I would have to see for myself. Something, I noted, I had not been invited to have the opportunity to do as yet even though they’d had their second date last night, dinner and Josette’s first movie.
So I wouldn’t feel left out, Noc took me to my first movie as well (though he had not, as I requested, taken me to the same exact movie as Josette and Glover’s movie).
It was insanely loud, the sound seeming to beat into my body.
Regardless, it was a rather interesting way to tell a tale, inflating images so they were humongous and all you could pay attention to.
In the end, I got used to the incessant loudness and quite lost myself in it.
Though I was still peeved for it was played in the dark, which meant we could have easily gone to the same one as Josette and Glover and done this without detection.
But Noc had no time for my pique, ordering rather firmly, “Just let her enjoy herself, Frannie, and keep out of it.”
It was hateful to admit, but I had no choice but to do just that.
Now, we were in a vehicle sitting at the curb outside the building where Dax Lahn had his office, and our time to see to what needed to be seen to was short.
“Right, good, thank you,” Josette said to the driver and looked to me. “We can go.”
I threw open my door and stepped out.
Josette followed me, slammed the door and wasted precious moments being friendly and waving at our driver as he drove away.
I took her waving hand and pulled her with me.
“Come. We must make haste. This staff meeting they have has already started. It can last upwards of an hour but I’ve no idea how much time we need, though I fear the more the better and it’s ticking away rapidly.”
“All right, all right, I’m coming,” Josette murmured, flipping and flopping behind me while my high heels clicked on the pavements, my thighs straining the most becoming, but quite tight skirt I was wearing that hit me at my knees, my filmy blouse billowing with the swiftness of our gaits.
I had hit on the perfect plan, for when they had this meeting, all working there attended so the office was practically deserted, save the big room where they sat, and we could easily reach Dax Lahn’s office without them seeing us.
As we entered, I did not take time, as I had done often, to admire the fact that Dax Lahn had selected an older, rather handsome building in which to house his offices.
No, guiding Josette with me, we quickly moved to the elevators, called one, it whooshed us to the appropriate floor and let us out.
Outside the elevator I took in a deep breath and let it go, turning to Josette and advising, “Deep breath, Josette. Calm. Serene. The key to being somewhere you aren’t supposed to be is behaving like you have every reason to be there.”
She nodded.
“Deep breath,” I repeated, noting she hadn’t taken one.
I watched her do that, gave her a small, reassuring smile, and turned in the direction we would need to take to get to Lahn’s office.
Since I was very good at this, we had no issues entering the rooms that housed Lahn’s business nor getting to his office. It was as I’d known it would be, deserted with everyone in the meeting. We hadn’t seen a soul all the way to our destination.
We entered his personal office and went immediately to the large desk that was carved attractively and made of beautiful wood.
I stood at its side and looked to Josette, sweeping an arm toward the contraption lying closed on its top.
“There it is, Josette, let us find his schedule quickly so we can just as quickly leave.”
She looked to me then to the contraption then to me.
“It’s closed,” she stated.
I examined it even though I’d just seen it.
“It” was called a “laptop.” Noc had one. I had requested he show me how to use it just last night, but he’d grinned and shaken his head asking, “You know I’m not stupid, right?”
My reply had been a heated, “Of course! How could you ask such nonsense?”
He’d simply shaken his head again and said, “We’ll get into computers after Lahn bumps into Circe on the street somewhere and they fall in love at first sight.” And after delivering that, he’d walked away.
Most irritating.
Though, he’d walked away to get the wine bottle and refresh my glass so my irritation couldn’t last long without it becoming mulish.
Which was also irritating.
In Lahn’s office, I turned back to Josette.
“It is, indeed, closed,” I confirmed.
“On TV, when they close it, that means turning it off,” she explained. “Always when they’re finished doing something of great import on it, they slap it shut and sit back contentedly.”
“Well, we shall open it as we have yet to do what we need to do that’s of great import. We’ll shut it again when we’re done.”
“No, I mean, if I open it, it’s like turning it on. And a lot of the time, when people on the television are doing what people like us are doing now, they open the ones that have been closed and they’re immediately foiled in their activities because they have to get by the password.”
I stared in shock at the computer, asking, “Does it speak?”
“Not that I know,” Josette answered.
I looked to her. “Then how can it ask for a password?”
“You tap it in.”
Of course.
I’d seen Noc tapping on his own.
“Right, well, we—”
It was then, I sensed it.
I stopped speaking and froze, not including my eyes which I felt grow big.
Then I stepped close to Josette and whispered, “Keep quiet.”