Frequent Flyer

Chapter 6

Jake disembarked from the plane and one of the local VIP agents was waiting for him as he exited.

"Mr. Otero, I am Luca. Welcome to Zurich. I hope that you had a pleasant flight." He said in perfect English.

Jake could instantly tell that this agent had been schooled in England by the accent. He was Swiss but you wouldn't know it by listening to him speak.

"Thank you Luca. And yes, it was a very pleasurable flight indeed" Jake said with a little grin as he turned back to look at the plane, while thinking of Fabienne, who was still on board wishing all her passengers a pleasant stay or welcome back home.

"Very well Mr. Otero, I will escort you through immigration and customs. Will you require any of the arrival lounge services before departing the airport?."

As usual Corey had called Luca ahead of Jake's arrival to make sure he would meet the flight at the gate. He was now waiting for a text from Luca to let him know if he needed to have the local driver come around or wait.

"Yes. I will need to take a shower and have some clothes pressed. I have a meeting in a few hours and won't make it if I go to the hotel first. While my clothes are being pressed, I'll have breakfast in the lounge."

Luca took Jake's garment bag that contained the shirt and suit he needed pressed as he headed for immigration with Jake. Jake knew he would be having a late lunch so he decided that a second light breakfast would tie him over until then. They didn't have the prestigious suites at arrivals but the amenities were still top notch.

Luca sent the required text to Corey to let him know that it would be at least an hour or two before he expected Jake to leave the airport. After making sure that Jake was settled in at the arrival lounge, he headed to the services department to have his clothes pressed. As Jake settled into the lounge and ordered a hot breakfast from the chef, he noticed across the dining area a competitor of his, Harry Decker, that had a grudge with him. He had seen him in Montreal the day before yesterday but not on the flight here, so he must have been on a different airline. Jake could not stand the guy and always made a point of avoiding him. This time it was a little late since he had already sat down and time was tight. He would try to avoid eye contact with Harry and keep the newspaper he picked up at the entrance as high as possible, and as long as possible, hoping that he would be leaving soon.

Harry Decker was also a corporate finance guru like Jake, and because there were only a handful of experts at their level and caliber, they would often cross paths and compete for the same accounts. The world's largest corporations would call on them when they needed outside advice or when they were headed towards disaster. They would look to people like Jake and Harry to save the company, and they were the ones with the best track records to do it.

Harry had a big chip on his shoulder because of a deal gone bad with one such company, and although he would keep it civil whenever they crossed paths, Harry couldn't let it go. To him it was as close to a career killer as he had come and it was all, in his mind, because of Jake. 

A while back, a client had doubts on Harry's proposal, they called on Jake after Harry had worked on the account for months. Jake came in, the client showed him the proposal Harry had recommended and Jake tore it to shreds. It's not that Harry's proposal wouldn't have worked but Jake had other ideas and the client decided to implement what Jake had given them. Word got around quickly and Harry had lost some major accounts that he had lined up. It had an impact on his reputation and put a dent in his wallet. This was unacceptable and he vowed to destroy him in such a way that Jake wouldn't be able to come back from it. He would make sure his plan would do away with Jake forever.

Jake was finishing his breakfast without, he thought, being noticed by Harry when Luca appeared

"Mr. Otero, your clothes have been pressed and I took the liberty of placing them in your reserved shower room. I can escort you there when you are ready.".

"Thank you Luca. I'm ready so let's head over there now."

Just as he was getting up Fabienne was walking by.

"We meet again Fabienne." He smiled.

She blushed and they shared a few words as Harry looked over with a slight shake of the head and an evil grin on his face. Luca escorted Jake to the shower room and once Jake was settled in, Luca texted Corey to let him know that he could advise the driver that Jake would be leaving within the hour.

As usual everything was running smoothly for Jake. He was well aware that it was because of Corey's superior organization skills. He finished showering, changed into his suit and headed to the terminal exit. There his car and driver were waiting to take him to Zurich's financial district for his meeting.

As they drove into town and he took in the scenery, like he did many times before, he kept thinking of Fabienne and planning the evening. By the time his meetings would be over with, he wouldn't have as much time as he would like with her, but he would take what he could get because he couldn't get her out of his mind.

He pulled out the piece of paper with her number and address on it and looked it up on his phone. He was pleased to see it wasn't that far from his hotel. A brisk walk and it would be a little over half an hour to the hotel. This way he wouldn't need to call a cab and could get back by foot. He took out his personal phone and started to text her. It was a phone he picked up on his travels for his personal business. It was a prepaid burner phone that he paid cash for and could buy local SIM cards when he needed them at any convenience store. He liked the fact it was no hassle and didn't have to go through the whole application process when he used it so infrequently.

Headed into town. I will be in meetings all day. Does 8pm work for you?. He sent the text but was confident that the time wouldn't be a problem. He knew that he had her in the palm of his hands and that she was probably waiting impatiently for his text. As the driver turned onto Austrasse and neared the office building, Jake received a text back from Fabienne.

Works for me. Do you need directions?.

No, he answered, I'm good. Pick you up at 8pm.

The driver stopped the car got out and opened the door for Jake as he turned the phone off and placed it back in his bag. He got out of the car, looked up at the building and thought They aren't going to be happy with the results. Just then his driver closed the car door and said

"Would you like me to wait here?".

"Thank you but no. I would appreciate it if you would take my luggage to the hotel. Ask for the concierge and let him know it's my luggage. He'll know what to do with it. And I'll walk to the hotel when I am done so I'll see you tomorrow for my flight out?".

"My pleasure Mr. Otero. I will see you tomorrow at the hotel". Jake handed him a nice tip and headed into the building.

Fabienne was looking down at her phone while waiting for her colleague to arrive from a different flight so that she could get a lift into town. Just as she sent the last text to Jake with a smile on her face, she was suddenly startled by the man standing in front of her staring down at her phone.

"I'm so sorry" Harry said. "I didn't mean to startle you. I just wanted to let you finish whatever it was you were doing." He grinned.

"Oh that's ok sir. Can I help you with something?"

"Yes. I noticed your uniform so I am sure that you can direct me to the best way to get into town?".

Harry knew Zurich like the back of his hand and could probably give Fabienne directions into the town she had lived in for the past few years. As Fabienne gave Harry advise on the best way into Zurich, he wasn't listening. But rather, he was staring at her airline badge that had her full name on it. Harry heard, from a distance, someone call out Fabienne's name and she turned to see who it was. She waved and gestured to her friend "one minute" and turned back to continue the conversation with Harry. But he was gone.