Dragonflies The Duncan Peters Files

by Fontien, Samantha

  “Are you serious?” she asked, suddenly feeling very conscious of her naked state.

  “Perfectly serious,” he replied quite coldly. He was shocked with himself, enough that when he saw her face and the tears well up in her eyes, he nearly went to comfort her.

  “I don’t deserve you talking to me like that Duncan; I’m not some booty call for God’s sake. What’s happened, you’ve never treated me like this before.” She looked at him for answers. “I want to know why you’re being such an almighty arsehole.”

  He simply looked at her and pulled the door open and walked out closing the door behind him, leaving Nicola alone, wondering what on earth she had done.

  He got to the footpath and stopped. He stood there, her hurt expression flashing into his mind. Duncan shook his head, somewhat ashamed of himself. What he’d done was inexcusable, and she certainly didn’t deserve it. He turned around and marched back to the door. He could hear her crying on the other side, as she gathered her clothes. He felt thoroughly ashamed, so much so, he couldn’t face her. He abruptly turned and retraced his steps, out onto the road and towards his car.

  He found himself in the office, stopping at Beth’s desk. He picked up a block of ‘post it notes’ and started to write.

  “Good morning Beth, I need you to send flowers to this address,” he handed her the note, and made his way to his office, turning as he spoke, his arm’s flouncing. “Make sure it’s something nice, girly, and make sure the card reads ‘I’m sorry’, and he walked into his office leaving Beth replying “Certainly Mr. Peters.”

  He sat at his desk; his chair swivelled around; bringing him parallel to Rubin’s empty desk. He tried to concentrate having logged onto the company computer’s mainframe. He rubbed his eyes, having tried to stare at the computer screen, but his eyes were transfixed onto Rubin’s empty chair. He sighed hard, he couldn’t do this, he had come back too quickly. He held his head in his hands, elbows perched on his desk. A sharp knock at the door was a welcome distraction, as Rizzo burst through his doors backwards protesting an apology while she continued to hold another conversation with the other person on the other side of the door.

  “I’m sorry you can’t go in there, you need an appointment,” she protested.

  “I need no appointment young lady, I’m sure Mr. Peters will see me.” He said with an air of arrogance.

  Duncan sat there in disbelief, he knew that voice and it was one he didn’t want to hear ever again. But here it was, right on his door step, and not metaphorically speaking.

  “It’s ok Rizzo, you can let him in,” as he straightened himself up ready for his unexpected visitor.

  The man walked in and stood in front of Duncan’s desk, extending his arm as he spoke.

  “Mr. Peters,” he looked at Duncan. “I’m sorry to turn up unannounced, but you’re not an easy gentleman to get hold of. Firstly,” he still had a hold of his hand. “I wanted to thank you personally for the excellent job your company did on my extraction.” His face softened, “Really, I wanted to say thank you, I don’t think I could ever thank you for what you did.” He turned his head; having noticed Duncan was quite uncomfortable and was looking past him, and at the empty desk that was behind him. He turned, and looked at the empty space. “I will never forget what you did, what both of you chaps did, and what you have sacrificed.” He signalled with his hand to sit at the chair that was in front of Duncan’s desk.

  Duncan nodded his head, and finally Mr. Nichols released his hand and sat down. Duncan followed suit.

  “Mr. Peters, what your company offers is an exemplary service. I can say that having had first-hand experience of this. My partners and I have been discussing a merger between both of our companies.” Duncan leaned back into his chair intrigued with the presumptuous notion from him. “We would like to make you an offer,” and he pulled his hand out of the inside pocket of his suit jacket and pulled out a white envelope, which he placed on the table in front of Duncan. “We, the partners want to absorb the business,” Duncan’s eyebrows raised. “Of course this would make you a senior partner, and you know how our company operates.” He leaned back into his chair.

  Duncan sat there; he didn’t even look at the envelope. He waited patiently for Mr. Nichols to finish speaking. He knew he was looking unimpressed at what Mr. Nichols had been saying.

  “I don’t think you understand Mr. Nichols, extractions are not our only line of business. We have quite a few pies in our ovens so to speak.” Duncan said with pride. “We’re not such a small company, but I’m sure you’re well aware of that already.”

