"Ahh, you're two minutes late. Mister Bellovictor and Miss Crooks, was it?" Julietta said.
The meeting room was on the top floor of the venue, far above the music and the laughter of the ballroom. It was a large, elegant room with a long table of dark polished wood in the middle. A wall of tall windows showed the lights of the city spread out below like scattered gold. At the far end of the room hung a huge white screen, and a slim silver projector sat in the middle of the table, waiting to be switched on.
It was supposed to be a day of celebration, the anniversary of her company. But Julietta had never been a woman who let a party get in the way of business. While the guests downstairs were eating and dancing, she had gathered her most important people for one serious meeting about the planned building site in China, in the city of Beijing.
"Yeah, that's us!" Desiree said brightly. She gave a small wave, then realized it was too casual and put her hand down.
"Sorry, Madame Julietta," Jake said. He bowed deeply, with his hands pressed against his sides, to show that he was truly sorry. "We got caught up in something on the way. That's why we're late."
Julietta waved her hand at them as if she were brushing away a fly. "Pssh. No biggie. It's not like you're twenty minutes late, like me. Hohohohoho!"
A few of the directors laughed politely. They all knew she had arrived late on purpose, because she always did. Being late was part of her entrance.
"And please stop calling me Madame Julietta," she added. "I'm not that old. Just call me Julietta."
"But..." Jake began. He wanted to correct her. 'Madame' was the proper way to address her, after all. She was the Queen of High Society, and he did not want to be disrespectful on such an important night.
"Ah, ah, ah, ah!" Julietta raised one finger and shook it from side to side. "I don't take excuses. Just call me Julietta. All right?"
"Just call her Julietta so we can start this presentation already," a deep voice said from the other side of the table.
Everyone turned.
A tall man with slicked-back hair sat at the table with his fingers laced together. His magenta eyes were fixed on the two young animators with a cold, steady look, like a hawk watching a pair of mice. He wore a dark suit, and he did not smile.
Jake's heart skipped a beat.
'Otto Ahlgrymm?' he thought. 'Why is he here?!'
Only a few minutes ago, he had shaken hands with this man's daughter in the ballroom. He hadn't known who she was until Desiree reacted to the name. Now he was standing in front of her father, and the man's eyes seemed to see right through him. For a moment, Jake wondered if Otto already knew about their meeting with Bell. Then he decided it was not possible. It was only a coincidence. Nobody could be that unlucky.
He sighed quietly and nodded. "All right, then. Julietta."
"Wonderful!" Julietta clapped her hands once and giggled like a girl who had just been given a present. "Now sit, sit, sit. Both of you."
Jake and Desiree took the two empty seats near the front. Desiree squeezed his hand under the table, and Jake squeezed back.
Julietta walked to the head of the table, and her violet gown whispered across the floor. She turned around slowly and looked at every face in the room. There were about ten of them: the directors of her company in their sharp business suits, a few investors with serious eyes, and Otto at the end.
"All right," she said, with her hands clasped in front of her. "I have gathered all of you here tonight. My dear investors, like Mr. Ahlgrymm right here, and all my directors from the company, like Miss Da-Eun over there. And I did it for one simple reason."
She paused for effect and raised one finger.
"Why can't we build a site in China? Anyone?"
The room went quiet. The directors looked at each other. Nobody wanted to be the first to answer a question from the boss, especially one that sounded so easy.
At last, one of the directors raised her hand. She was a woman in her thirties with neat glasses and a small notebook in front of her. "Is it because there are so many beauty products there already, and so many competitors?"
"Yes, but no," Julietta said. She tilted her head, thinking. "That is one of the reasons, so thank you for answering."
"Ohh," the director said. She blinked in surprise. Her answer had been wrong, but not completely wrong, and she did not know whether to feel sad or happy about it. After a second, she decided on happy and gave a small, pleased smile as she wrote something in her notebook.
"Anyone else?" Julietta asked.
Otto lifted his hand slowly, as if it weighed a hundred pounds. "Because of the CCP?"
"No?" Julietta said, and her brows came together.
Otto lowered his hand without changing his face.
"Anyone, please," Julietta said. She spread her arms. "Can someone give me some ideas? I'm begging you here."
A woman near the middle of the table raised her hand carefully. This was Da-Eun, a Korean woman who was also very beautiful. There was a rumor in the company that she was on par with Julietta herself in looks, though no one dared to say that out loud near the boss. She had long black hair that fell to her shoulders like a silk curtain, and her calm eyes carried the sharpness of someone who had worked very hard to get where she was.
"Was it because we don't have the budget?" Da-Eun asked. "Because of the pressure from the CCP? They have such high demands on us before we can build a site there."
Julietta's eyes shone. "Umm, the budget one is the correct answer! But what's with you guys and the CCP?" She put her hand on her hip. "Also, the CCP is the one who offered us a site in China, with a huge discount!"
