Part eight: Making deals stick
In which Ben is told to hire someone. who turns out to be a bit familiar.
Monday, Ben's sitting in harry's club, having been called in for work. He eyes
the view of trees and concrete you can see out of the window, sipping his tea.
Not really in the mood for drink at the moment. he turns back to Harry. "So
what's the job this time?"
"Pretty simple one." Harry says, leaning back in his chair. "Need something
nicked, and we're hiring a cat burglar."
Ben raises an eyebrow. "A cat burglar? Really? You're having me on, those
exist outside of films?"
Harry looks faintly amused at his reaction. "Where d'you think they got the idea?
They're good for jobs where you don't want to make a big mess. Less likely to
mess up, too. This one, we've got one of the best. Class act. Good little con
artist, too. Problem is she's a bit skittish about giving her number out and likes
to seal her deals face to face so she can check out who it is she's working for.
Done work for us before, but likes to take each job as it comes. You're going to
go along to the club, and talk to her there. Name's Keira Brennan. Ask the bar
staff, they'll point you in the right direction."
Ben raises his eyebrow again. "Don't I even get a photo?"
Harry picks up the paper on the table. "Nope, we've decided to make you work
for it." he snorts. "Put your eyebrow down, son, you've gone for meetings plenty
of times without a photo, let alone a description."
"so essentially this is just you being a sod." Ben grumbles without thinking about
it, then immediately regrets it. "Sorry, boss, you didn't hear that." he says
quickly, mortified and hoping he gets out of here with his fingers intact.
Harry gives him a look. "Just be a bit more careful with your mouth. Be glad
i'm in a good mood."
Ten o'clock Tuesday night, he turns up at the club in one of his suits, since he's
on business. He'd prefer to be turning up in normal gear, but it's work, not a
night out. Walking past the queue, he nods at the bouncers. "All right, Fred."
Fred nods back. All the bouncers know each other. It's only sensible, mostly so
they can pass on word about all the trouble makers. "How're you doing?" Fred
asks, knowing full well Ben's doing work for Harry Jones.
Ben shrugs. "Not so bad, working. You? how's the new arrival?" He asks. Fred
and his wife had another kid a month back which brings it up to three.
"Tiring." Fred says. "But us being on different hours at least means she's getting
some sleep."
"Cool." Ben says. "See you later, all right?"
"You too." Fred nods, lifting the rope to let him go by.
One of the queue scowls. "Hey, how come he gets to jump the queue?"
Fred gives him a look. "Because he, mate, is working."
Ben shakes his head on hearing that behind him as he goes in. It's different
from the usual 'it's who you know' or 'he was on the list, you're not', at least.
He nods at the various security people as he goes through to the champagne
bar and its multitude of over-spending utter tossers. Really. he's yet to find
anyone vaguely likeable in here, most of them with either no idea what it means
to earn your money, or so blinged up you could roll them for their jewellery and
pay for a year's rent, spending money like it's water. He's never figured out
what's so fun about this little exclusive bit of any club if you're not some sort of
celebrity desperate to get away from being mobbed. it's not like it's much
quieter. But make it exclusive, and the rest of the club gets desperate to get in.
He assumes the thief he's supposed to be meeting's in here, since it's where the
high rolling criminals tend to end up, liking the exclusivity and rich birds who
ends up in this section. However, looking around, he realises he's got no bloody
idea what he's looking for aside from 'female', and since she's supposed to be a
bloody good con-artist, she could just as easily be one of the giggly airheads
perched on that record producer's knee as the serious-looking blonde looking
like she's doing business with clients over by the bar.
Giving it up for a lost cause, he gives in and goes over to the bar. The girl
behind the bar, Nadine, looks up as he approaches. "Alright, Ben. What can i do
you for?"
Ben sighs. "Right now, a mojito'd be good but I'm supposed to be meeting
someone."
"Oh aye?" nadine asks, leaning on the bar, interest piqued. "What've they
done?"
"Nothing yet, hiring them for a job." Ben replies. "I'm looking for Keira
Brennan, boss said she'd be in the club, but thought it'd be funny not to give me
a description."
