Jeanette sat up this time. “Really. I didn’t know you were into…I don’t know, stuff like that.” This man was full of little surprises, and not all of them bad. “You know Coco Chanel was an enigma. She came from nothing and she will always be the queen of the fashion industry,” Jeanette said. She grabbed a brochure that she got about their hotel and suite.
“Really? She worked her way up so to speak.” Adam said, as he got comfortable. He was lying on his side facing her direction.
The man was just gorgeous, even in the dark. He only had the sheets and blankets cover him from the waist down. The rest of his body was exposed and it was striking.
“Um…she.” Jeanette was trying to get her brain working again. Adam was lying there looking at her innocently, but she knew there was nothing innocent about his gaze. He knew what he was doing and damn it, he was succeeding.
“She actually slept her way to the top.”
“She was progressive for her time.”
“That’s one way of looking at it. Did you know she paid her brothers to disappear, so no one would know about her background?” Jeanette asked, still casually looking at the various brochures.
“Now that I didn’t know. I just knew her as a fashion icon. Goes to show you, people will do anything to keep up appearances.”
“She was a control freak. Get this. The day she died, she came downstairs at The Ritz and told the concierge that in three minutes she was going to die. She went back to her suite and five minutes later, she was dead.”
“That’s a control freak to the tenth power. And kinda freaky. Maybe it’s a good thing we’re not staying there”
Jeanette had to laugh. “I’m sure they fumigated since then, that was in 1971.”
“Is the room haunted?”
“They never mention about her ghost roaming around.” Jeanette let out a yawn. “Ooh, sorry.”
“I’m beat too. Let’s get some sleep. I have a wake up call for six.”
“Six!”
“I know how long you women take.”
“Whatever,” Jeanette huffed. She turned off the lights and snuggled down in the comfy bedding.
She was grateful that their conversation didn’t stray. There was a chance they could get through the night with no innuendos, no touching and no sex.
In other words, one boring night.
Jeanette heard the phone ring, but she didn’t move. She was dead tired. It rang five times and stopped. She turned over and saw Adam stretching and answered the phone. She was glad it was on the other side of the bed.
“Hello. Thanks.”
Jeanette lay there very still, afraid to move, afraid to let Adam know that she enjoyed the scene from her end. It was just his back. His strong, olive colored muscular back.
“Jeanette.” Adam groaned out. “Jeanette, wake up. Rise and shine.”
Jeanette slowly stretched, as if waking up for the first time. “Good morning. Oh dear, I hope I didn’t snore.”
“Nah, you were as quiet as a mouse. This was the best sleep I’ve had in years.” He patted the mattress. “Must be the beds. Didn’t realize what I was missing back home. Make a note to myself to get a firmer one.”
***
Adam wanted to curse the concierge. But they had to get up and go into the office. He got from beneath the coziness of his sheets and stretched. He looked over at Jeanette and she was doing the same.
Her gown was tangled around her body, which looked totally sinful. It was hiked up in all the right places.
Her bare thighs were expose and she was showing some skin in the waist area. The robe that went over her skimpy gown was twisted around her shoulder. Her hair was messed up but it still looked lovely.
She looked liked she had a night of rough sex.
Was he feeling discomfort? Oh hell yeah!
“Adam?”
“Huh?”
“I said, we really need to hurry. Didn’t you say it was a walk?”
“Oh, so you decided to walk.”
“Never pass up walking pass the Eiffel Tower,’ she giggled.
They got ready and left the hotel. They arrived at the Paris office in thirty minutes. Too soon, Adam thought. He was still in that room looking at the beauty tangled in red see-through lace. The timing was so off.
They stood in front of the doors of the place, and waited for a crowd of people going in and out. It was just as he remembered. A cold modern structure with glass all around. It stood out like a sore thumb amongst all the old Baroque and Rococo buildings.
They checked in with the guard and got on the elevator. “You’ll like the people here, there’re a few Americans too, just in case you get home sick.”
“Have any of the Paris people come to the states?”
“Many times, unfortunately we don’t have anything remotely French to remind them of home.”
They both laughed. They got off the elevators and walked straight into the offices.
“Bonjour!” he yelled out to everyone.
“Bonjour, Adam!” Came a chorus of French accents.
“I would like you to meet our newest addition. This is Jeanette Foster. She literally started less than three weeks ago.”
“Bonjour,” Jeanette said.
She was greeted with “Oh-La-La’s” catcalls, and gawking male French eyes.
Adam was fuming. He stood beside her and took her hand and held it tight. He’d be darn if one of these French poodles made a play for his property.
Adam had to mentally slap himself. He was being very possessive and nasty. He needed to calm down. Jeanette was right; they were here to work—at least while at the office.
“Come now, people. She’s a professional.”
“She may be a professional, but she is still a woman, no?” Maurice said, taking her other hand and kissing it.
Adam rolled his eyes. How cliché. “Could you show us to our offices, S'il vous plait?”
“But of course, follow me. I hope you enjoy Paris, Mademoiselle Foster.”
