I don't want to give away part of the story in the author notes, but, I must say that there is a slight trigger warning for this chapter, in the section where Anna takes Richard's laptop to put away, about ¾ of the way down. If you don't want to read it, you can skip it. It is a pivotal section in the story, though, so, if you don't want to read it, but want to follow along later, you can write me and I will explain what happens. This story does not follow cannon, so, it is not a rehash of 4x03. I will never write something that is.
Not a lot of Banna either.
Swoosh, was the sound the tracks of the train made as they took a curve at high-speed. It was also the sound that her heart mimicked as it beat excitedly when thought of him even now. Three kisses in two days, each one full of promise and desire and she was just as excited now as she was two days ago. Anna couldn't contain the elated feeling and the desire from coming forward. As she remembered those sensations that coursed through her veins, she couldn't help but bring her fingers to her lips. She could still feel his lips on hers; she could still feel him pressed against her. Blinded by the sensations she was feelings then, she regretted not asking him the questions she should have. The conversation was limited to stating all the reasons why they shouldn't be together, but he mentioned no plan. She had not thought to ask, still reeling from his kiss. She felt foolish now, as she was no closer to knowing where they stood than she was after their first contact. All she could ascertain was that he was really good at kissing and she wanted to do it again.
"You look like you're remembering something pleasant." Gwen was giving this appraisal from her seat in front of Anna. She was eager for a response.
Anna felt a rush of blood of embarrassment.
"Yes, something from a long time ago." She lied. "Nothing worth mentioning." She lied again. "How are you holding up?" She deflected the conversation away from herself. Gwen needed the support anyway.
They were on the 8am morning train from York, arriving in Charing Cross station in London at a quarter after 10. Richard decided to drive there himself, stating he preferred the freedom of taking his own car. That and he had many boxes to haul - the whole Bates Airlift stand that needed to be put together by 2pm. Anna felt relieved they didn't have to drive with him. She preferred the First class seat that had been purchased for her. It would be more relaxing and when she knew Gwen was distracted, she could look at some of the documents she had, maybe even pretend to be enjoying music on her mobile and then listen to whatever new conversations came her way. She might go through the others already in her inventory again, to listen for hidden hints she may have missed.
Gwen had been nervous the entire weekend. They had shared a couple of calls to coordinate wardrobes and Anna was aware that Gwen had stayed in both Saturday and Sunday, devouring every contract, sales proposal, profitability report and technical information sheet she could. She read all the safety statistics for every helicopter they had in service and compared it to those of their competitors. She wanted to cause a good impression and regardless of Richard's opinion of her, she wanted to excel in this task and make Mr. Bates proud.
Gwen looked nervous. "I don't know if I've done enough to prepare. I keep thinking I should have read something else, or studied something else."
"You'll do fine." Anna was sure she would. She had so much ambition and desire. This girl was destined to succeed and whatever Anna could do to help her, she would. "I don't think there is anything else to read. You've learned all the numbers. You can recite all the benefits by heart. Have you mastered the sensation of flying, describing it somebody else?"
Gwen look mortified. "I should do that, shouldn't I?"
"Yes, you should. But, don't overdo it."
As soon as Gwen put on her headsets and started to recite something in her mind, Anna pulled on her own earphones and started listening to Vera's conversations again.
The woman had some nerve making such bold assertions. John Bates would need blue pills? Implying he was a pervert? Catching on to his feelings for her? She had dared to share that with Thomas, who worked for him. Whether her statements were true or not, belittling him to his staff would only jeopardize the efficient running of the company, of which she was part owner. How she did not see the negative side to her commentary and the impact it could have on her livelihood was amazing. She was so self-serving, she couldn't see the error of her ways and with the amount of time she squandered with Sarah and Thomas, she could only imagine that all of Mr. Bates' private matters were their main topic of conversation. She, herself, did not feel right listening to such things. This was not what she was expecting when she took on recording Vera's conversations. She thought she would listen to the illicit exchanges with her alleged lover. She had heard nothing of the sort yet. She only overheard a call regarding some of her investments that did not make sense - something regarding Switzerland and an Investment Holdings company, Eagle. Vera had asked about the deadline to reinvest her funds. She would have to ask Joe to track what this was, as it had not come up in her initial dossier.
She sighed. This was her job, getting to the bottom of Vera's dalliances, but it was proving harder as the days went by. Instead of the smoking gun, she was made to feel like a stalking, and neurotic girlfriend. There were things she shouldn't be listing to, not with what was happening between her and John. It wasn't fair to him that she knew. She and John weren't together, but, they weren't apart either. She didn't know what they were, and had no right, not really, but that didn't mean she wasn't intrigued. She was - very much so. She was very curious about him, like any person would be about a potential new lover. There was so much she didn't know about him and Vera had implied that he was drawn to younger women. She was younger, so there was some truth to that. Had there been others? Maybe Vera was right. She brushed off that thought. It was Vera painting him in a negative light. All of it was, including her statement about his need for blue pills. It was all about discrediting him. It had to be. If it were true, Anna didn't know how she would react. She refused to believe it.
Vera was also wrong about her age. She wasn't 20. She was 26, almost 27. Anna smiled internally. It made her proud that she appeared younger than she was. It was certainly helpful in her job. She could play a believable teenager when needed. All she had to do was alter her wardrobe and hairdo. They didn't have to know that after her parents died, she couldn't deal with school or her grief and she had taken off the rest of the year with her Godparents' and therapist's blessing, or that before she went to University, she took off a year to learn her Godparents' trade while she determined what it was she wanted to do with her life. It made her an older student, and older than Mary, but it had helped her make decisions on her life objectives and to determine how to spend her inheritance wisely. She didn't regret those choices.
Rather than infuriating herself further, she decided to move on to the others. She had received the comprehensive reports on Alfred Nugent, Tony Gillingham and Michael Gregson, but had not had the time to fully assess their lifestyles and motivations. This was not the place to do so, and she kept those document stored away and out of sight.
