Chapter 3
Madeline stood in the hallway of the grand theatre of Utoland, waiting… waiting for Joe. She had told him she would be in the foyer near the front of the theatre, being easier than him trying to find her back stage.
Her solo performance had been well received by the audience, but she would have to wait until tomorrow to see what the critics had to say.
She was hoping he had enjoyed the evening, and had arranged for Trevor to look after him. Food and drinks were to be provided, whatever he wanted, to make the evening enjoyable. She would pick up the bill and she had already tipped Trevor well.
Where is he? She thought, looking at her watch and becoming more worried by the minute. She was about to go up to her private box and see if he had fallen asleep, when she saw Trevor, the Usher who looked after patrons in that area, running towards her. "Miss Chauviteau" He sounded almost out of breath. "I've been looking for you everywhere,everywhere; I have a message for you from Mr. Asakura." He handed her the white envelope, and filled her in on when he had received it. Then he gave his leave to her. Madeline opened the envelope with care, not sure of what it might say. There was only one other man in her life who had left her performances with notes. He had disappeared from her life years ago, and she still held onto the hope that he would someday come back into it.
She read the note and sighed with the sinking feeling of disappointment. It did not really say much at all;
"Dear Madeline, I'm sorry I cannot meet you after the concert. An emergency has come up. I'll explain to you later.
I love you…Joe"
Explain later! She though angrily, feeling brushed off for the second time by him. The first was dinner a few weeks back, something about Ken having trouble with Jun.
She was now trying to deal with the conflicting emotions of disappointment and anger when a voice interrupted her thoughts. "Excuse me Madame Oiselle?" A heavily accented, middle European voice interrupted her thinking.
She turned to look at him, and his appearance made her draw on every social skill she had ever been taught. His colouring was blue, with a shock of white hair, yet somehow she found him strangely handsome.
"Yes sir?" She replied, giving him a trained smile that she had learned for these situations; still feeling slightly distracted with her thoughts on Joe.
"Miss Chauviteau, I really enjoyed your performance tonight. Truly the most beautifully performed version of 'Dance of the little swans' from 'Swan Lake' by Tchaikovsky that I have ever heard. Do you ever perform in Europe?" He questioned her, looking at her with eyes as cold as steel.
"I have, but not for a few years now sir. I have a commitment to the Utoland Orchestra, though they are looking at going on tour in some parts of Europe next year. When I was in Europe I was a flute soloist, doing only small theatre performances." She responded politely hoping that he would go away. "You are truly a talented musician my dear, and as beautiful as the music you play. I hope we meet again soon." And taking her by surprise, in a show of chivalry, he took her hand in his blue fingers and kissed it, looking over it and into her eyes he gave her a small smile that spoke of a man who had a hidden agenda. She managed to fumble some excuse and made her escape as his touch sent icy cold shivers down her spine, leaving a violated feeling in the pit of her stomach.
The man stood watching her leave. His cold hard eyes full of lust as he looked at her walk from the theatre.
Not what he expected; "Interesting… Very interesting." He whispered more to himself than for anyone else's ears. His pale blue lips curled into a small snarl as he turned and left the building, his red cap flying behind him as he walked in a march towards a back entrance to the theatre.
He left the side door of the building and stepped into an alleyway. Three men dressed in green waited at a black limousine, with one holding the door open for him.
"Count Egobossler." The man addressed him and almost bowed as he entered the vehicle. He acknowledged the man and looked at the one who was seated beside him. "Report!" he ordered as the limo drove off from the alley way into the street.
Madeline fumbled her way into her silver Mercedes Benz convertible, and sat in the driver's seat trying to calm her self down for a few minutes. She was shaking from her momentary meeting with that strange looking man.
His strange colouring, and cold steel eyes, sent icicles through her still. After a few moments her thoughts turned again to Joe. She resisted the temptation to drive out to the race track.
Instead she chose in that moment to trust him.
He would explain tomorrow she was sure; maybe she was just working things up in her mind, considering her luck with men it could easily be the case.
She started the engine of the car, and still didn't move for a few minutes. Her thoughts drifted to another man who used to love to hear her play. He had often said the same words Joe had said to her that morning… "I love to hear you play; there is no music more beautiful than yours to my ears." He said it in that same low voice full of love. He would often say it to her in their brief meetings that she had with him over the years. She knew him well even, though for a greater part of her life he had not been there. He was her father, his life was mystery to her and it had been six years since she last heard from him.
She felt hot tears come to her eyes and fall on her cheeks at the memories, and then gave herself a few moments to calm down before she drove out of the parking lot to head for home.
The next day, in the late afternoon Madeline sat at her kitchen table, staring at thehe phone. The local newspaper was open in front of her, and she should have been feeling exhilarated at the raving reviews that she had received from the critics at her solo performance the night before. The entire Orchestra had rated well in the eyes of the European critics who were there.
She had tried to call Joe, but had no answer on his mobile phone. So far in their relationship things had gone fairly smooth. But she guessed the "honey moon" period was over because she'd felt truly angry at him for the first time since she had know him. But she kept trying to reason in her mind that he may have a legitimate reason, other than being bored, for leaving so suddenly.
She looked at the picture of her father another man she had loved dearly him dearly and he had meant so much to in her life. She still went over in her mind how he suddenly He disappeared a few years ago, and the trail of her search for him had gone so cold. One day, after her grandmother had died, she decided she wanted to know what took him away from her for so long, for years at time.
