The Target

[SweetAsSuga]

Closed for thewhiteone

It was all too easy. A flash of cleavage, a flirtatious smile and he had practically been putty in her hands. Practically. The old bag of bones had still felt loyal to his wife and, in the end, she'd lost out on a giant payday. Two months of work down the drain. Two months of kissing and touching and fucking that fat bastard and she came out with nothing to show for it.

Shoving her anger to the corner of her mind, Sophie sipped on her latte and wove her way through the busy city sidewalks towards her apartment building. It wasn't the fanciest place around, and the people living there were generally not the kind she would target for one of her schemes. Which was good, because she definitely didn't want any of the tenants to report her for grifting them. After all, moving was such a pain in the ass and she liked her apartment.

Nodding to Eddie the doorman, Sophie moved to walk through the door, only to narrowly escape colliding with a young woman. She was a pretty little thing, couldn't have been much older than nineteen or twenty if Sophie had to guess. She moved quickly past the girl, not paying her the least bit of attention, though something did seem vaguely familiar about her.

"Eddie," Sophie paused to speak with the doorman as the young girl disappeared into the city traffic, "who is that girl. Is she new?"

"Yes ma'am," Eddie replied with a smile. "Just moved into 1330. Rumor has it she's the one that won those two megamillion jackpots."

"Oh really?" Sophie tried not to smile too widely. "Well isn't that fun, having a multi-millionaire in our midst."

As she said good-bye to Eddie and made her way up the elevator to her apartment, Sophie's mind was turning. The girl had been pretty enough that she wouldn't mind cozying up to her, though girls weren't usually Sophie's type. But, for a multi-million pay out Sophie would do just about anything. Having been in the con game since she was twelve, Sophie was ready to get her big pay out and settle down some where quiet. She wasn't getting any younger and, at thirty-five, she was ready to find a quiet town, maybe start a family, and live a life that was semi-normal. Perhaps this girl was her ticket to that dream.

Sophie settled at her computer and quickly Googled the mysterious girl, eager to find out anything and everything she could. A well prepared con was a successful con after all. And Sophie wanted to be well prepared for the next time she saw Miss Mika Kato.

 

[thewhiteone]

It had been only three weeks since the universe decided it had been overly harsh on Mika Kato, harsh enough that it was going to compensate her for her misery. She’d gone from the depths of despair, to having more money than she could even imagine in a few short hours. Gone from working at a dinky knickknack store as a cashier, living in her grandmother’s (RIP) apartment, and falling behind on the rent; to winning $206 million on one lottery ticket an another $4 million on another.

She’d taken the lump sum for the $4 million (making it only about $2 million after taxes). As for the mega-millions jackpot…she could live with the ½ million a month for the next 34 years. After making about $200 a week…it still seemed like a dream.

And she still didn’t really have a clue what to do with it all. She’d given her friend Tim $200,000. Her friend Jackie got $200,000 and a brand new red Mustang. She’d donated $200,000 to the Salvation Army for clothing. Bought herself a brand new Corvette Stingray, and with the help of Jackie’s friend Ray, gotten herself this apartment. Even with all of that giving…she still hadn’t even broke $800,000.

While her new apartment may not even be close to something that someone of her new found wealth would normally consider living in, it was positively palatial compared to what Mika was used to. Even the ‘stock’ furniture was sinfully luxurious. The apartment was almost the same as it was when she got it, only a few personal possessions and a few of her grandmother’s came with her. Jackie had recommended that she hire an interior decorator to help her personalize the place…but Mika didn’t even have a clue as to what she’d want. Besides two of those huge wall mounted TVs, one for the living room, one for the bedroom.

She had never had anything to personalize with, never had access to the media outside of computer class at school. Everything was so new and shiny…and she was fortunate to have Jackie. Without Jackie, she’d have been even more lost…possibly even dead.

Shuddering as she remembered the envy and hate of her former neighbors once word of her new found wealth spread. She was sure that some of them were about to attack her for her money. Without Jackie and the friends she had made at college…

While she wished Jackie could just stay with her and help her adjust (as if Jackie knew what to do with a fraction of this much money), to help her make smart choices with her money, to help her not be gouged because of her ignorance…she couldn’t ask Jackie to abandon her education. Especially since Jackie was determined to protect children from the hell that Mika had gone through.

“I guess it’s time I try to spread my wings some…” she said to the empty room. Her current wardrobe came from a shopping trip to Kohl’s with Jackie, again while luxurious compared to what she was used to…it wasn’t up to the standards of this building’s inhabitants, let alone her wealth. She still didn’t feel up to going to those high class stores yet…hell she hadn’t felt comfortable going shopping period! Still, she had to start some where, so a trip to the mall it was. She was going to buy a few outfits, a few pieces of jewelry, and maybe a few other things to wet her feet at shopping solo.

Baby steps Mika, baby steps, she thought as she left

On her way out, she almost collided with a woman coming in, “Sorry,” she murmured, noting the woman’s exquisite beauty. Had she been anywhere but the doorway, or had the woman not simply brushed past her, she probably would have wound up staring at her. Mika was not accustomed to being in the presence of such glamour. As it was, she continued on her way to the parking garage and retrieved her newest prized possession…and took “Vetty” out for a spin (not that it was much of a ‘spin’ in a large city like this, but it was to her).

 

[thewhiteone]

*bump*