Satyr Play

"I'll work on getting our schedules organized so we're off next weekend. I'll let you know during the week if I'm successful," she said.

They stepped into the elevator and Stanley nodded to her. "Looking forward to it. This time I'll cut back on my drinking."

"It will be your turn to pick a movie! Make it a good one!" Sandy grinned as she stepped off on her floor and she gave him a happy wave as the door closed.

Stanley made his way down and outside where he got into the back of the waiting limo.

"Good evening," he said.

"Good evening, Stanley," Camila responded, smiling over at him. The limo got underway and they settled back for the drive.

"What's a good movie to share with friends?" Stanley asked and Camila's brows rose.

"That depends on the friends, doesn't it?" she replied with a smile. "How good are these friends?"

Stanley thought about that. "Well, they are very close with each other but I'm the new guy. It's my turn to choose the movie."

"Well, they're probably going to want to see your favorite so bring that one," she suggested then caught his expression. "What?"

"Baba had no electricity at her house. No TV. We didn't go out to see movies. The only movies I saw were at school and they were all bad," he sighed.

"Oh! Ok... well, you can't go wrong with bringing a classic. This group of friends, men or women?"

"Two men and four women," he replied.

"Ah, ok. Casablanca. Released in 1942. A truly lovely film," Camila sighed with a smile.

"Great! I'll buy a DVD for the party!" Stanley grinned.

"Who are your new friends?" she asked.

Stanley immediately felt a little defensive. "Just a woman from the building and some of her co-workers." Seeing the look on Camila's face he continued. "Sigrid had the talk with me. I know the restrictions and limitations. It's just nice to have friends for the first time in my life. It's nice to actually be able to talk to people without stuttering. I can't tell you how much better this feels."

Camila gave him a sympathetic look but he turned his face to the window and they rode in silence the rest of the way.

Once they were in the airport Stanley's nervousness increased as he looked at his passport.

"I'll tell you what. Give me your passport, we'll go through together and I'll do the talking," Camila said with her hand out. Stanley placed his passport in her hand. They joined the ticket line.

When they reached the counter Stanley stayed close and answered the questions and nodded when required and soon they were on their way through the Security check. Once they made it through Stanley rolled his head to reduce the tension in his neck. He followed Camila to their gate and down the ramp to the waiting jet.

He was greatly impressed with the luxurious interior and belted himself into the plush seat.

"I assume not all planes are this comfortable," he sighed happily and Camila chuckled as she shook her head.

They taxied out to the runway to join the queue of planes and were soon accelerating down the runway. Stanley gripped the arms of his seat as the jet leapt into the air and soared upwards.

Once the seatbelt sign clicked off Stanley looked at Camila with wide eyes. "That was pretty scary!"

"We'll be landing for refueling in Anchorage, Alaska then we'll fly on to Tokyo. We won't land in Japan until close to 2AM but Minister Imamura made arrangements for us in Haneda International airport," she explained.

Stanley just nodded uneasily as he thought about meeting the man. Would he be angry? Would he make the public confession more difficult? He pushed those thoughts from his mind and looked over at Camila who had taken out her computer.

"Do we have Internet access?" he asked.

"Yes. The connection details are on the card in the seat pocket," she replied.

Stanley got his computer out and got it connected to the plane's WiFi. He settled back with a smile. He was going to be able to do some work after all!

Hours later they heard the announcement that they would be landing shortly. Stanley blinked his tired eyes and saved his work. He stowed his computer and buckled in again as they made their descent. The landing was smooth and he glanced out the window as they pulled up to the gate.

"We'll have to leave the plane while they refuel. It shouldn't take long," Camila said.

Once the door was open they made their way out and into the terminal.

"Stay close as we'll be boarding shortly," Camila said holding Stanley's eyes with hers.

He nodded absently as he looked around the waiting area. He needed to stretch his legs so he wandered down the hall a distance then made his way back slowly. He caught the relieved look on Camila's face before she hid it behind a newspaper she'd picked up.

"Did you really think I'd slip away to live out my life as a backwoods hermit just to avoid this?" Stanley said as he plopped himself down in the chair next to her.