Nadine snorts, picking up a glass and polishing it. "Amazing arse, built like a
dancer? Won't find her up here, mate. Not her scene. Hates the bloody
champagne bar. Only time you see her up here is when she's got to talk to
someone about business." She pauses. "Or smooth talk 'em, that's always fun
to watch."
"I'm bloody here for business." Ben points out. "She's supposed to be meeting
me."
"Yeah, but since you weren't provided with a description, maybe she thought it'd
be good for you to work a bit." Nadine grins.
"So where do i find her?" Ben sighs.
"main dancefloor. Follow the trail of rejected blokes." Nadine says, making
shooing motions. "Off with you, some of us have customers to tend to."
"Can I get a description?" Ben asks.
"Nope, you're just going to have to ask for help." Nadine says cheerily, turning
to the very obviously drunk stockbroker who's trying to get her attention.
Ben walks downstairs, side stepping the girl who's wearing heels too high to
walk in and isn't so much climbing the stairs as falling up them, and he really
doesn't feel like wearing her drink, especially since he's wearing ond of the
expensive suits Harry paid for. He pauses at the landing that gives a decent
look over the dance floor, but can't see anyone standing out particularly,
although he glimpses a familiar set of stars tattooed across a set of shoulders
that he knows tastes really good, telling a bloke to bugger off, from the body
language. Ben smiles to himself at that. Maybe when he's finished meeting with
this thief he'll ditch the jacket and tie at coat check and see if she'd be
interested in a dance.
When he reaches the bottom of the stairs, he heads straight for the bar,
deciding to cut to the chase rather than vainly try his luck. Jazz looks up,
eyeing the suit. "Nice suit, I must say. Paul Smith, right? Just come off work?"
Ben shrugs. "Think so. I just got grabbed by the shop assistant and told I'd look
good in it."
Jazz makes tutting sounds. "Really. Learn, mate, disrespecting labels is no way
to treat them when they do so much for you."
"Look, I'm not disrespecting them, I'm just not an expert on 'em yet. Not like
I'm eyeing the latest fashion week stuff like some people I know." Ben says.
jazz sniffs. "We'll make a fashionista of you yet. I mean, you always make
most clothes look good since you're in shape and you've got a decent mug on
top of it, but it's nice when the clothes are doing some of the work, is all I'm
saying."
Ben sighs. "all right, i'll try and learn a bit. Or I could just leave it to the tailor,
since he knows what suits me." he pauses. "Anyway, I didn't just come off work,
I'm here on work. At least for a bit. Supposed to be meeting someone about a
job. Keira Brennan - you know her? Nadine said she'd be down on the dance
floor."
Jazz raises an eyebrow, finally, taking his attention off Ben's suit. "You want
Keira? Blimey." he points over Ben's shoulder towards the middle of the
dancefloor. "Over there. Gorgeous, built like a dancer, amazing arse."
"No, really, that helps..." ben says dryly. "Do i get anything better? Like hair
colour?"
"Back, shoulders and arms're covered in tattoos." Jazz says, grinning. "Yet to
hear tell whether they go all the way down."
"Okay, that's a bit easier to find." Ben says, now curious to know what the
tattoos are. "Do I get a hair colour?"
"You should know, heard you went home with her last week." jazz says cheerily.
Ben blinks and stares. "Yeah, we heard about it. Nice one there, she's picky."
"...Oh. cheers." Ben says, swallowing and straightening his tie, before making
his way into the crowd, towards where he last saw tattoo girl. Who's apparently
a cat burglar and con artist. Well, she did says she was freelance. He's most of
the way through when he spots her, swaying to the music. He taps her on the
shoulder, and she lazily turns, raising an eyebrow in question. he jerks his
thumbs in the direction of the bar, indicating he wants to talk. her eyebrow goes
higher, then she nods and mouths 'okay', following him back through the crowd.
Once they get to the bar, Ben signals to Katie. "One of the Brazilian beers - the
one with the gold label - and a g'n't, thanks."
Tattoo girl leans against the bar. "You remembered what i drink, i'm flattered.
What's this about? And I must say, I like the suit. Not quite as good for
dancing, but it looks good on you. You clean up well."