She moved on to Richard. None of his conversations revealed anything out of the ordinary. He made several calls regarding the business and a call to wish a nephew a happy birthday. That was it. It was uneventful, really, and a bit disappointing. Up to now, everything about him was very proper, except for her belief that he was lewd underneath all of his dapper dress. She just couldn't prove it yet.
Anthony was another story. He appeared dull on the outside, but as suspected, he called a person before he left the office. "I'm going to the bank now. I'll see you soon." He paused, indicating the other person was speaking. "I'm sorry. I can't do more right now, but I will try. I promise." That was all he had said. He was turning out to be quite mysterious, not dull at all. He also called his mortgage bank and inquired about refinancing his debt to reduce his payments. Everything else was business related.
The paperwork from his office didn't shed a lot of clues initially. The file on J.B. did not reveal anything useful. It was all about John Bates. There were some newspaper clippings featuring him, from some publicity done on the company. There were copies of his Passport and driver's license. A list of all of his personal accounts was also listed and Anna surmised that he kept those for safe keeping. The file on Vera held some paperwork for the same investment firm from her phone call. There was a prospectus for some mutual funds and a spreadsheet with projected growth and earning over one year. It looked like he had done the work on that spreadsheet himself.
The file on E.B was the most enlightening one of all. All of his copies of the cashier's drafts from the bank were stored there. They matched all of Anthony's bank statements perfectly. These must be the initials of the person receiving them. There was also a "Thank You" card signed by E. There was nothing else written in the body of the card, which was odd. Later, when she discovered from Elsie and Pops that Anthony had been trailed to the home of a woman, her own quick search of the address did not reveal the name of the owner and it had been handed over to Joe for his expert search. Joe's information revealed that the flat was owned by a corporation, which meant that the woman was a not an owner, but a tenant. Joe then did another search, cross referencing addresses against several utility companies. Joe always said that the electric company had the worst security in their website and that hacking it was easier than ordering take away. His analogies were always a little off, but Anna guessed what he was saying was true. Since she had started working with them, he could most always find the true registered customer to any address by going to their website first. That search revealed the name Niall Phillips. They weren't sure how relevant the name was when the file in Anthony's office had the initials E.B. It wasn't a match. Anna started to consider that maybe the initials did not stand for a person, maybe a project, but Joe persisted, running the address through some more websites. Niall Phillips appeared on several more until his search for car registrations revealed an Edna Braithwaite with that address. He then searched for her name specifically and it appeared with the same address at a bank. They finally had somebody with the initials EB. Originally, her first assumption was that the B would stand for Bates and that there was a relative out there with those initials, but Mr. Bates dossier stated that he was an only child and both his parents were deceased. His father had also been an only child, thus, there were no other immediate Bates relatives that could share that name. Before they could make any more conjectures, Joe was instructed to find out as much as he could from Edna Braithwaite. They were now waiting to see what he could come up with.
Anna's mobile beeped, alerting her to another conversation having been recorded. She looked at Gwen and the redhead had fallen asleep, probably overstressed from so much worry. That was perfect, and she decided to listen to it.
-"Vera, I want to give you a heads up that Anthony and I will be meeting later today to discuss if we can afford to give the staff a pay raise this year."- It was Mr. Bates himself, having gone to Vera's office.
-"I don't care about that right now. Why don't we talk about where you were last night instead…. You know, Johnny… I am beginning to suspect that you have someone on the side."
-"Don't be ridiculous Vera. There isn't anyone. You know that I like flying at night. I've told you before; it is when I do my best thinking."
-"Are you sure you weren't with Miss Smith? I've seen the way you look at her. Maybe you were warming her up."
-"What are you talking about? Anna Smith is our intern and you should show some respect. I don't look at her and she means nothing to me. I was flying and you know it. You should stop making up stories."
The recording ended with Vera laughing to herself as the sound of a chair being pushed back was heard. She didn't mean anything to him? Anna tried not to cry, Gwen was but a foot away, but a tear escaped her eye regardless. He was talking to Vera and Anna's rational side justified his words because she knew that he would never speak to Vera about her. Still, it was painful to listen to. Coupled with the realization that he had secrets that she did not know about – this was the second time she was aware that he was flying out in the middle of the night – her heart did break a little. Something inside her didn't believe he was flying to think. Was John Bates who he said he was?
"Achooooooo," Elsie sneezed for the hundredth time. She should be in bed, nursing her cold, but here they were at the SG Petch dealership, pretending to be interested in purchasing a car. When Charles drove off without her, they had both hoped that Vera was changing the rendezvous point with her lover and Charles followed behind. He was disappointed when she drove straight home. Elsie had urged him to go, not willing for them to lose the opportunity. She assumed it was easy enough to call a cab, but, the rain had made for a very busy day and there was some flooding nearby and it had taken almost an hour for a cab to pick her up. By the time she was home, she was soaked and cold. The prolonged exposure had taken its toll and she had a stuffy nose, was sneezing and hade a sore throat. Her body also hurt, but she wasn't sure if that was because of her cold, or from diving her body into the ground to elude Vera. Whatever the reason, it wasn't helping her overall situation. She had spent the weekend in bed, trying to get better. Charles looked absolutely forlorn to find her in no state for them to partake in bedroom activities. He was frisky that evening before their surveillance run and he had come back pretty hot and bothered from the bank. She had promised him some action, but there was no way she could muster enough energy to make it worth his while. The result was a mopey, but sweet Charles who brought her soup. He was very attentive the entire weekend.
She had dragged herself out of bed so that they could investigate the van that Vera had intended to board on Thursday. They were so close to catching her and they needed to be ready. When they were finished with this case she would get more rest. They decided that they needed to see it on the inside. They owned a surveillance van already, and knew what it should look like, but if that was Vera and her lover's hideout, it was worth checking out.