“I’ve been to your lovely city many times. And please call me Jeanette, I’m not married.”
Adam was getting mad all over again. This was going to be a long week.
Chapter Fifteen
Both she and Adam were put in the same workspace. It was a big office, equip with desks, laptops, and other work paraphernalia. Adam and Jeanette brought their own laptops however.
Once they got settled in and had their morning coffee and croissant, she and Adam immediately went to work.
“I accessed their purchase department’s computer system, and I’m now looking for their outbound orders,” Adam said, as he typed like a madman on his laptop.
“The outbound orders will show what?” Jeanette sat next to him and looked at the screen.
“The system that we have in place now, is that when you place an order it will automatically document it. I’m taking a chance to see…if…the person that placed these orders left a virtual paper trail.”
Adam pressed, ‘send’, and the computer beeped back.
“Nothing.” Jeanette sighed.
“I didn’t think so.”
“Me either, but it was worth a shot.”
Adam leaned back in his chair and crossed his arms over his chest. Jeanette could tell he was stumped, but thinking.
“There has to be some evidence somewhere. Like they say, there is no perfect crime.”
“That’s it,” Adam said, snapping his fingers.
“What?”
“You’re the financial super sleuth. Looks like you have to do some snooping. Since they don’t know what we’re really here for, that should be easy. It looks like you’re a hit with the men.”
The last sentence, Adam said in disgust. He was jealous!
Jeanette sat there a moment and let that revelation sink in. He almost crushed her hand when they made their introductions. And the look Adam gave Maurice when he kissed her hand. If looks could kill, Maurice would have been nuked.
“They were just being friendly. You know how the French are.”
“Yeah, well, use it to your advantage.”
Jeanette went back to her desk and did a run through of the orders that took place from last year up til now. “I’m looking at everything that was ordered and trying to find a pattern. But it’s random items. Ninety percent of the orders where expensive, with a few inexpensive ones thrown in. I guess they figured those would fly under the radar. Still looking for evidence of double orders.”
“Yeah, that’s troubling too. Ninety percent expensive huh? Adam rubbed his chin. “What would you say the average cost?”
Jeanette looked over them again. “Hmm, I would say about nine hundred dollars. And that was a computer.”
“Yep, someone has a nice set up somewhere.” Adam mused.
“I guess. I’ll start my snooping now. I’ll take a tour of the office on my own and get the feel of the people. Somebody might stand out. I don’t think however, that they would have any of the stuff in the office, not even a pen. Like you said, somebody’s got a nice set up at some other office or warehouse.”
“Okay then, make your rounds and be careful.”
“Welcome you two!”
She and Adam where startled. They looked towards the door, and saw a tall blond man waving at them.
“Hey, Henry. Whassup?” Adam got up and shook his hand. “Glad to see you again.”
“Same here. Is this the new lady?”
“Yep. Jeanette this is Henry Ottman.”
“Pleasure to meet you.” She joined the two and shook Henry’s hand.
“There are a few other Americans here, that I would like you meet.”
“I was just about to explore the offices and make my introductions. In fact, let me do that now. You two stay here and chat about on old times. I won’t get lost.”
“Jeanette.”
The way Adam said her name, brought a warm feeling to her. “Yes.”
“Let’s do lunch.”
“That would be great,” Henry said. “I know of this—“
“Just me and Jeanette,” Adam said, looking at Henry. It was a look that left no room for argument.
Henry gave a lopsided smile, raised his hands in mock surrender and walked off.
“That was rude,” Jeanette said.
“It sure was. He had no business inviting himself to lunch with us.”
Jeanette shook her head. “I meant…oh, never mind. Let me go. I’ll let you know at lunch if I find anything.”
“I’ll take a look at their IT department and their programs. I have to find something there,” Adam said, grabbing his glasses off the desk.
Jeanette nodded and left.
As she walked down the halls, she was taken by the architecture. It was too modern for her taste. But whoever deigned it had a wild imagination. From the outside, the building looked as if it were leaning, listing at least forty degrees to the right. Inside however, it was stick straight. Windows lined every wall, exterior and interior. The tables were glass and even the conference room table was made of clear Lucite. These people loved glass.
After walking for a few minutes, Jeanette found herself in the art department. People were running around like the proverbial chicken with the head cut off. Hollering, bumping into each other, and phones were ringing off the hook. It was if she never left home.
“Ahem…bonjour.”
Everyone stopped in their tracks. All eyes were on her. Some friendly, some not so friendly and others indifferent.
“Bonjour,” a tall redhead said, coming towards her. “May I help you?”
“I’m from the L.A. office. I’m Jeanette Foster.”
“Ah. I thought I recognized you. We were expecting you. How long will you be here, they don’t tell us anything here in the dungeon.” Her smile was bright and cheery. “I’m Marie.”
“Hello Marie. We just arrived actually.”
“That’s right, you came with the gorgeous Adam. Whoo-Hoo! As you Americans say.”
“Uh, just here to work.”
