Ariadne desperately wanted to watch the entire second season of Teen Titans for one reason; Jayne went blonde in that series to play a frienemy of the titans. She didn't want to admit it, but she was slowly becoming a fan.
She didn't want to look tired when she met Duke. As she brushed her teeth, she wondered what he looked like. At first she expected a really tall man in sunglasses and a trench coat. Then she envisioned someone as civilized as Arthur but with a funny moustache. What if he was one of those lazy smokers or heavy drinkers?
Drifting off to sleep, Ariadne expected a dreamless slumber.
"Come on out Dina." Jayne looked at the changing room door at Halloween USA. Her army consisting of Ivory and Lucy, an orange haired Australian accented model waited with her.
"Ma tits keep popping aout!" Dina complained.
"That's the whole point." Said Ivory.
"Seriously Dina, open this door or I'll shake it open."
"Promise ya'll won't laugh?"
"We swear." Said Lucy holding her hand up. The door opened and Dina stepped out in her Pikachu costume. It was a yellow tube dress with the black stripes on the sides that had the thunderbolt tail attached to it. On her head was a pair of Pikachu ears as tall as Playboy bunny ears.
"You look hot." Said Ivory. "I like it a lot."
"It looks very sexy." Lucy complemented. "Why don't you like it?"
"We'll Ah just don't know that Ah should be wearing this out in public." Dina tried to crane her neck backwards to view the back.
"Your ass is not showing." Said Jayne crossing her arms. "I checked."
"It looks really cute." Lucy said again. "I mean, do you want that other Pikachu costume? I mean the hot bodysuit with the plastic mask."
"Well it's haut in New Orleans year 'round." Said Dina. "Ya'll are right. Ah'll take it."
"I'll pay." Said Jayne. "After all, that costume is one of four in a set."
"We will surely turn heads." Said Ivory as Dina went back into the changing room.
"And maybe Dina will get more fans." Said Lucy.
"Yeah, perverted douchbags that'll want to get her pants." Jayne muttered. At the checkout, Jayne added a can of yellow hair spray to the purchase.
Little did Jayne know about the little Halloween surprise coming.
Ariadne woke up and got dressed. She brushed her teeth twice as long. As she flossed, she could not believe what she had told Eames. If he opens his mouth at all today, I'm going to watch him like a predator. I can't risk my secret being exposed, especially since Arthur is such a workaholic. Why would he even ask me to help? Aren't there other architects, preferably male out there who are as good as I am? Ariadne inspected her face for any flaws and checked her teeth as well as she could. I just hope this Duke person isn't a big asshole.
As usual, before going anywhere, she stopped at the Parisian Café for her daily dose of caffeine on-the-go. Ariadne waited in a short line. When she got closer to the counter, she noticed that everyone was buying a magazine along with his or her coffee. Jayne Alvers was on the cover. Ariadne usually hated gossip magazines but the cover was too interesting to keep her eyes off.
Le Ventilateur de Cyrus de Miley Envoie Menaces A Jayne Alvers!
Un bascule-teen indifférent est regardé lourdement après qu'elle obtient les menaces de mort d'un ventilateur fâché.
Miley Cyrus Fan Sends Threats To Jayne Alvers!
An unmoved rocker-teen is watched heavily after she gets death threats from an angry fan.
In the picture, Jayne was walking around a town. The only thing different was that there were two bodyguards behind her. Arthur probably knew but just in case, she snatched a copy.
Eames was absent when Duke arrived. Arthur was at the door in a dash after hearing it knock, like the butler of a huge house. Yusuf stopped working with his chemicals and watched as a tall man in a dark blue suit stepped in.
He was groomed like the president with his pure-white shirt and silk blue tie. Over his eyes was a pair of Armani sunglasses.
"I assume your Arthur." He greeted.
"Your correct. Why don't you come in?"
"Thank you." Duke advanced from the outdoor world to the blankness of the spacious warehouse. He slipped off his sunglasses to reveal a pair of hazel green eyes.
