history has its eyes on you

Location: Cesar's House in the Bronx Starter for @rachelxhan

Rachel was still a little groggy from having woken up just a little while ago, however she was pretty sure she had been getting the best sleep she had in a long time. Sporting one of Cesar's tops, she hummed at the scent of the coffee in front before she hesitated at Cesar's words. A goofy smile spread across her lips. "Was I really? You sure it wasn't Walter?" She had of course brought her furry companion along since she couldn't leave him alone for the night. "It was cute? Like purring kind of? I'll take it." She watched him cook, both wanting to come into the space just to watch him, but also wanting to give him his space. She took a slow sip of the coffee before brushing her hair away from her face. Looking back to him, she grinned. It was a simple question, but there was something nice about him wanting to know about her day or wanting to spend more time with her. "My schedule is wide open today." She laughed at the caveat that the errands weren't sexy. "I mean two approaches I could make to that. One, everything we do is sexy because we are sexy. Second approach would be; not everything we have to do together is sexy and I like being company." Rachel shared truthfully, not minding that she was expressing her feelings to him so candidly. "What's on the docket?"

His mind was spinning, the scenes and screams of that night in Central Park, the memories of what had been ripped from him flooding his every thought and every word. Achillas no longer saw the woman in front of him, but instead some malevolent amalgam of everyone and anyone he'd ever suspected of doing his family harm, of every reporter looking to capitalize off of tragedy for the headline that made their career, and of every false lead he'd tracked down only to turn up empty-handed. Except — what was in his hand now was far from emptiness, but instead the very life of a woman with no real defense against someone his size, someone with his indignant fury. He felt her knee at his groin and released her immediately, bowling over in pain for a few moments before limping after her.

Her eyes stung with the threat of tears as she felt her heart racing at an abnormally fast rate. Rachel wasn't even sure how her night had taken this type of turn, she wanted it to stop. And she thought maybe if Cesar wasn't busy and she could just hear his voice that would help. Whether she decided to tell him about the incident or not. She turned around to see the man there and her eyes bulged when he started talking to her. "You're sorry?" She moved further up the steps, unsure if he would follow her. The more that he spoke the more confused she felt. Rachel tried to casually wipe at her eyes so that he would see he had made her feel raw fear. She had no idea what this man's MO was especially once he said he didn't care if she called the police or what happened to him. Mentioning his grief made her wonder if he was saying that it trumped what he had just done or if he was saying due to his grief he was being more reckless with himself and others. "You could have asked me without threatening me. And then you asked me to speak when I couldn't breathe. Please...just..." She hung up on the phone and sat on the stairs as she buried her head in her heads momentarily, running her fingers through her hair before looking at the man. "I was looking at one of my friend's articles. She does pieces on unsolved cases and to hope to bring them back into the journalistic sphere to get more traction and likelihood for people to look into the case. That's what I was looking at, no one asked me to look and what it was asking for was justice for your family. I think you knew that when I told you that I didn't know what you were talking about and you still hurt me."

The disclaimer was one that only earned a soft nonverbal nod of acknowledgment from Gianna. One that she could only find similarity to a psychologists office within. Funny, wasn't it? A therapist was probably the professional better suited to the conversation she was about to have, yet curiosity had always possessed an uncanny ability to outrank her better judgement.

Rachel saw similar expressions and apprehension from the person sitting across from her. Sometimes it was terrifying to learn the answers and she was sure that there were a lot of mixed feelings. Answers to questions was something she always felt obligated to get whether it was when she was a journalist or now that she was investigator. When Gianna shared the man's death date or at least the month and year, Rachel gave a nod. "Oh definitely that's doable. So as far as what I would need is a name, any nicknames that potentially he also went by or aliases. And then what type of information are you looking to gather on him?" Rachel never wanted to assume and a majority of people didn't just want general information that was public domain. They could go on Ancestry to find census, birth certificates, death certificates and even yearbook photos if they really wanted. Rachel could try to dig a bit deeper, but she wanted to make sure the path that she was on is the direction that Gianna would want her to be on.

Everyone wanted something.

At the slight confusion that went on to the beautiful woman's face, she realized she may have made an error. Perhaps she had been incorrect and this was not a woman who knew Cesar. Or even worse she knew him and didn't like him and now she'd just waved a red flag. Hoping it was just that this woman knew a lot of men named Cesar even though that didn't seem correct. She didn't let her expression falter. "Flores, sorry. He is a friend of mine." She honestly didn't know what to call Cesar, friend seemed too casual but dating seemed incorrect. She also didn't want to assume that this woman would even know who she was "My name is Rachel, sorry I am being rude, I didn't even introduce myself. I know you own a lot of cool places around the area. I actually went to your casino opening at the beginning of the year!"