“Ah, but there always time for other things.” She put down her art board and took her by the shoulders. “Come, let me introduce you. You know you are tres joli. You two make a wonderful couple.” She giggled. “I saw you two walking up the boulevard here.”
Jeanette just looked at her as they walked through the art department. It was a wonder France wasn’t over populated.
After several minutes with the art department, she moved on the media area. There too, she was greeted warmly either by over amorous men or hopeless romantic women trying to get the skinny on her and Adam. One thing was certain, Adam had a huge fan club here in Paris and she was sure it didn’t stop at this office.
Jeanette then went to the script department, the AR department and the secretary pool. The last place she hit was the purchasing department. She wanted to spend the rest of time there. She had an hour left before lunch. They took two hours here. It was one of the many things she liked about the European work ethic.
“Bonjour.”
“Bonjour madam.” A nerdy brunette man approached her, his hand out stretched. “You must be Jeanette.”
“Yes.”
“I’m Terrance. Is Adam here.”
“Yes he is. He’s busy, so I decided to go around and introduce myself.”
“Glad to have you here and in our beautiful city.”
“I always loved Paris.”
“So this is not your first time here?”
“Nope.”
“Please, sit down, Paul and Jeremiah will be here shortly.”
She took a seat and chatted it up with Terrance. After the other two IT guys came in, they all had a wonderful animated conversation about everything from soccer to global warming.
“There you are.”
Adam’s sultry voice grabbed her like a tornado. She turned to him and there he stood in the doorway. She couldn’t read his expression.
“Hello, just making small talk,” Jeanette said, rising from her seat.
“I see. Let’s go to lunch. They actually physically close the office and go out for lunch.”
“Works for me.”
They joined the rest of the workers in the lobby. Everyone was talking at once and expressing themselves with exaggerated hand gestures. The French, you gotta love ‘em, Jeanette mused.
“Ah, there’s the beautiful couple now,” someone said.
“There is a wonderful café that is dark and romantic, just a few blocks down. Remember you have two hours,” the petite, mousy brown haired woman said.
“Only two hours, not nearly enough time,” a baritone voice from the crowd said.
Everyone laughed.
“Okay guys, thanks for the suggestion. But I think I have my own ideas.”
The ‘ooohs’ and ‘ahhs’ filled the room. Soon everyone headed to the elevator and parted their separate ways when they reached the ground floor.
When everyone was out of sight, Jeanette slapped Adam’s arm.
“Ow! What was that for?” He asked, rubbing his arm.
“You did it again. You lead everyone to believe that you and I are an item.”
“You need to get your head out of the sand.”
“Excuse me?”
“It’s obvious that they see us as lovers, or about to be lovers. The French are very intuitive.”
“They’re very horny.”
“Face it Jeanette, they see something passing between us. It’s just a matter of time.”
***
It looked like Adam had an up hill battle. With Jeanette digging in her heels and trying to keep their relationship all business, he was beginning to wonder if he should take a chance and seduce her and don’t hold back, or keep his original plan and let things happen naturally.
He was getting inpatient, so the former solution looked pretty good at the moment.
They arrived at the café that everyone was talking about. “Here we are.”
“You’re kidding right?”
“What’s the matter? Scared? We slept in the same room together and nothing happened. Surely you don’t expect anything kinky happening in broad daylight.”
Jeanette had her hands on her hips staring at him defiantly. “Okay, you got me there.”
She turned quickly and went inside. He closely followed.
The place was dark and intimate. Sultry music played in the background and erotic mosaics graced the walls and ceilings.
“Bonjour, welcome to Le Palais d'Amour.”
“Thank you.” He seated both of them. “We’re new here, what would you suggest?”
The waiter ran down a list of delectable and fattening goodies. However they choose the specialty of the house, a rare roast beef and Roquefort sandwich. It was huge. They had a raspberry tart and a croquette each, and had the nerve to have a diet soda.
“The Love Palace?” Jeanette said, leaning over. “How obvious.”
“The French believe in bluntness as you know.” Adam reached over and took Jeanette’s hand. “Any plans for the weekend?”
“Uh….”
“Let’s go shopping.”
Her eyes lit up so brightly, the whole room was illuminated. “That sounds great. Although I was thinking of sleeping in a bit. You realize that we’ve only had five hours of sleep since Wednesday or Thursday, man I don’t even know what day it is.”
“It’s Friday now. And I agree, we should sleep in and you get no argument from me.”
“I said sleep in.”
“I heard you. But as you know, things have a way of playing out.”
“You are determined. I hope you’re like this with this assignment we have.”
“Ugh. I was meaning to ask. While you were socializing with the staff, did anything jump out at you?”
“Like an employee trying to stash some five inch D-ring binder under their desk?”
He laughed. “I wish it was that apparent, it would make our job a lot easier.”
“Nothing stood out. Everyone was busy as bees running around. I’m surprised that anyone has the time to order anything.”
“Hmm, you know what?”
“What?”
Office Play: Freaky Geek Series Page 12
