receive quite the level of respect due to my wealth, but I didn't expect that in my younger years.

Clearly, the young lady at my front door didn't quite learn to give respect or kindness, either. Although, she wasn't exactly looking for me.

I heard the shouting and pounding on the door from outside. Although I couldn't make out everything that she was saying, I heard the name of one of my sons, Taxxon. She was looking for him. I went over to the door, opened it, and the enraged shouts continued.

"Taxxon you better fucking hope-! Wait, you aren't Taxxon." She realized that I wasn't who she was looking for, and I gave a gentle smile. I had this habit of smiling in tense situations, which oftentimes unnerved people, but it's just the way I was.

"No, I'm not," I responded. "I'm Visser, Taxxon's father. He's out at the moment, but you can come in if you'd like."

I tried my best to use kind words with the young lady, despite figuring that she was more of a fling that my son had than anything else, and now she wasn't too happy with him for one reason or another. I'm not really sure what I expected, but it was probably nothing too different that this.

I'd never truly paid much attention to how Taxxon treated girls his age, and although I thought I'd taught him respect, perhaps he thought that was just for his elders. I'd have to talk to him about his all later.

The girl looked a bit disheveled, and I couldn't be sure if this were her typical look or not, but nevertheless, I knew Taxxon could do better than her. This was just sort of sad. Regardless, I had decided to welcome her into our house. Not everyone deserved respect, but I'd start with the benefit of the doubt on this one.

If Taxxon was associated with her, perhaps there was something that he found appealing about her other than he ability to have sex with him. There was a chance she was wealthy and just didn't show it, although I highly doubted that. Most individuals with a high wealth status dressed nicely whenever they were to be around others. I always made sure I looked presentable, even at home, in case of happenstances like this.

Today, I wore black slacks and a white button-down collared shirt. It was simple but effective in showing that I cared about my appearance.

I couldn't imagine what he'd see in this girl if she didn't have wealth or some sort of important name. That's what I looked for in my wife, after all, and I just happened to like her for her other things on top of that, too.

I wasn't sure that this girl quite had a personality worth striving for, however.

.

497 words

~


"Whispers in my ear
Nothing can compare
I just wanna listen
Telling me
I'm invincible"

V I S S E R
K A N D R O N A

.

When the girl entered my home, she didn't bother to introduce herself. She did, however, apologize for her behavior from moments before. She explained that she urgently needed to talk to Taxxon, and that if it hadn't been so urgent, she would have gotten ready for the day. I supposed that would explain her disheveled appearance. Although, I still didn't quite know who she was, or what was so urgent.

When she asked if I knew where Taxxon was, my instincts told me to lie to her. She couldn't know about the mutt fighting. If she figured it out herself, that would be a different story. Maybe she'd be able to buy her way into a few fights if she made a sufficient income, but I wasn't going to be the one to share the information about it all.

"I see," I said to her. "Well, Taxxon's- he's training, I believe." My hesitation between words was noticeable, but I hoped she wouldn't think much of it. If she questioned me, things could go south quickly.

She had commented on my home, so I decided to jump to that part of the conversation. It was a safer topic, and I needed to cover my ass.

"Thank you, Miss... I don't believe I caught your name." I thanked her for the compliment on my home, and also tried to work in a way to figure out who exactly she was. Her mention of a seemingly large property made me think that perhaps her family did have money, and that Taxxon wasn't making a completely dumb decision with this girl.

Then, I realized that I couldn't avoid the topic of my son for much longer. I wanted to know why she so urgently needed to speak to Taxxon. It had admittedly sparked my interest. She seemed mad at him, for sure. What about, I wasn't quite sure.

"I apologize for being so straightforward, but might I ask why you needed to speak to Taxxon?" I ask her. My voice is calm, although my mind urgently wants to know who she is and what she wants.

.

346 words

~


"Whispers in my ear
Nothing can compare
I just wanna listen
Telling me
I'm invincible"

V I S S E R
K A N D R O N A

.