  He stood up thinking that would bring an end to this impromptu meeting, which Mr. Nichols had decided to conduct with him. However Mr. Nichols had other ideas, that or he could read minds. Mr. Nichol’s remained unfazed by Duncan’s attempt at ending their meeting.

  “Yes Mr. Peters, we are quite aware of that.” He motioned to the envelope, “I do suggest you have a look. We don’t expect an answer overnight.” He stood up, accepting that it was wise under the circumstances, not to provoke the situation any further. Clearly, it was only early days. “Please do look at the offer; I’m sure you’ll find it very satisfactory indeed.” And with that he left the office.

  The door had no sooner closed when Rizzo came bounding into his office.

  “You’re seriously not thinking of joining forces with the fucking dark side are you?”

  Duncan looked at her puzzled as in ‘how in the name of God’ did she knew what was going on in his office, until he caught sight of a small flashing device under Rubin’s desk. He took a breath, as he mentally counted to ten in his head. He looked at her unimpressed.

  “Rizzo, why the hell are you bugging my office?” he looked at her sternly as he walked to Rubin’s desk and detached the small black unit and sat back at his desk, examining the device. “You’ve done a good job putting this one together,” he popped open the back of the unit, a small smile cracked across his face. “I see you modified my design?” He said intrigued.

  Rizzo had joined him on his side of the desk, as she excitedly leaned in, examining her work.

  “Yeah I just tweaked it a tiny bit,” she smiled a big ‘Cheshire cat’ smile. “You want to hear the sound quality of this baby, and there’s a great range on these devices.”

  And with that, Beth’s voice purred over the intercom system interrupting them.

  “Sorry Mr. Peters I have a Ms. Knight on line two for you.”

  Duncan looked at Rizzo, “Yeah, yeah I get the message,” she smiled as she went to scoop up the device. He covered it with his hands as he shooed her away. His eyes surveyed his office, looking for more ‘flashing devices’ courtesy of Rizzo. Once satisfied he was clear to speak freely, he picked up the phone, feeling slightly sheepish, with his awful conduct earlier that morning.

  “Duncan Peters, if you think flowers are going to get you out of trouble, you have another thing coming. I have never been treated with such disrespect and the ill contempt that you showed me, and in my own home. I never invited you around. You took it upon yourself to come around, and to fuck me and leave me the way you did. Fuck! You did all, but throw money in my face, like I was some kind of whore.” Her arms wildly flayed with her anger. “So, Mr. Duncan Peters,” her voice dripped with sarcasm. “You sir, can take your flowers and shove them up your arse” She took a breath before her anger got the better of her. “Sorry my arse,” she took a breath before her tirade began again. “Yes, you are one, very sorry excuse of an arsehole.” And with that, she hung up leaving Duncan staring into the receiver of the phone.

  He placed the handset down, and walked out to Beth. Who immediately jumped to attention with his presence.

  “Beth, the flowers,” he looked at her puzzled as he had only placed the order not more than an hour ago. “Do we have a magical florist?” he asked. She laughed, and then looked solemnly.

  “Errmm, no Mr. Peters, we have an account that Mr. Miller set up,” she looked down at t
he floor, uncomfortable having mentioned Rubin’s name. “I’m sorry, I didn’t think,” she smiled remorsefully at him.

  “Okay, erm thank you Beth, no it’s fine, perfectly fine,” he smiled reassuringly at her. How typical of Rubin to have set up his own express service when it came to flowers. Bloody charmer probably had them on speed dial…

  23..

  The story Of my Life..

  It took Duncan over a month to actually look at the white envelope that Mr. Nichols had placed on his desk. When he had returned to his office, he just simply popped it into his desk drawer and had forgotten about it until he had received a call from Mr. Nichols. Personally he wanted to knock Mr. Nicholls out, in his twisted mind; he blamed him for Rubin’s death. Even just the mere mention of his name riled him to the point that if Nichols had turned up at his office unannounced he would have snapped his neck.

  The morale in the office was still at an all-time low. Rizzo who had become his side-kick over the years was trying to hold it together. Although they had been on complete radio silence, she had heard everything that had gone down. She had been monitoring the extraction from the office like she did with every project or assignment. Her loyalty to the company, to Duncan was unquestionable. She had been torn to pieces at Rubin’s death, but Duncan had caught her on more than one occasion with tears in her eyes. She tried to hide it and she did a good job in fairness to her, as she tried to portray her hard and crunchy image.

