Chapter 4: The Other Half
Arthur parked his car close to the warehouse and walk to the warehouse in a hurry. He opened the door and his team was still there.
"Hello" Arthur said.
"Hey, what was up with that phone call and how come I have not seen you in days?" Cobb questioned Arthur.
"He has probably been busy with Sophie" Eames teased.
"Shut up Eames, this just get a lot more complicated" Arthur expressed concern to his team.
"What is going on Arthur?" Cobb asked
"Well I went to that party, the President was having to some extensive research and it all seemed fine until I met the President's new architect"
"Who was it? Somebody from Cobalt?" Eames asked puzzled.
Arthur was silent for awhile then he whispered, "It was Ariadne"
His whole team was taken back and their faces showed it.
"Listen Cobb" Arthur said, "I agreed to do this job with you because I respect you and you have been a great friend to me but you have to tell us what is going on here because nothing is adding up and Ariadne is catching on."
"Cobb, what have you not told us?" Youssef said.
"Listen guys, I only told you half of the truth because I am worried. A couple of months ago I got a call from a man who wanted his identity to remain a secret, asking me to do a job for him. He had heard that we completed inception on Fischer and he wanted the same on the President of France. He wanted me to place an idea in his mind that would forever change the economics of France. He wants the President to be an advocate for selling nuclear power to any country that asks, secretly of course. Now when I first heard I thought he was out of his mind because not only will it affect the way the President thinks forever but it might change the world, so I declined. Then a week later he called again and said either I perform inception or he will kill Filipa and James and to prove his point he had taken my kids until I agreed to do the job."
"Are you serious?" Arthur said, "So why do I have to be that close to this family and be the boyfriend of Sophie?"
"Arthur, this job is way more difficult than the Fischer job. We have to change what he has believed his whole life and if you don't get that close to the family there is no way we can find out everything we need to know about the President of France. We have to be very careful."
"Okay" Eames finally spoke up, "So why don't we have Ariadne for this job, if we need the very best, we could have never done the first inception without her"
They all looked at Cobb and waited for a response and he began to pace around the warehouse.
"Cobb?" Arthur said.
"They told me I was not allowed to use her for this job, I could use everybody but her and I don't know why. I have been trying to figure it out but I can't because I don't even know who hired us" Cobb finally said.
Arthur let out a huge sigh and sat down in disbelief.
"So what now? Do we continue with this plan and also if I am getting to know them so much doesn't that mean that I cannot come in the dream because they will recognize me?" Arthur asked.
"No that is exactly why you are so close to them, so you can come into the dream and be a positive projection for the President, helping him change his mind" Cobb said.
"Right so have you found an architect?" Arthur asked
"They have given me one. She will be joining us tomorrow" Cobb said.
"Great, just great" Arthur said.
"Somebody is moody" Eames said.
Arthur shot him an unpleasant look and then got up to leave.
"So I guess I will see you all tomorrow" Arthur said.
"Yep, bright and early" Cobb said, "We have a lot of things to go over".
"Okay" Arthur said as he walked out and back to his car.
"So" Eames said, "What is it that you are still hiding and before you answer me Cobb remember I am an excellent actor so I can tell if you are lying to me"
Cobb sighed and sat down,
"I guess I did not have the heart to tell Arthur but he has to maintain his distance with Ariadne because she cannot know about our job, nobody can. And Arthur is bad at expressing his emotions so to show her that he is not there for a job but for a serious relationship, he is going to have to propose to Sophie soon because we this job is going to take a lot of time and we cannot have any suspicions or else it's all over." Cobb said.
"Oh, dam" Eames said, "and now why is it that you did not have the heart to tell Arthur that he has to propose to somebody else in front of Ariadne?" Eames finished with a smirk on his face.
"Shut up Eames, you know why. All of us has seen how especially distant he has been since after the Fischer job" Cobb finished the conversation with that and they all got back to work.
…..
Arthur got to his apartment and slammed his door shut. He was so angry with this whole situation, it was all happening again. They had not even entered the dream and it was already dangerous and even more this time because the employer was not understanding like Saito, he was a dangerous stranger.
"God dam it" he said out loud as he took off his tie and threw is on the chair and sat on the edge of his bed and his head fell into his hands as he felt a head ache coming on.
He decided to take a shower and get some rest since tomorrow was going to be a long day.
…..
Ariadne woke up the next morning feeling refreshed and took a shower to get ready to work on her plans for the Presidents house. After her shower she blow dried her hair and threw it up in a ponytail as she opened her bedroom window out looking the Parisian street. What a perfect day to do some work she thought looking at a gorgeous sunny day. She put on a flower print summer dress on and black shoes as she left her apartment with her portfolio and sketches.
The sun hit her face and she took in some much needed fresh air and walked to her favorite café by the park. I should call John she thought. She dialed his number and after several rings he picked up,
"Good morning love" he said cheerfully.
"Good morning" she responded, "How are you? How is work?"
"Good but it would be better if you were here" he said
"Oh well I am sure" she laughed, "Do you want to grab some lunch later?"