"Can I help you?" The salesman approached them both as they wandered onto the lot. Wanting to look the part, Charles had decided to wear a plaid, long sleeve shirt buttoned to the middle of his belly, with a Leeds team jersey underneath. He added his most worn out pair of jeans and some old work boots he kept around for these situations. He would never wear this type of outfit on his own and never in public, always identifying himself with a more posh wardrobe. He may not be rich, but he always said he had style. He missed his loafers and cashmere jumper.
"Yes. I am an electrician and I would like to look at vehicles for tradesmen. Perhaps a van?" He used the most course accent he could muster. It wouldn't do to have him speak so properly. He looked at Elsie, for her approval. "Yes, a van," she stated. She too, applied a bit of lilt to her pronunciation.
"I have exactly what you need." The short, balding fellow led them towards the section of the lot that housed the trade vans they had mentioned. Elsie immediately recognized their target vehicle, as the identification number matched what they had from their photographs. It was not the unit the salesman wanted to show them.
"Let me show you the Cadillac of vans. This is 2013 model." He had walked right by their target. It was the largest on the lot. Not wanting to be rude, and perhaps to feign mild interest and to be able to make intelligent and distracting questions, they stood patiently as he explained the features of the Fiat Commercial Ducato model 30 SWB. Elsie focused at what he was saying and nodded, appearing to understand what he was saying.
"What about this one?" She turned around to point to the vehicle they needed to infiltrate. "Is it the same? It looks bigger."
"Oh, well, that's the same model, but it is 33MWB." That was Elsie's queue to start her strategy. The salesman was not young, but he was younger than her by about ten years. Just like Charles, she had opted to wear something she wouldn't usually find comfortable. The air was cool, and she should be completely covered up to avoid further congestion in her lungs, but, she would give it a shot. She wore a light jacket over her cleavage showing top. It was tight and low cut, revealing the top half-moons of her breasts quite prominently. It helped that she used a push up bra with support to make them look larger than they were. Her pants were tight, outlining her curves very well. She wore platform high heels. Both her toes that peaked out and her fingernails were painted in a bright red hue. Her hair was teased upwards to have some volume. She wore bright red lipstick, pink rouge and black mascara to highlight her eyes. Big golden bangles and hoop earrings finished off her look. She was trying to appear raunchy and she achieved it.
She opened the buttons of her jacket, revealing her figure hugging top to the man. She put her hand on the man's shoulder. "But what is the difference?" She pushed her breasts forward suggestively, and she could tell the man was mesmerized by them. This would work. Elsie Carson was on the high side of her 50's, but she still had it in her. While she distracted the man with questions and her attributes, Charles would find a way to get inside the vehicle and plant a motion camera. Then, whatever Vera was doing inside that van could be documented and hopefully, they would have what they needed.
The man was talking about engine torque and standard EURO emissions. He mentioned something about a catalytic converter. Elsie feigned interest as Charles moved slowly towards the back, pretending to inspect the wheel wells and rear bumper as he moved. The salesman shifted his position, looking like he might turn his head to seek out Charles, but, Elsie averted his moves by placing her hand on his bicep.
"Oh my," she said in a sultry voice. "You have some real muscle." She shifted to his other side, forcing the man's line of sight towards her and away from the rear end of the vehicle. She didn't let go of his arm and rubbed down to his shoulder. "You must do so much lifting, it keeps you strong." The eager little man blushed. He was, in fact, not in shape, and had nowhere near the amount of muscle that Elsie was suggesting and her coquettish endeavors made him proud. "I do what I can."
Charles opened the back door on the vehicle quietly, looking behind him to make sure nobody saw what he was doing. He entered into the large space, and positioned himself on his knees. Oh, he immediately felt the pain in his knees on such a hard surface, but he must get on. It was sparse, not like the model he and Elsie owned that had a table and chairs and monitors for their more in depth surveillance. It looked quite spacious this way and they always felt cramped in theirs. It was empty, save for a box in the corner. He crawled to it and opened it with trepidation, concerned with what he might find. He discovered a thick blanket and a basic pillow inside. There was also a discarded condom wrapper. Mmm. He knew it. Things made more sense now. Vera and somebody else were definitely using this vehicle for sex. She wasn't coming here to consider the purchase of the vehicle. But here? In a cold and drafty van? That was a first for them. Most of the cuckold spouses they followed were caught in their own vehicles, and the wealthier ones could afford hotel rooms. Work-based cheaters sometimes used their offices. All made more sense to him than a van in a car lot. He took a quick picture to show Elsie. She would be pleased that they were on the right track. He put everything back where he found it. He couldn't dally too long in there, there was only so much Elsie could do to distract the man, so, he looked for a spot to place the small image recorder. It was equipped with a motion sensor and when activated, it silently snapped a picture every 10 seconds. It could snap up to 1000 pictures, just about 3 hours of actual footage. It would do what was needed and capture anything they got up to as long as enough light from the outside come through the windows. The only downside was that it had to be retrieved manually. They would have to find a way to come back here. He looked at all of the surfaces. He had to set it up as inconspicuously as possible, but also make sure to get a direct swath that included the door and most of the space in the van. He placed it on the wall that separated the driver from the back portion of the vehicle, as high up as possible. It was visible if you really looked, but, he ventured to think that once they were in here, they wouldn't be doing much looking around. When the little device had adhered to the hard surface correctly, he started backing out. He caught an image of Elsie and the man from the passenger side mirror and they were too close for comfort. He descended and closed the door quietly. His emotions were starting to get to him.
"Excuse me, are you ogling my wife?" It was meant to be an act, but, a bit of him always came through whenever they played this game. The man was looking at Elsie's breasts and she did have her hand on his shoulder. Elsie was doing what they agreed, but that did not mean he had to like it. His offended husband role wasn't much of an act. He always felt it keenly.
"No, I…. I was just…" The man could not get out a sentence as Charles walked forward. The man took a step back and was ready to dart out of there quickly. There was sweat forming on his brow.