She put down the paper to look at him and had the good grace to look guilty for thinking it.

"I said I'd do it. I keep my word."

"Sigrid is not happy with me about this. She said I should never have asked you to do it." Camila admitted.

Stanley smiled as he thought of Sigrid. She was a woman of strong principles. He looked up to see the troubled expression on the lovely CEO's face.

"It's alright. I understand what's at stake here. I know you have to protect VRL and the people who work there. I just arrived at the company and I want to protect it too. It's also... not completely Minister Imamura's fault that his daughter got us into this situation," he sighed.

Camila tilted her head at Stanley. "Not completely?"

"He's her Dad. Isn't it a parent's job to teach their children about right and wrong and accepting responsibility for their actions?" he asked.

Camila nodded as she looked closely at him. She was going to ask him about how he felt about not knowing his own parents but she didn't want to upset him after asking so much of him already.

They heard the announcement to board once more and made their way back onto the jet.

Stanley was less nervous this time but once they were in the air the late hour caught up to him and he yawned widely.

"You should get some sleep. The door there leads to a small bedroom. You should switch and recharge. With the time zone hopping we're doing it's going to confuse your time sense and we'll have to keep track of when you'll need some privacy to do that."

Stanley blinked at her then nodded. He went to the door at the back of the seating area and went into the room beyond it. There was a queen size bed and an actual shower, albeit a small one.

He took off his clothes and spun the ring. He had a moment of intense vertigo and his eyes snapped open as he gasped. He was in his Satyr form and nothing else had moved so... what had caused that terrifying sensation of falling?

It was only then that the thought came to him that doing the switch while flying hundreds of miles an hour in a jet thousands of feet above the ground might not be safe to do. A shiver went through him but he just shook it off and climbed under the sheets. He missed his new bed but not enough to stay awake for long.

Sometime later he felt Camila's soft body slip under the covers and snuggle in next to him. He only surfaced for long enough to acknowledge her arrival. She didn't try anything so he just allowed himself to drift off again but before he did the realization that he'd be in Japan upon waking washed over him. So far away. He wondered how Baba was doing then slipped into the depths of sleep.

Chapter 14

Stanley stood in the antechamber of the Japanese Parliament building waiting for the session to end. He and Camila, who was his interpreter, would be introduced then he would make his statement to Minister Imamura. He and Camila had gone over what he was going to say. He would speak in English and pause for her to translate his words into Japanese.

As some of the ministers spoke fluent English she had to translate faithfully so his words had to be genuine and heartfelt.

There was a tap on the door and a young man nodded to them. It was time.

Stanley followed the man with Camila right behind him. They entered a vast chamber and paused until they were introduced. As they walked down the aisle Stanley felt many eyes on him. Luckily most eyes were being drawn to Camila as she was definitely an exotic distraction in this room of mostly men.

Once they reached the front of the room they turned and faced the gathering of government officials. Stanley felt like a bug under a magnifying glass. Camila had pointed out in advance where the Minister was seated and had shown him an image of him so when he addressed him he was able to see the stiffness and worry on the man's face. He glanced at Camila as the room went silent. She nodded.

He turned his eyes back to the Minister then bowed, deeply and held it for a time. He stood upright and addressed the man.

"Minister Imamura. My name is Stanley Garin. I was... engaged to be married to your daughter Yuko," he began and waited for Camila to translate this. "With deepest respect and humble apology I must... withdraw my offer of marriage."

Once Camila said this there was a definite rumble of discontent amongst the gathering. Some were looking at Yuji Imamura with joy at his apparent humiliation. It was time for Stanley to set the hook. He shivered but pushed ahead.

"It is my deepest shame that I would not be able to provide you with the grandchildren you deserve. This is why I must withdraw from the marriage. My respect for you and your position in this great government is too great to allow my... limitation to reduce your future happiness and contentment." Stanley bowed once more but bent so quickly this time he lost his balance and went down on his knees and clocked his forehead on the floor.

