I walked into the lobby a few steps behind Tom, dress shoes clicking softly on the tile floor. I kept my posture deferential and my eyes towards the floor. He was the boss, after all. I could hear Liz’s footsteps beside me, but I didn’t look in her direction. I had been very careful all day not to pay her an unusual amount of attention. I had told her before we separated for the night that she could change her mind and leave at any time, but if she was still there in the morning, I would assume we were going ahead as planned, we wouldn’t have any more time to discuss. I wasn’t sure whether to be relieved or concerned when she really was still there. It did make everything easier, except for the last step, but that one was going to be a doozy. I pushed the thought aside. Too late to worry about that now. The roller coaster was already in motion. I needed to focus on the step that was right in front of me. We stopped at the desk, and I heard Tom ask for the manager, saying he had an appointment. The receptionist cleared her throat.
“I’m sorry, I am not seeing anything on the calendar for today, sir,” she smiled apologetically, tucking a lock of blond hair behind one ear as she did.
I cursed internally. If one of Wallace’s people had screwed up our booking…
“We have a meeting with a Duncan Armstrong. We are from Thompson Laboratory Supplies,” Tom’s voice was firm, with just a hint of annoyance. “We have been travelling all day for this, so I would appreciate it if you would check again.”
Not bad for improv. Considering how nervous he had been at breakfast, either those beta blockers were doing a hell of a job, or he was one of those people who only really showed up when the chips were down. Maybe a bit of both. The receptionist nodded. She spoke into her headset in hushed tones for a moment, before finally turning back to Tom with a 10,000-watt smile.
“My apologies, Mr. Fitzgibbon. Dr. Armstrong had recorded the meeting in his personal calendar but neglected to pass it on to me. He will see you in conference room 1, please follow me.”
She stepped out from behind the desk and escorted us to the elevator. She swiped her card to access the elevator and while we waited, I allowed myself one quick glance at Liz. If she wanted to back out, now was her last chance. I couldn’t see her mouth behind her surgical mask, but I saw the corners of her eyes crinkle from a smile.
“This is a nice building,” she observed.
“Isn’t it?” the receptionist beamed, guiding us into the elevator. “It’s new and we are its first tenants. Our company was heavily involved in the design of the space. It is perfectly suited to our needs.”
“Oh really? That is fascinating.”
I couldn’t be certain she was lying, but I did assume.
“I know, right? Actually, the architect is somewhat famous in this neighbourhood, or maybe infamous is the better word, because he…”
I zoned out a bit as they fell into a conversation about the architect’s many dalliances with local married women during the construction process. By the time the elevator arrived at the 4th floor Tanya, which I had learned was the receptionist’s name, and Liz were already fast friends. I didn’t get the impression that many people even bothered to feign interest in the architect for the poor woman. She even seemed a little disappointed when we arrived at the conference room and her job as escort was complete. She turned to leave, but when Liz called her back, she jumped at the invitation.
“Could I ask you a small favor?” Liz inquired.
“Of course, anything,” Tanya blurted before clearing her throat and continuing in a calmer tone. “That is my job, after all. Making sure our guests are comfortable.”
“It isn’t anything too onerous. We just have a delivery that should be arriving shortly, and I was wondering if you could have them bring it up to this conference room when they arrive?”
“A delivery?” Tanya seemed bit confused.
Liz lowered her voice and leaned in conspiratorially,
“We ordered in lunch from House of Napoli. I find it encourages people to stop by and to stick around for the sales pitch. You know how it is.”
“Ooh, that is one of our favorite restaurants around here. How did you know?”
“Just got lucky, I suppose. I do hope no one will take that as an attempt at bribery,” Liz chuckled.
“We certainly will, but none of us are above a little bribery,” Tanya laughed. “I will spread the word for you. I suspect attendance at your talk might be a bit higher than anticipated.”
“Will you be there?”
“Well, I am supposed to be manning the front desk but,” she checked her phone, “my lunch break is coming up. So, how about this, I’ll bring the delivery up as soon as it arrives, and maybe I can stay for a bit. For the food, of course.”
“I’d be glad if you did. We could talk more about architecture.”
Tanya offered Liz a smiled that was shyer than her previous receptionist look.
Stolen story; please report.
“I’ll be right back, then.”
She blushed slightly as she turned and hurried out of the room, leaving us alone. I raised an eyebrow at Liz, but she just shrugged. As Tom rolled his eyes and then turned to connect his laptop to the projector, Luke opened his mouth to speak, but before he could, I pointed to the camera in the corner of the room,
“They must be a state or the art security system in here, eh?” I observed casually. “I wish our office had so many cameras. Then we would have been able to figure out who kept stealing my lunch from the breakroom fridge.”
I had never worked a real office job before, but that seemed to be a common complaint. Truthfully, the odds of these cameras picking up sound, or even being actively monitored, were slim but why take chances when we didn’t have to? Luke’s forehead creased in a frown, but he nodded his understanding.
“Yeah, looks like a real nice system. I guess I should help…” he hesitated for a moment. “Mr. Fitzgibbon set up the projector.”