"Ariadne's not here yet and Eames… well I never know where he is."
Duke snickered. "He probably thinks he's too good to try."
"He does." Said Yusuf. "I'm Yusuf, the chemist."
"A pleasure to meet someone who's skilled at the science." Duke shook Yusuf's hand. "I never understood chemistry."
The extractor looked down when he heard a purr. Bast was sitting between him and Yusuf's feet, looking up at the new member.
"My cat." Yusuf explained. Duke sneezed and covered his nose. Taking out a tissue from his pocket, he emptied out his nose.
"Forgive me. Allergies." Duke laughed. "I'll remember to take my pills again."
"I assume you're allergic to cats." Said Arthur. "I'm sorry, should I take Bast somewhere else?"
"No, no, no." Duke insisted. "I just sneeze and start to have dry itchy eyes. People with peanut allergies stop breathing."
"Normally I'd leave her at home but last time I was away for too long." Said Yusuf. "I'll try to keep her busy." Yusuf picked up Bast and walked back to his worktable.
"As you know, our mark is Jayne Alvers." Arthur began. "The client Mr. Granger thinks she's associated with the Cajun Illuminati that he was once a part of."
"Normally a five-star celebrity would be watched by someone at all times." Said Duke. "How could no one catch this?"
"People who know what Illuminati is don't believe in it. Most people think Dan Brown made them up when he wrote Angels and Demons. But I hacked into Jaynes Facebook page and found a conversation she made with a friend about a tattoo." Arthur opened up a page on his computer from the book's website. "She said she had this tattooed to her lower back."
"The element Earth." Duke observed. "You think she might be one of four powerful people involved with Cajun terrorists?"
"That's a possibility." Said Arthur. "There's only one way to know for sure."
"So what has your architect drawn out?" Duke asked.
"Well Ariadne's not here and she has the sketches but she said she was making a concert hall."
"Did she tell you where the safe would be?"
"Behind the mirror in Jayne's dressing room."
"Hm… Interesting." Duke tapped his index and middle finger on the desk. "And what is it like to a woman on the team? I mean, you barely see women in this business."
"Ariadne is actually one of the best architects I've worked with. Well, we only did one job in the past but she designed a whole city and a hotel and I was impressed. I didn't go down to the third level but I heard most of it was snow."
"Is she as good as Mr. Cobb?"
Arthur thought for a while. While Ariadne built busy cites flooded with cars, Cobb would add a train to shoot out from the middle of nowhere. "No. She's better. Now let me ask you something."
"Absolutely." Said Duke.
"Why do they call you Gorgon? That's a Greek monster."
"Well… it's because I wear sunglasses most of the time. My eyes are very sensitive and sometimes I have to wear them as much as Scott Summers has too. And if you looked a gorgon in the eyes… well you know what happens. Unless you or they wear sunglasses."
"Hello darlings!" Duke turned his head to see Eames coming in. "You must be Duke."
"And you must be Mr. Eames." Duke replied.
"Have you seen Ariadne?" Arthur asked.
"I'm right here." Eames was holding the door as Ariadne walked in with her bag, sketchbook and coffee.
"So how was the dentist?" Arthur asked. Ariadne glared at Eames to keep his lips sealed.
"It was fine… oh how rude of me!" she stepped over to Duke. "I'm Ariadne, the architect."
Duke stood up as she came to shake his hand. "It will be a pleasure to work with you." He surprised her when instead of shaking her hand, he kissed it. The twenty-three year old hid the fact that she was blushing.
"Speaking of dentist." Eames blurted out. "Ariadne—"
"Shut up!" she snapped. "You said you would be quiet about it!" Yusuf looked over as if he was hearing some juicy gossip. "I just said some dumb stuff while I was on laughing gas." She explained to the other men. "So have any of you gentlemen heard the new Jayne Alvers rumor?"
"What rumor?" Arthur asked. Ariadne tossed him the magazine.
"I'm pretty sure it's to get people to read it." She theorized. "But if it's true, we're gonna need to find a different way to get to her."