XIV
The morning breeze was a welcome feeling as the former lovers arrived at the study. Robert did in fact miss her; he missed having her in his arms. He remembered that blissful night in the Bernini Hotel, the night that had proven the statement he himself told his students;
Forget about the sex, about the whole reason you're doing it…try to enjoy the moment in which everything is blank, in which the divine femininity is based upon…the moment man and woman are equally connected to a higher plane…
"How's life?" he asked to break the ice.
"Pretty boring up until now." Vittoria answered, remembering the incomplete project back home. "I've never happier to see the Sun."
"Me too."
They looked at each other; they had gone through a lot in the last days but in separate paths. A weak smile was shared as their sheepish glances met.
"I heard you were going out with another woman…"
Robert flinched slightly; he was indeed going out with another, the French cryptologist Sophie Noveau. She had even come to America for a vacation just to see him a couple of months before the present events. But it seemed that communications had become strained as time wore on, something about relocating to England by her superiors. Sophie had yet to let him go and Robert was one to be faithful to a woman.
"How is she?" Vittoria asked, leaning onto the handrails.
"She's fine. Haven't heard from her in a while."
Vittoria smiled, her image striking against the morning light making her look like a goddess even with the tattered dress. Langdon could only flush at the sight, something that made the woman giggle. He hasn't changed at all…
"Vittoria, I'm so sorry you got dragged into this; if I would've known I would've known, I'd…"
"It's all right; if you didn't come to my help, I'd surely been vampire chowder." The woman interrupted softly, drawing nearer to the professor.
"My father once told me that God has plans for everybody and there is little we can do to change it, all we can do improve and try our best because it will always work out in the end." She explained, with deep bitterness caused by the gruesome loss of her father.
Robert stood silent, the ridicule she must face back at CERN had to be overwhelming; coming back with her tail between her legs after her anti-matter experiment went astray. He took her in her arms in a warm embrace, recognizing her every contour of her body and her wonderful face. One small peck was placed in her forehead as a sign of comfort, causing her to shiver. He could stay there for the rest of his life and be happy; it didn't matter if anyone would call him a gigolo or, more popular among his younger colleagues at Harvard, man-whore. To be in Vittoria's embrace was more than enough; there were no more discussions, no more skeletons in the closet, just the ecstasy of the moment.
And to think I would've given it all up to that vampiress…
"Robert, I want to help you." Vittoria said, looking straight into his nostalgic blue eyes.
"Vittoria, no."
"Robert, be reasonable; by the way you pissed that Lady Nicholaus, she'll have eyes everywhere, I won't be able to leave the United States. The least I can do for you and your angel friends is help." She explained sternly, Robert avoiding eye contact. He remained silent.
"Then just go and hide somewhere safe; I'll make sure someone protects you." Robert replied, pushing her away gently. She then spun him around locked her lips onto his in a passionate manner. She parted their kiss quickly, a glare flashing in her eyes, and went inside but not before asking where was a shower located. The quickness of breath could only allow him to point.
"Don't ever underestimate me." She said, exiting ever so gracefully.
Meanwhile inside, Sefirot and Raphael began discussing the consequences of Báthory's return.
"Even with the most offense powerful weapon in our repertoire could only scratch her; we'd have to stop Lady Nicholaus before she can achieve such a feat." The Dominion stated, his face riddled with worry.
"The problem is that we don't know where the body is." Raphael refuted.
"Dammit, those mortals should've cremated her…not let her death bed become her tomb."
Vittoria then had a stroke of thought and ran up to Sefirot. In her trip to America, her captor did make a mention of a certain event that the name Báthory came into mention.
"I know where the corpse is, it's in the Smithsonian Institute." She claimed, drawing the attention from the weary angel Sefirot.
"You'd best not be lying, mortal…"Sefirot began before being interrupted by Vittoria.
"I don't know what's your problem with people, but I heard her servant talk about the exhibition. Either you investigate the lead I just gave you or go on a wild goose chase." She snapped, causing the Dominion to shut up. Raphael snickered; No one besides Him could ever shut Sefirot up, girl's got spunk!
After a moment of silence, the angel walked over to the back exit of the kitchen as Robert entered. "I will check if any new arrivals have come in…meanwhile, you three will investigate the exhibition personally."
"And how are we supposed to get in without suspicion?" Robert inquired while Raphael dug his spoon into the Quik for a bite.
Vittoria began to rummage into her ripped dress and found what she was looking for. An ID card that in bold black letters read "CERN".
"I could do some analysis with no problem if I show the guards this." She explained as she showed it to the group of men. The laminated card fascinated Raphael while Sefirot was clearly disdainful of such a meaningless item.
"It could be easily copied…"
"CERN only gives these to their personnel and it's individually and electronically coded so that no two people ever have the same ID number." She continued.
"So all we would need is photographic proof?" Langdon asked to try and break the increasing tension between the woman and the Dominion.
"Yes!" they both replied, diverting their anger temporarily at him.
"Then are we set?" Raphael asked innocently. "Then let's get started! Lady Nicholaus won't know what hit her."
The rest just looked on as Raphael finished the can of powder mix in a single sitting.
Well, there goes my Quik…