"I wish I could but I have a client meeting" he said
"Oh well that's okay, we can figure something else out later" she said.
"Are you sure because I can cancel" he asked
"No, don't be silly. Go to your meeting and we can talk later" she reassured him.
"Okay, I will talk to you later love"
"Okay sounds good, Bye" Ariadne said as she closed the phone.
She finally arrived to the café and she sat down and ordered some coffee as she started looking at her sketches for the house.
"Ariadne" somebody called her and she looked up and was pleasantly surprised to see her friends Anna and Alexandra walking towards her, "How did we know to find you here" Alexandra jokingly asked.
"Maybe because we always come here to study for our exams" Ariadne told her friend as they sat down.
Ariadne remembered all the time they used to come to this café to study because she went to the same school as Alexandra and the same program so they would spend numerous hours studying for exams and Anna would join them often for coffee.
"Are you okay?" Alexandra asked Ariadne concerned, "Anna briefly told me what happen with Arthur"
"Yeah you know I think I am okay now because I was thinking about it last night and I don't really know what I expected, just because we kissed in a dream does not mean it signifies something to him. And even if I want to tell him something it's not worth it because he is Sophie's boyfriend and if he loves her that much what is the point of me acting like a teenager in love and telling him anything." Ariadne told them.
"Well just because you tell yourself that does not mean that your feelings don't come up when you see him" Alexandra said.
"Alex" Anna stared to speak but Ariadne cut her off,
"No, she is right Anna. I do have feelings for him but sometimes the people you love the most don't feel the same towards you and there is nothing I can do about that"
They both smiled sympathetically at Ariadne,
"Well enough about me" Ariadne said, "What is going on with you Alex?"
"Well" Alex started, "I was shopping at the market yesterday and I saw this guy across the street picking up lunch and he was quite attractive"
"Oh God" Anna said, "you and the guys Alex".
"They are my weak spot" Alex laughed.
"So he kept looking my way as he waited for his lunch and then when he finally got his lunch, he winked at me before he left but he had a lot of food in the bag so I don't know if he had a girlfriend or what" Alex finished her story.
"You are worried he has a girlfriend and you don't even know his name" Anna asked teasingly.
"Well yeah, I don't want to be a home wrecker" Alex said and they all laughed.
They were all interrupted by Ariadne's phone ringing.
"Do you ever turn that think off?" Alex teased Ariadne.
Ariadne smiled before she picked up the phone,
"Hello" she said
"Hello Ariadne" the President said on the other side of the line, "how are you this fine morning?"
"I am well, just working on some sketches for your new home"
"Excellent, excellent" he said, "Listen I know that we are not suppose to see you until tomorrow but I am having a small dinner gathering tonight at 9pm for Sophie's birthday because she did not want anything to big but you have become such an important person for our family that we want you to be here and celebrate."
"Wow, it's an honor to hear that sir but would you mind if I brought two guests with me?"
"Not at all, I am sure they are just as lovely as you"
"Thank you so much"
"No thank you and we will see you at 9 tonight."
"Looking forward to it" Ariadne said before she ended the call.
"Umm, we are you going tonight? We were supposed to go to dinner at that new restaurant" Alex said.
"We are all going to have dinner with the President" Ariadne said.
"What?" Anna and Alex said in unison.
"Come on, you guys have to come. He is throwing a small dinner party because its Sophie's birthday and I can't go alone. John is probably going to be caught up at work as usual when he has meetings. Pleaseee" she begged her friends.
"Well you don't have to ask me twice," Alex said, "Dinner with the President sounds fabulous".
"Okay but only for you" Anna said.
"Thanks, you guys are the best." Ariadne said.
"Yeah, yeah. Now let's go shopping for some stunning dresses" Alex said. Ariadne gathered her stuff and they all left to go pick out their outfit for the night.
….
Arthur got to the warehouse before the sun had risen and buried himself in work. The rest of the team got there about two hours later and they went to work as well.
"Where is out architect?" Arthur asked his team breaking the silence.
"Not here yet. They said she was going to be here today but not when" Cobb answered.
"Well whoever she is she needs to get here quick because that is the most important part of the dream." Arthur said.
"I know" Cobb said, "How is your research going?"
"Good, I guess but I have to do most of my checking when I am actually in the house or around them because it is very difficult to get personal or even confidential information on the President. I have a good opportunity tonight though" Arthur said.
"What do you mean?" Eames joined the conversation.
"The President is throwing a dinner party for Sophie's birthday tonight and I can look around while the party is going on seeing as his house is where most of the personal information is". Arthur said to Cobb and Eames.
"Ohhhh, I see" Eames said, "It might also be a great opportunity to do something else" Eames shot Cobb a look and left the conversation.
"What is he talking about?" Arthur turned to Cobb.
"Is Ariadne going to be there?" Cobb asked.
"Probably, why? What is Eames talking about?" Arthur asked frustrated.
Cobb looked at Arthur and reached in his pocket and pulled out a small black, suede box and placed it on the desk.
"What is the hell is this?"