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Getting out of the room, Zahra laughed till her eyes started to water. She had properly puzzled them, and Demetria must be having an argument with him right now. He had left the watch with her almost a week ago, but she lied to them, saying he left it last night. The rest of day she kept musing about it, feeling quite satisfied with herself, and the world at large.
******SOMEWHERE IN THE WHOLE WIDE WORLD******
A bell rings somewhere. The mystery man’s body guard cum assistant cum mercenary, Jake, stands like a sentry at the door to the huge room with a large table having transparent glass panels. He opens the door where his master is sitting with a cigar in his hand. His feet are propped up on the table. “The informer from that day has come back, sir, with some more information on the girl. Should I send him in?” Jake asks. “I’d be happy to see him. Tell him to come in” his master replies, smiling in the shadows.
The door opens slowly, revealing the short, battered, bald-headed man from before. He is shivering violently. “Come. Sit down. What have you got for me today? Did you get the information I asked for?” the man with the hidden face asks impatiently, when he sees that the man is not budging from the door. “Ye...es” he replies, uncertainly. He comes inside and sits onto the other chair across the table. The chair is quite dusty, like the room itself. “I managed to get only a bit more information. The girl came here, to Clydesville. Most probably, to the capital, Trapeze.”
“I found out that the girl changed her name, in fact her father did. I don’t know her present name, but her surname begins with an ‘F’. I don’t know what she looks like, because I was not there when she was born. I was once their cook. Something…went bad with a dish and they threw me out. But I have sources who let me know things. And I want to take revenge for the way I was treated, so I tell you. She might be anywhere, for all I know” he finished, breathless. “Anything else?” the man asked, and continued when he saw him nodding his head in a negative answer. “Well…. I must say that you’ve narrowed it quite a lot. As for searching her in Trapeze, it’s not a problem. Pull the drawers on your side of the table. You will see a bundle of currency notes. They are $50,000 like before. If you get any other information about her, do tell me. Another bundle would be waiting for you. You can go now.”
“Hey girl. I think I have a task for you” the mystery man said into his phone, when the bald man was gone. “What am I gonna get in return?” the girl answered, drawling her words in amusement. “Anything you ask for, baby.” “What will I have to do?” she asked. “You need to find someone out, which is quite in your field of expertise. Do you have a girl in your organization whose surname begins with an ‘F’? Well, she might be anywhere in the capital, but we have to start somewhere. Another clue is that she came from India just a few months ago.” “There are quite a number of people matching these clues, it’ll take some time to check. Any other clue?” she asked, her senses getting sharp. “She is a Muslim, I guess. And take all the time you need” he said, contentedly smiling into the phone.
Trapeze, Clydesville
When Zahra got back to work the next day, she found a note on her desk. ‘A car is waiting for you outside. It’s a black Alfa Romeo. Get into it and ask no questions. You’ll meet one more person in the car. She is one of your colleagues. Asking her anything would be useless because she knows nothing. Just like you. You’ll both know soon enough.’ The note was not signed but it was stamped with the initials M.W., and was printed on a thick, sparkly white sheet of paper.
She didn’t know what to do with it, so she thought of checking out if the note was real. She parted the blinds of her cabin window, and sure enough, a black Alfa Romeo was parked outside, a little way past the entrance to the Walworth Tower. A man was standing near it wearing sunglasses, with his hands behind his back. He was looking in her direction. Zahra hurriedly spread the blinds, as a chill ran down her spine. How did he know where to look? Had anyone told him? Was it a trap? Thousands of possibilities came to her mind, but she found each one weirder than the last. At last, giving up, she picked up her bag, fixed her hijab (head scarf) and went out of the room.
She found Jennifer sitting inside the car as she opened the door to get inside. “Hey. You again” she said, surprised. “What’s going on here? And why do they pick us every time?” Zahra asked, impatiently. “Honestly, I’ve no idea” Jennifer replied. “Well… we’ll see…” Zahra replied, her words trailing into the distance as the car sped on.
