“I know for a fact that he did not return with her. Please just let me speak to him for a minute. He wanted me to come see him. You’ll see.” Her feisty Irish nature began to assert itself and she was not going to let this round French guard dog keep her from Taylor.
“If you knew Celine had returned to Paris then why are you here?” The woman sniffed mightily. “I thought it was imperative that you speak to her.” The woman was clearly mocking her now.
“Please I just need to speak to Mr. Hamilton for a moment. This is company business and I don’t think Miss D’Aumont would appreciate you getting in the way of official business.” Sasha groaned inwardly. She couldn’t lie well to begin with and under pressure it was only worse. She wouldn’t believe her if she heard herself right now.
“I’m sorry. I told you that neither Miss D’Aumont nor Mr. Hamilton are here. Please excuse me but this lab is off limits to anyone without a pass and I assume you don’t have one. Good day!” With that the woman slammed the door in Sasha’s face. She stood there for a few moments trying to come up with an idea to gain entrance. She couldn’t think of any. She decided to walk around the grounds to see if she could get a glimpse inside. So far she hadn’t noticed any guards or other employees outside and figured it was worth a shot. She walked down the driveway pretending to leave and asked the cab driver to drive down the road a short distance and let her out again. Once more she asked him to wait and pressed some money into his hands. He seemed more than happy to oblige and went back to his reading on the amazing mushrooms.
“You know some of the most delicious mushrooms I’ve ever gathered were right in those woods over there.” He pointed his dirty grubby finger towards the forest. Sasha feigned interest long enough not to insult him and walked back down the road towards the chateau.
Taylor woke from a frantic dream. Images and voices continued to drum inside his head as he opened his eyes and tried to make sense of everything. He was in a large comfortable bed covered with a gray down comforter. The sunlight was streaming in the windows and the room had the distinctive French Provincial look to it. There was too much lace and too many conflicting patterns of endless varieties of wild flowers. He knew instantly he was still at the lab. He had some kind of seizure and passed out. That’s about all he remembered. Celine must have placed him here after he had become unconscious. The first ting he realized upon waking was that his horrible thirst which had haunted him from the beginning of this trip was completely gone. In fact he felt exceptionally well for having suffered some kind of attack. His head began to clear and the dreams faded away into the invading light. He jumped out of bed and went to the door only to find it locked.
‘What the Hell?” He tried the handle again with no success. Why had she locked him in here? Where was she? Why hadn’t she taken him to a hospital? These were all questions that had no answers. He started to panic and thought that this would get him nowhere. He took a deep breath and walked over to the windows. Looking outside into the fields that spread far behind the house he blinked in disbelief when he saw a figure walking stealthily through the lavender. It was Sasha! What was she doing here? He pounded on the window for an eternity until she finally looked up. She looked as surprised as he felt and she made a motion for him to come down. He wanted to shout to her but thought better of it. The window was large enough to go through if only it would open. He grabbed a wooden chair painted in white with white fabric drowning in lilacs and with all the strength he could muster he smashed the chair into the glass shattering the window into a million pieces. Quickly he took off his shoes and removed the remaining glass around the edges so as not to cut himself. He listened for the sound of footsteps and hearing nothing he began to climb out the window. He was on the second floor and suddenly realized he had not thought this through. There was the narrowest of ledges running along the bottom of the casement and he realized that this would have to do. Sasha came running up to the house the minute the window was destroyed.
“What are you doing?” She said as loudly as she could without yelling.
“I’ve got to get out of here! They have me locked in a room for God’s sake. What are you doing here?” The whole time he was balancing himself precariously on the precipice.
“I heard that you might be in trouble out here and I came to check it out. Oh God! Be careful!” She winced as he almost lost his balance.
“Sasha you can see the house from there. Is there a way down?” Sasha looked at the edifice and saw that the ledge met in a corner where a large drain spout made contact with the ground. “If you go to the right you’ll find a corner and you might be able to shimmy down the spouting.” She tried not to sound so doubtful. At this moment Taylor heard voices in the room. They must have heard the crash and were now just behind him. He hurried away from the window. Sophie stuck her large head out.
“Mon Dieu! What are you doing Monsieur? This is madness…please come back inside!” She sounded completely desperate and Sasha smiled at the thought of the rude old woman being reprimanded by Celine. It was petty but the thought gave her pleasure. Taylor ignored the maid and found the drain pipe. With a skill unknown to him he gracefully scaled down the spouting with now difficulty and ran to Sasha. She grabbed his hand.
“C’mon. I have a getaway car.” She was smiling brightly at him. It was obvious that they were more than happy to see each other again. They ran like children even giggling through the field never once letting go of their clasped hands. Sasha pointed to the taxi and led him to it. Once inside she urged the man to go as fast as he could and thrust more money into his old hands. More than happy to oblige and wishing that he were young again like these two who were obviously in love he sped off down the dirt road like a demon leaving a telltale cloud behind them. At first she asked him to take them to the train station and then thought better of it.
“How much would it take for you to drive us back to Paris?” She reached inside her pockets searching for more money.
