The summer sun reflected off of the crystal clear pool of Grayson Manor. Daniel was swimming laps when suddenly he heard his name being called from above the water, he stopped at the pools edge and looked up to find Margaux standing above him. Three months prior, Margaux had left for France to begin Voulez’s transition from it’s headquarters in Paris being moved to New York.
“Back already?” he smiled.
“What can I say? I missed the Hamptons too much” she replied with her accent thicker than it was when she left.
Daniel pulled himself out of the pool and grabbed a towel that was laid on one of the chairs and his phone that was beside it.
“So is everything ready?” he asked as he wiped off his drenched body.
“Almost...but all will be fini within the next few weeks. My trip actually would have been shorter if it wasn’t so highly opposed on the board.” Margaux said as she walked back towards the house.
“But you got them, right?” he asked as he followed.
When inside Margaux took a seat on the couch.
“Oui, I convinced them a move of headquarters did not mean an end for Voulez in Paris, simply a relocation of it’s power source”
They both smirked. As a maid walk by Daniel called out,
“Olivia a bottle of Cristal, please.”
The maid nodded and quickly disappeared towards the kitchen.
“Nothing is finalized yet Daniel, isn’t it bad luck to celebrate prematurely?” Margaux said looking puzzled.
“Maybe for your mission, but not for mine...as of yesterday we have an official building in Manhattan” he replied.
Margaux shot up from her seat and embraced Daniel.
“Daniel Grayson you never disappoint” she said as they hugged.
The hug lasted for a half minute but as they separated they paused to look into eachothers eyes. Although they had not crossed the line past friendship, Daniel’s feelings for Margaux had only grown throughout the year.
“Margaux, I…”
Before he could finish the maid walked back into the room with two glasses and a bottle of Cristal Champagne. Daniel and Margaux separated and both filled their glasses.
“To...Voulez and it’s future” Margaux toasted.
“To us” Daniel added.
They tapped their glasses together to toast and both took a sip. Suddenly his phone buzzed, signaling a notification. Daniel peered down to see it was a text message from an unknown number. He swiped the his screen to open the text and it read
‘Hope you like your career like you like your hookers...dead’
Under the words was a picture file. Daniel looked over to Margaux,
“Would you excuse me for a moment?” he said rhetorically.
“Yeah, is everything okay?” Margaux replied as she watched concern cross Daniel’s face.
“Everything is fine” he answered.
Daniel walked outside before opening the file. He looked around to make sure no one was close enough to sneak up on him and possibly see the photo. As he opened it, he found a picture of an obviously dead woman lying next to him as he slept. He recognized the corpse as one of the women he and Gideon LeMarchal partied with eight months previous. He remembered waking up in a hotel room with the girl next to him, but he thought she was asleep and he left without turning on the lights, so he never actually saw the girls face.
Panic overcame Daniel. Not only for himself but also for the fact that, that photo could destroy Voulez and its image.
Before he had anymore time to think, a phone call from the Southern Long Island Psychiatric Hospital came across his screen. He answered only to hear more disturbing information, Victoria was being released.
Once he hung up the phone, Daniel returned inside.
“What was it?” Margaux asked concerned.
Daniel grabbed the button down shirt that was hung across the back of one of the chairs across from the couch and pulled it on. He decided it best Margaux didn’t know about the photo.
“Apparently my mother is no longer crazy and is being discharged” he replied as he buttoned up the shirt.
Margaux smiled but truthfully she didn’t much care for Victoria.