"Hey there," said one of the men. He stood a little further forward than the others. The leader. He had a beard and a ponytail, and his bright teeth looked gigantic. Ogre teeth. But that was probably just her imagination—exaggerating his smile. It was a big smile—well, of course it was, considering. But it probably wasn't really as monstrously huge as it seemed to her, in her embarrassment. "No, don't get up," he went on,"Please. Seriously. Don't mind us. Just keep right on doing what you're doing, Miss Chopra."

She took a moment, before she replied. A couple deep breaths. A swallow, to clear the tension in her throat. "Having a bit of private moment, gentlemen. Could you give a girl some privacy?"

There now. That had come out pretty well, hadn't it? Nice presentation of panache.

"Ah, come on. Don't be mean. Wouldn't you prefer a little company? Doesn't that sound more fun?"

"Afraid I don't know any of you chaps well enough for that."

"Well, yeah. I understand. But we could change that, couldn't we? You could get to know us real well, if you're up for it."

They were edging forward, little by little ...
"Keep your distance, please," she said, "Stay right where you are."

"It's cool, it's cool. Nobody means you any harm here. Just a friendly offer. Just being friendly."

"The answer's no."

"I so much enjoy this kind of banter, don't you? It really steams me up. I'm bantering with Priyanka Chopra. This is really a highlight, seriously. I think, for me personally, this is even more exciting than watching you finger yourself was, before. How is it for you, though? Tell me honestly."

"You're holding up your end decently enough. In all fairness, I have to grant you that."

"Look, I think I can guess what you're worried about. You're imagining somebody sent us to ambush you, maybe kidnap you. But no, this is pure coincidence. If you seriously don’t believe me then t"ke my gun.”
He Gave Priyanka his gun.


"You responsible for poisoning Baker's team?"

"Well, yeah. You know about that? Okay. We did that"

"I'm not gonna deny that thought has crossed one or two of our minds. We would certainly be up for some arrangement along those lines. But nobody's trying to force you to do anything. Have any of us tried to force you to do anything? I think me and my men have all behaved ourselves courteously, up to now, haven't we? Think about it. Be fair. All we've done—the only thing we've done that you could possibly classify as sexually aggressive, to any significant degree—is expressed our admiration and interest in you, as a desirable individual. We think you're hot and we've told you so. That's not too terrible a thing, is it? You can't really get mad about that, can you? Just for us, you know, taking an interest, as active guys. And it's not like we've trespassed on to private property of yours. You're the one that was making a lewd spectacle of yourself. We just stumbled across you, by chance. Nothing wrong in that. And we've kept our distance, all this time."

"Only because I'm armed."

"That wounds me, I have to say. I'm actually offended."

"Oh dear."

"Remember, you didn't have your gun out before. We could have tried to rush you, while you were, um, occupying yourself, with your eyes shut. When we first walked in. It's not all that much ground to cover. But we didn't take advantage, did we? We held back. Just watched."

"Just watching was taking advantage. True gentlemen would have announced their presence."

"Well, hey now, it was awkward. Didn't wanna startle you. You nearly shot me right off when you spotted us. Would've done the same thing if I called out to you. 'Excuse me'—BANG!"

"You've got an answer for everything, don't you?"

"I'm adaptable. That's why these guys made me the leader."

"Can't you all just fuck off?"

"Hey! Look… Give us a chance. We're all worldly adults. You might be surprised."

It felt a little cowardly, for one thing. More than a little, in fact. The way he was baiting her—like a playground dare. She shouldn't have let it get under her skin. But it did, somehow. She couldn't help it.

If she left, if she ran—it would feel like they showed her up. She didn't want to let them do that. She wanted to show them up, instead. They thought they were badasses. Well, she was also a badass. And in fact, her ass was badder. She wanted to show these cocky cunts just how bad it could be.

They wouldn't be able to handle it, if she really let herself cut loose. No fucking chance. She wouldn't let them scare her and chase her off the site. She wouldn't let the men best her. She'd take the leader's dare. She'd take them on, on their ground, on their own level. And if she let herself do that, she'd destroy them. She'd wear them out, wring them out, and then discard them—like dishrags. Priyanka Chopra would take all these boys to fucking school. And then personally teach them some lessons they'd never forget—lessons that would goddamn stick. Each and every one.

"Tell you what, mate. You want a chance? All right. Maybe I'll give you one—if it's on my terms. You up for that? Think your man enough to meet my expectations? Let's see how well you can follow instructions. First—and this should go without saying—I want all five of you to put your weapons down—stack them against the wall behind you. Do that now."

"You also gonna put your weapon aside?"

"No, I'm not. I'm keeping mine exactly where it is."

"Doesn't seem quite fair."

"Five of you and one of me? I think it balances those numbers nicely. But if you can't accept that part, then we'll go no further."

The men traded looks for a while, but didn't openly discuss it. Then the leader finally shrugged and put his weapons down, and all the rest followed his example. One of them grumbled, as he did it. Another one giggled. The leader casually slapped the back of that chap's head. "Be mature."

"All right," Priyanka said, "Good. The next instruction should come as no surprise. Shed your gear, boys. All of it, all of you. Let me look you all over."

"You heard the lady, men. What are we waiting on? Strip yourselves down and line up for inspection."

They did. No complaints or giggles, now.

"What's the verdict?" the leader asked.

"Satisfactory."

(TBC)...