M stood at the check in desk with her daughter. "I'm sorry dear but I'm much too tired to go wandering right now. I will go to the suite. You feel free to enjoy the pool and lounge."
"I will once we get settled mother."
The two ladies were dressed very nicely and made a point of being as vivacious as possible and in view of any cameras set to observe the guests.
They took their key cards and smiled at the staff of the Hotel Metropole. It was a good choice of location for casinos and restaurants in which to be seen. They took the lift to their suite. It was located on the second highest floor as not to seem over the top wealthy.
Once they made it to their room M grabbed Judith by the arm and put her pointer finger to her lips as she looked around the room. She took a tool from her purse and turned it on. The lights beeped orange and then green as she moved around the open suite.
The suite had a lovely sitting area and a bar to the right of a small kitchen area. At either ends of the room were doors to separate bedrooms.
"Oh my what a lovely suite mother." Judith said exaggeratedly as they looked around for anything suspicious. M had only small chances to tell Judith what to do while travelling as their personas had to be a bit over the top for both of them.
"It is nice darling but I would that it rather be blue than the beige that it is. Beige is so boring."
Judith laughed. "You do always say that I love a nude shoe and purse though." They kept up the trivial diatribe until M had cleared both bedrooms and the three bathrooms.
They both sighed once they were done.
"All clear?"
"Yes." M kicked off her shoes and plopped down on the sofa. "Be a dear and make mummy a gin and tonic would you."
"I will after I use the toilet and stow our bags. That was a really long flight for some reason."
"It only seems that way because we had to be on with this act the entire way."
Judith took M's bags towards the room to the right, past the kitchen and bar. "This one alright for you?"
"Yes, fine. If I remember correctly that way looks over the courtyard towards the Casino and the other the street."
Judith placed her mother's bags in the room and then went towards her own. Five minutes later she returned in slippers and headed for the bar. Noticing that there was no ice she when into the kitchen to find fresh lemons and limes along with ice to place in the bucket.
"Darling do check the bottles to make sure they are sealed before you use them."
"Are all spies this paranoid?"
"I my dear am not a spy, I am an analyst. I search for patterns and find the root cause."
"So your a psychologist as well then?" Judith said with a laugh.
"What's so funny?" M said frowning at her daughter sitting across from her sipping her own G&T.
"Oh...nothing." Judith said with a smirk. "Nothing at all. Queen of observation my ass."
M had been reclining on the pillows but now sat up straight. "What is that supposed to mean?"
"You never knew when I snuck out and you certainly don't seem to comprehend that Bond is…"
"Bond is what!?"
"Bond has more than just a crush on you and you don't want to admit it."
"What!"
"You heard me. He can't take his eyes off you when you are near him and you bloody well had to send him away to keep him from following us on this mission. You even had me plant false information in my calendar."
"That is because I knew that he was stubborn enough to follow us."
"He's the only one?"
"What do you mean?"
"You and I have been trained by a great many of your 00's and none of them were itching to follow us nor took our training so incredibly personally."
"Don't be ridiculous."
"I'm not! I was observing as 005 taught me and Bond was exhibiting the tell tale signs of a man in love and it was not just because he was teaching us seduction. The fact that he chose our wardrobe to reflect what he liked you best in, it's obvious. In fact, that seemed to pain him while he was teaching us. The way you looked and were going to have to act for someone else, it affected him deeply."
"Yes it was. I told him to seduce you and to allow you to seduce him."
"Mother he looked scared the night I brought him home, and uncomfortable when he thought that I was not looking. His eyes searched for clues of you in the flat and he sniffed the air like he could smell your perfume."
"That is absurd. I am old enough to be his mother and that is not a kink that I could ever allow myself to fulfil."
"You like him." Judith stated with her eyes growing wide as the realization hit her. Bond having a crush on his boss was text book for an orphan but that her mother was trying to hide how strongly she felt for her agent was...was difficult. Judith loved her father but he had been gone almost a year now and her mother did deserve to have a relationship as much as she did as a divorcée.
"What?!"
"You like him more than any of the others and it shows. They all know it and you do too."
"I do not!"
"You do and you want him as much as he wants you but you let your position as M define you."
"And? What other insights do you think you should inform me of?"
