End of Chapter Two
Friday night arrived, and Victoire readied
herself to make her bedroom moves. Artemis invited her to join him and his team
for drinks at their usual hangout before whisking her off to for a quiet dinner
for two.
At six o’clock, she closed her office door,
slipped out of her work ensemble into tight jeans and sexy blouse and walked to
R & D ready to pounce on Artemis.
Victoire neared his dark office and slowed her
pace. The secretary’s desk looked tidy except for a plastic cup of unfinished
coffee sitting on a green folder.
Baffled, she looked at her watch and wondered if
she’d had come on the wrong day.
A shaky voice interrupted her thoughts. “Um,
Victoire?”
She spun around. “Where’s your boss?”
“Well, um…” Willy scratched his weak chin. “He
had to meet some of the Electra guys in Chicago at the last minute.” Her face
dropped. “He asked me to tell you he was sorry. But we’re still on for tonight.”
Her delicate foot tapped against the grey carpet.
“When is Artemis due back?”
Willy shook his head, dislodging a few flakes of
dandruff in the process. “Not sure. The think tank project has him real busy.
Once it’s completed, he’ll be spending most of his time over there.”
Rumour had it Bassadai’s newly built ultra modern
facility was opening ahead of schedule. The high tech, high security facility
was located somewhere in Marin County for easy access. Whether somewhere in the
Bolinas Ridge or accessible by Lucas Valley Road nobody outside the tight
circle knew.
And Victoire had to move before her catch
disappeared into the think tank.
“What? Really?” Her fists tightened. She should
have seen it coming, but the secrecy surrounding the project remained impenetrable
except to a handful of executives.
She looked irritated
and turned away from him. Willy’s shoulders slouched. “Can I help you with
anything? I talk to him every day as I’m covering for him and can give him a
message.”
“Oh, so you are his
right hand man during his absence?” she said, looking over her shoulder. “Wow,
that’s quite an honour.” She caught eyes double behind the heavy spectacles. She
stepped closer and flashed him her prettiest smile. If anybody could feed her
information on her mark, it was the geek melting before her. “About tonight…”
“Can I drive you?”
Willy blurted.
“Sure, but let’s go in
my car, shall we?”
Victoire had Willy
wrapped around her finger like a ribbon round a Christmas box in no time. Her
insight into Artemis increased exponentially with the programmer’s input. Meanwhile,
Artemis heard Victoire’s name mentioned over and over further fuelling his
interest in the posh polyglot.
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