Chapter Three: Gerard
Maybe I was a little too harsh in there. Gerard thought as he sat in the back seat of the limousine that Charlie had provided for him, watching the countryside zoom by outside of his window as he made his way back toward London. His sleek black cell phone was held gently in his left hand, his eyes scanning over the multiple text messages that he had just received from his assistant, Sharice. He groaned inwardly at the sheer number of things that seemed to require his attention, resigning himself to the thought that tonight was probably going to end up being a very late night for him. It’s not like I can complain, though. I knew that I would have to put in a lot of work the instant that I became the CEO of a company.
Gerard had started from the bottom, using his work as a spy in order to fund his numerous investments into different markets ranging everywhere from military weaponry to housing, and the now thirty-year-old man’s gambit had ultimately paid off. He found himself disgustingly wealthy at the age of twenty-two, his name worth more than some of the richest people in the world. Yet, he was still not content with his life. The life of a CEO, constantly dealing with increasingly frustrating paperwork and beaurocracy simply wasn’t satisfying for him. He had been working as the head of his company for eight years now, and anyone who saw him could tell that it had taken its toll on him. It had been one of the reasons why he had practiced martial arts in his youth, finding that they served as an excellent way to relieve stress. It had been during a martial arts tournament at the age of twenty-five that he had first come into contact with Charlie. The older gentleman had claimed that he was simply a fan of martial arts, but the way that he held himself had told Gerard a very different story. Charlie, it turned out, was quite adept in Muay Thai. Gerard had only found this out after Charlie had contacted him a few months after the tournament, extending the invitation for the young CEO to take on a life that was far more interesting than the one he led now. He was promised that he wouldn’t have to give up his wealth. In fact, Charlie had said that having such a well-known persona would make it all the easier for Gerard to be able to complete the jobs without arousing too much suspicion.
“Sir, we are approaching your office,” the driver said from the front seat, his voice coming through the speakers on the side of the limousine. “What are your orders?”
“Drive up to the front and drop me off, Simon. You can then return the mansion and wait until I call upon you once more,” Gerard said dismissively. “I will likely be engaged here for a few hours at least.”
“As you wish, sir,” the driver replied courteously, pulling the sizeable vehicle up in front of the sizeable One Canada Square skyscraper that housed his office. “Here we are, then.”
Gerard waited for the driver to come around and open the door, slipping his designer Ray-Bans sunglasses onto his face to shield him from the bright afternoon sunlight. He took a deep breath, able to smell the faint scent of the river coming from the direction of Canary Wharf. It reminded him of growing up in California, where his father, who had run a Fortune 500 company for years, had him and his mother live. He had grown to love the smell of the ocean’s salty brine on the air, and he could admit shamelessly that the proximity to the River Thames had been one of the driving forces for him to choose the office that he had. His office had a perfect view of the blue waters of the river, the Thames seeming to stretch out for miles before his eyes.
It’s the same color as Elena’s eyes. He thought to himself, immediately pausing. What had brought about that thought? He had no hard feelings against his partner despite how much they seemed to argue, and he would be lying if he said that he had never given thought to pursuing her. She had just seemed so happy in her relationship that he had figured it was better not to push the issue. Deep down, he wondered whether his constant arguments with her were just his way of keeping them in a professional stead. A personal relationship between the two of them would probably only jeopardize their line of work, and while Gerard wouldn’t have minded it too much, he knew that Elena would not share that sentiment.
It struck him as odd that despite having worked with Elena for almost three years now, there was actually very little that he knew about her. He wasn’t the kind of person who made idle conversation, something that Elena had picked up on very quickly in their partnership. She hadn’t tried to push the issue, more than willing to preoccupy her own time following her own interests. It had driven him crazy to hear how often she would talk to her boyfriend on the phone, the lovey-dovey way they seemed to talk about everything managing to touch a nerve with him each and every time. It had gotten to the point that he would make himself scarce whenever she would make such a call, which no doubt contributed to his lack of knowledge about her. It was a shame, considering that Elena herself was the kind of woman that anybody would be lucky to have.
Her deep blue eyes mirrored the color of the ocean that he loved so much, her hair always shining like gold every time that the light struck it. She was quite skinny, something that Gerard could only assume was a result of her trying to keep herself attractive. After all, it was far easier for pretty female spies to get inserted into places than it was for less attractive ones, especially given that most of his targets ended up being multi-millionaire playboys whose only care in the world seemed to be money and women. Such simple-minded fools. He thought as he walked through the front door, walking across the sizable lobby toward the elevators that would take him up to his office on one of the higher floors. They had riches fall in their laps and all they want to do is squander it.
Elena never gave him the inclination that she was particularly interested in rich guys, though. She was such a go-getter that Gerald could only assume that she would be more content with making her own money than she would in sucking up to some guy just to make him spend his own on her. It was a fresh change from the many women that Gerald had associated with in his time. Those leeches would have done anything just to have some sugar daddy that they could mooch off for the rest of their lives, never striving to do anything for themselves so long as they had someone willing to take care of their needs and desires. Gerald had seen plenty of those women in the past eight years, and had already had my fill of them. He would only go after a woman who could offer him the same kind of effort in a relationship that he was willing to put in.
“Welcome back, Mr. Donahue. How was your time at that team building retreat?” asked an intern named Kyle, a mousy-looking brown haired man in his early twenties who was fresh out of university. He had been one of the recent hires made by Gerard’s company, though the circumstances revolving around his hiring were ones that Gerard himself wasn’t entirely familiar with. He left the hiring of most new employees up to the Human Resources department so he wouldn’t have to worry about such things.
“It was rather uneventful, Kyle, but thank you for asking,” he said simply, walking past him toward where his office was waiting at the end of the hall. “Is Arthur here yet?”
“Mr. Pennington had to step out for a moment, but he told me that he was expecting your arrival and would be back as soon as he was able to. He apologizes in advance for any inconvenience this might cause you, sir. He wasn’t expecting to have to leave when he did,” Kyle said, clutching a clipboard to his chest as he spoke.
Gerard took a moment to look over the somewhat casual attire that Kyle was wearing, clicking his tongue gently. He had relaxed the dress code in recent years, which had opened the doors for people like Kyle to choose to wear button up dress shirts and khakis in the warmer months as opposed to the stuffy suits that he himself usually wore to work. Today was an exception since he had come directly from Charlie’s and hadn’t presumed to stop to change his attire.
“That is fine. Anything else that I should know about, Kyle?”
“There is a Mr. Walworth here to see you. He says that he has something important he would like to discuss with you,” Kyle said, flipping through the paperwork on his clipboard like he was looking for something. “He arrived about ten minutes ago.”
“Send him to my office,” Gerard said simply. “I shall see him immediately.”
“Right away, sir,” Kyle said eagerly, bowing slightly before racing off to do as he was told.
I should do something nice for Elena to make up for us being at one another’s throats. Maybe I’ll send her a nice bouquet and invite her out to dinner. Gerald thought as he sat down in his high-backed leather chair and waited for the arrival of the businessman who had come to see him.