Tonight felt different

A leather bag and a pair of heels landed on a queen-size bed after being thrown. Kareena disappeared into her walk-in closet. As cliché as it could be, it led to her secret office. 

With shelves of shoes, bags, jewellery and rows of clothes on either side, she chose the part that housed her shoes as the entrance. There was a tiny monitor beside the shoe rack. She waved her phone on it fir identification before the shelve slid apart making way for her elevator. 

She walked in and it descended three floors down into a weapons room. Blue LED light shone on the cool metallic weapons neatly stacked on shelves. She walked further out of the room and into a spacious lounge.

It had a mini sofa set with colorful throw pillows on one side and an office set in another, comprising of a glass table/desk with a leather chair and a huge monitor taking up a lot of space on the wall. She sat on the chair and tapped on the built in touch keyboard on the glass table. The screen showed five different connections with five familiar beauties. 

"Bestie!" May, who was in an army green shirt and a military cap casting a shadow on her makeup free face, smiled as soon as Kareena's face came into view. She was a company commander in the military.

"Welcome Kareena", a blond woman with a full face of makeup wearing a shimmery strapless dress with a fur coat greeted excitedly. She was Cassie, a model and an actress by profession.

Frankie wore a bright baby pink hoodie, her red hair tied in a messy bun and her doll like face makeup free. She was declared as one of the top hackers in the world when she was only nine, now at 20, she was truly master. And for someone who valued her sleep, she seemed wide awake. "Hey boss!"

An ashy gray almost white short haired beauty styled in bangs, wearing a tanktop exposing the ink decorating her upper body to the side of her neck. She was Kendra, a mechanic and weapons expert. She gave Kareena a salute and acknowledged her with a, "K!"

And ever wearing a stern expression was an older woman in a suit with chocolate brown hair that had hints of greys and minimal makeup looking ten years younger for someone in her fifties. She was Miss Quinn their boss. 

Before Kareena could acknowledge her friends' greetings, Miss Quinn spoke. "Now that we're all here, let's get to business."

Everyone was curious, it had to be serious. This was Kareena's team, however, they often found themselves working in pairs when assigned a case and it would be Kareena assigning the team up. Only when the case was serious and of high level of importance would they need to work as a team. So this meeting raised that question, what was the case this time?

"Earlier tonight, President Walker's son, was attacked by a bunch of thugs. We don't know why or who they were. A lot of lives were lost. A request came in that we take on this case and solve the mystery. It's only right that I put one of my best teams on this. You will solve the case whilst assuming the role of his bodyguards. Report to the White house in an hour, you need to meet the client and there's more to go over in person. Understood?" 

"Yes ma'am", the girls answered in unison to Miss Quinn's satisfaction only for a soft voice to utter a cold, "No."

Silence.

Tension so thick it could be cut with a knife bloomed. It was so obvious whose voice that belonged to and who was daring enough. Unlike the rest of the ladies, two of the wore the same stern cold expression, practically sending daggers to each other.

"Blackrose, problem?" Miss Quinn gritted with irritation.

"The last time I checked, we take out high profile criminals and not play babysitter", Kareena answered coldly, her response making the girls feel uneasy.

Miss Quinn furrowed her brows in confusion, "That's your problem?"

"This case does not qualify, give it to a team that's fitting."

She narrowed her eyes, her gaze making everyone but Kareena feel uncomfortable. "This feels more like you're acting out than giving me a valid reason."

Now that, that made Kareena uncomfortable. For the second time that evening, she felt her blood boil. Her demeanor turned colder if possible at Miss Quinn's words. This woman was insinuating that she was acting like a child throwing a tantrum.

"Which part of my reasoning sounds like I'm acting out? Why on Earth do you want to pull us away from our equally important jobs for something that Homeland is already handling? What are you not telling us?" She shot back. Miss Quinn's eyes dilated from Kareena's jab but she easily regained composure in the next second. It was Kareena's turn to furrow her brows. 

Kareena's argument made sense to a certain degree. The girls did have important and demanding jobs especially May and Cassie, it was not always convenient for them to always be away.

However, although, she and Miss Quinn did not always see eye to eye, tonight felt different. The girl had never gone out of her way to defy such an order. May saw how everyone else was growing uncomfortable with the word battle that should not even be there in the first place.

"Kareena-"

"Because it's not as simple. Do I have to explain to you the obvious? You have a problem Miss Blackrose, you know where my office is. This is your order, be at the white House in an hour. Quinn out!" She terminated her connection before Kareena could say another word. 

Silence. Kareena's fuming face contrasted everyone else's worried one. May tried again, "What's going on with you? Did we miss something?"

Kareena remained mum, still fuming. Frankie decided to voice her confusion, "Are we still taking the job?"

"K, you're our team leader, but if there's a problem, it's best if we're all in the know than being put in an awkward position", Kendra expressed her displeasure.

"Hey, you just said it, she's our team leader, we have to follow whatever she says", Cassie chided. 

"Reena, what's going on?" May probed and finally noticed the bump on Kareena's forehead. "And what happened to your forehead?"

"Oh my god! Did Christopher do that?!" Cassie cupped her mouth and gasped in shock.

An already fuming Kareena felt odd by Cassie's question. She had not uttered about tonight's incident to anyone except for her brother. She narrowed her eyes in suspicion, "How do you know that?"