  Over the years her urban image had nearly vanished as she conformed to the office dress code, although her ears still held a good assortment of metal, and the thick bolt of red she had in her hair, which seemed to vary with different shades of red over the years, had stayed put. When he looked at the envelope, his eyes nearly fell out of his head. Mr. Nichols was quite correct; it was an offer he couldn’t refuse….

  He sat at his desk; scotch in one hard, which he dolefully sipped, while he held the offer in his other hand, his chair swiveling slowly from side to side while he stared blankly out across the London skyline. It was late in the evening, and the landscape, was lit with its twinkling lights of the hustle and bustle of London. He felt empty; he had done since he had tried to wake Rubes up on the seaplane. He had no interest in anything. He had gone round to Nicola’s that night after she had torn him a new one on the phone when she had received the flowers. She had wanted nothing to do with him, and he couldn’t really blame her with the way he had treated her. He respected her for it; in fact he totally respected her. He had done since the night he had first meet her at that party. He had taken her back to her place, and stayed that night. He laughed to himself, he hadn’t done a heavy petting session like that since school, however she had held out telling him that all good things were worth waiting for. And she was, he hadn’t been disappointed when she had eventually succumbed to his charms.

  He breathed hard, he still couldn’t understand why he had done that to her. He saw the look on her face when he had held the door open. He knew he had made a big mistake then, and he certainly knew it now. He knew he had to make changes, and he had to make them fast. He was broken out of his thoughts with a knock at his door, and the door opening, with Rizzo popping her head round the door.

  “I saw your light on,” she smiled as she walked in, allowing the door to close behind her.

  She walked to his desk, and plonked herself down on the chair opposite his desk and picked up the filled glass that was sitting there and took at sip. Duncan looked at her, as her face winced with the taste, but still she sipped. He breathed hard as he looked out over the twinkling skyline.

  “What’s up boss man?” she looked at him, her eyes then looking at the white document in his hand. “Ohh fuck, that’s not the offer from the fucking dark side, is it?”

  Duncan laughed.

  “They’re NOT the dark side Rizzo,” he spun round to face her. “They are one of the top ten Blue Chip companies in the world. It would be stupid to not consider this offer.”

  “Yeah, but, seriously boss man! Do you really want to work for Emperor Palpatine?” She said rather smugly.

  “Not working for them Rizzo, working with them, as an equal partner, huge difference,” he sipped at his glass nonchalantly staring out at the view.

  “But it’s working WITH Emperor, for fuck’s sake,” she protested.

  “Shit Rizzo, stop with the Star Wars references. There are a lot of factors to consider here.”

  “Yeah but, and don’t say ‘butts are on your arse,” she held out her finger to warn him. “I fucking can’t stand that prick; he walks like he has a pole up his arse.” Duncan smiled at her, trying to suppress the laughter. “Seriously boss man,” she looked at him with a pitiful ‘please don’t do it look’.

  “Rizzo, it’s a fantastic offer, as I said, there are matters to consider.” His eyes averted back to the letter.

  “You’re thinking of selling up and giving his lad a cut of the deal aren’t you?” she asked, her face wincing with the sip she just taken, before she placed the drink back on the table. “I don’t know how you can drink that shit.”

  Duncan ignored her, as he stared at the paper in his hand. His eyes couldn’t help but widen each time he looked at the figure. He sat there pondering. There was so much to consider. What if Rubin had known about Alfie, maybe things would have been different? Would he have settled down with Jessica and wee Alfie? He sighed, knowing what he did of Rubin, he would have. He had wondered how she had managed to pull it off without him catching wind of Alfie being his son. He looked at the picture on his desk of Alfie perched on his shoulders. He smiled remembering fondly the day at London Zoo. He looked over at Rubin’s empty chair, and then around the office, as he placed the empty glass back onto the desk.

  “This place isn’t the same without him Rizzo,” he looked over at Rizzo, who now had pulled her knees up to her chest as she looked out over the twinkling lights. She nodded her head, her eyes slightly started to moisten. He looked away, not wanting to see the tears pool until they would eventually drop. “The offer is too good Rizzo.”

