Oh Double Oh

What the hell had she done to me?

I'm not going to say that things had been all that innocent, particularly not in the darkened bar downstairs when my eyes first met hers, but I was completely taken by surprise when she asked for my room key; even more so to discover my left hand sliding the plastic card toward hers.

"You wait here for five minutes, then follow me up."

That's what she said to me. Did she know who I was? Was she aware of the meeting I was to have later this evening, how important it was? And did she really know that I was so possessed by her eyes that I had no choice but to follow? Maybe I didn't want a choice.

Danny, the bartender, brought me another Booker straight up. "Looks like trouble, Jere."

"They always look like trouble, Danny. That's the problem. You never know when any of it is for real."

Danny chuckled. He had been the bartender here at the Madrigal Winds Hotel and Casino since before I started using it whenever I was in this city. I liked its dark bar, the soft lighting of the lobby, and the bright lights of the fountain and indoor stream that ran under the wall to the gardens outside. I liked the false security of the manicured shrubbery and carefully tended trees. I liked the elevators- all glass, easy to see who was waiting for me downstairs, easy to stop at the wrong floor. I liked the music they played- almost always 80s. As I finished the Booker, Tommy Tutone was singing that telephone number for everyone to prank call tomorrow. I walked to the elevators. humming along with the song. Say what you like about the decade as a whole... the 80s had the best music.

The elevator buttons were metal, a small red LED in the center. I pressed the call button going up, then smudged my print like I always did. Didn't need anyone coming up behind me and pulling my identity off a damned elevator button. The doors opened with their nearly silent whoosh. I stepped in and reached for the button to my floor. I would have to rise above the casino levels, but that was not an issue. I had not gambled since that college trip to The Bahamas. That was before The Company, before the briefcases, before the gun. I was hoping I wouldn't have to use it on her.

The doors opened, and I got out of the car. The carpeting was brand new, rich reds and dark blues, accented with gold. Expensive. The music in the hallway was Devo's version of "Secret Agent Man." How appropriate. Getting to my room, I slid the keycard into the slot and walked in. The lights were off except for the one in the corner, and her red shirt was covering it. The rest of her clothing was scattered across the floor in a fashion that could only have been well-planned- even the straps around the heels of her shoes looked artificially random.

"Right on time."

Her voice came from around the corner, from the bed. I pulled my jacket off and threw it sideways onto the leather chair at the window. My collar was already open- I had pulled the tie off hours before, following the first handoff. The cufflinks were next, a custom-made pair of slightly phosphorescent steampunk canisters and silver. They had cost me my first paycheck, but, damn, they were hot.

"Nice cufflinks, but you are taking far too long to get undressed."

I smiled at her, but shook my head. My room, my time. I dropped the cufflinks in the ashtray on the counter, then leaned over her and kissed her. Her lips were hot, and her tongue moved quickly into his mouth. Maybe it had been ten years, but our mouths still knew each others'. Flicking back and forth, touching. I closed my mouth on her tongue and pulled on it with suction. Her hands shot to the sides of my head and held me there. She moaned. Yeah, we were still the same, even after Geneva.

My shirt slid off easily, and her fingernails scratched into my skin, leaving red trails under the hair. I snarled. She knew me far too well for me to let down my guard.

"You're working tonight, aren't you?"

Her question was rhetorical. She knew why I was here- her presence and her question confirmed it. I just grunted as I uncoupled my belt and my pants fell to the floor. Climbing into the bed beside her, our bodies met for the first time in a decade. It felt like last night. Touches, flavors, scents, textures, the light in her eyes- it all came back to me, it all attacked me, and I knew Danny had been right. She was trouble.

"I have ninety minutes," I managed to breathe into her ear. She bit mine in response. I gave in. I had eighty minutes before I had to regain consciousness.

It was worth it, every moment.

She stopped, leaving me a bit bewildered. "I have to go, too," she said. Her body slithered out of the bed. I lay against damp sheets, the dampness a mixture of sweat, hers and mine, and... others... hers and mine. She dressed purposefully, but leaned over to kiss me a last time before moving in tot he bathroom to brush her hair. I got up and dressed, noticing as I tried to place my cufflinks in the cuffs of my French blue shirt that my hands were shaking barely, a vibrating barely visible, but enough to make the cufflinks difficult to place. She came out as I was pulling on my jacket.

"You still look damned good in a jacket, Jere. I hope tonight goes well- I would love to check in on you in the morning and still find you alive."

She smiled that off-center smile of hers,her lipstick, that red lipstick, emphasizing her lips as soft, sensuous, erotic. I leaned in to kiss her final time,but her index finger stopped me, and she shook her head. "Maybe in the morning."

And she was gone. Out the door, into the hall. Maybe to the elevator, maybe to the stairs. Hell, that night in Geneva, she had stepped off the balcony. That was ten years ago. We were both younger then. We were still as good, though... better in most ways. Experience makes all the difference.

Shoes, wallet, briefcase, out the door to the elevator, down to the self-park garage.  I never let a valet have the keys to the Company Car- bad things had happened in the past. Walking to the car, I noticed the hum in my ears, my increasing inability to focus. What had she down to me? Had she poisoned me? Surely not. But what was happening? I was trembling when I sat in the driver's seat. My head was numb, but it wasn't a drug numb. It was.. what... a love numb? Had she actually poisoned me with that? I placed the key in the slot in the center console, twisting it to the left, arming the vehicle. Pushing the ignition button caused the whole of it to come to life, lights across the dashboard lighting up in sequence to indicate that all was right with it. But there were no light on me, nothing to tell me what was wrong.

"Damn, I love you."