"You were taking advantage as I looked at the cars, weren't you? She's a married woman." Charles huffed and he clenched his fists.
"Oh boo boo… don't hurt the nice young man. He was just trying to explain the difference between the two models." There was just the right tone of bawdiness and simplicity in her words to convince her husband of the man's innocence. Elsie put herself between both men, winking at Charles in the process. "He didn't do anything," she added for measure and pouted.
"I didn't touch her, I swear." The man was cowering behind Elsie as Charles put on the bravado.
"See that you don't!" He put his arm around his wife and swung her around to stand next to him. "I will not be purchasing my van here, thank you." They moved away and walked a few more steps. Feeling flirty, Elsie turned around to wink at the man. Upon seeing her, the man's face broke into panic and he ran back towards the main offices.
As soon as they had exited the lot, Elsie shifted towards her husband. "You were good, as always, love. I assume you placed the device?" She started to button up her coat, aware that she had been exposed long enough and should cover up.
"I did, and you, as always, were too good an actress. You had me worried there." There was a hint of bitterness in his tone.
He was jealous, was he? Elsie loved to play with him. It wouldn't do for him to be too sure of himself. She would never leave him, but he didn't need to know that.
She looked at him straight in the eyes as she crossed her arms in front of her. "Oh, you'll know when I'm leaving you Charles, and if I ever do, it wouldn't be for a balding car salesman." Her Scottish brogue replaced the tawdry voice she had used with the other man.
Even though there was no real assurance in her words, he felt slightly comforted. That was the real Elsie, the one that he loved. His face warmed and he reached for her. "How about a kiss now?" He put his arms around her, bringing her close to him.
Elsie didn't have time to protest or move away. After fending off her cold's symptoms enough time to pull of this ruse, they came back with a vengeance. The tickling in her nostrils became too much. Before she knew it, she was arching back.
"Achooooo" she bellowed. "Achooooo" came a second, immediate sneeze. She looked up with embarrassment written all over her face.
"I guess not," answered a stoic Charles as he pulled a pocket-handkerchief from his pants to wipe his wife's spit from all over his neck and chin.
Gwen's head hit the pillow and she was instantly snoring. Anna was both amazed and jealous. They hadn't been in the room for ten minutes and she was already slumbering soundly. It took her five minutes to peel off her clothing and brush her teeth and that was it, she was under the covers and gone. Anna didn't have problems in going to sleep, but her problem was finding the time to do so. She really did want to rest, yet, she couldn't afford to. Not now. She was envious that Gwen could just disconnect, when she had emails to go through and conversations to listen to. It was close to midnight and she wished she could have started sooner, but, when they finished their duties at the convention at close to 8:00pm, Gwen had dragged her to a nearby pub to meet up with somebody she had met that day, another convention attendee. Gwen wasn't reckless, but Anna was feeling protective and she wouldn't let Gwen go alone. Richard had excused himself for the evening, as he had the day before too, so they were on their own. The evening had been fun and the young man had proven to be quite jovial and equally respectful. It didn't hurt that he was very handsome and well-spoken too. He introduced himself as Vinoth Patel and they all drank a couple of ales and ate the most delicious steak and Guinness pies they had ever tasted. He was an Oxford University graduate student, studying Oil and Gas Engineering and was attending the convention to further his knowledge. They spoke much of everything and of nothing. He was very interested in where they worked and asked a million questions about helicopters and their operations in the North Sea, specifically. Gwen answered everything with absolute knowledge. He seemed sweet on her, and Anna wondered about him, as he was asking too many technical questions. Could he be a spy? Gwen didn't seem to have the same suspicions and after a while, Anna put those thoughts away, convincing herself that she might be misinterpreting the whole evening. She persuaded herself he was legitimate and as a student, he would want to understand.
They were staying at the same Crowne Plaza in the Docklands, close to the ExCel Exhibition Center where the convention was being held, and he very gentlemanly walked them back to the hotel. They said their goodbyes and now Anna was battling sleep. She turned on the hotel's courtesy coffee and tea maker and boiled some water, ready to work for a couple of hours. When she had a cup ready, she migrated to the bathroom where she could avoid detection by Gwen. Her roommate was a heavy sleeper, but she wouldn't risk her waking up to find her working amid a pile of files, so, she took a couple of pillows from her bed and sat in the tub, with her back reclining against them and her legs stretched out. Her tea was placed on the tub's rim next to the shampoo containers.
She was ready to listen to the day's accumulated conversations from Vera and Anthony when she noticed a text message from Elsie.
Call Me. Doesn't matter how late.
That was from two hours ago, so, she texted back.
Are you still awake?
She had an immediate response. Yes.
Elsie picked up the phone on the first ring. She whispered, "Hello".
Anna whispered back. "I'm sorry it's so late. Gwen and I went for a meal and I only just saw the text." She was keeping her voice low so as not to wake Gwen and imagined Elsie was doing the same so as to not wake Pops.
"No problem, love. I know you're busy. Listen, have you read the files Joe sent over?"
"Not yet, I was going to listen to all of today's conversations first. Why? Is there something I should focus on first? Have we had a breakthrough?" Anna's heart sped up for a moment, hoping they had found something that could help them.
"Nothing on Vera, I'm afraid. But there is something regarding Edna Braithwaite you need to read…..and Anna, I'm afraid it doesn't make Mr. Bates look good."
"What do you mean Mr. Bates doesn't look good? What has he done?" Her voice was a decibel more emotional than it should have been. She was worried. She looked at her email on her laptop and she had about five messages from Joe, none with a descriptive title. She randomly opened one.
"I'm afraid he was too good to be true and you'll have to be careful with him. Pops and I talked about stopping the investigation, we don't like that you are there so close to him."
