Alex silently took his eyes away from the objects on the bed, and gave the mysterious woman a look more calm than anything he had shown until now. A calm and deep look. It was unnerving, but fortunately it only lasted for a moment, like an illusion, as his smile came back, wide and uncaring.
"Let's not make things complicated. I can open the safe for you, but the restraints…"
He was tied a little too securely, made totally unable to move, and he would rather not have his finger cut off to unlock the safe after giving the passcode.
He was smiling, light-heartedly and without care, but his eyes said it all. The mysterious woman looked deep into the firm brown eyes, and took a look at the safe, before she took out the piece of cloth she had put away before. It was drier now, but it was enough for what it was needed for.
Alex raised his eyebrows, but said nothing. He showed no resistance when his nose and his mouth were covered. He simply looked into the dark, dimly gleaming eyes until his eyelids became heavy, and his consciousness was put to sleep again.
*Splash*
When he regained consciousness again, it was once again because of a shower he did not ask for. He shook his head, before he noticed how his hands were not on the armrests anymore. They were tied low at the back of the chair, with his abdomen and his torso tightly held against the backrest, while his feet were still suffering the same way as before down below. The chair had also been pushed closer to the safe, made to face it with its back to have his hands close to it.
As for his mysterious female captor…
"What is the passcode?"
The muffled voice came from behind him. He cleared his mind with headshake, before he replied with a light laugh:
"Your birthday."
The mysterious woman moved reflexively to type the passcode, only to freeze. How could her birthday be the passcode? How could Alex have even known of her birthday? He shouldn't know her at all.
Her heart skipped a beat, as for a moment, fear flooded her mind. The situation had deteriorated too fast, too unexpectedly. She started to grasp onto straws, before she realized something. Alex could not have recognized, because he could not have known her. They had never met before, had never interacted before. The fear she felt just then turned into anger. She held Alex finger, and twisted it with all her strength, venting the remnants of the adrenaline inside her.
*Cr– Crack*
The sound was from the finger reaching its limit before it would break. Alex's face changed as he shouted:
"AHHH!!! Damn it, stop! Stop! If you dare continue, you can forget about getting the box you have come for!!!"
The force twisting his finger paused, then let go. When the previous question was asked again, it was accompanied by an undeniable coldness brought by anger and fear:
"What is the passcode?"
Alex breathed heavily before he calmed down. Despite the pain, he made no sound. He lowered his head, hiding his face with the shadow of his damp short hair. When he spoke again, it was with a calm, slightly raw voice devoid of all previous attitude:
"Phi, with eight numbers after the decimal."
The mysterious woman paused, and muttered:
"The golden ratio, 1,61803399."
For a rich playboy who seemed to have been to school only because he had to, and with one of the worst reputations around to use such a meaningful number as the passcode for his safe, it gave a feeling of grating dissonance, compared to the image she had of him. But that did not matter.
Pressing on the digital lock with her gloves fingers, the woman typed the passcode, and with a small beeping sound, the safe reacted. She felt relief, as well as anticipation for being close to the objective. She held Alex's hand, about to pull his hands toward the scanner of the safe and test the finger to use, but her captive's voice came without her asking.
"The right thumb."
Behind her black mask, the woman frowned, not at the compliance Alex was displaying, or at least not just because of that. It was also because of the indifferent calm in his voice, totally unlike the previous careless smile. But the arrow was nocked, and it had to fly, and it had to hit the bird. There was no going back.
*Ping– Clack*
The verification succeeded, and the safe was unlocked. Pushing Alex's chair away to get more space, the mysterious black-eyed woman crouched in front of the safe and opened it. Her eyes roamed over its content, pausing on what would be a fortune for most, herself included, before focusing on the solitary wooden box on top.
That was not what had caused all her troubles, but that was what would free her, and pull her out of the swamp her life was drowning in.
The slim gloved hand moved into the safe, ignoring everything else to focus on the top floor. It carefully covered the solitary wooden object, and picked it up like something fragile.
She didn't know what was inside, but it was incredible that it had made someone need to use her as a pawn to get it. But fortunately, it was over. It would be over soon, as soon she left here, and she gave it away.
Exhaling, the mysterious woman left her crouched position, and not caring about the safe anymore, went back to her bag on the bed. She looked at Alex, but her quiet excitement because of success so close at hand made his unnerving calm as he kept his head low unable to bother her. She put away the hand pruner, the drill, the blowtorch, and at last, held the box to put it inside too.
"Aren't you curious about what is inside?"
Alex's voice startled the woman, and she turned to see him looking at her, a wisp of a smile on his lips, one with well-hidden disdain. She frowned, then turned back to continue what she was doing while answering in a cold voice:
"It doesn't matter. After this, we will never meet again. Just don't try anything stupid."
Alex didn't mind the coldness. His smile widened, and his eyes held a peculiar meaning as he fixed them on the mask hiding the woman's face, as if he could see beyond. His voice, light, came again, but in a foreboding whisper charged with meaning:
"So, you aren't curious? But I am, actually."