The Rescuer Ch. 02

Shelly uneasily took the half filled bag, and wouldn't meet his eyes as he handed it to her. Seth, upon hearing that there was an entire horde of women downstairs to ogle at, and possibly dressed as skimpily as the two French girls had been? The truly untrustworthy man dogged his steps towards the gate.

The key turned quietly this time, and with only a gentle push, the heavy gate silently swung open. A guilty look passed between them, as Seth slipped thru and hurried across the landing and went down the stairs sneakily.

Lowell jumped awkwardly, when Shelly's soft fingers slid onto his shoulder, but he didn't trust the smooth voice any where near as much when it whispered in his ear this time.

"It's not what you think! You're obviously the kind of guy whose too sharp for your own good sometimes! You see something wrong, and assume the worst first! Then you have to make yourself look for the best, but only after you've properly cataloged all the potential disasters in their correct order! It's not your fault! If it wasn't already who you are, deep down inside, it's how you've been trained. And how you've been spending all your time lately. Much too much of your time! Am I right about that? It's not good for you!"

The shopping bag rustled a bit louder than it should have, as he felt one of the most infamous women in town press her body up against his back. The large breasts felt warm, and the nipples he had enjoyed playing with so much earlier, were hard again and scratching up against his uniform.

With one of her roommates gone, and her right hand safely shielded from the other, fingers began trailing down his chest after a brief hug. He had no choice but to hiss back at her quietly.

"I know what I saw! And what the camera above the gate will see, if you keep lowering your hand! Even if you're that good of an actress, that creep isn't! What are you two planning, all of a sudden? What's going to be Keeley's part in it? I thought that she was your friend!"

A wicked laugh... that certainly wouldn't have allowed him to trust the blonde at all tonight if he had heard it first... echoed out onto the bridge.

"There are friends, and then there are opportunities! I gave you one earlier! I even did it sincerely and honestly, but still you refused it! So why shouldn't I seek my fun elsewhere? I told you that I was aiming to misbehave tonight! And that I wouldn't be sleeping alone! Care to change your mind? I am sure that we will be on the road hours and hours, before our cab finally gets us back home to our apartment. Probably long after whatever corporate party duties you have here are over! I'll still be checking for your text, as soon as we walk thru our door. I've already promised you that! But why make me wait? Why even risk me looking for other playmates tonight? Tell me you want me now! Just say that you want to FUCK me! All you have to do is look me in the eyes, and say that you will meet me, after those two go to bed. I'll trust you! If you can do that? Right now? Then I promise I won't include Keeley in ANY of my schemes!"

Shelly rubbed her entire body against his, almost cat-like, as she stepped around in front of him. Once the camera's view was safely blocked, her right hand quickly dove back down inside of both his trousers and his underwear.

No subtlety or even asking permission this time.

The talented fingers made short work of getting him hard again, and no matter how hard he tried, Lowell couldn't prevent his erection from returning even more fiercely than before. The overly possessive grip suddenly changed as the soft voice he recognized, and had trusted, suddenly came back and whispered into his ear.

"I can feel it, too! Tonight has already been so strange! Filled with so many schemes and hidden schemers! Some are obvious and we both know about them! Like Anthony, or my old lover of so many years. Others are expected to simply play their roles, like your worried board members, or Keeley's selfishly stupid boyfriend! Pawns in a much larger game they only think they understand! They dream of having control of more than just a few moves. But it's the ones we don't know about yet! Cloaked in shadow upon shadow, lurking behind the scenes. Some of them might NEVER become visible, even after the last move has been made! I didn't know that you even existed, until tonight! Who else is out there for me to meet in the next few hours? What are the other locations left before we can even start heading home? Whose really behind all these secret stops? That little redhead is my real friend! I owe Keeley, just as much as the customer she's gotten so close to! I care about HIM too! Believe me! No matter what you hear about me, later? No matter how awful it sounds? It might even be the truth! But there will be reason's for whatever I end up doing tonight! Good ones! I don't kid myself, that anyone else would believe that, especially of me! But who else is going to actually DO something that matters tonight? Will you? At least in time to help Keeley? How could you be certain of not make things actually worse? And not accidentally bring down the entire house of cards, that everyone has been stupidly building around that damn temporary Trust, for the last decade?"