“Mademoiselle you have already paid me more than two day’s pay. I will gladly take you and your friend wherever you wish to go.” He winked at them coyly. “Ah! L’amour! It is the only thing in life that makes everything worthwhile.” He smiled to himself thinking of his own memories of l’amour as he sped the young couple back to the city of lights.
“Taylor what the hell is going on? Why did they lock you in a room?” Sasha was so glad she had listened to the strange bird lady.
“I don’t know what’s happening but I’m fairly certain that Celine has been drugging me since I got to Paris.” Taylor’s voice was strong and assured. There was a new quality about him that she had not noticed before. It was as if he had gained a new stature in these last few hours and he seemed almost regal.
“What?” She couldn’t believe that her boss was drugging the man she had hired to run a story on her company. This could not get any weirder.
“I think she was trying some experimental drug that her company is working on. I think she put in in the water she was giving me. I have to say the water was pretty damned addicting and I couldn’t get enough ever since the first time I drank it wanting more and more and then I had some sort of attack at the lab back there and I passed out.” He couldn’t believe his own words.
“What happened?” Sasha felt a sense of fear rising up within her.
“I don’t really remember too much except that I think I was hallucinating vividly before I lost consciousness. I kept seeing all sorts of strange figures in all kinds of weird clothing and I saw Celine.” He paused when he saw the look of alarm on Sasha’s face. “Except Celine was like a witch or something. It was definitely some kind of hallucinogenic but the question is why.” Taylor realized that they were still holding hands and it felt completely natural even in all this craziness.
“I don’t know. This morning some strange woman came to me at work and told me that you were in danger. That Celine was probably going to kill you. It didn’t make any sense at all but I had to come o
ut here and see for myself that you were alright. Especially after I learned that Celine had returned to Paris without you.” She was so glad that they were together again. She couldn’t help but feel like a schoolgirl with a big crush. It was silly but she was allowing herself to enjoy this new feeling.
“Who told you? What strange woman?” He was all curiosity now.
“I don’t know. I only know that she had been following me for a little while now. I saw her outside my apartment the other night. I think there is some sort of war going on between the beauty companies. That’s the only thing that makes sense. I think we may be caught up in it.” She knew how crazy that sounded but the whole day had been a whole bunch of crazy so what was one more thing? It sounded less crazy when she said it out loud and was the only logical conclusion her mind could find.
“It doesn’t sound crazy. Especially if Celine’s claims are true about finding the cure for aging. I can’t imagine what lengths people would go to in order to get the patent for something like that. It would change the whole world.” He knew it was dramatic but he was convinced if someone had found a way to stop aging everything would change. Everything would be affected including the medical field and the beauty industry. Was the world ready for something as heady and powerful as a society of beautiful people who would never grow old?
“Does Celine know you came out here?” Taylor looked at Sasha and still couldn’t believe that she was so pretty with her chestnut hair and hazel eyes. She looked at him openly and honestly which to Taylor was the greatest gift in the world.
“No, I told the office I was going home sick. As far as Celine is concerned she has no idea that I know anything.”
“That’s good because you are going to have to be my eyes and ears for now. I can’t go waltzing back into Celgen after busting out her window like that. But if you don’t want to I completely understand. I don’t want you messed up in anything you don’t want to be a part of.” He squeezed her hand gently and kissed her forehead.
“Are you kidding? Nothing could stop me from finding out what the hell is going on. Besides I’m already involved. Someone is having us watched. At first I thought it was Celine but now I think it might be one of her competitors. She said we were in danger and that it would be nothing for Celine to dispose of us. Can you believe that? Celine killing anyone? I mean I guess she could hire someone but it just seems unreal.”
“I would have never believed that she would have drugged me and locked me in a tower but it happened anyway. Listen Sasha something huge is going on here and it could get dangerous. Maybe you should go back home for a while until this is all cleared up. Take a leave of absence or something. I changed my mind, I don’t want you to be my eyes and ears.” The thought of something happening to Sasha was far too much for Taylor to process. He could barely get the words out without choking up.
“Sorry Taylor. I’m in. I’m already a part of this and you should know something about me.” She dropped her eyes and her voice trailed off to a whisper. Taylor started panicking. Of course, she had a boyfriend or a husband somewhere. A woman as pretty and successful as Sasha would not stay single for long. He braced himself for the ugly words.
“You see I never back down from a challenge and if someone is out to get me they had better watch their ass!” They both laughed and the sound of laughter released some of the tension of their current situation. “The first thing we have to do is get you moved. You can’t stay at the Ritz anymore and you can’t stay with me as much as I’d like that.” She furrowed her brows in concentration and did not see the look of happiness and relief in Taylor’s eyes. “I think I know the place. There is a small and really charming hotel a few blocks away from me. In all of Paris Celine would never dream of looking for you there. That way we would be close.”
“Would you like that Sasha? If we could be close?” His voice was a sexy whisper.
“More than anything.” She moved in and kissed him on the lips. It was a soft and tender kiss and she wished they could do more than that but for now a kiss would have to do. The old driver looked in the rearview mirror at the attractive couple so oblivious to him. He smiled and thought of his own youth and the many adventures he had savored before time had finally caught up with him but he was happy because he had a heart full of memories and his love of mushrooms made up for the rest. The taxi careened onto the highway tires screeching as they flew into the darkening sky toward Paris.
