Once the door was closed, Baldur tried to give her what he must have considered to be his warmest smile.
“Our relationship has changed,” he offered. “I am no longer your client, at least not first and foremost and certainly not for much longer. I propose a business partnership that I insist you consider very carefully.”
“The Google tip worked out very well, didn’t it?” she said.
He nodded. “As did having a sense of the less-than-stellar earnings of three other big companies, not to mention the Mexican telecommunication intel. All around quite impressive. And all it took was an hour of your time.”
“I don’t want to play the stock market, I don’t want to risk being in violation of any SEC rules, and I don’t want to go into partnership with you,” she told him. It was easy to say with feeling.
“I know,” Baldur smiled. “But I have an additional incentive to offer you. You have a new boyfriend, no?”
“I don’t think I’d call him my boyfriend, but yes I am in the early stages of a relationship.” Ariel tried to appear evasive, even though she knew quite well that Baldur knew whom she was talking about.
“Yes. With one of your other clients. Naughty girl.” Baldur seemed to find this amusing. “But this can stay our little secret. You must know something about what your new boyfriend is doing with the millions he is making by following in my footsteps?”
Ariel rolled her eyes and tried to look annoyed. “He has some silly dream about designing a permanent settlement on Mars. The time and money he spends on it is ridiculous.”
“Yes, that must annoy you no end. He could be buying you lavish gifts. Instead, he’s having to put so much extra time into this project because the poor man keeps running into problems. Materials, labor—if anything can go wrong, it does. You do have the power to make most of his problems go away, you know, because I have the power to do so.”
Ariel tried for her best look of surprise mixed with a little outrage. “You’re causing Mikkel’s problems? Why?”
Baldur shrugged. “It started out because he got on my nerves. Always imitating my update requests. And then I found out how much he was making doing it. Investing is a zero sum game. Some win, some lose. In order to do business quietly, I have to put up with all the usual folks getting close to their normal share, but I sure as hell don’t need to let another newcomer in to take any more of my pie.”
“I see.” Ariel didn’t have to work hard to make her voice cold.
“But that is all about to change. Given what you and I can do together, we’ve got whole new pies to go after. Lots of pies. I can afford to let Mikkel have his share, and a lack of troubles too, if that pleases my new business partner.”
“Are you planning to tie me to a table again?” she asked.
“I told you that I was sorry about that. I needed answers. You wouldn’t give them to me. There will be no need for anything so barbaric in the future.”
“What exactly are you proposing?” She wanted a bit of eagerness in her voice, but she was surprised at how genuine it felt and sounded.
“A day of your time, every month. Come over for lunch, and allow me unlimited access to your skin for the duration of the trading day. If I’m not rushed, I won’t need others from d4 to participate, so I can guarantee that there will be no awkward invasions of your privacy or other, perhaps more lecherous, men involved. In fact, as long as you are cooperating, you will be treated with all the respect you deserve.”
“I want a cut of it.” Ariel surprised herself with the demand, but of course it was a reasonable one.
“I’m willing to allow your boyfriend—” he said the word pointedly—“a certain amount of leeway in copying my investments, as long as he becomes less greedy than he has been lately. I am aware that Ullow can monitor my trades. I do use all their equipment. Surely they are smart enough to find a way. I could replace everything I’ve bought from them, and I could even turn to another company for software and support. I will if I have to—don’t think for a minute that I won’t—but I’d much rather reach a civilized agreement with you.”
“What do you consider civilized?”
He smiled at the question. “You may personally profit as well, of course, as long as what you and your boyfriend make together does not exceed one percent of what I am making.”
“One percent is nothing!”
“One percent of the kind of money I intend to make is far from nothing,” he corrected her. “My understanding is that you have very little knowledge about or interest in stocks yourself. You’ve never seen events that could help you invest, have you?”
“I’ve never tried,” she answered.
“Let me assure you that is far less easy than it sounds. That’s how all the dumb money gets sucked in. Even with a strong background in how the market deals with events, which is sometimes counter-intuitive, and with excellent foresight such as you can provide, it is still not an easy system to navigate. If you are thinking of trying this on your own, let me assure you that your learning curve will be long and expensive. Meanwhile, on your own you also lack my quick insights to the short-term fluctuations that turn out to be quite useful even when investing in something more mid-range like options. Ariel, one percent of what I’m going to make is way better than one-hundred percent of what you and Mikkel can do on your own. Consider carefully.”
Ariel did, or at least she gave the best appearance of doing so that she could manage, given that her decision was already made.
“A day every month. No creepy behavior of any kind by anyone. One percent of your profits. Things up in Greenland encounter very few problems point forward, at least none that you are involved with. We have a deal,” she said.
“Yes, well, there’s not a legal document in the world that can enforce this arrangement, but luckily we are both better off adhering to it,” Baldur said.
“Agreed. I trust your driver will take me back to the airport now.” Ariel was all business.
