It was six o'clock when Brooke finally managed to calm herself enough to get ready for her dinner with Jim.
She only had two hours before he would arrive; she knew he wouldn't be a minute late. She had a quick shower, dried her hair and sorted out her makeup before rummaging through her wardrobe; she had no idea what to wear. From what Jim had said tonight would be more of a business meeting than a date and after her encounter with Brad she hardly wanted to make herself available. After much deliberation she chose a tight black pencil skirt, which came down to her knees and a baggy cream voile top over a black vest top. After reading through her business plan one last time she put on her favourite Kurt Geiger stilettos and made her way to the restaurant to meet Jim.
She walked into the Italian restaurant feeling glad that she had dressed up, it seemed very posh. Jim sat at a table looking very different to the cardigan clad mathlete she had met roaming the university. He wore his favourite Westwood suit and had slicked back his hair, she noticed the Rolex adorning his wrist. He stood as soon as he saw her, moving around the table to greet her properly with a kiss on the cheek. After seating her comfortably he sat back down himself.
"So, this plan you have, what exactly do you want from me?" He asked, picking up the menu and browsing through it, even though he had already made up his mind.
"I have heard some rumours about you, about your business, someone told me you had been playing the stock markets, and shorting them out. They also said that you had something to do with the businesses crashing." She said, trying to get his attention. Jim called the waiter over and the pair ordered.
"I may have bent the rules slightly." He continued when the waiter had left.
"I want to use that incredible ability you have for finding weaknesses in things." She gushed, as Jim played with his napkin, deliberately trying to ignore her. He couldn't help but smile to himself at her observation, he had tried his best to become invisible when he was at the university and here, this girl had managed to stalk him, and see his exceptional talent. He was excited about the possibility of having someone to share his unique ideas with. Finally he left his napkin on the table and focused on the beautiful girl in front of him. "So you want to use my skill? For what exactly, what would a girl like you want to break?"
The waiter came with the food and the conversation was halted as the dishes were served.
"Crime." Brooke said when the waiter was out of earshot.
Jim raised his eyebrows, "Crime?"
"Yes, I want to take down the biggest criminal organisations in the world." She said with a grin.
"No half measures eh?" Jim said, laughing to himself at this girl's imagination.
"I don't see the point of being ordinary, it's so boring! You know I've been studying law, and all it's done is make me want to turn to crime, it is so easy to work around the law." Brooke now had Jim's full attention and she was starting to enjoy herself.
"Okay, how do you plan on doing it?" He said leaning over the table and resting his chin on his hand.
"I want to infiltrate each organisation, and take it apart from the inside, but I want to do it in such a way that no-one will know that it's us, and it looks as though we are rescuing it, once we have enough of a hold, we can shut it all down, and make sure it never rises again." Brooke was feeling confident, she knew she had the Irish boy on side and she was starting to think about their future together.
"Interesting, so you need my brains to work out the best way to remove each organisation, but, the question is, what do I get from you?" Jim leaned back in his seat savouring the flickers if doubt playing across Brooke's face. He raised one hand to call for the bill. All of Brooke's confidence seemed to shatter with the last question, she hadn't thought about what he might want. Her mind raced tying to think of what she might be able to offer him; she was at a complete loss.
Finally Jim put her out of her misery. "I like you," He said, "But I am not the kind of person who makes a deal lightly. If we agree to work together it's forever."
"I agree, let's break crime." Brooke said with a grin.
A/N I am not to happy with this chapter. I don't exactly know why but I'm not sure it totally works but I have been sitting on it for ages and have to get it out of the way so I can write something a bit more fun.