I knew the Belrose name. As this girl- Annaliese she called herself- had mentioned, I'd been to one of her mother's banquets before. The Belrose family certainly had money, and quite the social status. Therefore, it was indeed a bit strange to see the girl dressed the way she was. Nevertheless, she was respectful, at least after she realized that I wasn't Taxxon, so I couldn't complain too much.

Then, the respect level that I received from Annaliese seemed to almost immediately drop. She said 'with respect', but that didn't mean anything to me. She'd said I was lying to her, and sure, I was, but honestly, I'd expected her to be a little dumber than that and not catch on. That, or if she did catch on, I expected that she wouldn't call me out on it quite like that.

Annaliese explained how she knew that Taxxon wasn't training, which I suppose could have given away the fact that I hadn't been telling the truth. I did know exactly where he was, but that wasn't information that I was willing to share with her. At least, not at this particular moment. If she were more involved with Taxxon than someone he was just sleeping with, then perhaps I'd consider telling her what was going on, at least a little bit. It took me long enough to even tell my own sons, though, so I wasn't even sure about that.

She wanted to make a deal, so I listened to what she had to say. She said that she'd tell me what she needed to talk to Taxxon about if I showed her where he was. I thought about it for a moment, working out in my thoughts how I could get around this. I wasn't going to show her. No, that just wasn't an option right now, or perhaps ever. People had to be invited to the fighting ring by me when I felt that they could be trusted not to spill the information, and I didn't trust this girl enough to show her what was truly going on beneath District One.

Although, I had an idea.

"Alright," I told her. "Once you tell me what it is you want to talk to him about, we'll go to him. I'll show you."

I made sure not to make any sort of promise along with what I was saying to her. I may have agreed to her terms, but it certainly wasn't any sort of binding agreement. I'd learned not to do things like that unless I truly got something worthwhile out of it. I wasn't honestly all too concerned about what she wanted to talk to Taxxon about. I was merely curious, but when I was curious, I certainly pried until I got my answer most of the time.

"So, what is it, Miss Belrose?" I asked her with a slight smile.

.

476 words

~


"Whispers in my ear
Nothing can compare
I just wanna listen
Telling me
I'm invincible"

V I S S E R
K A N D R O N A

.

The smile I had given was one that held mischief behind it, but it seemed to go unnoticed to Miss Belrose. The smile dropped from my face, however, when she told me what was going on, exactly. She might be pregnant, and if she were, it would be Taxxon's fault.

"I see," I said in response to her. She told me that I shouldn't tell anyone, and I certainly agreed. That wasn't the type of information we wanted getting out, true or not.

"You need not worry about me. I won't say anything, you have my word," I promised. It was a genuine promise, too, which so rarely came from me. I was protecting my own ass by making this promise, too, though, so I suppose it was a much easier promise to make than most.

The last time I made a genuine promise was... I'm honestly not quite sure when. It had likely been quite a while, and generally, it was to protect myself, my family or my business endeavors. It was really quite the rarity, and this girl was one in hundreds to actually get that.

I knew she'd be itching to get going, now, as she had wanted me to take her to where Taxxon was. Instead, however, I had a plan. I knew where my son was, of course, but I wouldn't be taking her there. I couldn't: it was against my own policies. It could cause things to go south quickly, and I wasn't going to allow such a thing to happen to the thing that provided so much of my income. It was a good portion of what I lived off of.

"Now, perhaps we should get going," I suggested to her, implying that I was going to be bringing her to see Taxxon, albeit not the case. "I'll bring you to Taxxon. I'm sure he'd like to hear from this from you. I'm also sure it must be nerve-wracking. I'd imagine you would like to get the whole conversation over with."

I grabbed my keys from the hook where they had been hung up by the door and put them into the pocket of my trousers. I opened the door, and stepped to the side, allowing for Annaliese to exit my home before I did.

I had an idea of where to bring her, and it wouldn't be the Kandrona Fighting Ring.

.

392 words

~


"Whispers in my ear
Nothing can compare
I just wanna listen
Telling me
I'm invincible"