“Good heavens, no,” he said. “Today is the first day you owe me, and I need you until the New York markets close at eight-thirty tonight. There’s a comfortable couch for you to lie on, and I’ve taken the liberty of having Hulda purchase a swimsuit for you. I’m sorry it’s so skimpy, but I’ve established that the contact between us remains better if I can move my hands around frequently. I’ll be watching the screen closely, and I can’t afford to miss a crucial trade because I accidently put my hand on your clothing and lose touch with you.”
“Okay.” She guessed that she should have expected this, and it was probably why Hulda hadn’t looked her in the eye. “Is it okay if I read a book or something while you work? Maybe even take a nap?”
A pained expression barely crossed his face, and Ariel realized that she had just found his weakness.
“Unfortunately you need to be awake. I won’t lie to you—it does work better when you are paying attention. I’ll be talking aloud about what I’m doing, much the way my two colleagues and I talked last time. I’ll probably also run an investor’s news program in the background while we work. You should do your best to try to keep the stock market on your mind while we do this. More profits for me means more profits for you.”
She had to hide her a smile. This was such good news. He didn’t just need her exposed flesh, he also needed her to pay attention, and to care about what he was trying to do. That was a whole different kind of power she had now, wasn’t it? She couldn’t wait to tell the others.
When Ariel got home from Reykjavik early Tuesday afternoon she realized how utterly exhausted she was. She knew that she had done well for Baldur, this time paying much more attention to the stocks under consideration. With her greater concentration, and no distractions from the other men, the constructive interference from their abilities had been even stronger. Ariel was pretty certain that Baldur had also put substantially more money on the line.
She sent a quick email to everyone who might care, assuring them that she was home
safe and in no mood to talk and would be at work the next morning. Everyone respected her request, at least through that night. Ariel was in bed before 6 p.m. and slept until the alarm went off the next morning.
Mikkel was the first to call the next day, and he caught her just as she emerged from the shower. He was worried about her. She let herself describe the trip to Iceland to him, and Mikkel had the sense not to overreact to her story, but also to show concern for her. It was a fine line, Ariel thought, and he managed it perfectly.
He wanted to let her know that more than one sticky problem had resolved itself already at his plant in Northern Greenland. He was concerned that nothing might have been put in place yet to mimic and profit from the investments she and Baldur had just made, so would she please get with Ronan and Fergus as soon as she got to the office and see what she could do? And by the way, he thought that they should plan another weekend together in a couple of weeks, just, you know, to keep the show going. Maybe London?
Ariel didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. Mikkel might not realize it yet, but she could tell that he was becoming emotionally involved in spite of his resolve. Ariel knew the symptoms.
As she hung up the phone, she wondered if she felt the same way back. She didn’t think so. Frankly, five or six years was a long time, far longer than any relationship she’d ever had. Still, knowing something had to end did put a damper on it. She’d hoped for marriage and kids maybe, down the road someday—no hurry. It wasn’t her primary criteria for dating now, that was for sure, but knowing it was impossible changed things.
So did knowing that if a relationship went well, really too well, she could find herself going somewhere permanently that she absolutely did not want to go. She liked nightlife and cities. She liked the wind and the sky and the whole beautiful planet teeming with life.
She’d told Mikkel that she would not think about this right now, she reminded herself, and she was trying hard not to. But putting on her mascara forced her to look straight into her own eye in the mirror. Could she, Ariel Zeitman, potentially screw matters up for the whole human race just by having the life she wanted? Talk about a buzz kill.
She felt a little sad as she drove into the office, and slipped quietly into her cube unnoticed. She sipped on the rest of the coffee in her travel mug as she dealt with the emails from Zane, Nell, her mother and Eoin who was home sick again and just wanted to check in and make sure she was safe in every way.
23. In the Heart of Autumn
Ariel had ignored the email from Siarnaq for too long and tonight she was resolved to respond. This was going to be tough. Beneath her anger at his alliance with Baldur, she felt genuine affection for the man and appreciation for what he was trying to do. She’d waded into enough murky waters with Cillian and his cause to be less inclined to cast stones at anyone trying to do right in this mess.
On the other hand, her life was complicated, and Siarnaq only offered more complications. She had neither the means nor the time to run off to Greenland and take comfort in his arms. She might be developing affection for his cousin, and that was another whole problem. Best to end anything that even resembled romance, and offer Siarnaq her friendship from afar and that was that.
She crafted the best response she could, and sent it off in hopes that it conveyed sufficient warmth and yet an equally sufficient desire to close the door firmly on what they had once shared.
Siarnaq responded within an hour. “When you did not answer me after several days, I did not expect to ever hear from you again,” he began. “I found out why. Families talk. Imagine how sad I was to learn only a few days ago that my cousin, who I have only recently reconciled with, has been seeing a red-haired American girl who lives in Ireland and works with the computers for his investment company. Did you start a romance with him just to spite me? My dear Ariel, I did not realize that I had hurt you so badly.”