"Don't let it define you and seize the day mother. There is an age gap but neither of you have significant others so it seems only natural that he fell in lust for the strict mother like figure in his life. Besides he has loved another and she betrayed him…Vesper."
"Tanner told you all this didn't he."
"Yes and about the woman Bond left the service over. By the description of her I can imagine that she was the only woman Bond had met that could hold a candle to you. But she betrayed him and the country."
"She did it for love. And she saved Bond for the same reason. I could never bring myself to feel anything but pity for the situation Vesper got herself into." M said finishing her drink and looking forlorn. "Pity for both of them. They could have..."
"What? A family? Not everyone wants one of those and your 00's do not seem to care for domestic life. Far to boring for them. I want you to promise me that if we succeed in this mission mother that you will give Bond a chance."
"I cannot give that promise...it would be...wrong of me...in my position."
"Quit."
"What!"
"You heard me. Retire mother. It is past time that you do. I know that you are a control freak but there must be others able to fill your shoes. You manage short vacations from time to time and this Mallory seems well suited to the job. Besides if you don't I will."
"You will? Really?!"
"Shit...mum...he is the most handsome man I have ever met. I don't care how many other women he's been with so long as he's still clean, I would in a heartbeat."
M threw a cushion across the coffee table at her daughter and they both dissolved into giggles.
M knew the two of them were now being watched. It took a few days but she realized and then she met Ian McLoud. At first she thought he was put up to it but then Q and Tanner ran him through the system. He had his own money and was a widower just looking for companionship. He was a nice gentleman and an excellent beard for her to spend time with while hitting the town.
The first day M played ill and stayed in the room watching Judith remotely thanks to Q. Judith was getting attention and there were men who were beginning to follow her around. She was playing the role very well.
M introduced herself to the party the next evening and the two of them chatted and drank at the bar with many different people from around the world. M found it exhausting to perpetuate the act. To be effervescent and laugh at all the jokes these drunken letches were trying on them was wearing thin.
Most of the older men were more interested in Judith than M but she stuck with the conversations and jokes just to enforce the charade. Once they knew that the two women would not be separated most lost interest quickly. All those with money anyway. They were just looking for a quick score while on vacation.
Those younger men seeking their attention were either not wealthy and looking to score with a cougar or on the cusp of wealth and looking for women who could propel either their careers or their gambling habits.
All in all they kept their eyes open, even when acting inebriated.
Ian McLoud arrived the day after and M had seen him watching them for more than a day when he deliberately ran into them at the pool. He was polite and asked to sit with them to get some sun.
M smiled and agreed. They chatted about things they had in common, not all of which were made up for M's cover. He seemed genuine and M found him charming and funny. He was very polite and included Judith in all the conversations but it was M he was interested in not her daughter. It was a nice change of pace.
That evening M had Tanner and Q look into him. Once cleared she told Judith that she could leave her alone with him and wander around to be seen on her own. This way the bait would hopefully be taken soon and then M could send her home.
M was beginning to worry that Judith was becoming too involved with the game portion. And she did still think of this all as was an actual fun game. If she knew what could be lurking in the shadows, it would traumatize her and that was not what M wanted to happen to her daughter. She wanted her home and safe.
M feared for her and herself to be honest. If that former agent she thought was lurking in the shadows was the same one she gave up to the Chinese all those years ago then he would either kill her outright or kidnap and torture her for revenge.
This man was the reason M could not let Bond get too close. She learned her lesson long ago in Hong Kong.
M knew that the bait had been laid successfully when a Spanish man bumped into her and knocked some tourist pamphlets from her hand. He apologized profusely and tagged her purse with a tracker. He told her how beautiful she was and what a lovely voice that she had. All the while M could see that he was recording the interaction for someone.
As it happened she had been waiting in the lobby for Ian. When he arrived with a concerned look on his face, seeing this younger man speaking with Olivia.
"Here now...you wouldn't be trying to steal my date would you young man?"
The younger man apologized and left. M knew for certain that whoever sent him was recording everything that would be said from this time forward and that she had to be careful to lead them away from Judith.
"Lass, I know that we've just met but I feel a real connection. Do you think you would like to leave with me tomorrow on a cruise to Italy? I have always wanted to see it by sea."