  “Shit, sounds like you’ve made up your mind boss man,” she stood up, and turned to him. “Shit, see what you’ve done Dunc,” and she pointed to her officey appearance. “My street cred has gone to pot.”

  He spun round in his chair to face her.

  “Ohh and talking of pot, you do know they do random drug testing?” He laughed.

  “Seriously Dunc, don’t do it, don’t sell us out to them,” he cut her off mid-sentence.

  “I seriously have to look at this offer,” he looked at her. “Rizzo, I have to do what’s right.”

  “Yeah I know,” she moved to the door. “It’s in your DNA, to do the right thing, I know that Dunc, I just don’t want officey corporate. You guys,” her eyes looked over at Rubin’s empty desk, “You guys turned me into this,” and she motioned with her hands to her attire. “And now bloody random drug test which you know I will fail, shit boss.” She laughed making a mockery of the situation.

  “I wouldn’t worry about that Rizzo, I have my ways and mean’s, and you don’t have to worry about that. If I do this, you are coming with me, you and Beth, you’re my right hands.” He smiled at her sincerely.

  “I know boss, I just don’t fancy working on the death star that’s all,” she laughed. “Sorry,” she sniggered knowing full well she could push his buttons.

  He laughed, as he threw a pen at her as she closed the door behind her, leaving him alone in his thoughts. He looked back to the picture of him and Alfie, and the need to see him overwhelmed him. He was his last link to Rubin, and with him being a mini Rubin, it seemed to be the only thing that settled him nowadays. And also he could talk this through with Jessica. Rizzo was quiet right; he would set up a trust fund for Alfie and make sure the lad would be taken care of; after all, it would be what Rubin would want. That night he went round to Jess’s and after Alfie was put to bed with a story from Uncle Duncan, he and Jess had an in-depth conversatio
n about the offer made from ‘Blackcard’. Duncan found himself talking to her all the time, although he knew, never to broach the subject of Simone. Jessica had made it perfectly clear from the start, that it would only make things very uncomfortable between them, and they had Alfie to consider. Duncan agreed, what else could he do. That night after a long talk about the offer from ‘Blackcard’, Duncan left with a plan of action, all he needed to do, was to put it into motion.

  Later that week, he and Mr. Nichols met in a hotel. Duncan thought it best they met on neutral territory. As soon as he saw him, the urge to punch in him in the face arose again, which he suppressed. He put it down to the fact that seeing him only brought back the events of his freedom. He would have to get over it if they were going to work together. He could only hope in time, the urge would go to want to harm Nichol’s. Although, he did have to admire him, the weak and feeble man whom they had rescued was now back to his old self. He had to give it to him. And that night they went through the finer points of their companies’ merger.

  Three months later the merger was complete and ‘Blackcard’ absorbed the business that he and Rubin had built. Rizzo found the adjustment a little hard, mind you; the looks she got from the corporate drones, as she called them didn’t help. Duncan could only smile to himself as she moaned yet again, with her countless Star Wars references. But as he told her: “It is, what it is, and she had to get used to it.” He was hoping the five percent of the sale he gave her, would have settled her more, it had seemed to with the ever resourceful Beth, who had taken the transition to ‘Blackcard’ in her stride as always.

  The years seemed to whiz by. Before he knew it was 2010. Alfie was eight, and Jess had moved into Rubin’s house which was extremely handy, as it was only across the road from Duncan. It meant he could be more involved in wee Alfie’s life, and with every year, Alfie’s Rubin gene got stronger and stronger, which Duncan found very comforting indeed. And he loved playing the doting uncle Dunc, he spoiled the boy rotten, and done man things as Alfie called it. Having Alfie in his life, made him also think more about Isabella, and how his life would have turned out. She would have been fourteen now. She would probably be listening to some awful music, which Simone would shout for her to turn down. And he would have defended her, as she would have been ‘daddy’s little girl’. Although she had her mother’s gorgeous looks, she had his jet black hair. Duncan always thought of her, how could he not? He found himself wondering how she would have looked over the years, and how he would have been fending the boys off. He often thought of Simone, and what their life would have been like, if that dreaded day had never happened, that had ripped them apart.