A Dangerous Affair Chapter 18

A Chapter by Repgreece

Tom teases the trainee

Stephanie followed Tom back into the office and sat at her desk opposite him. His eyes flicked up very briefly as she sat down, but for the rest of the morning they said very little to each other. They passed files and articles between each other, but there was none of the lively interaction between them that there had been the day before, and if Stephanie was honest with herself, she missed that. Whatever Tom and Brick were involved in it was eating Tom up. She would have sincerely liked to helped him, or at least offer a sympathetic ear, however she decided not to push him about it. She hoped that if they worked together for any length of time that he would eventually come to her and open up.

At around one thirty in the afternoon Stephanie’s mobile phone on her desk top rang, and she picked it up, answering it without much thought. As soon as the person on the other end began speaking however her head shot up from her work and she was fully alert.

“Oh yes, that would be lovely. We would love to join you,” she said, picking up a pen and jotting something down as she listened to the person’s instructions. “We will be there, thank you.” She hung up and looked across at Tom to see him staring at her. “That was Henry Carlton,” she said with excitement.

He frowned. “What have you arranged?” Obviously the agreement they had made to consult each other before making any decisions concerning this story hadn’t quite sunk in yet.

“Oh I’m sorry but I had to make a sudden decision, and I thought that it might give us some more insight,” she explained.

“Okay, what might give us some more insight?”

“Well, we’ve been invited to a party on his boat on the Thames tonight. I just thought that we could mingle and get talking to people. You never know, it may uncover something, and we haven't heard from his father as of yet.” She seemed optimistic but Tom didn’t look too certain.

“Do you not think that maybe Henry and his father have spoken and put two and two together about us?”

“I don’t see why they would, we haven’t even met his father yet, and it’s not as if we know Henry that well,” she replied.

“Hmm okay, but you stay with me at all times, do you hear me?” he said, pointing a finger at her.

“Yes Sir,” she teased, smiling at him. Despite himself he smiled back. He liked to see enthusiasm and excitement light up her eyes.

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They spent the whole morning, and a chunk of the afternoon, researching Hugh Carlton again until there seemed to be not a lot more to find out about him and his campaign. By mid afternoon there was little else to do apart from routine paperwork and now that they had the evening invitation, neither of them could find any enthusiasm for tackling anything else. The day seemed to be dragging on and Tom found himself willing the hours to pass. He sat for a while, contemplating this boat party that evening. More time with Stephanie was definitely something that appealed to him but not at the expense of their safety. He had an uneasy feeling about the whole thing. He looked up at her and she had a dreamy, far away look on her face. He wondered what she was thinking about.

After having completely given up on work, Tom sat at his desk making a continuous clicking noise with a pen. Stephanie was sitting opposite him with her elbow on the desk, her head resting on her hand, staring blindly down at a blank piece of paper. She glanced up at him without moving her head, breathed in and sighed loudly. There was more clicking. Reaching across to his desk, she snatched the pen away from him. He stopped, looked at her, and then went into her desk drawer to pull out a stapler which he proceeded to snap open and shut. She made a face at him and he put the stapler down, leaning across to say quietly,

“Watch this.” He’d had a brainwave.

He pushed his chair backwards and reached out to the desk behind to pick up a camera, whilst calling across the office to the nervous young apprentice, Robert.

“Hey Bob, you know what this is for?”

Robert was pouring himself a cup of coffee but he stopped, turned around and approached them.

“I think I might know that one,” he said sarcastically. Tom had tried to catch him out before.

“What is it for Bob?”

“It couldn’t be for reporting could it?”

“That’s right, very bright of you Bob. But do you know how this could be used to carry out the very best reporting?”

Robert thought for a moment. “The reporter has his camera handy to take photographs of the scene or celebrity et cetera. Have I passed the test Tom?”

“No, no actually Bob you haven’t passed, and I’ll tell you why. You gave me the obvious answer; you haven’t been reading up on this have you? Now, I know the latest on this subject and I’d like to bet that Stephanie over there knows too. You want to impress Brick Bob?”

“Go on.” He looked interested.

“Well, have you ever seen one of those shows when some woman gets hypnotised by some guy who’s swinging a shiny watch or pendant in front of her eyes?”

He didn’t seem to be understanding where Tom was going with this but he nodded his head anyway. “Yes, I’ve seen something like that before.”

“Yeah, so you know what I mean. Well, it’s kind of like that. They have invented a camera now which, when used to take a photograph of someone, it hypnotises them. It has given top journalists great opportunities to get interviews off even the most reluctant interviewees, and it would seem that the people are compelled to always tell the truth as well.”

Robert looked uncertain about believing what Tom had said.

“Not many people know about this but Brick is really interested in the subject, isn’t he Stephanie?”

Stephanie grinned. “Yes, yes he is.”

“Now that one’s on me, because I want to see you get on in this job Bob.”

“You’re kidding me aren’t you Tom?” Robert said with a dubious look on his face.

“Now Stephanie just told me that you would say that, but I said that you would be smart enough to know when I’m trying to help you. I mean, it’s up to you, but no one else has got that kind of inside information. Mention it to Brick and you’ll see by his reaction that I’m telling the truth. Better still, take him in a coffee; he was asking for one just now, then maybe you could slip it into the conversation.”

“He wants a coffee?” Robert asked.

“Yep, I heard him say just now,” Tom answered.

With that, Robert went back to the coffee machine and poured another cup. Tom looked across at Stephanie and grinned. She had her hand up to her mouth, biting a finger in an attempt to stop herself from laughing. Then Robert knocked on Brick’s door and walked in with the coffee.

“He won’t do it you know,” she mouthed to him from across the gap.

“Want to bet?”

They sat, all eyes on the office door, and moments passed until suddenly Stephanie jolted in her seat and dropped the pen when Brick’s voice boomed out from the office,

“TOM!”

Both of them burst out laughing.

“You are cruel Tom, you know that?” Stephanie said in a broken voice as she shook with laughter.

“Ahh, but I’m good,” he said with a huge grin, as he placed his feet on the edge of the desk and winked at her.