Stop the investigation? Leave Bates Airlift? No, this couldn't be. "There are five files and the first one is Edna's dossier. Care to tell me what this is about before I go crazy looking for the information?" Her tone had changed to bitterness and she made no attempt to hide her feeling from Elsie.
"Edna accused him of sexual harassment five years ago. The case was settled out of court."
Anna felt like her dinner would leave her. She suppressed the impulse to heave. Sexual harassment?
"I can't believe it." Her voice cracked, the emotions becoming visible for Elsie to hear. "Are you sure it is him?"
"Yes, we are sure. She was employed at Bates Airlift then. Anna, are you alright? Why are you reacting like this?" There was real concern in Elsie's voice.
"What do you mean?" Anna became defensive immediately.
"You sound emotional and you shouldn't be. He is a client. I know you have worked for him several weeks now, but he is a risk to you. Pops wants you to pull out when you get back to Yorkshire."
Anna breathed in. She breathed out. She couldn't find anything to say and kept silent for a minute. He wasn't a risk to her.
"Anna?" Elsie asked. "Are you still there?"
"Yes."
"Talk to me. What has happened? Has he already attempted something with you? Is that why you are taking it this way?"
Elsie could not know how far she had let things get with him.
"I have worked with him for several weeks now, and that is why I know he isn't a risk. I'm emotional because he is an absolute gentleman and I cannot fathom that as the truth."
She paused and controlled her speech. Oh God, she had so many doubts now. They had shared three kisses. Were they for real? Vera said he was drawn to younger women. She needed to see how old Edna was. Maybe it was relevant. Maybe not. Was she pretty? A million thoughts came crashing through her mind. She needed time to filter through all of them and couldn't stop this investigation. Not now.
With as much aplomb as possible, she added, "He wasn't convicted. We don't know the reasons it settled out of court, so, we will stay and finish on." Her voice sounded very final.
"Anna. We'll have to talk when you get back." Elsie's tone was not pleased.
"We will, but, in the meantime, we continue as before."
Anna's feet were killing her. She had worn sensible shoes, which meant that the high heels were not her regular 4 inches, but 2.5 inches. Sensible did not mean comfort, though. After more than six hours of standing and walking, she wished it was all over. Yet, it wasn't. She had made a record 200 pots of tea in three days. This was the third and last day of the event, but they still had about four more hours and 15 more pots of tea to go. There were about 2,000 conference attendees and during the morning, they had several sessions and keynote speakers that they listened to. Anna stole away into one session for about half an hour after telling Richard she was going to the ladies room. She was curious about what they talked about in those meetings and also needed something to think about that was not John Bates and Edna Braithwaite. In this particular session, they were presenting new technologies being used in oil extraction from shale. It sounded interesting, but she didn't stay, aware she might face Richard's wrath. In the afternoon, those same attendees came to the convention area where hundreds of companies proffered their services. Though diverse, they all had something to do with Oil and Gas. They ranged from travel agencies, to uniform manufacturers, to environmental activists, to magazines specializing in the field, and a few stands with high-tech equipment and software solutions. There were many more types of services than Anna could remember, but what did stand out and could not be forgotten was their competitors, Helicopters UK.
The Bates Airlift stand was not as grand as theirs. It was average sized, but very professional. Richard had rented a small living room to make a portion within it comfortable for customer conversations. The other half had a wall with four 30 inch TV screens playing different Bates Airlift videos on loop. Each one concentrated on a different aspect – safety, helicopter fleet, Executive service and North Sea Platform services. Anna had never seen them before she arrived and they were professionally made. There were stools and a couple of high tables within this area where they offered tea and biscuits and little helicopter key rings tchotchkes to visitors enjoying the videos. Hanging cloth panels with pictures of the helicopters and the team adorned throughout the space. It was warm and modern and she was proud, but when she saw their competitor's area, she was shocked. It was four times the size of theirs, and looked like a small pavilion. At the very center, they had a small helicopter, scaled down to one tenth of the actual size. Helicopter seats were scattered throughout the space so that customers could feel the real product. Three hostesses were handing out bottled FIJI water and inviting people in. Holograms of helicopters in flight were projected on to several walls. They also had videos. There were about five sales reps working all of the visitors. Anna had to agree that it was the most spectacular vendor booth and best staffed in the entire event. They were very small in comparison. She wondered how Richard ever did this alone. It didn't make sense he didn't want help.
For all of the grandeur the Helicopters UK stand boasted, during the three days they had attended the event, the Bates Airlift stand had seen plenty of clients too. Richard made some contacts for Executive services as well. During the whole time, Gwen had been amazing. At least Anna thought so. She was very attentive to the people that came in and spoke with a natural ease and conviction about all of their services. While Anna labored as hostess, making sure everybody was comfortable, Gwen discerned the potential clients from the serial conventioneers, those that visited each stand to see what goods they could amass. To those she handed the helicopter key rings. To the more serious visitors, she also invited them to partake in the raffle of a free one hour flight over the Yorkshire countryside. She was a natural, Anna was sure. Everybody that came left very pleased. Richard didn't say much to them. She didn't need him to affirm anything to her, but he had not offered any praise to Gwen and that was not right or fair. She had worked her little butt off. She deserved the recognition. If Mr. Bates had seen her, he would indeed be proud.
This morning had seen Richard ill-tempered. He was sure he could land the CONOCO EXPLORATIONS account, but his contact had eluded him this morning, telling him that the decision had been made and that he was not at liberty to say if they had been selected. Richard had been surprised to find out that his contact, was, in fact, not the decision maker, but the vendor analyst charged with putting together all of the competitive data on each company's services for his boss. The man who was to decide was set to visit the winning company at one point in the afternoon and that was when they would find out. Richard and forced waiting were a losing combination. He was irritable the whole morning.
"Hi Anna," she turned to see the young man that she and Gwen had shared dinner with, Vinoth Patel. He was wearing a suit today, and appeared much less relaxed than on the evening they shared with him.
"Vinoth, how nice to see you. We didn't run into you yesterday. Gwen and I thought you might have gone back to Oxford."