⸻ 𝒄𝒍𝒐𝒔𝒆𝒅 𝒔𝒕𝒂𝒓𝒕𝒆𝒓

Rachel had been happy, though a little shocked when Gianna reached out to her. She definitely would be giving her a bit of a discount, considering she'd sought out free legal advice from the woman earlier in the year. "Of course, just so you know, I always start with telling clients: this is definitely your pace and your journey, not to be cliche, but for lack of better term. But, what I mean is you can give me as little information or as much information as to the 'why' of you being here." Rachel wanted to make that clear and transparent, especially because she wasn't going to push them when that was not part of her job description. She was there to get the answers not ask them the questions. She kept quiet until Gianna was comfortable enough to start talking. "Of course. When you say awhile ago, was it within the past two decades or has it been a little longer?" Rachel's questions were to help set up Gianna's expectations of what she might be able to find, but first she needed to know how far back in both public and private records she'd be looking back into.

Her eyes moved over the woman once more, as though deciding at last that she posed no immediate threat, it was a reflex carved into her by all the years she’d spent running. Her expression shifted only faintly, the joke almost coaxing a smile from her before it slipped away again. “Close.” Miray finally said, before adding, “We're sisters.” Though, if they cared enough to make an effort, the two of them probably could have passed for twins.

She could feel the other woman sizing her up, which was fair enough since she had just been practically yelling at her the wrong name. Rachel felt mildly better to know that they were related and not only that, but are siblings. It made sense the more that she looked at the woman. "Well, you're both very beautiful, so that makes sense. Did you come to New York with her? Or were you here first and she followed?" She knew it was not really any of her business, but asking questions was just second nature for her. Hopefully Esra's sister wouldn't find it extremely intrusive.

"Excuse you, that's a low bar. Walter is better than everyone at downward dog," she said with a quick grin. It was a break in her routine and while August knew she'd step outside and the feeling of weightlessness would fade, she was content to soak it up for the time being. A marathon, not a sprint--however the saying went. After a few more gentle pets to Walter's head, August untangled her legs and stood carefully, already able to feel the usual stiffness set in as her body cooled down. She stretched slowly with a long sigh, then nodded. "Yeah, water would be great," she said with a nod, then trailed after her friend. "Seems like everyone is at a stand-still right now. Harry helped me gather some private security guys that are hopefully unaffected by our favorite Gossip Girl wannabes and that seems to be paying off." A pause, and she tipped her head to the side as she leaned her hip against the kitchen counter as she studied Rachel. "Cesar's out of town, right? He's doing okay?"

"Well him being a dog is a perk in the fact he can do it better." She countered, watching August give Walter love for a little bit longer. Once she was done, Rachel scooped up the long haired dachshund to give him a peck on the top of his head, carrying him to the kitchen with her to grab the water from her fridge to give to August. Taking one of the glasses out of her cabinet she moved to put some ice from the ice machine in it and grabbed the pitcher from her fridge all the while listening to her friend. At the mention of Cesar she faltered slightly as she started to pour the water. "He's back in town, he was at the White Party." Unable to make full eye contact with her as she felt her cheeks slightly flushing. "I'll be honest, we didn't do an extreme amount of catching up...in that sense." It was always an interesting dichotomy August being her close friend, but also the co-leader. Because, of course there were things as a co-leader she didn't quite feel like August would need to know, but as her friend talking about her sex life was not totally abnormal.

"And let you in on my strategy? That's my secret sauce, amor. I don't know if I can tell you." Cesar knew his secret sauce was pulling a plan out of his ass so he didn't need her to know that. But then she pressed her lips to his knuckles and it was so tender that he could feel himself swooning. "Give me a few." He lingered a little moment longer before dropping her hand and going towards the villa. It was easier than he had imagined, mostly with one of his fake IDs and a stolen credit card but by the time they figured that out, he and Rachel would be long gone. It actually took him ten minutes but soon he was back, a keycard in the pocket of his shirt.

Rachel was pretty sure that if she was the slightest amount more sober she would have more questions for clarity on whether the way Cesar was getting this room would be legal or not. There was a slight amount of hesitation in that now that she lived in a gray area. She knew that she couldn't judge him for doing something when she was being invasive in people's personal information without their knowledge. It just would seem hypocritical of her even if she would prefer to think to herself that it was taking him ten minutes to pull favors and it all was just him knowing the right people.

"God, that is so sweet. You sound like a Hallmark card." He'd never bought one, but rumor had it they were sentimental as all get out and people gushed over the simple prose. In truth, Jamie isn't razzing her for the observation, finding the spot rather picturesque himself. "Are you planning to spill red wine on me, Rachel? Be honest." It wouldn't matter even if she had some grand diabolical plot afoot, he always kept an identical backup with him for all eventualities.