"Ian that sounds wonderful. You do move fast don't you?"
"At my age darling you see something as wonderful as you, you have to take the chance. Besides I know that your daughter may want to act a chaperone so I got an extra suite. I didn't want to presume too much, so quickly."
Olivia laughed and swatted his arm. "You are a terrible charmer. Tomorrow is so sudden. Judith had planned on going home because we just got word that a dear friend of hers is sick."
"Oh dear. Well I understand if you and the lass need to return to London but I hope that you will consider extending your vacation another week or two to spend time with me."
"No...no I mean this is sudden but I would love a cruise. I do insist on paying my own way." M said coyly.
"There are no strings attached. I promise you."
"I don't mind some strings." M responded cheekily. The strange thing was that she didn't. Ian was a wonderful man and it was about time she was comfortable enough around someone who she could...make love with since Nigel passed.
Regardless of what Judith implied...and her protective feelings for James. How easy it was to lie to oneself. If you say it over and over again in your head the inappropriateness of a woman of her age and James. He wants her...she's seen it in his eyes and in the flash of other men and agents eyes over the years. She knew it was dangerous in Hong Kong and she knows it now.
All this Quantum entanglement into something bigger, some other organization. It's all connected but this can't be the work of Tiago...he would have come for her earlier if he was free all this time. The Chinese claimed he died 15 years ago and if he had been free...he would have come for her.
Ian escorted M back to her room to get ready for dinner and as they paused at her door, he leaned down and kissed her. M froze for a moment but then responded in kind. Ian was a tall man, not overweight but definitely with signs that he was a big and muscular man in his prime. Now in his seventies he still held up with a head full of silver hair which was likely auburn like Judith's when he was young. All in all he was a catch but her mind drifted to the frustrated look Bond would give her as he pulled her scarf away from her cleavage.
Why did that infuriating man have to intrude on this moment!
The kiss ended sweetly and Olivia's heart pounded in her breast and her breathing was off. Ian took it as a good sign however it was more a building frustration of truth that had hit her completely overwhelming her senses. Olivia Mansfield, travelling as herself and a retired woman of means was smitten with a much younger philandering agent who drank too much, drove too fast and made her blood boil.
Ian would not come out of this unscathed and that would be cruel. "Ian...not that I'm complaining about that wonderful kiss...but I need you to understand that I'm not looking for anything more than fun. I don't want another marriage, getting used to another man dominating my life."
"I see."
"No don't take it as an insult. I just devoted almost 40 years to one man and I don't think anyone will ever truly replace him in my heart so I don't want you to get your hopes up that this will continue beyond the week on the ship."
"Just using me for a bit o'fun then are we." Ian said with a wink. He smirked and nodded pulling her into a quick hug. "I can see to that darling. Although I may fall hopelessly in love with you."
"Oh no...don't do that...please." Olivia said giggling. "I hated my husband when I first met him and it took me a long time to warm up to him. You on the other hand I have gotten on with right from the start."
"That can be good or bad depending on how we look at it. But I promise not to fall in love with ye and just have a good time. I'll pick you and the young lass up in an hour and a half."
"Until then." Olivia said as she unlocked the suite door, brushed off the tracer that was on her bag and accidentally stepped on it crushing it into the carpet. Olivia finished opening the door and disappeared on the other side. Judith put down her book and just smirked at her mother.
"Snogging outside the room door mother...I never expected that I would have to have the talk with you after all these years."
M stepped forward leaned over the sofa grabbed a small pillow and tossed it at her impertinent daughter. "It serves well to do it here in camera view so prying eyes can see. You can fly home tomorrow as planned. I will be leaving earlier to board the cruise ship with Ian."
"I don't feel right about leaving you on your own mother."
"And I don't feel right about having you near when things begin to get messy. You are to stay under guard and at the safe house until I return or the threat has been neutralized." M made a call on her phone and turned the speaker on.
M filled Tanner and Q in on the details and asked about the side mission she had them on. Tanner said nothing on that front yet but they were hopeful that the next few hours would turn that all around.
Tanner and Q assured her that Mallory was none the wiser and still playing the role that she needed played.
"Well then, we will just have to see what tomorrow brings." M said with a ruefully pessimistic smile.
To be continued...