NoHo Noir Short Fiction: 'Wanted'

Christo Garland’s car had quit the day he started his new job in Representative Barbara Zavala’s office. His roommate had driven him to work that first day but made it clear that he wouldn’t supply taxi service on a regular basis so Christo was stuck taking the bus until he could save up enough to get the car fixed.

The job was more like a paid internship, barely covering his rent, but when he asked his mom to lend him the money, she’d told him she didn’t think it would hurt him to take public transportation for awhile. She was like that sometimes.

Christo had found the job on Craigslist and been hired on the spot. So far all he’d really done was a lot of mindless stuff any high school kid could do and answer the phone. Still, he knew how he could spin it on his resume. Public service always looked good and the job left him plenty of time to write.

His main duty was answering the phone they’d designated the tip line. Rep. Zavala was personally offering a $50,000 reward for information leading to the arrest of a guy who’d gone berserk in a 7-Eleven and killed two people. Curious about her interest in the crime, he’d asked her administrative assistant about it. Jay had been annoyed by the question and had said curtly that both men had been her constituents.

Jay was kind of a douche. He had a master’s degree from the Harvard Kennedy School of Public Policy and never let anyone forget it. He was the one who usually gave Christo his job assignments and he seemed to delight in giving him the most menial tasks possible. On his first day Christo had made the mistake of mentioning that he had a master’s degree too, which was when he’d heard about Harvard for the first, but not the last, time.

Suze Latham, the rep’s PR woman, had filled Christo in on the whole story, how one of the victims had worked for their boss and how she’d been at his wedding just weeks before the killing.

The story had piqued Christo’s interest. He could see the murders as kicking off one of those thrillers where things just get bigger and bigger until the secret behind them is information that could bring down a government. He’d started plotting it out on the bus ride home and already had a 12-page outline for it. He was calling it The Convenience Connection, which he thought sounded very Bourne Identity.

Suze had piqued Christo’s interest too. She wasn’t his usual type. For one thing, she was fat. Not plump or pudgy or chunky but flat-out fat. Unlike most fat girls he knew, though, Suze dressed like she was a normal person, not like she was trying to disguise her girth beneath tent-like black tunics. There was one top she wore, a cleavage-revealing turquoise V-neck, that he found downright … sexy. The thought disturbed him.

Suze was smart, too, but not in that scoring-points, I’m-so-much-smarter- than-you kind of way. A lot of the girls Christo had dated in film school always seemed to use their intelligence like a weapon. You didn’t feel like you could relax around them. But Suze was different.

When Jay’s brusque manner bruised egos and hurt feelings, the interns turned to Suze for mothering. She was incredibly good at pumping them back up without bad-mouthing Jay. Christo admired her mastery of office diplomacy. He knew his skills in that are needed work.

She was a little older than he was, but that was okay, Christo knew older women liked younger guys.

He began pouring on the charm whenever Suze was around, jumping to bring her coffee, complimenting her whenever he had the chance. He could tell she was interested.

Reva, the intern from Campbell Hall, was the first person to notice Christo flirting with Suze. Reva didn’t miss much. Her father had taught her how to observe people, telling her to watch and listen and learn.

Reva’s dad was the star of a long-running cop show who’d been given a production deal to lure him back for a 12th season. He was looking for a young screenwriter to work with him on a feature he planned to direct himself. Rena didn’t tell Christo this because she hated it when people sucked up to her because she was celebrity spawn.

Christo, not realizing Reva could be helpful to him, ignored all her attempts to engage him on an adult level and treated her like a child.

In retaliation, Reva decided not to tell Christo why he was wasting his time with Suze.

Rep. Barbara Zavala’s Office

Toluca Lake

9 a.m.

It was Friday morning and that meant everyone was in the office for the weekly staff meeting, even Reva, who’d brought pastries from Maggie’s Pastry.

Christo had fallen on the pastries like a monkey on a cupcake, snarfing the only fruit tart before anyone could mention that Rep. Zavala was particularly fond of fruit tarts.

After the meeting, Jay helped Suze clean up and both watched as Christo unsuccessfully tried to win their boss’ attention with some long, drawn-out anecdote, oblivious to her body language which screamed, “I am so busy my head is going to explode.”

“Chunky Monkey’s not too bright is he?” Jay commented.

“I don’t know,” Suze replied. “I think he’s kinda cute. Like Seth Rogen in Knocked Up.”

Jay raised his eyebrows. “You like that look? I can quit going to the gym.”

“Ssh,” Suze said and looked around to see if anyone had overheard him.

“I like you just the way you are,” she said and kissed him quickly on the lips.