"Oh!" Da-Eun said. She quickly bowed her head. "Sorry, Julietta."
"You're forgiven," Julietta said, and she waved her hand grandly.
Otto, at the end of the table, looked mildly offended that his answer had been wrong. He pulled out a pen and wrote something on a small piece of paper. Then he folded the paper and put it away, as if the matter was now closed.
"So, now that we have the answer," Julietta said, "yes, we don't have the budget. And why don't we have the budget? Because of those competitors of ours who slandered our beauty products two years ago!"
Her voice rose with each word. She clenched her fist in front of her chest, and her turquoise eyes flashed.
"Ughh! Just thinking about them makes my blood boil!"
She stopped, took a deep breath, and smoothed her dress. Then she gave the whole room a bright, reassuring smile.
"But don't worry, everyone. I've already taken care of that spy of theirs. And her family, too."
The directors laughed nervously. They were not sure whether it was a joke.
Julietta turned slightly toward the window, so that her face was hidden from most of the table. Then she lowered her voice to a whisper that only the person nearest to her could possibly have heard.
"Hehehehe... yes, I took care of her family. I sold them to the cartel. My cartel. Hehehehe."
Nobody heard it. Only Desiree, who was sitting closest to the head of the table, thought she heard a small sound like a giggle. She looked up, but Julietta had already turned back around with a perfect smile on her face, and Desiree told herself she must have imagined it. She looked down at her notebook again and decided it was a good idea not to think about it too much.
"Anyway!" Julietta said loudly. "The other correct reason is that our government, America, is so stingy that we are not allowed to build a site in China. Which I've been planning for five years now!"
She counted on her fingers dramatically. "Five years! I have been asking, begging, and filling out forms for five years. And every time the answer is the same. No, no, no. Not allowed, not allowed. Can you believe it?"
"We can believe it," one of the investors muttered, and a few others nodded in agreement.
Julietta exhaled slowly, and her smile grew wider, brighter, and prouder. She let the silence stretch until everyone was leaning forward in their seats.
"NOW!"
She slammed her hand on the table. Every person in the room jumped.
"NOW, it is possible! And that is thanks to Mr. Ahlgrymm right here, who pulled his connections in China to allow us!"
She swept her arm toward Otto like a magician revealing the final trick.
The room burst into applause. The directors clapped, the other investors clapped, and even Desiree and Jake joined in. Jake clapped a little more slowly than the others, because the man being praised was the father of the girl he had just met downstairs.
Otto raised one hand and waved it a little. His face was exactly the same as before, as strict as a stone wall, like a businessman who did not know what an emotion was.
"You're welcome," he said in a flat voice.
"And also," Julietta continued, turning in a half-circle, "we are not going to forget our dear Da-Eun, who made all of this possible by hiring these two great and capable CGI animators."
She gestured toward Jake and Desiree, and both of them straightened up in their seats.
"Without her and her team," Julietta said, "we couldn't show our site first to the CCP and to our Chinese investors there. A site that is only a drawing on paper means nothing. But a site that people can walk through and see and feel? That is power."
The applause rose again. Da-Eun placed her hand on her chest and bowed her head toward the room. A little pink showed on her cheeks.
"Thank you," she said. "Thank you, everyone."
Julietta lifted a hand, and the applause faded away. The room went still, and every eye turned to her.
"NOW!" she said. "It's time to present the presentation we've all been waiting for. The site of our company in China."
She turned toward the two young animators with a bright smile and tilted her head. "Now, both of you. Can you be dolls and start the presentation?"
Jake and Desiree froze for a moment.
It was a big moment. They had worked on this project for three months. They had spent nights rendering buildings, adjusting light and shadow, and arguing over the color of a single tile. They had lost sleep, skipped meals, and once almost thrown a computer out the window. Now it would all be shown in front of the people who had paid for it, and one of them was a man who looked like he could end their careers with a glance.
Da-Eun leaned toward them across the table. She spoke in a low, warm voice so that no one else could hear. "You can do it. I believe in both of you. Good luck!!!"
Her words were simple, but they made Desiree's shoulders loosen. She smiled and nodded. Then she turned to Jake and whispered, "Are you ready?"
Jake looked at her. In her dark, steady eyes, he saw months of late nights and shared coffee and a hundred small arguments that always ended with a laugh. His nervousness melted away.
"Yeah," he said. "Super ready. Let's do it together."
He took her hand and held it tightly, and their fingers locked together.
"Yeah," Desiree said, with her chin raised. "Let's."
They stood up together. Desiree walked to the projector and pressed the button, and the screen at the far end of the room flickered on.
***
Meanwhile, on the ground floor, Max and Bell had reached the food counter.