They both turned to see Gwen who was finishing with a client. She waved and smiled, but never stopped focusing on the person she was with.
"I'm sorry. I got very busy with the conference. I ended up eating dinner with another group of people and I almost wished I hadn't. Your and Gwen's company would have been better."
"Oh, how nice of you to say." It was a sweet compliment to give. She wished it was Gwen listening to this and not her, as Gwen had mentioned that he was right up her alley as far as potential suitors were concerned. "Gwen is finishing off with a client. Do you want to come in and sit for a while?" Anna didn't want him to set off without at least giving her friend another chance to talk to him.
"Actually, I was here to see Richard Carlisle." A million bells and whistles went off in Anna's head at the mention of Richard's name. How did he know Richard? They hadn't met and hadn't been introduced. Was the story he gave them at dinner false? "I'll want to talk to him and Gwen as soon as she becomes available."
As if on cue, Gwen walked up to both of them and greeted him with a big smile. "How nice to see you Vinoth!"
Out of the corner of his eye, Richard saw that the girls were very familiar with the young man and he approached them. He looked ready to scare the young man off, rendering him a nuisance visitor. He had a look in his eyes that scared Anna. She was the only one who realized that this could be what they were waiting for. Before Richard could open his mouth and make fools of them, she stopped him.
"Richard, do you know Mr. Vinoth Patel? He's come to see you and Gwen." Gwen looked confused. Richard was too.
"No, I am not sure we've met," he answered guardedly. Anna's actions worked, as he stood quietly, allowing the man to speak.
"No, we haven't and I will introduce myself formally in a second, but before that, I must take a minute to apologize to Anna and Gwen, for I misrepresented myself to them, and I have led them to believe I was somebody I wasn't." He turned to look at them apologetically. "I am Vinoth Patel, but I am not a graduate student at Oxford. I am the Director of Vendor Contracts at CONOCO EXPLORATIONS and I am ever so sorry that I took advantage of your good nature and friendly spirit the other day. You were both genuine and warm and I deceived you by not telling you my true intent."
Each one of the Bates Airlift employees had a different expression on their faces. Richard knew what this visit was about. He was to find out if his sales efforts paid off. He was full of anticipation and worry. He was also trying to figure out why this man seemed to know the girls and he didn't? Gwen was trying to suppress her confusion and disappointment. He asked her to the pub to get information? Not because he liked her? She still didn't realize how important this moment could be. Anna was trying to absorb it all and play both supportive friend and professional mediator if necessary. She didn't know which way to look first.
"The truth is," He continued with his explanation, facing both of the women and away from Richard. "I wanted to meet somebody from each company. I needed to make a decision on what helicopter company to use. David Farnsworth, your contact and my employee, put together a very robust package, highlighting the pros and cons of each company and the financials. I'll be honest. Both are rather similar, with a few different details. Thus, I wanted to meet somebody from each team, a real person, not the actual Sales Manager, to determine what cannot be analyzed on paper. I was looking for the core values of the company to come through and for the passion to be present. The only way I know that it will be real and not a Sales pitch, is to interview a member of the team in as relaxed a setting as possible."
He turned to look at Richard. "I had the pleasure of dining with your two colleagues on Tuesday. I dined with a couple of people from Helicopters UK last night. I am pleased to say that Bates Airlift has been selected as our new service provider thanks to the knowledge, enthusiasm, loyalty, charisma and good table manners of Miss Gwen Dawson."
"What?" Gwen's jaws dropped. Her eyes opened wide. She knew how important this account was.
Anna's sixth sense was correct, that there was something about Vinoth that hadn't seemed right when they dined with him two days prior. He was pleasant, but he was asking so many things of Gwen, almost like a test. At least, he wasn't a stalker; he was a businessman with an ulterior motive. That made her feel better for having given in so early against what her sensors were telling her. She would never believe that this had happened, though. Her friend had been recognized for landing the largest account Bates Airlift ever had. Richard had even mentioned that more helicopters might be necessary, if they were selected.
Richard was speechless. He had a half scowl, half-smile. They had landed the account, only it had not been him.
"Yes, Gwen. I am so sorry to have done that to you." Vinoth appeared worried and was looking for absolution from her.
"No, it's not a problem. Don't worry." She smiled, very self-assured and wanting to put Vinoth at ease. This news was akin to winning the lottery and nothing would make her upset. "I understand. I am just wondering what I said to convince you."
"Besides impressing me with your knowledge of each type of aircraft on your fleet, and how you described the miraculous process of flying, I asked if you were happy working there and why. You said you were very comfortable and that you worked for a kind boss who was very fair and just and who had given you many developmental opportunities. You said the company treated their employees right and was socially conscious, hiring interns to provide job experience, participating in Make a Wish child dreams, and that they often provide low cost or free flights to people in need. If it is the place that makes you proud to work there, then it is the place that I want to do my business with."
Richard walked away with Vinoth and Anna assumed that they were discussing the terms of the contract and the next steps. As soon as he was far away not to notice, Anna hugged Gwen, still in shock, quite effusively.
"Oh, Gwen, you're such a star. Mr. Bates will be so proud. This can only mean good things for you."
"You think so Anna?" Gwen still doubted that the account had been secured because of her unwitting actions.
"Richard and Mr. Bates would be fools if they didn't give you credit for landing us the biggest account in our history." Anna squeezed her cheeks affectionately. "Now perk up! We still have work to do."
From the corner of her eye, Anna saw Richard's laptop sitting on the small table. He never let it out of his sight before, but given Vinoth's unexpected visit and even more unexpected news, he must not have remembered.
"Oh, look. Richard left his laptop unattended. Let me take it and put it away until he gets back. We wouldn't want it to fall into the wrong hands."
"You're right. He would be terribly upset with us if something happened. Can you handle it? I see people coming." Gwen approached the new set of attendees, leaving Anna alone.
