Page 10 of The Associate

I have never seen her so panicked. I run towards her, her hands reach out to me. “What happened?” I ask.

“It’s your father,” she says, kneeling down in front of me.

“What about him?” I am worrying now, where is my father?

“Honey, your father is dead,” she says, and my whole world came crashing down.

I start running toward his office. I don’t believe it. My father is made of steel, he can’t die. I refuse to believe he is dead.

“Mason!” my mother yells.

I don’t stop running. People crowd around the office door, Stephan being dragged out of the room, blood on his face and white shirt. I push my way through everyone else and stop dead in my tracks. My father is lying there, slouched over his desk, red dripping from the edges of the timber.

I bolt upright in bed, drenched in cold sweat. It’s the same nightmare I have had every night for the last fourteen years. I glance over at the clock and exhale a deep breath. Two hours until I have to be in Sal’s office for the debrief.

* * *

The doors open and Sal walks in. “Alright, now we have everybody here” – his gaze bores into me – “let’s debrief about the last twenty-four hours. Viper, what’s your report?”

I hand him a small piece of paper. “It is done. He’s no longer with us.”

“Good. Were there any issues?” He looks at the file sent through from Lennox and his crew. “Hmmm.”

Shit, did I forget something?“No issues, other than him still being somewhat coherent. Our informant confirmed that he was twenty shots down with tequila and three bottles of wine throughout the meal before I had even arrived.” I began to fidget and pick at my fingers before I add, “I was being chased through the underground garage when you tried to call me the first time.”

“Anything else?” He glances over the top of his glasses.Fuck, he knows. He only ever looks like that when he knows something and is waiting to see if you’re going to lie to him; in this case, I do not want the rest of the room to know.

I shake my head. “No, nothing else. It all went smoothly.”

My eyes dart around the room, looking atanyoneelse so that I don’t have to meet his judgemental gaze. My leg starts to bounce.Come on, let’s just move on.Out of the corner of my eye I can see him glance down at the papers on the desk before looking back at me.

He gives me a knowing look. The look that tells me he will discuss it with me in private. I haven’t seen exactly what is written down on that paper in front of him, but I have an idea. I do not want to talk to the boss about the blackouts. “Alright then. Cyber, how about you? What did you find out?”

“As we know, the venue belongs to one of our rivals,” Cyber begins. “I arrived at the beginning of the event to start planting bugs, trying to catch anything that was being discussed —”

I begin to zone out, not caring about his debrief because I was there. Instead my mind goes back to the firecracker at the bar. I need to see her again. I am like a dog that has been given a bone and there is no way in hell I am going to give it away that easily. Every little detail about her is ingrained into my head, like the light freckles on her nose and the wicked grin she gave me. The only thing I can’t remember is the colour of her eyes.Fuck,the one thing I love the most and I never even looked at them. But even the way she taunted me I fucking loved. If she knew who I am or what I do, I hardly think she would have spoken to me the way she had last night. The only thing I don’t know is when she is going to be working there again. I am going to have to frequent the place every night in the hopes that I will come across her again. Will she be able to handle a fucked-up asshole like me? She certainly looks like she could.

Everyone is listening to Sal finalising the debrief when the door to the office opens with a loud bang and the room around me falls silent. He is going to send Frederick to bring his daughter in when we are finishing up, but I guess she doesn’t want to wait any longer.

Sal looks up from the piece of paper in front of him and his lips clamp together, but it is only for a brief second before he pushes back his chair and stands. He holds his arms out and walks around his desk. “Genevieve,” he booms as he approaches her, wrapping his arms around the platinum-haired girl. “You’re early, my dear.”

She just stands there with her arms by her sides. None of us look at her face yet, because everyone stays focused on Sal. He always says that no matter who walks into his office while we are there, we are to always keep our focus on him and nothing else.

It isn’t until he steps back, holding his daughter at arm’s length, that I realise exactly who she is.

“Viv.” Her name leaves my lips on a breath, but not loud enough for anyone to hear.

Her father lets her go and begins walking back to his desk again and he speaks to her with obvious saccharinity. “You, my dear, can sit up here with me.”

She holds her head high and her shoulders back, making her tiny frame as big as possible. Even though she has been out of this life for so long, she still has that top dog presence and fuck me if that isn’t a turn on.

She stands behind her father’s chair, her eyes scanning the room before landing on me and staying there. The corner of her mouth curves up in the same taunting grin she gave me at the bar last night.

She places a hand cautiously on Sal’s shoulder. Either she fears how he will react to her touch or she just doesn’t want to be near him at all. I assume the latter.

I watch her as Sal continues to talk.

Seeing her in the light of the office only makes me think of the days when we were young. She has been on my mind for the last ten years, since I last saw her and accepted the fact that I would never see her again.

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