She snickered a little at James' comment, because he wasn't wrong. "It's like one of the cocktail napkins you could get there with the quotes. A woman randomly pulled out one of those napkins out of her bag on the subway to show me. It said, 'You can still do anything no matter what age you are. Unless you want to be younger, then you're screwed.' I am not sure if she was showing me it because she thought I could relate, but it was pretty amazing." Rachel chuckled a bit as she was pretty sure that he never even had ridden on a subway before, but that was based off very little other than what the kids called vibes. She smirked at his question and gave a shake of her head. "That wasn't quite the plan, but I feel like now you want me to spill red wine on you to make a scene."

"Thank you," he said instead of another sarcastic comment, giving her a genuine smile this time. "Ah right, right, I forgot I was talking to the party queen. Please forgive me. But this is good to know. I am also pro skinny dipping. It's very refreshing." He put a hand to his chest and laughed. "I'm a man with taste, Rachel. Everything is better with a little bit of color. It's about moods and all of that." He shook his head before she even finished asking the question. "No, I came with some friends. None of who will miss me if I don't leave with them." He reached out for her hand and brought it to his lips. "I can get us a room. That's...if you want us to get a room. Because if you do, give me...ten minutes and I'll make it happen."

She gave him a small nod at his thank you, returning his smile with one of her own. Though Rachel couldn't help but snicker when Cesar crowned her the party queen. "I am a fantastic time. Hm, we have so much in common." She teases, always happy to make him laugh. Especially now when he had clearly been having a difficult time. She brushed some hair out of her face as she grinned at his defense of himself. "I mean I do agree that you are a man of taste. A minimalist would hate to see you coming, huh?" Rachel winks. The way he responded without hesitation got her. Her smile leaning towards goofy, intertwining her fingers with his as he took her hand to kiss it. The 'us' was nice to hear come from Cesar's lips and she thought it had the potential to drive her up a wall. "I definitely would want that. There's definitely no rush, but I am intrigued to know what connections you have to make that happen." She moved his hand now to her lips, brushing them against his knuckles.

"A classic," Not that musicals were places he constantly sorrounded himself with - hard to miss a big one though. However, it seemed to track for someone that existed in the journalism word, someone like Rachel. Troy didn't even try to hide his smile as the woman brought up Esra, for he had never really bothered to hide their relationship. Neither of them ever had, not even when they weren't together; the two had been to so many events together anyway, by the time they really began dating, everyone half-expected it. "Since last November." Technically, it was longer than that, but he had been to blame for their short break after the gala at the museum, therefore he always counted from that day in his office, when Esra had approached him and out everything on the line with only a few words. He tilted his head to the side, wondering how well she and Esra knew each other. "Are you still not wanting to get back to journalism?"

She gave a nod of agreement before noticing the way his whole demeanor changed at the mention of Esra. It was extremely endearing and knew just how special she was to him in that singular moment. Rachel thought that was magical, and maybe it was because she had imbibed a bit, but also she thought having someone to cherish was a thrilling part of life. She hummed at Troy's response, "That's amazing. You look really happy when you think about her, it's a great look for you." Rachel shared genuinely as she gave him a small nudge. At the change of subject, her brows creased momentarily unsure where that question had come from. "I mean, I don't really think I ever left journalism, but I just don't do it primarily now. Why do you ask?"

Even on his worst of days, Achi was composed of sharp movements and even sharper glares, body and sight quick to turn disparity into reason for violence. Tonight proved no deviation from the norm, as his eyes studied her own for that anticipated breach of truth, expecting to see her gaze shy away under the weight of being caught. Her pulse, elevated by the energy of the moment, does not flutter any quicker as she spoke, remaining steady even under the pressure of his heavy hand pinned to her wrist — confirming not the revelation he'd anticipated, but instead, one very inconvenient truth: innocence, rather than complicity.

It was almost like the man was placing someone else in front of him that was not her but she was now the recipient of dangerous anger. Rachel could not make any sense of his words though and it was only terrifying her more. She had lived in a big city all her life and was tough. Part of her was ready to scream out. See if anyone would answer the cry for help. But he spoke the names of the people she had just been reading about and realized that this man was the husband who had been left behind. She was relieved when he let go of her hand. Rachel was about to explain what she had been writing, but what she had thought was the man realizing how very wrong he was, it was not. Her eyes filled with panic at his movement. He was out of his mind. Cutting her airway off but telling her to speak. Survival instincts went into gear even though everything was starting to tingle in her body, she tucked her chin in like she'd learned in self defense and raised her shoulders to attempt to protect her closing airway and then swiftly brought her knee his groin with impact and simply ran as fast as she could away from the man, her adrenaline kicking in as she needed to be in a public place and remain in a public place. She had no idea where her phone was as she searched her body, terrified of the idea that it was back in the alleyway. Relieved when she found it in her bag though, she started to call Cesar, looking around her to see if the man had followed her back to the library's front steps.