Chapter 35: A Shift in Powers
Everyone's favorite succubus is back. And she's brought a friend with her.
Dr. Heather Powers sat in her living room, bored to tears, but too embarrassed to venture out beyond the confines of her apartment building. She was certain the entire university had by now heard of how Dr. Sheldon Cooper had gotten the best of her at his lecture. She drummed the well-manicured fingers of one hand on her knee and thought that there had to be some way of getting back at the pompous physicist. She had taken down men far more clever than Dr. Cooper in her day and she was not about to admit defeat in this situation. Heather Powers never lost! And she was very determined not to lose this particular chess game. Still, she knew somewhere deep inside her, it was probably better to call it a day with this man. She stared at the wall and became lost in her thoughts:
Well, old girl, there's no use dwelling on it tonight. From what I've heard, Cooper's wife is in town and that pretty much negates you even getting close to him. She will most likely be hanging on his arm for dear life at that banquet…wait…what if she never makes it there? Now I know Sheldon Cooper won't succumb to my charms, and at this point I don't think I could stomach it if he did. But would he go for…? Nah, forget it. He will be gone by next week and this whole incident will become a faint, if unwelcome, memory. But what if he found himself alone with…nah. The man is almost asexual. God knows where they got that kid of theirs from. Maybe Mrs. Cooper had a little fun on the side? Who knows? You know what, Heather? You are going to forget this moron ever existed and concentrate on finding your next victim. That's right. I'll forget Dr. Sheldon Cooper and look around for a new prize fish to cast my line at.
Suddenly, Heather's phone informed her she had a text. She was about to dismiss it, seeing as how it was from the university's news feed, but one name caught her eye: Dr. Sheldon Cooper. Heather decided to read on and it was then she found out about Sheldon and his cohort, Dr. Hofstadter, winning the Sakurai Prize. Rage filled her entire being until she was shaking. This was too much to take! First the man spurns her advances, then makes a fool of her at his lecture, and now he wins ANOTHER important award in physics. Heather hesitated for only a moment before she picked up her phone and placed a call.
Cari? It's me, Heather. Yeah, I know it's late, but listen up. Did you spread that rumor about me and Dr. Cooper at Oxford? What? No one was buying it? Oh, it was because of his reputation as a weirdo. Yeah, but he has a wife. What? People were saying that? Okay, get over here, pronto. I know you've only been here today, but this is important. Why? That big dinner for all the visiting professors is tomorrow night and I have a plan to put a crimp in the celebrations for Dr. Cooper and company. So, hurry over here. Yes, I'll have a drink ready for you. I have never seen you operate to full capacity without some form of liquid courage flowing through your veins. Okay. I'll see you in a bit. 'Bye.
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Thirty minutes later, Cari Irving found herself, vodka spritzer in hand, sitting next to Heather Powers on the couch in the would-be seductress' living room. She began asking her friend some pointed questions, "Okay, Dollface, spill it. Why did you have me come over here tonight and why haven't I been given a chance to get over my jetlag? I came here straight from a conference in Helsinki that was shaping up to be a prime hunting ground for men with both connections and money."
Heather narrowed her eyes and gave her visitor a mild reprimand, "Cari, sorry I interrupted your hunting expedition, but this is important. Did you hear about Cooper and his sidekick winning the Sakurai Prize?"
Dr. Irving's eyes went wide and she gasped, "No! They did that? What for?"
"Have you heard about that paper they wrote on how spacetime may just be the surface of a superfluid?"
Cari dismissed this announcement with a wave of her hand, "Hey, girl, that theory's been around forever. Why did they win for that tired old thing?"
Heather stared her friend straight in the eye and replied in a sober voice, "Because they PROVED it mathematically."
"Damn!" was Irving's only reply.
Powers nodded, "Yeah, damn. Anyway, everything seems to be going swimmingly for Dr. Cooper and I don't like it." She then asked Cari a question, almost pleading with her, "Can you please help me get a little payback?"
Cari's grin became as evil as Heather's, "Payback is my middle name. What's the plan?"
"I told you how Cooper humiliated me at his lecture."
Irving giggled, "Yeah, that was kinda funny."
Heather took immediate offense and spat out, "Hey, whose friend are you, anyway? Mine or Cooper's?"
Cari took a sip of her drink, then patted her friend's hand, "Relax, girlfriend. I'll always be your partner in crime, but you have to give the guy credit. From the way you described Dr. Cooper and what interviews with him I've seen, I didn't think he had that in him."
Heather crossed her arms and pointedly explained, "Well, it seems he did, and I had to run out of that room like a dog with my tail tucked between my legs. Girl, I want to make Cooper pay for that, him and that nerdball friend of his, Hofstadter. They both need a good dose of the Powers of Revenge."
Cari thought for a short time, placed her drink down on the coffee table and gave a small grin, "Okay, I feel sorry for both of those guys already. But I'll still help you. I need to have a little fun. Life's been too quiet lately."
"Okay. I told you about the banquet they're holding tomorrow night for all the visiting professors, right?"
Irving nodded, "Yeah, that's why I'm here. You wanted me to spread that rumor about you and Cooper at Oxford. The only problem with that was that the guy has the reputation of not only being pretty much asexual, but the only woman he's shown even the tiniest bit of naughty interest in for years is his wife, Dr. Nikita Horner."
