2 - Surprise Guest

"Hello America. I'm Andy Jones reporting from the Smithsonian's very own National Museum of Natural History. I'm here with Audrey Laurel, Head of the Department."

"Dr. Laurel," Audrey corrected. Did she just correct him on TV? Yes, yes she did.

"The Department recently acquired the artifacts taken from yesterday's mall heist. So what can you tell us about these artifacts, Audrey?"

Dr. Laurel. "Well, there's a real range here. Items from all across history and all over the world. My colleague and I are working on identifying all of them and working to discover if they are all legitimate historical pieces."

"Will visitors be able to see these artifacts on display?"

"There hasn't been any talk on the plans for the items yet."

"Well be sure to let us know! Once again this is Andy Jones reporting from the Smithsonian."

Finally, the cameras cut and the interview was over. The mall heist was getting a lot of attention, thanks to the black market side of things, and, of course, the connection to the mysterious woman saviour who had stopped the thieves and uncovered the items.

"Thank you for that, Ms. Laurel." Andy Jones held out his hand for a handshake.

"Dr. Laurel."

"You were great!" cried Barbara as the camera crew began packing up - thank goodness. The footage would be shown with the morning news tomorrow. "That's so exciting! You're going to be on TV!"

"Oh, thanks, but that was awful. So humiliating." Audrey buried her face in her hands. "I wish they'd given us more notice before just showing up and demanding an update on the items."

"And you mentioned me! On TV!"

"Yes, of course, you deserve the credit too. Only I wasn't sure you wanted your name mentioned on TV."

Well, at least that was over with. Now, back to work, something she was more than comfortable with.

The jewelry store had had a whole back storeroom full of items, so there were a lot to go through and identify as real or not, so it was no small task. It would take them at least a week to get through it all. Audrey was thankful to have Barbara working with her. And Diana kept coming to check out what they were dealing with and get updates on their progress.

The next morning - after avoiding the news in hopes of not catching a glimpse of her brief interview - Audrey headed to work, ready for another day of going through the acquired artifacts.

"Oh, Audrey! Perfect-" Carol caught her just as she was leaving her office after dropping her coat and bag inside. "I have someone I'd like you to meet-" She gestured to the man standing beside her - the very familiar man...

"A pleasure, Ms. Laurel." He reached out to shake her hand.

"It's 'Doctor' actually. Dr. Laurel," she was quick to correct him.

"Oh, pardon me, Doctor."

"Have we met before, you look familiar?" she finally asked.

"Do the thing, do the thing!" cried Carol.

"Oh no." He waved it away, though was smiling.

"Oh come on, do the thing!"

He dramatically turned to Audrey, pointing at her. "'Life is good - but it can be better.'"

"Oh gosh-" This - handsome - man was none other than the one and only Maxwell Lord, owner of Black Gold Cooperative and star of the company's infomercials. Audrey's first thought was, 'what the hell was he doing here?' "Wow, I knew you looked familiar. You just look different in real life-" And so up close... "From TV, the oil guy."

"'The Oil Guy', I'll take it!"

"Mr. Lord is considering becoming a friend of the Smithsonian at the Partner Level which entitles him to a handful of private tours of our facilities," Carol explained. "And he asked for you by name."

"Oh-" How did he know her? "Me?"

"I did some research on the department and its well-qualified staff," he explained, as though having read her thoughts.

"Ah." Well, that explains it. "Well I always appreciate someone who does their research. It's a pleasure to meet you, Mr. Lord." Just wait until Angie hears about this...

"And what can I say, Doctor? Your reputation precedes you." He gestured to her, clearly looking her up and down.

"Thank you..."

"And believe it or not, I saw you on TV."

Oh God... "Ah yes, well, that was unexpected and not my finest or proudest moment."

"I thought you were great!"

"Oh, well, thank you."

"I could give you some tips if you'd like."

"Thanks, but hopefully me being on TV will be a one-time thing."

"Well Audrey, I think you can take it from here. I'll leave you to it."

"Thanks Carol."

Carol headed off, casting one more excited glance over her shoulder at them, leaving Audrey standing there with Maxwell Lord.

"Okay..." Where to start? "Give me one second to finish up in my office and then we'll head on our way." She didn't really need to do anything else in her office at the moment, but she did need a moment to clear her head. She was giving Maxwell Lord a tour of the museum? He had asked for her by name? He had seen her on TV? Oh, God...

When she turned around she jumped a little, finding him standing behind her in the doorway of her office, peering inside.

"Oh gosh, don't look in there, it's such a mess-" She quickly stepped out of the room and shut the door. "Okay, well, I think it would be best to start upstairs. Follow me."

At first she was worried about the tour feeling awkward - she was in the presence of Maxwell Lord, the Maxwell Lord, after all. While she had never been much of a fan of the infomercials, it was still intimidating having a famous TV personality show up at your workplace for a tour, and even more unnerving having that famous TV personality ask for you by name.

However, once they got rolling and she got talking, she started to relax - she was doing what she loved after all, talking about history.

"Sorry," she cried, cutting herself off suddenly and catching her breath, realizing she had been rambling to him for several minutes without giving him even the slightest room to speak. "Do you have any questions? Feel free to interrupt me anytime. I'm sure you've already noticed that once I get talking about this stuff it's pretty much impossible to get me to stop."

"You're clearly passionate. I like that. It's always nice to see someone pursuing what they love."

"Yeah. Do you like your job?"

"Most of the time," he chuckled. "I built Black Gold from the ground up, so I am very committed to it."

"Yeah, that's brilliant."

"So where's home?" he asked her.

"Here."

"Here at the museum? You live here at the museum?" he joked.

She chuckled. "Sometimes it feels like it. It's like my second home. I meant here in D.C."

"But you weren't born here."

"Ah, you managed to detect my very obvious accent," she joked further. "Yes, I was born in London."

"What are you doing all the way over here?"

"Dream job."

They locked eyes and held gazes for a moment - a long moment.

Audrey was the first to snap back to reality. "I just hope I'm not boring you to tears."

"No, not at all, please continue."

So that's exactly what they did.

Thank you so much for reading and I hope you enjoyed! :)