He was slightly dazed and needed a moment so he remained there. He felt Camila's hand on his back as she translated. The slight pressure she was applying was a hint to remain where he was. In his current state of embarrassment, not facing the room full of foreign government officials was ok with him even if he was on the floor.

The room went silent and soon Stanley saw expensive shoes walking up to him. Camila's hand moved to his arm to help him up and Stanley stood once more.

Minister Imamura was looking a little overcome with emotion but kept it tightly controlled with just a slight smile on his face. His eyes though, they showed his gratitude plainly. He bowed slightly to Stanley who returned it twice as deep but kept from falling this time.

"I accept," the man said.

Stanley bowed once more and his relief was evident on his face.

Camila bowed to the Minister as well then led Stanley out of the room and back into the small waiting room outside of the main hall. She turned Stanley to face her and gave him a slight smile as she held his eyes with hers. "Did you fall or was dropping to your knees and pressing your face to the ground done for effect?"

His face burned with embarrassment. "I was so bloody flustered I lost my balance," he said quietly.

"Well it was brilliant and shut down the man's opponents completely. He's gained a tremendous amount of status from that one act," she said equally quiet.

He looked at her. "Why aren't we leaving? Aren't we done?"

"Minister Imamura's wife will pick us up and take us to his estate. We are having dinner with them tonight and will fly home afterwards. They want to thank us properly," she replied.

Another young man approached them with their luggage and gestured for them to follow him. They did and made their way to an underground parking lot where the man held open the back door of a black limousine. Camila entered first then Stanley and they took the rear bench. Facing them on the rear facing bench was Yuko's mother, the woman who Stanley met in Sandy's apartment. Their luggage went into the trunk.

When the door closed, the car began to move.

"You have done my husband a tremendous honor. Not only have you spared him the embarrassment of publicly losing the engagement, you have grandly demonstrated how much you respect him. It was... beyond expectation and his detractors and opponents have been greatly disadvantaged today. Thank you!" she said earnestly.

Stanley didn't know what to say so he just nodded to her with a humble smile. Then he remembered something. "The wedding present! The furniture. I was going to send it back so you could get the refund but I don't know what shop Yuko got it from."

"Please keep the gift as thanks for your efforts today!" the woman said.

Stanley looked at the woman in surprise. "Oh! Thank you!"

She dipped her head to accept his thanks. "My name is Harumi. My spirited but undisciplined daughter Yuko has been sent to our country estate to contemplate her errors of judgement." She frowned unhappily then made some subtle gestures with her hands. The space within the back of the car suddenly went silent and he felt a strange muffling sensation. Harumi continued now that they had privacy. "Her use of her powers within the home of a Human is most concerning. She will need to go before a disciplinary committee to address this crime. I am just thankful you were able to counteract the spell before she completed it. I did not have time to ask you that night how you did it so this is still a mystery to me!"

"I- I just grabbed her hands when I saw she was moving them and felt the energy building. I've never felt anything like that before and I don't know anything about spells," Stanley admitted.

Camila gasped and Harumi's eyes went wide as she looked at him in shock. When she finally got her voice back she leaned forward. "You grabbed her hands? With your own?"

He nodded as he looked at her in worry. "Was that a bad thing to do?"

Both Camila and Harumi nodded.

"Would you grab a pot of boiling water by the sides of the pot?" Camila asked him.

He gave her an exasperated scowl and Camila closed her eyes as she nodded. Of course, he didn't know.

"How does he not know these things and how was he not injured?" Harumi asked Camila pointedly.

"Unfortunately, this isn't something we're able to discuss," Camila said.

"Not able or not willing?" Harumi pressed.

Camila paused. "For the safety of everyone involved it's both," she finally responded.

Harumi didn't look satisfied by that answer but seeing Camila's discomfort she wouldn't push any further.

They drove on in silence for a while. They found themselves in a very posh, gated neighborhood and pulled up a long driveway to a lovely single story sprawling house. Harumi exited first and they followed her out. Harumi explained their bags would remain in the trunk until they left unless they needed them. They shook their heads and followed the woman into the home where they dropped their shoes at the door. They walked further into the building.

