“Marianne,” I said, tight smile. “Nice to see you.”
“Michael, looking good as always.” She looked well, slim and elegant in an evening dress.
“I didn’t expect you here,” I said.
“I’m one of the investors in Magentum. It’s going to be huge,” she said. It was one of the big talking points of the fair, this app that was going to challenge web browsers.
“Michael!” Josie came to join us. “We have a table over there,” she said, pointing towards Belle.
“I’ll sit with you if you still have space,” Marianne said quickly, and Josie was at a loss for words. She couldn’t think up an excuse fast enough and so Marianne came to sit down between me and Belle, a most unfortunate move. Belle looked gorgeous in a slinky, dusty rose satin shift dress that had thin straps over her golden shoulders. I struggled to keep my eyes off her.
“You’ll be happy to hear that I’m much better now,” Marianne said to me in a low voice.
“That’s wonderful news,” I said, to be polite.
“New medication and I hardly recognize myself!” Marianne gave a dazzling smile that seemed a bit manic to me. She leaned in and grabbed my arm, perhaps a little too tightly. “I always felt bad about how things ended with us.”
“Not at all,” I said, trying to move away.
“So, Belle…” I tried to talk to her, but Marianne pulled my arm from the other side.
“I think we should go for dinner some time. I can tell you all about Magentum and who knows, you may have some good pointers for me. We always made a great team, don’t you think?”
Something was happening here, and it wasn’t good.
“Michael? Don’t you want to ask the waiter for some champagne?” Belle interrupted us and I knew she was offering me an excuse to get up.
“Good idea,” said Josie. “I don’t know what this stuff on our table is!”
She caught my eye, and I could see she was aware of the problem that was Marianne. I got up as Belle started talking to Marianne about Magentum, asking her questions, trying to draw her out. I knew I would have to make a getaway. I was supposed to speak at the event, but I decided not to go back to the table, to rather wait at the bar until it was my turn to speak. Afterwards, I’d leave.
I went to the bar and after a while, Belle came to talk to me.
“Who is that woman?”
“I’ll tell you later. Let’s say, crazy ex.”
Belle nodded. “She does sound a little, I don’t know, intense? The moment you left, she started telling me about the two of you, how wonderful it was, the chemistry between you…”
“So wonderful I had to get a restraining order,” I said, taking a big gulp of whiskey. “As far as I know, she was in a psychiatric hospital for months.”
“She’s talking to Josie now about partnering with Pyramide…”
“Won’t happen,” I said, curtly. “Josie knows.”
I saw Marianne look over at us from the table.
Even though Belle and I weren’t touching, we were standing very close together. I drew back a little and she picked up on it straight away.
“What?”
“She’s watching,” I said, turning my face away. I was probably just being paranoid, but I recalled how Marianne had once upon a time hacked into my phone to access my diary, so she could find out where I would be just so she could “happen” to be there too. I’d be in Starbucks ordering coffee and there she was. At a business lunch she would sit at the table behind us. Once, she broke into my apartment, preparing a big dinner, supposedly to surprise me. I was very surprised, to say the least.
“I’ll take care of her,” Belle said, lightly touching my arm before leaving.
Someone came up to the bar to order a drink, then turned out to be a distant acquaintance, we started talking. The event began, I pulled up a chair and soon it was time for me to do my little speech. People started clapping, I heard my name called out and I walked up to the stage, doing my little talk about the future and how it was not a question of deciding if we were ready for new technology as it would go ahead without us if we were too slow to respond.
Afterwards, I left without talking to Josie or Belle again.