Chapter 4

"No you're doing it wrong. For a saunter you need to glide more and smile as you look anywhere but at the mark directly."

"I know how to walk 007."

"I know you do M." Bond said exasperated.

M had booked a lounge in at MI6 for them to use as a bar. There was a concessions bar that they were using as a bar and a door at either end. Bond was working on her entrances and how to command a room. His mind involuntarily went back to when Vesper entered the casino that fateful night. Like an arrow to the heart. The woman who both loved and betrayed him because of that love.

Bond was stressing out. He had already had to comment on her dress and scent, not to mention adjust straps and scarves away from her cleavage to enhance them for some other person's gaze.

"And I think even you were impressed by my saunter last week." M said testily sensing Bond's exasperation she adjusted her scarf again to cover herself. He hated doing this. Having to spend his time...

"No you don't!" Bond said a bit too crossly, as he reached out and snatched the delicate silk material away from her completely and stuffed it absently into his jacket pocked. He sighed as he took his jacket off becoming more and more overheated around this stubborn siren who had no idea the effect she had on him.

Bond realized how he'd been treating her. How the memory of Vesper combined with the fear of losing M had made him lash out at her. "I should start calling you Eliza Doolittle?"

M was nothing if not exasperating on any day and by now he would have thought to have his emotions under control. But here he was like a desperate schoolboy hoping that she will notice him above all others. If she thought that, none of the other 00's would have been involved in her training. No she only thought him good at this one thing...seduction.

"Am I really that bad?"

"You need to draw all attention towards you and that is not an easy task considering you're a…"

"An old woman." M said placing her hands on her hips. "A Cockney old lady apparently."

"No! M I didn't mean that I was going to say mature...and you are very attractive." He'd stepped in it now. But how do you explain to your crush that you find her extremely sexy without overdoing it and making a fool of oneself at work?

"I meant to say that you are a woman who's used to keeping to the shadows, not displaying yourself intentionally for a male gaze. If I knew more about who you are trying to seduce I could tailor your actions and dress to be most effective but you refuse to tell me who and why you are doing this."

"Yes well that is for me to know. And for your information, I had a life. I didn't need to hide in the shadows that is why I have a code name. Do you think that I hid from friends and family and never smiled and laughed in public? No I did dress up and have fun from time to time in my life. I was not just an annoying, evil taskmaster." M was now sure that Bond's opinion of her was dull, boring and brooding even at home. Not that it mattered what he thought, it was just...predictable and she never thought that Bond was completely two dimensional.

"M...I didn't mean it like that. I can't bloody well say anything right around you lately." This was going from bad to worse.

M was uncomfortable with the comments that Bond was making, and frankly they hurt. He thought that she couldn't be open, amusing and charming in any way. As a defence, she would change the subject because dealing with the fact her best agent thought she was nothing more than an unattractive old shrew was defeating. Maybe she wouldn't be able to lure one out of hiding. Self doubt had always been hard for her to overcome.

"You think Judy is ready for her part?"

"Yes, but I cannot guarantee that she's this mark's cup of tea and it will depend on what other options are around."

"Are you saying that we have no chance to entice because of our age...I can assure you that this will not be a factor." M said with a confidence she didn't really feel.

Bond was intrigued by that remark and he had suspected all along that this was all about someone from M's past. That was a definite concern for Bond and that she needed to divert the mystery man for some reason.

M was not just trying to entice a suitor. They would never let her do this for personal reasons. This mark was wanted by six for whatever he'd done. None of this reassured Bond and he needed to follow her no matter what she ordered.

Technically M was no longer M so she couldn't order him away, any more than she could order away the way he felt about her.

Bond had slowly begun to realize that he had fallen for the stubborn, angelic woman who was his boss and who he was currently trying to teach the art of seduction. Not that she would need to do much more that speak to him, in order to seduce him.

This was one of the most challenging assignment Bond had ever taken. To teach the woman he had fallen for, how to seduce other men, when all she had really been doing was making him fall even more deeply in love with her. Yet there was a disconnect between them. She often looked more than hurt by his comments on her abilities. Bond would not have thought it possible for her to feel such away...unless she felt diminished in his eyes.

And that could never be.

"I can see your thoughts and yes this is about someone from my past. My daughter will peak his interest and then disappear. I will then arrive to replace her."

M had finally admitted it!

"With no back up? Come on M...that's just asinine. You need me to be there."

"No! He will know if you are. He has to believe that my daughter and I are on vacation and unsupervised. Once I believe he is willing to follow, I will come home. Not really my home but a safe house that I've had set up and moved into last week."

She'd moved! He hadn't realized but then all the sessions lately have been at the office or they would meet somewhere.

"M this is far too much of a risk. Why are you doing this? How dangerous is this man?" Bond could tell he sounded desperate but he was bloody well having an anxiety attack just thinking about her without guard around someone dangerous.

"007 I will be fine and I have to draw him out into the public, on camera for Q to begin to follow and trace his movements. Once his people contact him to say that they have seen me, we will identify a trail if one exists."

"If it exists? Why? Why doesn't he need people if he is the type of man I suspect he is? Is he a desk jockey who watches cctv cameras looking for you? If that's the case, please take a bodyguard...any agent if you don't want me."

M was shocked at Bond's concern and his adamant desire to accompany her. 007 was acting strangely. He followed her with his eyes in a way that made her feel...she didn't know...she was concerned that he would succeed in seducing her daughter. It was a strange feeling to watch the two of them interact in that way. She didn't care for having her two worlds meet like that but it could not be helped.

M was searching for a digital ghost and one who could rival Q division with his programming and hacking skills.

A ghost who would run back into hiding the moment he saw any agent and he would definitely see Bond.

However, M had a plan to keep Bond away and he wouldn't like it but that didn't matter.

To be continued...