Heather leaned in closer to her friend and made a heartfelt request, "Tell me more about his wife, Cari. Is she beautiful? Have you seen any pictures of her? I told Dr. Cooper I went to one of their lectures a couple years ago, but the truth is, I lied. Lectures bore me to tears. But it seemed like a good story to tell him at the time."
"You never met him before he came to Heidelberg?"
Heather gave a decisive shake of her head, "Nope. I haven't seen his wife, either. I want to know what I'm up against. All Cooper said about her is that she's brilliant, good in bed, and has a bit of a temper."
Cari nodded and answered her with, "I've seen some pics and a couple videos of her and from what I can tell, she's about your height and weight, you guys have pretty much the same color hair, too. But it's her eyes that set her apart."
Powers questioned Irving sharply, "Her eyes? Are they dark and mysterious? Green and sparkling? What?"
Her friend gave a detailed reply, "Neither. They're a really, really, light grey color and her irises and lashes are dark, real dark. I wouldn't call her a stunner, but she has a look that captures everyone's attention. I've seen her walk, too. She's like a cat, real graceful, like a dancer. Oh, another thing, her smile is kinda snarky, like she's in on a joke that only she knows. All in all, she's got something that makes her pretty unique."
"That's all fine and good, but how do her looks compare to mine?"
Cari gave an exaggerated eye roll and addressed Heather's question as honestly as she could, "Oh geez. You had to ask that, didn't you? Okay. You're a mix between sophisticated lady and tawdry temptress, very interesting. Cooper's wife is a mix of brainy girl-next-door and teasing seductress. You both have a look that sets you apart, but they're completely different looks."
Heather challenged her, "Are you saying I can or can't compete with Dr. Horner?"
Irving sighed and continued with an in-depth explanation that she hoped would set the matter straight, yet not hurt her friend's ego, "Can't, but not because you're not as attractive as her. It's just that you each would interest a different type of man. Your look advertises 'sexy, sophisticated, socialite' and her look screams 'brainy, sensual, scientist'."
"Interesting comparison, girlfriend. I do come from money, but I've been on my own since Daddy disinherited me."
Cari gave her a sly grin, "Well, you did sleep with his best friend."
Heather reminded her friend in a voice that showed her pride in the accomplishment, "Who was extremely loaded, in case you forgot. You know me, I always go for the dough."
"And that worked pretty well, until they both cut you off. Since then, you've had to fend for yourself. Not that you've done badly, you're not hurting at all now. Dr. Cooper has some money, but he's not in your usual league. So why did you go after him? Prestige? I can see that. Or was it something else? What gives here?"
Dr. Powers seemed to look past her friend and into another dimension, "I've been thinking hard about this, Cari. I've decided I'm not quite finished with my attempts to ensnare the good Dr. Cooper. And, yes, the prestige is part of it. But I also hate being turned down. I want to have one last shot to win with him."
Cari nodded in complete understanding and asked Heather a sincere question, "And what did you have in mind to set up that 'one last shot'?"
Powers' eyes again focused on her friend and grew bright as she threw out the following question, "What if Mrs. Cooper was out of the picture? Do you think Dr. Cooper would take a tumble with me?"
Heather's confidante shrugged and replied, "Maybe. I don't know. Why don't you ask Cooper? He's the only one who truly knows."
Powers rose from the sofa and went to refill her drink, "Very funny, Cari. The man and I are no longer on speaking terms. But…look, are you still in touch with Hugo?"
Irving held up her glass to be refilled, also, "You mean Hugo from Prague?"
Heather busied herself pouring them both a fresh glass of their preferred cocktail as she answered her friend's question, "There's another Hugo who handles our, shall we say, unsavory business dealings?"
Cari's replay was short and contained a warning, "Yeah, we still keep in touch. But honestly, Heather, I think you should leave this one alone."
Heather returned to the living room, sat back down on the couch, and handed her friend her drink, "Look, no one is going to get hurt this time. I just need Cooper's wife to go missing for a little while."
"I know I'm going to be sorry I asked this, but why?"
Power's reply to that was intentionally vague, "Let's just say I want the man all to myself during that banquet."
Irving gave Heather a confused look, "But won't people notice Mrs. Cooper isn't there?"
Heather took a sip of her mojito and responded with, "Of course. And this is where you come in; I want you to spread another little rumor for me. Let it be known that Dr. Cooper's wife is missing because she's a bit busy with another man. Can you do that for me?"
The pieces of the puzzle began to fit together for Cari and she gave a small chuckle, "Sure. I'll have Hugo handle the 'missing' part while I do my own brand of dirty work."
Heather leaned back with a satisfied grin on her face, "Good. Now, I know Cooper and Hofstadter are set to give their last lecture tomorrow afternoon. I want you to send Hugo a picture of Dr. Horner and let him wait outside her hotel, he'll know how to discover which one she's staying at. We'll let him handle it from there. Just stress that no one is to get hurt, okay?"
"Okay. I'm on it girlfriend. Now, can I go home, make the phone call to Hugo, and then go back to sleep?"
Powers gave a nod and pointed out the time constraints to her friend, "Sure, do that. But hurry. Hugo has to have everything set by tomorrow afternoon." Heather gave an evil laugh and ended their conversation with, "I can see us having a very busy day tomorrow."
Who is Hugo and what is Heather planning to do to Niki? It can't be good. This is NOT a nice lady.