Parallel World

Chapter 27

Jack put his bag on the floor and went back to his room. I put mine next to his. It was exactly ten days since Jack had burst into our apartment and exclaimed "Pack your bags, Elisa, we're going to Europe!" I noticed he had left his passport on the coffee table. I knew Jack had recently bought a new one but I hadn't actually seen it and, although I knew I shouldn't be doing it, curiosity took over and I opened the photo page. Of course, just as I was glancing at his year of birth, Jack returned to the living room. He looked amused.

- Are you spying on me?

- 1983? Jack, you've made yourself younger than me!

- What year of birth do you have then?

- 1982. It's not fair, you're now a year younger!

- Elisa, but I am younger than you by sixteen years.

- Formally. Biologically you're two years older than me.

Instead of a response, Jack just smiled and took the passport.

- We've got to go, - he said.

I took my own passport from the coffee table, grabbed my travel bag and locked the apartment door. Jack was waiting for me in the corridor. We were on our way to JFK to board a plane to Berlin. In Europe, we had several meetings scheduled with East European vampires as we wanted to expand our market and promote SLOOD, Renviro and VampNet.

Although we were supposed to be away for at least two weeks all we had was a carry on each. We didn't need many clothes whilst travelling and not needing toiletries or any grooming products freed up even more space. As Nolan had once half-jokingly said, "Skincare for vampires: every seven days or so, take a wet wipe and dedust yourself!"

The reason we needed to go to Berlin first was because we had sent all our samples of SLOOD and Renviro there, it wasn't something you could transport on a commercial plane.

II

I stopped and looked at the neon sign as we were approaching the entrance. Glory & Shame. It felt so weird to simply walk through a door, I was so used to the underground entrance and its labyrinth in New York.

The Berlin club was located on the outskirts of the city and the place was fairly easy to spot. There were always security guards outside who explained that this is a special members only club. Most people accepted it but, from time to time, they had someone who felt so important they claimed they could get in anywhere. As the club manager had once jokingly told me, sometimes she thought they could actually let them in - two minutes in vampire company and the VIP would be running towards the exit, shaking with fear.

- Elisa, Jack, lovely to see you!

- Great to see you too, Betty! - I said.

Betty was as irreplaceable as Vivianne was in New York. Betty ran the club, ensured it was always well stocked and was very easy to work with. Of course, being a vampire, she didn't work for money. She did it because she shared our vision.

Visually, the Berlin club didn't differ much from Glory & Shame New York: neon lights, velvet sofas, two floors, roughly the same capacity

- It looks exactly like it did when we were the last time, - Jack whispered to me.

- And that was... On the opening night, which was... over three years ago, - I whispered back.

Betty walked up to us, we hugged and she asked how our flight was. Jack and I were on a tight schedule so we didn't have much time for small talk.

- All the samples are here, - she said and led us into the stockroom where two plain leather suitcases were waiting for us. We had no idea how many samples we'd need so we packed as many as we could.