Office Play: Freaky Geek Series (23 page)

Chapter Thirty

Nothing happened for the rest of the evening. Adam watched Jeanette as she packed all her stuff, which seemed to have grown some.

“Isn’t that twice what you had?” Adam asked, as he grabbed his suitcase.

“You know all that stuff you bought me, I’m sending it all ahead by post. It’s heavy and it will come out cheaper.”

“Plus it’s guaranteed to arrive at its destination,” Adam added.

“You are so right. Let me call the concierge. I’ll have them take care of it for me.” Jeanette went to the phone and made her call. Adam watched her and began thinking of others things. Like what a life with Jeanette would be like.

But first he had to fix this crazy shit that was happening.

When he saw Miriam’s name on the list of names that Renee had, the wheels began to spin. If this was what he thought was gong on, he and Jeanette would really have to date on the down-low, and he didn’t want that. He wanted the world to know that he and Jeanette were an item.

But people could be spiteful and vengeful.

But something was still out of place. The Paris office here shouldn’t have been taking orders for the Alaska office. And that’s why his radar went up. They usually deal with the East coast offices and that was for back-up only. Dallas was the main office for everyone else.

But for some reason all those phony orders were originating from here.
He
had no personal connection with anyone here like that.

This was disturbing him, but he didn’t want to share his concerns with Jeanette until he verified some things, and that was going to happen once they arrived back at the States.

“Okay, they’re coming up and taking my stuff. So it will be there before me,” Jeanette said, with a huge smile. “Now I am tired, and we’re still waiting for Renee and Noah to call to tell us about their day and if they found anything new.”

“Tell you what, you get your sleep. I’ll talk to them and if there is anything real significant that you need to hear, I’ll wake you.” Adam rubbed the side of her cheek.

“Thanks so much.” Jeanette reached for his hand and placed hers over his.

“No prob.” He kissed her knuckles.

He watched as she crawled into bed.
His
bed. He then continued packing and once finished with the stuff he didn’t need anymore, he crawled in beside her and fell asleep.

Jeanette’s cell rang. Adam checked the clock it was morning—and dark. He looked down at Jeanette. She was sound asleep. He took a chance and reached over and answered her cell.

“Hello.”

“Well, hello Adam. Where’s Jeanette?”

“She’s knocked out.”

“Oooh. I hope you were gentle with her.” She giggled.

Adam rolled his eyes. He wished she was tired from hours of love making. He could have her twenty-four-seven. “No, we just had a long week, and we finished packing. I think it caught up with her.”

“Aww. Too bad. Well, let me tell you the latest. It seems that people are getting their stuff late but at the same time there is an extra order out there, but only for the expensive items.”

“Yeah, that I know.”

“And get this. They are blaming IT, saying that you guys developed the system and that you could easily do something suspect.”

Adam shook his head. He knew it! He knew it. It was all coming together now.

He sighed into the phone. “I’m not surprised. What is Sam saying?”

“Oh, hyper woman.” Renee snickered. “She’s cool. She’s got your back. According to Noah, she thinks there are certain people out there that have it out for you. She’s looking sideways at some people too.”

Good old Sam. “Thanks Renee. I really appreciate all you and Noah are doing. By the way, where is he?”

“Getting the car. We’re going out. Want to talk to him?”

Adam smiled to himself. Noah was never as bold as he was when it came to women, although he got his fair share of female companionship. But Noah’s approach was a bit more subtle, and before his prey…intended woman knew it, she was his.

He wasn’t sure what to say to Jeanette if anything. He didn’t want her to get concerned. Renee was big girl and a private detective, he was sure she could handle herself. But he did want to talk to Noah.

If Renee was anything like Jeanette when it came to matters of the heart, she was not to be played with. He wanted to know Noah’s true intentions. “Nah, just tell him I said hey, and I will catch up with him when I arrive back in Los Angeles.”

“Okay, give Jeanette my love.”

“Will do.”

He disconnected. He put the cell back on the bedside table and scooted back under the covers. Before he knew it he was on his way to dreamland.

***

Jeanette had a good nights sleep. She felt rejuvenated and ready for whatever the day would bring. She was actually looking forward to dinner with Kevin and Deena. She loved eating at the homes of the local people when she traveled.

She tried getting up, but
was wrapped in the tight grip of the man that she now called her lover. Yes, she was his lover; no way to getting around it. But there were still many questions, especially after that statement he made about interacting with each other cause of this mess.

She nudged Adam on the shoulder. “Wake up. Rise and shine.”

He groaned while releasing her, then rolled over. “Damn, morning already?”

“Yep. And we have a big day, and night. We have work, a party, then dinner at Kevin and Deena’s, then a late flight back.”

“I don’t know about you, but I’m going to be asleep on the flight back.”

“I’m right there with you.”

They arrived at the office. Jeanette was taken back a bit. It was decorated in festive colors, with streamers and balloons. People greeted them at the door.

“Bon Voyage!” The whole office screamed.

“Merci, merci!” Jeanette replied as she headed straight to the pastry table.

“Thanks guys, but this wasn’t necessary,” Adam said.

Jeanette noticed a slight blush to his face. Adam modest? Wonders never cease. “Yes, it was,” she said jokingly, as she popped a mini cupcake in her mouth.

The whole office laughed.

Mid afternoon, the supervisor came to their office. “Hello you two.”

“Hello Petra,” Adam said.

“I just came here to tell you guys we enjoyed having you here and you can leave early. I know you got a long flight home.