Ben waits for the drinks, paying and handing her her beer. "Seems we're in the
same business. my boss sent me here to talk about hiring you for a job. Since
I didn't get your name last time, colour me surprised on being told by the bar
staff that you're keira Brennan."
She looks amused. "Well, it's not like we were that interested in each others'
names last week. And what, i don't look like the type?"
"Well, considering i first looked for you in the champagne bar..." Keira's nose
wrinkles in disgust. "Yeah, my thoughts exactly. Don't ask me, I've got no
bloody idea what a cat burglar's supposed to look like. though I'd expect a
conman to look a bit more glam." he says, casting a pointed look at the trainers
she's currently sporting.
"No-one ever thinks what people wear when they want to dance, is what." she
drinks some of her beer and folds her arms defensively. "And I glam up very
nicely, thank you."
"Sure you do." Ben says, grinning and eyeing her legs. "Just didn't expect it.
Anyway, i'm here to talk about this job you're doing for my boss."
She sighs. "Work, work, work..." They hash out the details - some of them it
turns out are technical concerns. "Look, i can't bloody do the job that day,
there's a foriegn dignitary flying in that day, which means the bloody security
levels will be sky high and they get really fucking paranoid and they'd notice if
something went missing, even if it was only for a day or so and then put back
right as rain. he's got to re-arrange the meeting, because good as i am, I can't
get the dignitary's visit re-arranged."
Ben sighs. "Okay, you've got a point. I'll explain it to him and get him to
re-schedule. What about the price?"
"Need to raise it because that only covers danger fee and my usual. There's
some extra surveying i need to do, not to mention a bit of tech I need to get this
one done." keira states, drinking from her bottle and sketching out something on
the app on her phone, pushing it towards him.
Ben twists it round to see if he can figure it out from a different angle. "What is
it?"
"Very important piece of tech." Keira replies promptly. "Has an extra compass in
it. Also extra letters and numbers in its name."
"Okay, you just need it." He says. "So, an extra ten percent cover it?"
She does a quick calculation on her phone, frowning. "Yeah, that'll do it." She
puts her phone away.
"So, we've got a deal?" Ben asks, finishing off his g'n't. "Once the time's
re-arranged to your liking, of course."
Keira takes another drink, having nearly finished her beer, eyeing him, then
puts the bottle down, takes his hand and jerks her head in the direction of the
dance floor. "You can keep up, I'll consider it."
Ben gives her a disbelieving look. "You know I can."
"One time does not a hypothesis prove." She tuts, grinning. "So how about it,
you game?"
Ben shakes his head. "You're not serious."
"Maybe, but considering I'm the best person for the job, are you willing to risk
it?" Keira asks.
"All right." Ben says, pulling off his tie and jacket, undoign his top buttons and
waving at Jazz. "Jazz, going to dance. Can you put these behind the bar?"
Jazz takes them, giving him a doubtful look. "There is a bloody coatroom, you
know. And thought you were discussing business."
"So put it in the coat room, jazz." Keira says. "And finished discussing business,
going to dance." She blows him a kiss as she grabs ben's hand and tows him
towards the dance floor.
End of the night, they're queued up with everyone else at the coat room.
"Jacket and tie, Jazz put it to one side - yeah, that's it." Ben says, taking it. "Ta."
he pulls it on, looping the tie aroudn his neck, then turning back to Keira.
"Okay, verdict? You taking the job?"
She taps her lip with her finger, consideringly. "Okay, yes."
"Like you weren't going to take it anyway." Ben says, pulling out his mobile to
text harry with the confirmation, including the fact that they'll have to change
the date and add on ten percent, details in the morning.
"That's what you think." Keira says, shoving her hands in her pockets as she
waits for him to finish up. "If it'd been that unreliable tosser lyndon, it would've
been a different story. last time i talked to him, his brain was so clogged I
wouldn't've expected him to negotiate the bloody aisles at sainsburys, let alone
a half decent deal, and demanded to talk to someone else if he wanted me to
even consider it. Seriously, I keep expecting to hear word that harry's disposed
of him because he's got to be that much of a liability."
"he's still useful." Ben says, putting his phone away.
Keira snorts. "You'd have to convince me. Mind you, i don't have to work with
him."