Oh Siarnaq, Ariel thought. What I did with Mikkel had nothing at all to do with you. But of course in Siarnaq’s mind it did. Then she wondered. Who had Mikkel talked to in his family, and why? Knowing Mikkel, she guessed it had happened innocently, with Mikkel trying to deflect one more unwanted round of questions about his love life. “I’m seeing a woman from the Irish investment company. I travel there a lot. It’s off and on again.” Something like that, so easy for him to have said, not thinking about Ariel and Siarnaq’s history.
Siarnaq ended his email: “I cannot believe that we have grown so far from each other, not after the intensity of what we once shared. We need to talk, we need to touch. I have learned much about what lies ahead and I could use the comfort of your arms. Please find a way to come to Greenland.”
Well that didn’t work so well, Ariel muttered to herself. She curled up on her bed and let a few tears of self-pity start to fall. Then the premory came. A likely one, high probability. Siarnaq was hugging her, wishing her well, and she had a sense that things were good between them. It was just a flash, and she couldn’t premember much. But it felt important, so she wiped away the tears, grabbed her laptop and opened her calendar for November. The first weekend was open, but it was in only a week and a half. Eoin was giving her an unusual amount of leeway. Could she possibly work out a business trip to Nuuk?
******
When Cillian invited the six employees of Ullow out to his house for a business dinner, no one thought it was going to be about business. The cold dark nights of mid-Autumn made any outdoors gathering out of the question, but Ariel was surprised to see a lovely table set-up in the main dining room, a peat fireplace lit, candles glowing and a full bar in plain view.
“We can visit inside?” Ariel asked Cillian as a friendly maid took her coat.
“We’re going to,” Cillian replied. “American-style Halloween isn’t celebrated so much here in Ireland, but it is important as the pagan Samhain and as the Catholic Eve of All Soul’s night. I’ve given most of the staff tonight and tomorrow off, to celebrate as they see fit. Kaitlin here,” he gestured to the maid, “is tending to all of our needs, and she’s already well acquainted with much of my situation.”
Eoin, Ronan, Fergus and Jake had gathered around Cillian as he answered Ariel’s question, equally curious. Something had changed for Cillian that they all wanted to understand.
“I’ll get to the point soon enough,” he promised everyone. “Get yourself a drink and have a seat.”
After a few minutes of shuffling around, Ariel found herself seated between Brendan and the young man she had decided definitely was Fergus. She held a whisky and soda in her hand.
“Isn’t this a gorgeous house, Fergus?” she said to be friendly.
“It is, but I’m Ronan,” he replied amiably. “Don’t worry, everyone confuses us all the time. I’m the one whose chin is a little sharper, you know?”
“Right. Thanks. I’ll remember that.”
Cillian stood up to speak and all other conversation came to a halt.
“Doyle recently started legal proceedings to remove me from this house, claiming that he is acting in my father’s wishes,” Cillian began. There was a bit of muttering as the Ullow group exchanged looks that ranged from puzzled to knowing. “My father has become even more catatonic over the last two weeks, and Doyle does have his power of attorney. My lawyers are advising me that this could turn into a protracted legal battle that will likely not end well for me. As you all know, I don’t need to find myself back in the public eye, now of all times. So yesterday I agreed to vacate the premises by the end of November. This is, in essence, a farewell party to this lovely house.”
Nell shook her head in disbelief and Brendan said “No!”, leaving Ariel to conclude that this last piece of news must have come as a surprise to all.
Cillian went on. “Doyle agreed to give me a month to conclude my affairs and make other living arrangements.” He smiled a little at some of the objections that came from the group. “Please. I’ve used my own generous salary and allowances to fund my projects and those funds are availab
le to me personally, so I’m hardly going to be homeless on the street. A few of the household staff have even indicated that they would consider relocating with me, so I’m not even going to have to learn to cook immediately.” He smiled. “I’m going to be fine.” He said the last bit as though he was trying to convince himself more than anyone else.
“In some ways, you’ve all become family to me over the past few months as we’ve shared our secrets, and I wanted to tell you all this in person and share a toast. That’s all.”
Cillian raised his glass. “My friends are the best friends, loyal, willing and able. Now let’s get to drinking! All glasses off the table! Sláinte.”
The group laughed appreciatively and drank, but the questions were far from over. As the soup was served, those who did not know already were told about Siarnaq’s visit two weeks ago, and of the embrace that had brought more detailed visions to both men.
“I can see no harm in sharing with you four what Siarnaq and I both learned. I suggest discretion with the information, of course. I’ve seen no future in which public knowledge helps the situation, and several in which it causes worse. Plus, you make your own life less pleasant if people think of you as a nut job.”
He turned to Ariel. “The Irish have a saying that there’s nothing so bad that it couldn’t be worse. I’m afraid what I am about to tell you may test that theory.”
The group listened quietly as Cillian began to speak of the rapid evolution of a tiny, short-lived new life form that would render most species of mammals extinct and create the struggle for survival that had haunted his visions, and those of Siarnaq as well. These visions had forced each man down a path to try to avert the worst of what he saw.
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