Stanley's eyes were wide with delight. The rich, gleaming woods and paper dividers with their palette of earth tones were artistically illuminated by subtle and pleasing lighting. Combined with the minimal clutter the space soothed his soul. "Your home is so beautiful!" he sighed and Harumi smiled and nodded to him in thanks.

She led them to a small patio overlooking a koi pond and a small garden. They took seats and relaxed as servants brought them tea.

"My husband will be home soon though he may take some time to accept the apologies of his opposition." She turned her head as the door chimed. "Ah! That must be our other daughter Jun. She is two years younger than Yuko. Unlike her sister, Jun remained in Japan and attends university here in Tokyo," Harumi said as a petite, young woman approached them. She nodded to her mother then to Camila and Stanley.

Harumi began the introductions. "Jun, this is Camila Villamor and-"

"Stanley-san," Jun finished for her, looking him boldly in the eye.

He blinked and tilted his head slightly as he returned her appraising look. She was a little taller than Yuko for being younger than her sister and her silky black hair only reached her shoulders. She was very slim and pretty though she tried to hide that behind black rimmed glasses which didn't appear to have prescription lenses. She also didn't smile but kept her expression very neutral. She was dressed in casual clothes, a printed t-shirt with some broken English slogan on it, deep blue stretchy pants and black slippers.

"My sister spoke of you to me," she said but Stanley wasn't sure if that was good or bad. Sensing his hesitation, she continued. "Yuko has always been... too quick to act without thinking. I am sorry if she has caused you trouble."

"Uh, thank you," Stanley replied, feeling a little relieved.

"Jun is studying Computer Science," Harumi said proudly.

Stanley's eyes widened happily. "That was my area too!" he said.

Jun looked at Stanley closely. "Yuko did not tell me what you do."

"I'm CIO at Ms. Villamor's investment house in Manhattan," he explained.

Jun looked over at Camila who nodded in response to her doubtful expression.

"You are a very young CIO," Jun remarked to him.

"Yeah, I get that a lot," Stanley sighed.

"Do you know anything about network security?" Jun asked. "I have an assignment due this week and something is not working. Could you take a look at the network I have configured?"

"Dear, Mr. Garin has traveled a long way to endure a very trying ordeal. Perhaps this is not-" Harumi began.

"I don't mind at all! It will take my mind off of it!" Stanley said as he climbed to his feet. He looked to Camila who just smiled and waved.

"When your father returns, we will be having dinner so you have until then," Harumi stated and her daughter nodded as she turned and led the way to her room. Stanley followed.

He admired the beautiful woodwork along the way and smiled at Jun when she opened the sliding door to her room. He went inside and grinned when he saw the workstation she had with the server rack next to it. The equipment was current and power protected. He looked back at her and nodded indicating he was impressed. She gave him a slight smile in return then walked over to the main terminal to log in.

Once she was in she looked back at Stanley. He stepped next to her and she began to explain the issue she was having. She brought up the firewall rules on the screen to show him the rules she'd put in place. He didn't see anything wrong per se but it wasn't how he would have written the rules. He kept that to himself.

"I think we should run a benchmark on the network. Then some diagnostic routines to ensure the equipment isn't where the fault lies.

"This is all new equipment. It has been inspected by my professor. There will be no hardware faults," she insisted.

"Your professors don't add faults to the equipment to increase the difficulty of debugging issues?" he asked.

She gave him a shocked and outraged expression.

"I'll take that as a no. Humor me. Let's run the benchmark," he said.

She didn't look pleased as she obviously thought this was a waste of the limited time she had his help. He set up the test and ran it on each computer on her small network. Then they reviewed the results.

Stanley frowned. They weren't seeing the performance he was expecting from the router. "May I run a diagnostic routine on the router?" he asked. She nodded with a look of concern.

He set up the test and ran it against each port. One of the ports on the router was running at half duplex. "Port 7. What's it connected to?" he asked.

"The firewall," she responded.

"Do you have a free port on the router?" he asked.

"There are two."

"Switch the cable on port 7 to one of the free ports," he suggested.

She raised her eyebrows in question but moved the cable.