An investment meeting

Once again Aurelie awakened to the dawn light turning her room golden. She ordered breakfast from room service, then showered quickly. She was wrapped in her robe and drying her hair when the meal came.

She ate leisurely, enjoying the harbour view and feeling a happy contentment. She was pleased with herself for resisting temptation the night before, giving herself a mental scolding for even considering having sex with her boss. The complications would be far to many to out weigh any momentary pleasure.

Her phone chimed with a text message as she sipped her coffee. She read a message from her boss reminding her to meat him in the lobby at nine, and asking her to dress well for the day's meetings. She gave her phone a smile and finished her breakfast.

She did her hair and make up and dressed much as she had for dinner, although she chose a longer less tight skirt. Pleased with her professional appearance, she gathered her things and too the elevator downstairs.

Her boss smiled as he saw her, wishing her a good morning and gesturing her out the front doors. To her slight surprise there was no limo waiting outside for them. He guided her to a luxury BMW, holding the passenger door open for her before getting in the driver's seat.

"I thought the limousine might be the wrong message for today," he said with a shrug. "Besides, I enjoy driving myself now and then." He pulled away from the curb, turning the car into traffic and finding a path out of the downtown core.

Neither of them spoke much as he drove east. Aurelie watched as they drove through the city, watching the buildings change to residential and then to industrial. He had driven for about half an hour when he turned into a private road, passing between open metal gates and into a large yard overgrown with weeds and low bushes. She could see a large complex of metal buildings in front of her.

"What is this?" she asked.

"It's a former factory. It closed some years ago, then someone turned it into a movie studio. That went broke too, something to do with tax problems. It's an investment opportunity I wanted to inspect in person."

He pulled the BMW to a stop in a paved lot in front of a large opening that looked to be loading docks. There were a few other vehicles in the lot, and as her boss got out of the car and gestured Aurelie to join him, a man came out of the building to greet them.

He was a small man, no more than five foot eight at most, but he carried himself with a sense of evident authority. His head was shaved, and he wore dark glasses. He was dressed all in black, and for a reason she didn't understand Aurelie gave a little shiver at the site of him.

"Good morning Henri," he said in a soft voice.

"And to you Édouard," her boss replied, holding out a hand in greeting.

"Ed will be adequate. I'm not French," the man said, taking her boss's hand. "You have brought everything?" Aurelie saw his head turn fractionally in her direction, then return to her boss.

"Everything. Everything we discussed."

"Then let's go inside and discuss matters further." He led the way into the loading dock area, Aurelie trailing a few steps behind the two men.

She was surprised to see a table and chairs set up in the open space, as well as several men standing at ease along the walls. Her boss went to the table and placed his briefcase on it, flicking the catches open and pushing it across the table to the other man. He opened it, and Aurelie couldn't suppress a short gasp of surprise when she saw it was full of money, Packet after packet of currency.

Ed picked one packet up at random and riffled through it before dropping it back into the case and turning his head to look at her.

"As agreed. The money, and the sow," he said with a thin smile. "You have a deal Henri."