“I’d hate to live in London, all that pollution and those people.”
“You get used to it. Surely Dundee is just as crowded? It’s a big city.”
“Not really. It’s quite a modern city and the University is quite quiet. I’ve not long to do now, so then I can step out on my own.”
“Have you a job lined up?”
He shook his head. “Not yet. I’m not sure if this is the life for me. My younger brother would love it, but I think I’m more an out-door person.”
“Why study it then?”
“I’m not really sure. I love computer games, so thought it might be fun to learn how to write the programmes. It’s rather boring really.”
“What about your friends, where are they?”
“We separated when we arrived. We each are into different aspects of games designing and programming, so I suppose we’ll all meet up for lunch somewhere.”
Before I could talk about his family, my mobile rang. It was Carlene.
“Where the hell are you?” she asked.
“At a café with someone, where are you?”
“I’m on a balcony looking down at our friends. Carlton is working hard, but Wayne is off talking to some Chinese looking man near the toilets.”
“Okay, I’ll be there soon. Just let me finish my coffee. Would you like me to bring you one?”
“Yes, there’s a love. A café au lait, no sugar. Thanks.”
“I’ll be there in five, bye.”
“Your friend?” Jon asked.
“Yeah, she’s found our man, so I’ll take her a coffee. It’s been nice meeting you,” I said, standing up to go.
“Um, Rebecca, where are you staying?”
“The Hotel Prince de Galles on Avenue Georges-V, how about you?”
He grinned, “The Novotel over the road. It’s cheap and cheerful. Would you like to get together for a drink or something?”
“Okay, when?”
“You will? Great! How about tonight?”
“I don’t see why not. Have you got a mobile?” I asked. He dragged an elderly Nokia 3310 out of his pocket and read me his number from the screen. I keyed it straight into my LG phone.
“Okay, let me give you a ring later, and we can settle where and when,” I said, deliberately not giving him my number. I ordered a take-away cup of coffee for Carlene and paid.
“Bye,” I said and left him watching me disappear through the crowd. My heart rate was up, what a chance encounter. How was I going to play this to my advantage?
I would love to see Howard’s face if I came back from Paris as the girlfriend of Hugh Standing’s son!
I rode the escalator back up and found Carlene behaving in a furtive manner on a balcony above the main upper hall. After handing her the coffee, I sat on the floor next to her.
“You’ll never guess who it was?”
“Who?”
“Only Hugh Standing’s son, Jonathon.”
“No?”
“Yup. I’ve arranged a date with him for tonight.”
She shook her head, “I don’t believe you!”
“I swear it’s true. He’s over from University looking at the computer games stands.”
“What the hell am I supposed to do?”
“I’ll see if he’s got a friend, if you like?”
“No thanks, I grew out of students when I was at college.”
I grinned at her. “You never know, a toy-boy might be what the doctor ordered. Or even a toy-girl?”
She chuckled and slapped my shoulder in jest. “You can be a real bitch.”
“Then you must be doing your job.”
I peered over the edge and saw that Carlton was still on the stand, but Wayne was nowhere to be seen.
“What is he up to?” I asked.
“He spoke to the Chinese man for ages and then went off with an older woman. They went through that door over by the fire escape,” she said, pointing to a door marked ‘Privee’.
We watched the door for some minutes and a few officials and exhibitors came and went. There didn’t appear to be a lock or security system on the door.
I stood up. “Time to play the dumb English blonde again.”
She followed suit, “You’re not leaving me behind this time, I’m coming with you.”
I shrugged. In a way, I’d rather know where she was. I wasn’t anticipating any problems.
We reached the door with no trouble. It opened, so I glanced inside and stepped quickly through, followed closely by Carlene. We were in a long corridor with open plan offices and storerooms off to either side. This was hopeless, as we had no idea where to look or what do say if challenged. We got half way down the corridor when I noticed a sign on one door.
‘MAXIM Group Inc.’
“Why is an arms company at a computer fair?” I asked.
“What?” she replied, startled.
“Nothing. I’m so dumb!”
“Why?”
“Most weapon systems are computer controlled these days. It stands to reason that the computer industry be closely connected with those who design and sell armaments. Just what the link is with Standing, I guess we’ll find out eventually.”
Carlene looked slightly worried. “This is all a bit close to the action for my liking.”
I smiled, as action was the one thing in the life I understood and craved. It dawned on me that it wasn’t right getting Carlene mixed up in all this.
“Okay, we get out now. You go back to London with my report, while I have to get some things bottomed out before I can return. It’s not fair on you to stay here if there’s a chance of danger.”
“You have got to be kidding. This is my first time in Paris for so long, and I certainly do not intend to cut this week short. I’ll just have to trust you to look after me.”
“Carlene, you’re a shrink, this isn’t your world, but it’s mine. You shouldn’t put yourself into a world you aren’t equipped to deal with.”
“Oh yeah? Just what the hell do you think I deal with all day? Who do you think are my patients, old women going through the menopause? I happen to have to try to help rebuild people like you. How often do I get to see what world you people inhabit? Never, so wild horses aren’t going to drag me away now!”
“Okay, then you do what I say, when I say it, okay?”
“Okay.”
I looked around.
“We’ve overstayed our welcome already. One of the best pieces of advice is if the enemy don’t know about you, it don’t pay to advertise.”
She followed me out of the corridor and back onto the main exhibition floor. I have to confess, I was relieved to be back into the safer area.
“What now?” Carlene asked.
“I don’t think we can do anything else here, just now. I need to make a call and do some snooping back at the hotel. Let’s just check upon our American friends, and then bugger off and grab some lunch. This is Paris, after all.”
We took the Metro back to the hotel. I kept seeing my reflection in the shop windows and the windows of the trains. I had, for a fleeting moment, forgotten what I now looked like. As I was so engrossed in the business at hand, I had been unaware of how the world now looked at me. I realised that this was a potential danger, and yet it could be to my advantage.
As we walked from the Metro station to the hotel, it started to rain. Without rainwear or umbrellas, I looked for the nearest shelter. We passed a delightful bistro. I stopped and looked at the menu in the window, while looking at the interior at the same time.
“Fancy some lunch?” I asked.
“Okay, anything to get out of the rain.”
We went in and a young waiter smiled and immediately showed us to a table. Being just before one pm, the place was more than half full, but it had a nice Parisienne atmosphere, with a real mixture of ages and backgrounds meeting in the common area of cuisine.
In typical Gallic fashion, many of the patrons were smoking, but we were given a table away from the smokers. Fortunately for us, Carlene spoke reasonable French and the waiter had passable English, so we were able to order with little difficulty. We were given a carafe of red wine and settled down to enjoy our meal.