It was a long table covered with white linen, and it seemed to stretch on forever. There were silver trays lined up from one end to the other, each one holding something more beautiful than the last. There was a whole roasted duck with orange glaze, tiny pastries shaped like swans, and a tower of shrimp on ice. There were rows of cheese, stacked mountains of fruit, and little cups of chocolate with gold leaf on top. The smell of butter, garlic, and warm bread hung in the air.
Bell had stopped at the very first tray and had not moved since.
"Mhmm~~~" she hummed. Her eyes were closed, and her lips were pressed together in a little curve like a cat that had just been given the best fish in the world. She held a small plate in front of her, and a golden-brown piece of Cordon Bleu was disappearing from it, bite by bite.
Max stood beside her with his own plate, watching her more than the food.
"You seem to really enjoy that Cordon Bleu," he said.
"YES!" Bell said, with her mouth half full. She swallowed quickly and then said again, more quietly, "Yes. This is the first time I've tasted something so delicious. The cheese is melted all the way through, and the chicken is so soft, and the outside is crispy but not oily! How do they do it?!"
She took another bite and wiggled happily on the spot. "Mhmm~~~~"
"Same here," Max said with a laugh. He cut a piece for himself and tasted it. It really was good. It was better than anything he had eaten in the last nine years. "My aunt may be insufferable, but she knows how to hire a chef."
Bell nodded very seriously. "I'd forgive her for everything because of this chicken."
Max chuckled. He was about to take another bite when something caught his eye. A small drop of creamy sauce had escaped from the corner of Bell's lips. It sat there shining, a tiny white spot on her pale skin, and she had not noticed it at all.
For a moment, he just looked at it. Then he made up his mind.
He lifted his hand and swept his thumb gently across the corner of her mouth.
"M-Max!" Bell squeaked. She jumped back half a step, and her plate almost tipped. Her eyes were wide, and her whole body went stiff with surprise.
Max did not answer. He looked at the white sauce on his thumb. Then, with a perfectly calm face, he lifted it to his own mouth and licked it clean.
-LICK!
"Mhm~~," he said thoughtfully, tasting it for a moment. Then he smiled. "It's really delicious. Plus, it's from your face."
Bell's mouth opened, but no sound came out.
She stood there like a statue. Then, slowly, as if every muscle in her body was trying to run away at the same time, she tilted her head down and turned her face away from him. Her hair fell forward across her cheeks like a curtain.
Max only laughed.
He didn't need to see her face to know what it looked like. Her ears were glowing bright red, so red that they looked like two little lanterns. No matter how she tried to hide behind her hair, he could see them clearly. She was embarrassed, and she was trying very hard not to show it. At the same time, though, she was not angry at all. She loved it, even if she would never admit it to him.
'That's what you get,' Max thought, and his smile grew. 'That's for kissing my forehead out of nowhere earlier. Now we're even.'
They stood like that for a while, with Max grinning at the ceiling and Bell studying the floor. A waiter walked past with a tray of champagne and glanced at them. He wisely decided not to say anything.
At last, Bell cleared her throat. She lifted her head, tucked her hair behind her ears, and pretended that nothing had happened. Her face was still pink, but her voice was firm.
"A-anyways!" she said. "We should try the other dishes too. They all look delicious."
Max bowed slightly and held out his hand toward the long table, like a servant presenting a feast. "Sure. After you."
"Yeah," Bell said. She took one step forward and then stopped. "But before we do that..."
"Hmm?" Max asked. He tilted his head in confusion.
Bell turned around. She folded her arms and looked straight into his amber eyes with a very serious expression, as if she were about to announce an important scientific discovery.
"I want to know what the surprise is."
Max blinked. "You'll find out on the third date."
"This is the third date!"
"It's not over yet."
"It can't hurt to tell me a little bit," Bell said. Her voice became smaller and sweeter, and she held up both hands and bumped her two pointer fingers together in front of her chest. She looked down, then up at him again, as shyly as a puppy asking for a treat. "Only a tiny bit. Just a hint. Pleaaase?"
Max looked down at her. He tried to stay firm.
Then Bell puffed up her cheeks. She inflated them until her whole face became round, and her lips pushed out like a little fish. It was the famous pufferfish face, the secret weapon she had used a hundred times, always with perfect success on anyone who had a heart.
"Pweeeeaaaasssseeeeeee!"
Max laughed.
He laughed so hard that he had to hold his plate with both hands to keep from dropping it. A few people turned to see what was funny. Bell pushed her cheeks out even more, and that only made it worse. For a moment, he almost gave in. The words were already forming at the back of his throat.
But he took a deep breath, shook his head slowly, and gave her one single word.
"Nope."
Bell's cheeks deflated with a soft little pop. Her mouth fell open in disbelief. Then her eyebrows came down, and she turned her face away dramatically with her arms still crossed.
"Ugghh," she groaned. "So stingy~!"