The brilliant blue eyes watered as they bore into him even more fiercely than they had all night.

The silence kept dragging on and on, until he finally nodded that he was acknowledging all of her questions, and even her sincerity.

Having said her piece, Shelly laid her cheek back down against his shoulder, and shook with emotions so strong he couldn't even begin to understand or decipher them.

So he chose his next words very carefully, right after the worst of the sobs stopped.

"If you can truly help Keeley tonight? And get her out of the direct line of fire? Some place safe for a little while? I don't know how you're going to manage that, but I'll support you. Keeley won't budge! She's already told me that! Her little dream world has too much of a hold on her! Keeley will fight anyone that tries to make her leave her little holdfast, a single second before she's ready to! No matter what it's going to cost her! Or anyone else! One part of her spirit, or maybe even most of it, has already given up! Do you know how to save her? Or get her to someone who can?"

The soft hand slipped out from beneath his clothes... and the warm fingers caressed his own cheek tenderly... as the watery blue eyes looked directly into his own.

After only a simple nod, the blonde's head silently turned, and looked only towards the spiral staircase as she walked away.

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"I see that my friends didn't wait for me! Typical!"

The porter seemed startled, as he turned around quicker than he should have, if Lowell hadn't even heard her heels walk towards him. Keeley had deliberately made as much noise as she could, when she saw that he was just staring into empty space. Whatever Shelly had just said to him, had either hurt or worried him badly.

Probably both.

"No. I s-sent them on ahead. On purpose. The crowd downstairs in the Market Place is going to make things difficult for them, since I am sure they are going to try and take the elevators down to your cab. It's already waiting for you, even though they are not supposed to let drivers park in the gap."

The one single stuttered word was the only clue Keeley had about how upset he must really be, deep down inside. Lowell's black eyes gave nothing away now, but her instincts honed over the years with so many customers at the club, made her only extend out her arm instead of replying back.

He willingly gave up the correct key, and they both stepped thru the Dawn Gate so she could close and lock it. Once that was noiselessly done, she stepped up closer to him and slipped the key back inside of the correct vest pocket. When he still seemed reluctant to talk, this time it was her that crooked her hand thru his elbow and got them started walking downstairs.

A few landings, with and without doors, went by until he finally stopped and looked up into her eyes again. But what Keeley saw there made her speak, first, to limit the pain of his indecision for him.

"I don't want to know. Whatever it is that you are trying to force yourself to tell me. I really don't. I knew that this entire night out idea was going to be a critical mistake, the very first time it was suggested to me. They both worked on me for weeks, after Shelly suddenly changed her mind and was all for it. Eventually it was her, and not my boyfriend, that wore me down and bullied me into coming. Well, that's not quite true. It was still my decision. Like the Princess jumping off the bridge into the hidden dark river far below. There might be actually be very little water down there, to prevent her from dying on the rocks. Or too much and too swift of a current, that would surely have drowned her. Or if the Princess was strong, and could swim long enough, the current might have carried her far away to someplace safe. Where she was wanted and could live in peace. My grandmother's cousin? Her book ended right there, with the princess staring down at the waters. It might have gone on for a few more sentences, but it was certainly the last words on that page I ever heard. Maybe I'll ask my mom to get the book out of her safety deposit box, to let me read it again. It's old. Very old. Maybe it's close enough to the legends to tell the truth? I don't know, but that's how I am feeling right now. I've already flung myself off of the bridge, and am hurtling thru the air, waiting to find out my fate. I don't really care anymore what will end up happening to me. So whatever words you want to tell me? That would probably get you fired, for reasons I can't and don't want to understand right now? Save them. They wouldn't make a difference, or change my mind. Just believe me! You've already helped me more than I ever expected anyone could tonight. So let's go down now, so you can leave me at the French market. I want to take those other stairs down, alone, so that I will at least get to see the rest of this place before I have to get into that damn cab! Please?"