When she was a little girl, he took to live with her wealthy French grandmother on her mother's side. She never knew her mother; she was killed in a car accident along with her uncle when she was just six weeks old.
Her father had raised her on her own from that time. Then the day came that he said he had to leave to protect her. He had her name changed to her mothers, and then left for five years before she saw him again.
She ran her fingers over the picture; she hadn't told Joe everything about her father. Just that his work had taken him away for long periods of time. What could she tell him anyway, she really didn't know much about his work herself. They had talked about their childhood once, that's when he told her his parents were killed by Galactor.
They had some things in common; Galactor was in their lives somewhere. But then she left that bit out about her. It seemed too complicated to go into, and if her father was still alive she could put him in danger.
She rested her chin on her hand and looked towards the long glass windows that were getting darker as the sun was setting. She was having a hard time remaining angry at Joe. Years of forgiving her father for leaving her suddenly, and then vanishing forever, she figured.
She held hope that her father was still somewhere in the world. She had found no evidence in her search to indicate he wasn't.
Her thoughts again came back to Joe. He had, to this point, never taken her out to his home, and she knew it was near the race track, but that was all. It was almost as if he was avoiding her going there.
She couldn't understand it. He said it was small, but that didn't bother her. She was not a snob after all, and some of the places she had lived in for a time in search of her father were not flash either. Just because she had plenty of money from her inheritance did not mean that she would not accept a man who was not wealthy.
She wanted to one day marry a man who loved her, that was far more important to Madeline.
The vast wealth of the Chauviteau family had been left solely to her. She didn't need to work for money, and it had enabled her to travel for long months looking for her father. It was a crazy notion of a naive 18 year old girl, she thought.
She was drawn out from her thoughts by the sound of the buzzer, "Joe?" she said out loud. She got up from the table and put the picture back into the draw that contained other items she had picked up in her travels.
Then she headed over and pressed the speaker button, "Hello?" she said as she spoke into it. "Hi" replied a voice through the speaker; she pressed the button to open the downstairs security door.
Joe Asakura moved slowly up the stairs to Madeline's apartment, opting to walk gave him a little more time to think than taking the lift. The building consisted of only four apartments, all huge having been renovated from an old warehouse in a newly developed part of Utoland city a few years before.
This was the second time he had to run out on her. Then there was the week he was in hospital while Dr Nambu tried to work out how to recharge his heart. He managed to use work schedules for that one. The first real time he ran out on her was dinner a few weeks ago, but he was able to come up with a semi plausible excuse.
Somehow, he knew that this was going to become a long string of lies. He could simply tell her what he really did for a living. The ISO covered most of their bills, so his work was only a cover.
The truth was not an option.
They had been warned about close relationships outside of the team, and how it could effect or even compromise their covers. Complications could endanger the lives of people close to them, and it could happen again because Galactor was back; the last mission proved that. Leader Xx had morphed into something else, and he had a new underling; Count Egobossler. They had met him briefly during the mission, giving Ken a chance to try out his new weapon.
He hated to lie to her.
One day she may discover it, or he might say something and she finds him out, and then he would lose her trust and as well. It was a risk he was willing to take to be with Madeline.
In the past, once things seemed to get to the point that he would be gone a lot he would break the relationship, or worse, she'd be killed by Galactor. They had not been easy, but for him to give up Madeline… Even the thought made Joe feel like someone was ripping out his heart.
She was so real in every way to him, and to Joe, realness in his life was as precious as breathing.
It was something to live for, fight for and die for.
He knocked on the door and a moment later she opened it. She looked at him with almond shaped blue/violet eyes that spoke volumes about her conflicting emotions. He was up shit creek and he had better start paddling fast!
Joe followed her into the living area of the apartment. She sat down on the cream leather lounge and Joe took the seat opposite. He sat leaning forward with his hand clasp in front of him,him and his head down.
After a moment, he looked up at her. "I'm sorry" was all he managed to say. He was greeted by silence. "I was called out to an emergency by a friend." That excuse was going to wear thin soon; but at least, in some ways, that much was true. "I know I should have called you today but I was so tired when I got home that I just fell asleep and slept longer than I expected. I just didn't hear the phone"
She sat up a little in her comfortable seated position on the lounge. "What happened?" she asked him now with a more concerned look on her face.
Joe prepared for the real lie "One of the guys had an accident at the track. It wasn't as bad as they thought when they got him to the hospital, I guess the other mechanic who normally helps with the cars panicked, and he knew we were good mates. I figured I should go to the hospital; I was there most of the night. He'll be fine to him in a few days"
"Lame Asakura, lame", he thought as he scolded himself.
She got up and went over to him, feeling a little guilty now for doubting him, and took his hands in hers and drew him to his feet.
Then kissed him, the kiss grew deeper and more passionate, Joe accepted her forgiveness. He felt guilty at the show of trust and love he was being given. He didn't deserve it from her.
They stumbled to the lounge clothes starting to be shed as they collapsed together on the soft leather cushions, with Joe working his way down her body…
An hour later they lay there with sweat from the exertions of only moments before covering their bodies. She lay on top of him and was looking in his eyes. "I forgive you" She said softly looking into his grey/blue eyes. Why she gave into him so easily after how she felt earlier she did not know, he just seemed to have that effect on her. She was so trusting of him.
Later that night he told her another lie, he had a new job doing road side assist for broken down vehicles. He would be on call 24 hours a day but there would be quiet times. At least that one may give him something more plausible.