After about ten minutes, the black Alfa stopped at a grand villa like place. The driver got out and opened the car door for them. He led the way and after showing his card at the gate, went inside and the two followed. They entered a large vestibule, opulently furnished with antique vases and statuettes. A simpering Venus stood on a pedestal clutching her falling draperies, a bronze statue of Buddha was placed on the mantelpiece and an original Salvador Dali painting graced the front wall of the room. A mahogany desk stood in one corner on which there was an extraordinarily large blue vase. The teakwood doors and windows were fine specimens of intricate craftsmanship. They sat on plush and soft sofas as they waited for M.W., completely engrossed in their surroundings.
“I’m sorry for being so mysterious, but you see it’s a very delicate matter” Michael Walworth said, as he entered the room. The faces of both the girls shot up in his direction, shocked to see him behind all this. The last man they had expected to see who was blindly trusting the new inductees of the organization. “I have found you two responsible individuals, which is why you are here” he spoke briskly, as if reading their minds. The man was extremely calm and composed as he said all this, never betraying any emotion from his face.
“May I invite you to step into my private office, so that we may discuss the matter a bit more freely?” he asked courteously, letting a small smile upon his face. The two kept quiet and followed the older Walworth to his office. His private workroom was the exact replica of the CEOs office inside the Walworth Tower. He motioned them to take the two leather-backed chairs placed across his large desk and sat on one himself. “Grapevines are very efficient. They don’t have to pass through the official channels, which saves a lot of trouble. They just need to be faithful” he said, rather to himself than to them.
“The fact that you are here is known to none, not even my son. The reason for this is that I want you to snoop on some one. I’ve had reason to believe that a certain person is embezzling funds that reach her department. There is a huge chance of her finding out that somebody is spying on her, so you’ll need to be extra careful and for that you’ll have to work separately.
"You don’t have to say anything about it at the Office. Just see what she’s up to and report to me. If you both are working on it simultaneously, you don’t have to discuss it or show it to each other. Well… if you need to compare notes, you can fix a spot somewhere and do it, as long as it’s safe. Will you do it?” he asked them, focused so hard on what he had to say, that he didn’t notice Zahra opening and closing her mouth to say something.
At last, she cleared her throat noisily to grab his attention. “I’m sorry to point your mistake sir, but I needed to clear something in my mind. As Shakespeare once said… but this one is my own version of his quote ‘To snoop or NOT to snoop is not the question, the question is to snoop on whom?’ You didn’t tell us whom we have to spy on?” she asked curiously, and smiled.
“I was coming to that my dear Ms. Fatimah. But I needed to ask you for confirmation, as telling you anything further would be of no use if even one of you says no to it, because it needs two to tango, right?” he asked with an amusing glint in his eyes. “The person I want you to spy on is Ms. Demetria Torres, the Regional Manager. She is quite close to my son as you might be knowing, so I do not want him to know that I’m suspecting her of embezzlement.
"You will report to me if you make any progress upon the mission. You will send a note to my secretary, Ms. Andrews, she will forward it to me, and we’ll arrange to meet here. If you have any queries, you can ask me on my private number. That will be sent to your phones in a bit. Other than that, I hope that you’re enjoying your work here and sending in excellent reports as always. Oh! I totally forgot. What would you like to eat?”
The two politely declined the offer and were taken back to the Office to resume their work, after that sudden brush with Walworth Sr.’s private life and his one heck of a palace, which screamed money from even far-off.
--------AUTHOR'S NOTE--------
So that's the rest of the chapter. Mysterious.... isn't it??? do vote and comment if you like it. which character do you like best, tell me. what do you think about the plot? any guesses?? talk to me people.... if you want to give me any kind of suggestion or advice you are free to do it. for me, they are always welcome, as long as they are sincere and helpful :)
other than that, you can talk abt anything you want....
i wouldn't waste your time by blabbering much..... so enjoy and may Allah bless all you lovely ppl out there :) :D :)
the picture on the side is of demetria torres, the evil girl ;)