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The Market Place wasn't the most crowded she had ever seen it... in her three short years of working here... but shortly it would be.

Hundreds of employees milled about, some visiting shops, while others that had gotten here early were lucky enough to have grabbed a table at the huge 'outdoor' bistro. All the benches along the 'sea wall' were certainly already taken. From her perch behind the flimsy rail, in front of one of the higher up maintenance doors?

She had too good of a view of the chaos! And it was her job to get all these people on buses in less than a hour?

The feeling that the corporation was already bigger than it should be, nagged at her again. Just how big was too big?

At some point, companies began collapsing of their own administrative weight, but most of them never even realized when they reached that tipping point. Not until it was far too late to save themselves. At least her boss knew that they were on the very brink of dissolving into mediocrity, and was fighting it with everything he had.

Well... what he had left.

After decades of being the indomitable force leading the company, despite constant challenges by the so-called Board of Directors, their eccentric CEO was finally showing his age. She would have given a lot to have been part of the company while it had been over in England, and had actually gotten to see how the corporate headquarters move to America had been accomplished.

But in truth?

The horrible stress from that epic battle was probably the reason for his current ill health, and might actually become responsible for shortening his already long life prematurely.

"It's not all that bad! Or is it? I can't really tell anymore! How many of them are our lot? And how many are our guests? Knowing that is supposed to be your extra job tonight, right? The one I twisted your arm, ever so politely, to get you to take it on for me, Ellie?"

She jumped, and her shoulder length black hair swirled, and lost even more of the curls she had tried so hard to add to soften her look tonight. Her dress was tighter than she normally wore, making her feel as if she was being put up for auction somehow.

Her boss looked good out of his wonderful vintage conductor uniform, and even if the tuxedo made him look even more stylish, Ellie found herself still preferring the soft almost worn out tweeds he habitually wore on Saturdays. It was the only time he wore strictly British business clothes, at least these days. Once he had permanently moved over to the states, he had been as American in all things possible, except for his wonderful accent.

That was one thing Ellie hoped he would never change about himself.

"Sir! I keep forgetting you like to use the back halls at times like these! Let me check my phone, for just a moment. Ok?"

He didn't frown at her, because this was one part of the technology he had wholeheartedly accepted. The app on her phone refreshed twice, even as she was staring at it. Then after a few nods of her head, as she flipped thru the screens, it filled her in on the true situation in seconds. Normally, even just a few years ago, it would have taken a half dozen frantic phone calls before she had gotten even half of the information.

And they would have only been opinionated answers, that Ellie would've trusted only half as much.

"If the last of those people, who just got off the elevators would finally get in line at the kiosk? I'd say that we have almost 70% of our expected staff checked in here already. Maybe 10% showed up directly at the Art Museum for the artist's traveling show? I know you wanted them all here, but some would rather wait in line outside the new event space garden, than be forced to rub elbows with their co-workers on a Saturday. They can easily watch your speech on all the monitors that we set up for them there. Guests? Say 80% have been signed in, split evenly between the two locations. I checked on the buses, and the extra two you requested on Friday afternoon are already downstairs in the industrial parking garage as well. We're all set for your speech, on time, in forty five minutes. But everyone is used to the fifteen minute delay you like to keep building in to all of our schedules for the stragglers."

The bright but wrinkled face smiled, but clouded for a second as the normally strong hand shook as it carefully gripped the stair landing's handrail. A small antique snuff box came out of a pocket, and a pill was tipped out of it one handed. Her own champagne glass was still untouched, so after the snuff box disappeared again, she handed it over.