"Must be nice to be freelance." Ben comments as they emerge into the fresh air
outside the club.
"Well, technically you are too." She points out.
"Not so much." Ben says ruefully, thinking of the fact that he's always going to
have at least one full time job. He becomes aware that his tie's being tugged
on, and looks down to see keira fiddling with it, and looks at her, perplexed.
"What're you doing to my tie?"
"Doing it up." She replies, sliding the knot up and tucking it back into place
under collar, re-doing the buttons. "Looks better this way."
"You're bloody odd." he comments.
"Nah, just exercising my right as the fashion police." Keira says. "What time do
you have to go report your findings tomorrow?"
"Ten-ish, why?" ben asks, watching a taxi's lights go past.
"Oh, good." She tucks her fingers into his belt and tugs him forward so he's
pulled flush up against her, and she tilts her head so her breath's brushing
across his lips as she speaks. "Fancy coming home with me?"
"Dunno." Ben says, sliding his hands over her waist. "this a deal breaker?"
"Off the clock." Keira says. "Very definitely off the clock."
"Think you might have to convince me. In the spirit of scientific inquiry, of
course." Ben says.
"Hypotheses are very important things." Keira agrees as Ben leans forward to
kiss the solemn expression off her face.
"Very important things." Ben agrees as he pulls back from the kiss, one hand
now cupping her face, rubing a thumb over her lower lip. "Definitely agreeing
there."
Ben groans bit as they collapse in a sweaty tangle of limbs on the sheets after
round two. Round one took place in the kitchen, and Ben's pretty sure he's
going to have the nail marks in his shoulders for a while from that, even though
she keeps hers short. "Fuck." he groans, attempting to get his arms to move so
he can get the condom off as Keira shifts off him. Eventually he manages to get
coordination back, pulling it off and tying it up, chucking it in the direction of the
bin. "I seriously don't think i can move."
"Moving's overrated." Keira mumbles, tucking herself into his side, doing
something with her feet that kicks the duvet up to land on them.
"Okay, that was impressive." Ben blinks.
"Trade secret of cat burglars." She mumbles. "You learn it when you're drunk."
"I'll have to get drunk enough, then." Ben says.
"Yeah, but you also have to be able to run across a roof and be able to
somersault across an alley." She says.
"I can learn." He protests sleepily.
"Infringing on my livelihood, is what." Keira yawns. "I'll keep your secrets,
mate, you stay off my turf." ben has no idea what that's supposed to mean as
he slowly conks out.
harry eyes him over the top of the times as he enters the club at ten on the dot.
"Looking a bit crumpled this morning, my son." He comments.
Ben scrubs at his neck sheepishly. "Didn't have time to go home and get
changed aside from getting a new shirt on my way here." The shared shower
really didn't help either.
"Take it we enjoyed ourselves last night, did we?" harry asks, amused.
"Yeah, picked someone up after finishing off the deal." ben says, being quick to
assert that he didn't mess around on the clock. And he's really not about to
mention to his boss that he got off with Keira. Doesn't want that sort of detail
getting out, if only because it might start to look like leverage. Or further ways
to seal a deal in the future. "You get my text?"
"I did indeed." harry says, tilting his head to where his mobile's sitting on the
table. "What's this about dates? Clients might get a bit shirty about a date
change."
"There's a bloody good reason for that." Ben says, sitting down in the adjacent
chair. "Turns out she's refusing to take on any burglary jobs on that date
because security's going to ramp up across London, and in the airports. Some
official's visiting and she doesn't want to do anything that might attract
attention."
Harry nods approvingly. "Sensible girl. That's the kind of attention to detail that
means she gets to charge top notch." He lifts a finger to the staff member that
walks in witha tray of cups and jugs. "Two coffees, please."
"Sir." The man replies, pouring two and setting them down, adding milk to Ben's
but leaving harry's black. Ben eyes his a little ruefully. Clearly he's been here
enough to get them to learn how he takes his coffee. "Was there anything else?"
"No, we're all right." Harry says, leanign back and rubbing his lower lip, but
fixing him with his contemplating gaze, which means Ben is being assessed for
something. can never bloody tell what, is the problem with Harry. "Any
problems? Negotiation go pretty smoothly?"