"Absolutely," she responded as Gwen walked away. This was exactly what she wanted.
This was perfect. She walked to the little enclosure behind the video wall, where she made all the pots of tea and set it on a counter. At best, she had ten minutes before Gwen noticed she was missing. Richard was hopefully gone for at least half an hour. She had tried, all convention long, to peek at his files. After all, she had put herself far away from Yorkshire to come to this event and one of the reasons she did come was to study Richard closer. The entire event, he had hardly spoken to them and he did not share any meals with them either. She had learned nothing of him and this was the best opportunity she would have. Fishing through her pockets, she found the spare empty 1GB flash drive that she carried around for situations such as these and introduced it into the USB port of the laptop. Quickly, she started copying files that did not appear to be Bates Airlift related. By now, she knew the names of most of the corporate accounts and she skipped those, concentrating on everything else. In addition, she duplicated the entire PICTURES folder, in case there was something that could be seen. One subfolder within the PERSONAL folder category caught her attention. PARTNERSHIP. She copied it too. She still had five more minutes. She opened that file and started reading a word document, CARLISLE PARTNERSHIP. As much as Anna could ascertain, Richard had proposed partnership with Mr. Bates, requesting up to a 50% share. That's bold, she thought. One half of the company? He was very sure of himself to be bidding for such a high amount. She closed the files, determined to read them later and put away the flash drive into her pocket. Beside it sat her trusty voice recorder. It was probably full to the top with the nonsensical chatter of her day's work with the hundreds of people she had funneled through their stand. She would delete it as soon as she got home. She was sure it had reached capacity for the day.
She closed the laptop and left it perched on the topmost counter, away from anything that could spill on it. She paused for a moment to rub her feet. They were still sore. Thankfully, there were only a couple of more hours left.
"What are you doing with my laptop?" Richard Carlisle himself was standing there, looking upon her with disgust. He was upset. His tone was accusatory and his eyes reflected forced restraint. Anna had seen this before when she presented the evidence of adultery to the spouses that hired her. They wanted to lash out and hit somebody. Her first reaction internally was of panic, but she didn't let it show. She was trained to play it cool, to deflect any suspicion off of herself. If he saw she was afraid, he would have the upper hand and she would not let him have it. She didn't know how long he had been standing there either, so, perhaps he had not seen her actually go through the files. The important thing was for her to get out of there and into the open, regardless of where the conversation led to.
"Saving your Arse." This was the moment to be bold. "You could be a little more appreciative of that. Gwen and I wanted to keep it safe for you. You left it lying about when you walked off with Mr. Patel. It could have been stolen, you know."
The enclosure was not very large. It was just a series of panels that were put together by the juxtaposition of the dividing walls of their stand and it was a nifty little storage space, but now she was inside, with nowhere to go and Richard took two steps forward.
Anna stood her ground. Moving back meant his intimidation was working and she would not fall prey to him.
"Is that so?" He asked, bringing his face to within inches of hers.
"Yes, Richard. Do you think otherwise?"
"I'll tell you what I think. You and that redhead out there, feel that Bates Airlift, and I in particular, owe you a debt of gratitude for winning the CONOCO EXPLORATIONS account. You think that entitles you to something." He moved forward again. He was within an inch of her face. She stepped back, not of fear, but to make her words to him understood. Her bottom hit the ledge where the hot tea pots were sitting. She couldn't go farther back without getting burnt.
"Richard, move back now. Get away from me this instant or I will have to accuse you of workplace harassment."
"You'll do no such thing." He moved forward. Anna was cornered with no way out. "You think I would appreciate you winning this account because both of you spread your legs and let that Paki have some of you?"
Anna's jaw dropped at the preposterous assertion.
"We did no such thing Richard, what you are inferring is absurd and a lie. We went out to dinner with him, in a pub, in public."
"Well, that is what I'll be saying if you dare accuse me of anything. I saw you reading something on my laptop. I'll be making partner soon, thanks to this account, and if you don't want me to accuse you of corporate espionage either, you'd best open your legs to me too."
In a swift move, he reached for her head and brought her lips to his, crushing her against him. She was startled by his comments, but she was more surprised at his audacity to actually attempt to assault her. His other hand reached underneath her skirt, and tried to stroke her intimately. She wouldn't let him get the best of her. She had clamped her mouth shut and tried to turn away, resisting his advances, but he was too strong. It was repulsive how his tongue forced entry. Her gag reflex was working fine and she felt her bile threatening to come up. As best as she could, her hands made their way between them and she tugged at his arm, moving it away from her legs. In an instant, she was able to position the other at his chest level. Enough force generated by her adrenaline was mustered and he was pushed back.
He looked at her with anger.
"Mr. Bates! When did you arrive?" Gwen's cheery voice was overheard not a foot away.
Oh Thank God, thought Anna. Richard was surprised and his control of the situation was lost. They hadn't seen him, but they heard him respond something to Gwen. If he had not arrived, she didn't know how she would have gotten out of there. She straightened her skirt and smoothed her hair back. She took a napkin and wiped all of her lipstick off. She didn't have access to a mirror, but Richard's filthy mouth had probably smudged it around and she wouldn't be able to go out looking like that.
During this time, the cretin looked at her as he also smoothed his hair back and straightened his tie.
"You're lucky he's here. Don't you dare contradict a word I've said, or you'll be sorry."
On a whim, John Bates decided to fly to London. Richard had telephoned him earlier in the week to describe just how much Helicopters UK had invested in their booth. He described it as gaudy, yet captivating. It seemed worth a look. If Bates Airlift needed to set aside more money for promotion and events, he wanted to make sure they did it right. Richard had texted him some pictures, but, they didn't always tell the complete story. A convention booth was the hallmark of a company. With so many other booths available at these massive events, visitors made decisions within seconds if you were worth their time. Getting the product known to potential customers required attracting people into the space, but too many gimmicks could spoil the Bates Airlift message. You didn't want the wrong people coming in and taking valuable time away from his limited amount of team members. It also was important for him to see how Gwen was getting on. If they needed to expand their sales force in the near future, he wanted to give her the opportunity and there was no better way than to see her in action. Seeing that everything in the office was in top shape and Sarah and Phyllis had everything under control, he took Maggie out and headed towards the London Heliport at Battersea.