"How many of those are you taking now? Too many? Or too little? I know you! You're trying to take as few as possible, and that just ends up making things worse at the wrong times!"

The older man coughed at her effrontery. He still wasn't used to junior executives being so forward, American, or a woman just barely out of college.

"... j-just enough to get by... no more... no less... who appointed you one of my three guardians?... oh... that's right... I did... good thing too... getting hard too trust just anybody these days... "

The shaking slowly stopped, and the warm smile returned, and the next little chuckle that seemed to be just for her.

"... what do you think of our unexpected guest, that tagged along with my first group of railway car dinner VIP's tonight? Surprise even you, Ellie?... "

His hand was steady now, and he carefully pointed out the amazing blonde, standing next to the two French girls who had certainly pushed the limits of the dress code tonight. Fancy dresses usually included more fabric than they had on. In fact, if most women wore the cloth of both of those outfits combined, they'd both look and feel half naked.

Ellie kept her voice carefully neutral, knowing just how dangerous a thing it was to have the blonde actually on the premises.

"I overheard two of the board members, wondering how you pulled that one off. Getting Shelly, to the one place you were certain that her old boyfriend wasn't going to be tonight? The moment I heard the rumor that she had dared to show up here, I checked the museum's kiosk list. He arrived there almost to the second that she stepped out of her cab here! How did you do that? No one has seen "The Bitch" in public, anywhere, in months!"

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Everett took in a deep breath, the way he did when he wanted to ask for a few minutes of peace to gather his thoughts.

Ellie was so young, but still old enough to have learned some amount of polite patience, at least around him. Calling Shelly by her most used nickname hadn't been tactless. It was just an admission of all the rumors sure to be flying around the offices come Monday morning.

His young assistant hated to say anything bad about anyone, and with good reason.

When he had announced his five week trip back home last year, Ellie was the second most shocking candidate to help coordinate his unexpected extended absence with the rest of the corporate staff.

No one doubted the short girl's competence or honesty, they just thought she was too easily pushed around. The multiple weeks he had spent managing his affairs in England, and visiting the offices in France, had quickly taught them all otherwise. About her job, she was as unbending as steel, regardless of how she seemed to be living her personal life these days.

Outsiders rarely did well in huge companies, and the trial run of being in charge of both accounting and finance, for the entire complicated web of divisions? It proved Ellie's worth to almost everyone, and hopefully earned her the space for her own little eccentricities. Carissa, on the other hand, was the overwhelmingly expected and welcomed choice to head up the public relation and project coordination side of things in his absence.

The taller sandy blonde former intern, had swept up the corporate ladder with a speed that had frightened most of the old timers. Locally, she was connected as they came. From a well known and respected very wealthy business family, Carissa had been to all the right private schools, yet moved with ease thru all the social circles the company had to deal with.

The contrast between his two feminine choices couldn't have been greater, nor their polite battle for the attentions of his controversial third choice more unexpected. But a third person had obviously been needed to help govern the more random aspects of the company, while he had been away on his long trip late last fall.

Lowell was technically still just an intern, and the only employee at the headquarters that had refused to sign the intensely worded and threatening security agreement. It was the reasons for his refusal, a little over two years ago, that had first brought the quietly effective analyst to his attention. Ever since the young man found his first incident of outright corruption, saving a very important contract from being lost, Lowell had been quietly and steadily helping to change the way the entire company thought of itself.

There were good reasons to have made all three of his choices outside of the expected business norms.

Everett knew people, even better than technology, and how to apply it in new and profitable ways. So many of his business contemporaries from England, almost all now failed ventures, used to smash and crush people into the job descriptions that they arbitrarily created.

His success, and the real reason for moving the corporate headquarters to America, was to get better access to the younger and more vibrant country's raw talent. Here Everett knew that he could much more easily pick out the best and most independent minds he could find. He planned on custom building the most important jobs in the recently expanded company, to fit around his personally chosen future leaders.