Back at the lab Sophie ordered one of the maids to clean up the mess that the American had left behind. She went to the kitchen to call Celine. She was not looking forward to giving her boss the bad news but it had to be done. She called her private cell number and Celine picked up almost immediately.
“Sophie. What is it? Has he woken up yet?” She sounded hurried and slightly irritated.
“Oh yes Miss, he has definitely woken up.” Sophie searched for the courage to go on.
“What is it? Is he causing trouble?” She definitely was impatient and not in the best of moods.
“Miss…he broke a window and climbed down the side of the building. I don’t know how he did it. If I didn’t see it myself I never would have believed it. It was like he was an acrobat or something. I couldn’t stop him he was already outside by the time I got to the room and before I knew it he was running off with that woman.”
“What woman?” Celine’s voice turned to ice.
“The American woman who came by to see him. Very plain. I would definitely say…you know, of the people. She said she worked for you. I sent her away at once but she was outside his window waiting for him to climb down. They ran off into the woods together.” Sophie didn’t even breathe.
“Did you follow them?” The voice was a controlled whisper.
“Oui Madame! Of course we followed them but they had gotten away in a taxi. But we got the license number.”
“Give it to me.” Another whisper. Sophie related the numbers to her boss and sighed with relief as Celine dismissed her without scolding her or firing her. She knew Celine was not happy but it was not her job to keep people prisoner. How could she help it if the crazy young man jumped out the window? If Celine had not paid her the amount of money she did Sophie would have left her years ago. It was too late now for Sophie had grown accustomed and reliant on the money and the luxuries that Celine provided her and her family. There was no turning back and Sophie knew that once someone was spoiled they could not be unspoiled again. She tucked her twinge of guilt far away into the recesses of her mind and got back to the business of running the house and all the thousands of details that are involved in keeping up such a place. She realized that soon it would be time to feed the woman that had been staying with them and she resigned herself to the task of preparing a meal full of nutrition according to Celine’s instruction. Sophie had been informed that the woman must be kept in excellent health and though she did not look forward to the tears and questions that inevitably came from any contact with the woman Sophie was glad to cook something delicious and the woman was far too thin in Sophie’s eyes and she needed some fattening up. No man would ever look at a woman with no curves. She wondered again why Celine had bothered herself with all these tiresome Americans. Sophie pretended she didn’t speak English when dealing with the woman locked away with the woman locked up in one of the upstairs rooms. It made her job much easier and uncomplicated. Sophie learned long ago not to ask any questions and simply accept each task and each generous paycheck with a smile and a nod. Soon she would have enough money to retire and buy a small farm of her own and be done with all of this nasty business. She hummed a song as she stirred the fresh leeks and onions into a boiling pot of a rich smelling stew.
WAR COUNCIL
In her office back in Paris Celine hung up the phone more agitated than ever. Soon she would have to leave for her meeting and she didn’t have time to mess with a missing reporter. She wasn’t too worried though as she knew nobody would believe his strange tales of kidnapping and intrigue.
Inevitably he would be perceived as another crazy person and more likely laughed out of any French police station he might dare to go to. Of course they might humor him and pretend to check his story all the while laughing behind her back. She would deal with him later. He woke up far sooner than she had expected and she did not foresee the escape out of the window. Undoubtedly he was beginning to remember some of his former talents. She knew it would be a couple of days before he really began to remember anything. She needed to get him back before that happened. She had to convince him before he got his memories back that she was on his side and he was on hers. As for the woman she knew exactly who it must be. Who else would come to save him? Who else would risk everything for the man she loved? Celine was disgusted at the way Sasha was turning out. A woman in love is the most dangerous weapon in the world. She decided right then and there that this danger must be put to rout before anything else unexpected happened. She had almost lost Ellen and now Taylor was gone. She could not afford one more disaster to happen and get in the way of her plans. She drank the cool water from a crystal wine glass and looked at her watch. The gold and diamond encrusted timepiece told her it was time to leave. She buzzed for her car and hurried to meet her rendezvous.
Marcus sat at the café near the Louvre. The weather was pleasant enough and he held his face up to the warming breeze. Tourists from all over the world were streaming through the streets noisily. He smiled as he watched the multitude pass and sipped gingerly at his coffee served in the daintiest of cups. For a little while he could pretend that he was just like all these people passing by with their daily worries and their little problems. For a few valuable minutes he could pretend that he was just another mortal passing through life barely aware of the awe and the terror that lay around every corner. Celine would be here soon and ruin his treasured illusion with one warning glance. He was not surprised she suggested they meet when he had called her and he was curiously relieved to know that the illusion of a truce was over. Now there would be no more pretending and in a way he saw that now things were going to become very simple once again. The truce did not last long at all and he thought that in a way it was a miracle to ever have occurred at all. His eyes became sad and dark without warning because he knew that he would have to end it somehow this time. Innocent people could no longer be trapped in her perverted schemes and plots of revenge and power. He had tried to find an amicable solution to their ancient problem and just realized sitting two blocks from the old palace that there was no such thing.
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