He considered calling Richard to let him know and at the last moment thought better of it. His Sales Manager would be too busy at the stand to field his phone call. Just to make sure that his arrival was not a complete surprise, at least not for Anna, he decided to tweet.
THERE IS NOTHING MORE EXHILARATING THAN FLYING OVER THE BIG SMOKE
Since their agreement was to be vague, he hoped she understood from that that he was on his way to London. He was dying to set his eyes on her again. Since their last kiss, almost a week ago, his mind wandered to think about her all the time. He missed seeing her at the office, at his meetings, finding her in the kitchen making a pot of tea, coming upon her in a deep state of thinking. She was clever and beautiful and she made his heart beat faster. When working, he would think about her golden hair, beautiful eyes, easy smile and adorable accent. At leisure, he would remember the sensation of her lips upon his and the burning of his neck as her hands held him tight. Those feelings, late at night, transformed him into a man with desires and he often dreamt of her, in his bed, lying atop him. He imagined himself making love to her and those were the sweetest dreams. Those sensations were short-lived, as he would wake to the cruel realization that he was married to Vera, not Anna. Even if she was also interested in him, it could not be. He would not take it a step further with her until things with Vera became clearer. He would never belittle her to the status of mistress. He would never expose her to the most certain wrath that would be unleashed if Vera knew. And now, Vera did know just a little. How she figured it out, was a mystery to him. They had done nothing publicly that would give them away. She must have seen how his face brightened whenever she appeared before him; how his whole mood changed from glum to happy with her mere presence. Anna was not at fault of this, he was, and he would have to work harder to hide his growing attraction to her.
When he landed at the Battersea Heliport, he took a cab to the ExCel convention center. He looked at his phone and there were no tweets from Anna. She either did not see the need to acknowledge his message, or was too busy in the stand to have noticed what he wrote.
He was able to prove his affiliation with Bates Airlift and was allowed through rather quickly. He immediately saw what Richard had described when he came across the Helicopters UK pavilion while he searched for the Bates Airlift stand through the crowded hall. It was over the top, but pulled people in. The helicopter model and holograms were admittedly cool, but he wasn't sure he wanted that. He'd inspect it later with Richard and did not stop to take in the extravagance.
He saw his target at a distance and Gwen was alone, talking to two men in suits. Anna and Richard were not visible anywhere. Instead of distracting Gwen, and his presence would be an interruption, he came upon the stand from an angle, and entered from where the video monitors were held. He wanted to get close enough to hear her and see if she was handling herself right. He didn't want to trust Richard's assessment of her work here. He'd already said it was average, at best, and he didn't want to believe it, not with his track record of besmirching her capacity. He hugged the wall to stand as close as possible to where she stood, in the small sitting area. He was impossibly quiet, eager to not disturb her. He came upon the small hidden enclosure and peaked in. His heart dropped. He almost fainted. Anna and Richard were kissing, quite passionately, letting whatever moment they were sharing get the best of them. His eyes only took on the scene for no more than a few seconds, but it was enough to scar him. The image was now burned on to his retinas.
Unable to stay there and witness this, and unable to spy on Gwen from any other angle, he just made his presence known to her.
"Mr. Bates, when did you arrive?" Gwen's very obvious surprise and pleasure shown through. She was loud enough, he was sure, that the pair of lovers had overheard. She introduced him to the two men and discovered they were from another one of the neighboring stands and owners of a manufacturing smelter of the high-grade metal alloys used in the construction of the sea oil rig platforms. Since the event was winding down, they had come over to investigate services. He was very detached from the conversation and in his subconscious, realized that Gwen was handling the conversation quite well. Good. His mind was elsewhere right now. It couldn't focus on that. What he wanted was for Richard and Anna to come out of there. What he wanted was to look Anna in the eye and see the truth hidden within. They had not shared any professions of love, him and her, but he thought they shared a connection. He thought, if she were patient, that they might have a future together. He was a fool. Maybe she was working him, and working Richard. Is that how she did it? Or was she working all of the men in the company, one by one, like this, trying to test their loyalties to Vera? Whatever her reasons, it had changed how he saw her.
They emerged a few minutes later. Richard looked confident, smug even. Anna was unreadable. There was emptiness in her eyes, a bit of dread, mixed with fear. He couldn't really tell. It didn't matter though. Years of living with Vera had trained him. He would shut himself down. Anna Smith wouldn't be the cause of another one of his heartaches.
"Is this for real?" Elsie was staring at the GPS screen. She and Charles were sitting in their car, yet another evening, doing surveillance. It was Thursday night, Vera's dalliance day. Everything was ready, the motion enabled video was installed, and the lot was empty. They were hidden away, with binoculars, waiting for her lover to make his appearance. The camera and the telescopic lens were sitting nearby. Nobody had arrived yet.
The GPS signal indicated that she had driven home, instead of driving to the "Park and Ride" lot to start her weekly bus and cab trip. They waited twenty minutes, perhaps thinking that she had gone home to get something, but it wasn't the case. Sadly, they realized, she wasn't coming.
A/N: Thank you for the continued support. I received excellent feedback regarding the length of my chapters and while most of you do like them long, I do agree that there is a point in which they are just too much. I am really trying to not go over 10K. I almost made it this chapter – 10.5K.
Pops and Elsie's hard work will be paying off very soon! Will John and Anna finally get on the same wavelength? Don't hate me! They will sort it out, eventually. What the hell is Edna Braithwaite doing in this story? When will Richard get his comeuppance? Tune in next chapter to find out.