I was pretty certain that the pause meant he had forgotten what Tom’s first name was supposed to be. Fantastic. We’d only gone over it a hundred times in rehearsal. Hopefully he would at least remember that it was better to keep his mouth shut, if he couldn’t remember what to say. But there wasn’t really any need to worry. People, as a general rule, do not assume that you are a spy or imposter. He would have to do a lot more than call his boss by the wrong name to get anyone to even notice, let along assume anything more than that he was going to get fired when they left. That was why I had been comfortable with them playing this part, even though neither man really had the necessary experience. They would have to try pretty hard to actually fuck this up. Liz and I were going to be doing the tricky bit. And as she had just demonstrated, the succubus was more than capable of accomplishing what I needed from her. But we still had to wait for the right moment, so for now there were preparations to be made. I busied myself setting up samples of a few products on a table in the corner. A box of nitrile gloves, some sample pipets, assorted glass and plasticware. Whatever we were able to obtain on short notice that could make this look legitimate. It wasn’t bad, honestly. Reminded me of the brief time I spent in university. For a just a moment, I wondered what my life would have been like, if I had taken a different path. Probably boring, I decided, though that wasn’t necessarily a bad thing. I pulled on a pair of gloves and tossed one to Liz as well.
“Remember, you need to demonstrate how supple and comfortable our gloves are, right?”
She slipped them on and nodded,
“Of course.”
I turned as the door opened and a middle-aged man in a white polo shirt and slacks entered. He had a moustache and a warm, personable smile. Presumably, this was Dr. Duncan Armstrong. He paused in the doorway, glancing around to determine who was in charge here. I looked over at Tom and was pleased to see that he was already on his way over, extending his hand as he approached. Gripping his hand, Tom looked him in the eye with a salesman’s confidence,
“Dr. Armstrong? It’s a pleasure to meet you. Thank you for making the time.”
“Of course, of course. We are still in the early stages of our research program, so I am always looking for a good deal on supplies. The prices that your people sent over seem very competitive.”
“We do try,” Tom clapped him on the shoulder and the two men strolled over to my little table of demo products. “We have exclusive deals with several suppliers to provide high quality merchandise for lower fees than our competitors.”
As Tom launched into one of the pitches we had rehearsed, I watched other staff trickle into the room. They each paused, and you could see them look around for the food, then debate whether or not they should stay once they found it absent. Noticing their hesitation, Liz went over to greet people and encourage them to come in. They didn’t seem happy about it, but they followed her and took seats around the table. Liz tried her best to engage them in conversation, but they were all clearly still watching impatiently for the arrival of the promised food. I was briefly concerned that there would be a mutiny if the delivery didn’t arrive soon, but fortunately the door opened again to reveal that Tanya had returned with the several boxes, which she set down on the table. That seemed to excite people, and more staff gradually filtered in, each finding a seat and a slice of artisanal pizza with toppings like artichoke and sweet potato. Once it seemed like we had attracted all of the guests we were going to get, Tom called for the lights to be dimmed and began his presentation. Now was our chance. I rose and crossed to Liz, sitting with Tanya in the back corner of the room. Glancing back anxiously at our demo table, I leaned close and whispered into her ear.
“Ok, time to go.”
Liz gasped, putting a hand to her face.
“I thought you had them?” she hissed.
“No, you were supposed to bring them,” I insisted.
“Well, it doesn’t do us any good to argue about it now, does it? We need to go get them. If we hurry, we can be back before he even notices we are gone.”
“How? We can’t get back into the building, in case you forgot.”
For a moment, her brow furrowed, then as if struck by inspirations, Liz turned to Tanya,
“Hey, can I ask you for a favor?”
“Me?” Tanya asked.
“Yeah. Nothing big. I just need to borrow your key card, just for a minute. We left some of our promotional gifts out in the car. If my boss finds out that I forgot them, I am going to be in so much trouble. But if we go get them before the presentation is finished, he’ll never have to know. It would really help me out.”
“I could go with you…” Tanya began.
“No, no. I couldn’t ask you to interrupt your lunch for this. We’ll just pop out and grab them, it will only take a few minutes. Please?”
“Well…” she hesitated, turning the plastic card over in her hand. “You’ll be right back?”
“10 minutes, no more,” Liz promised.
“Ok, but they will kill me if I lose that card, so please keep it safe and hurry back,” she placed it into Liz’s outstretched hand.
“Thank you. I owe you one,” Liz held onto her hand for just a moment before taking the card. “And if anyone asks where we went, just say we’re in the bathroom, ok?”
“Ok,” Tanya nodded.
Keycard in hand, we slipped out of the conference room and into the deserted hallway. We walked a short way in silence, but I turned to Liz once we were out of earshot of the door.
“Laying it on a little thick in there, weren’t you?” I scratched the back of my head absently.
“What? We needed a card.”
“I could have just taken one from someone,” I noted.
“Well, this seemed easier and more organic. Now, let’s go get this drug and get back before people start to get suspicious.”
“Alright, well the head researcher’s office should be down this hall. With any luck, the key we need will be in there. Keep your eye out for any security or any staff that aren’t a fan of coconut and truffle pizza.”
Liz nodded silently, and we headed quietly down the hall, deeper into the facility.