“Thanks!” Jeanette said.

“Yeah, very much appreciated,” Adam said, closing his laptop.

“I hope you found what you were looking for, please keep me posted.”

“Sure thing.” She left the room.

Adam let out a long yawn. “I could use the break. We can go back to the hotel and take a nap before going to Kevin’s.”

“That’s a plan.”

They said their final goodbyes to everyone. Jeanette received some nice parting gifts from the women of the office, plus some unsolicited advise on keeping a man like Adam happy.

They arrived at the hotel and immediately kicked off their shoes. They plopped down on the bed.

“This has to be the most interesting job I’ve had in my entire life,” Jeanette said, reaching for the remote.

“Wow. Really?” How so?”

“Fishing for compliments?”

“Maybe.”

“Well, for starters. I never have been in whirlwind relationship like this. And my audits start out with companies that have been embezzling, but not office supplies!”

Adam laughed. It was just too sexy. “Yeah, if you told someone this they would look at you a bit sideways.”

“But I can’t say it’s been boring that’s for sure.” She laughed.

“Let’s get some rest. I’ll put in a call to get a wake up call in about three hours. You know what you’re going to wear?’ Adam asked, as he called downstairs.

“They same thing I wore to work,” Jeanette said, as she removed her clothes and shook them out.

They both laughed.

They arrived at Kevin and Deena’s place fifteen minutes early, and that was even after stopping at the wine store and picking up a nice white wine. They were having seafood.

They knocked on the door.

“Bonsoir!” Kevin and Deena said at the door.

“Bonsoir!” Jeanette and Adam replied as they walked in.

“We are so glad you can dine with us,” Deena said, taking Jeanette by the arm and walking her to the living area.

“We wouldn’t miss having dinner with such gracious hosts,” Adam said, walking behind them with Kevin. “And this is for you.” He handed Kevin the wine.

“Merci. Have a seat and let me put this in the refrigerator.”

“So, you’re leaving tonight?” Deena asked.

“Yeah,” Jeanette said, nodding. We love to live on the edge.” She laughed.

“We’ll we won’t keep you long,” Kevin said, coming back into the room and taking a seat in a chair next to a stone fireplace.

“Don’t worry about it, we’ll have plenty of time.” Jeanette looked around the room. She needed an excuse for her and Adam to check the place out. They wanted desperately to get to their home office. She knew some of the supplies that the offices ordered, but Adam would know for sure. “This is a beautiful place you have…and large too.”

“Ah, yes, you probably want to see the closet.” Deena giggled.

“Oooh, may I?” Jeanette said.

“Sure, in fact let give you a tour of the place.” Kevin sat up and brushed himself off.

Jeanette glanced over at Adam, and he nodded in approval.

They followed their host from room to room. It was what Jeanette was use to seeing when she visited European countries. Small, cozy, rustic old world. However, their place was bigger than the average home; but it still had that rustic feel too it. Modern to a point, but not overly done. It was still a French style home. The house itself had to be over one hundred and fifty years old and it was in the countryside. A long way from the office.

“You guys don’t mind living so far away from the office?” Jeanette voiced her concern.

“No, we prefer it,” Deena said. “Away from the rat race as you Americans say.”

They moved to the bedrooms. First the guest bedroom. It looked like something out of a brochure for a Bed & Breakfast. It was done in soft pastels, yet it wasn’t too feminine. It had two twin beds with a low-lying bed stand in the middle. The floor seemed like the original hardwood.

They made their way to the master, done in all modern design. Grays and whites, throw rugs, and modern art deco looking lamps.

“Here is my walk-in closet which I made Kevin put in,” Deena said, proudly.

“Oooh, niiice.” Jeanette took a peak inside, not just to see how big it was, although that was cool too. Kevin did a fantastic job. Roomy, two levels of rods and a Chester drawer in-between. But what Jeanette wanted to see was any unopened boxes of supplies, like maybe a laptop here or there. Or maybe some extra five inch D-ring binders. Or very expensive graphic software.

“Hey, Adam, come look at this.” She called Adam over to see if he would notice anything suspect.

“Oh yeah, great job Kevin.” Adam looked around, then shook his head to her.

They headed to another little room down the hall. When they stepped in, Jeanette immediately recognized it as the home office. She stood in the doorway and did a scan from corner to corner. She then nudged Adam.

“Hey, I thought you said you wanted to get away from the rat race,” Adam said.

“This is mostly Deena’s stuff. She does greeting cards. Come look.” Kevin waved them in the room.

Jeanette looked up at Adam, but he was still looking around.

“Now this card is very popular for children’s birthdays,” Deena said.

Jeanette took a look at it. It was real detailed and pretty. It was 3-D with popup art in the middle. “How sweet.”

Adam came to her side and shook his head.

Well so much for finding suspicious goods. Of course they didn’t expect anything out and obvious in the open, but people do slip up, and a binder here or there or an empty graphic art box would have helped.

They all sat down to eat and talked mainly about travel and places they wanted to go to in the future. When the conversation turned to she and Adam, she quickly changed the subject.

Deena smiled, but was gracious enough to let it go.

The meal was great. It consisted of fresh seafood, freshly backed bread and grilled vegetables.

After dinner, Adam checked his watch. “Hate to eat and run, but it looks like this evening is over.”

“We were so happy to have you and please don’t be strangers. Just don’t visit us when you’re sent on a business trip,” Kevin said.

“You got it,” Adam said. He took Jeanette by the arm and they headed back to the hotel.