"Yeah, fine." Ben replies, shrugging like he didn't notice Harry's new position.
"Nice girl, head screwed on."
"Good. Decent judge of character, is that Keira." Harry says, picking up his
coffee, not saying anything more on that line of inquiry.
Monday, Ben's sitting in harry's club, having been called in for work. He eyes
the view of trees and concrete you can see out of the window, sipping his tea.
Not really in the mood for drink at the moment. he turns back to Harry. "So
what's the job this time?"
"Pretty simple one." Harry says, leaning back in his chair. "Need something
nicked, and we're hiring a cat burglar."
Ben raises an eyebrow. "A cat burglar? Really? You're having me on, those
exist outside of films?"
Harry looks faintly amused at his reaction. "Where d'you think they got the idea?
They're good for jobs where you don't want to make a big mess. Less likely to
mess up, too. This one, we've got one of the best. Class act. Good little con
artist, too. Problem is she's a bit skittish about giving her number out and likes
to seal her deals face to face so she can check out who it is she's working for.
Done work for us before, but likes to take each job as it comes. You're going to
go along to the club, and talk to her there. Name's Keira Brennan. Ask the bar
staff, they'll point you in the right direction."
Ben raises his eyebrow again. "Don't I even get a photo?"
Harry picks up the paper on the table. "Nope, we've decided to make you work
for it." he snorts. "Put your eyebrow down, son, you've gone for meetings plenty
of times without a photo, let alone a description."
"so essentially this is just you being a sod." Ben grumbles without thinking about
it, then immediately regrets it. "Sorry, boss, you didn't hear that." he says
quickly, mortified and hoping he gets out of here with his fingers intact.
Harry gives him a look. "Just be a bit more careful with your mouth. Be glad
i'm in a good mood."
Ten o'clock Tuesday night, he turns up at the club in one of his suits, since he's
on business. He'd prefer to be turning up in normal gear, but it's work, not a
night out. Walking past the queue, he nods at the bouncers. "All right, Fred."
Fred nods back. All the bouncers know each other. It's only sensible, mostly so
they can pass on word about all the trouble makers. "How're you doing?" Fred
asks, knowing full well Ben's doing work for Harry Jones.
Ben shrugs. "Not so bad, working. You? how's the new arrival?" He asks. Fred
and his wife had another kid a month back which brings it up to three.
"Tiring." Fred says. "But us being on different hours at least means she's getting
some sleep."
"Cool." Ben says. "See you later, all right?"
"You too." Fred nods, lifting the rope to let him go by.
One of the queue scowls. "Hey, how come he gets to jump the queue?"
Fred gives him a look. "Because he, mate, is working."
Ben shakes his head on hearing that behind him as he goes in. It's different
from the usual 'it's who you know' or 'he was on the list, you're not', at least.
He nods at the various security people as he goes through to the champagne
bar and its multitude of over-spending utter tossers. Really. he's yet to find
anyone vaguely likeable in here, most of them with either no idea what it means
to earn your money, or so blinged up you could roll them for their jewellery and
pay for a year's rent, spending money like it's water. He's never figured out
what's so fun about this little exclusive bit of any club if you're not some sort of
celebrity desperate to get away from being mobbed. it's not like it's much
quieter. But make it exclusive, and the rest of the club gets desperate to get in.
He assumes the thief he's supposed to be meeting's in here, since it's where the
high rolling criminals tend to end up, liking the exclusivity and rich birds who
ends up in this section. However, looking around, he realises he's got no bloody
idea what he's looking for aside from 'female', and since she's supposed to be a
bloody good con-artist, she could just as easily be one of the giggly airheads
perched on that record producer's knee as the serious-looking blonde looking
like she's doing business with clients over by the bar.
Giving it up for a lost cause, he gives in and goes over to the bar. The girl
behind the bar, Nadine, looks up as he approaches. "Alright, Ben. What can i do
you for?"
Ben sighs. "Right now, a mojito'd be good but I'm supposed to be meeting
someone."
"Oh aye?" nadine asks, leaning on the bar, interest piqued. "What've they
done?"
"Nothing yet, hiring them for a job." Ben replies. "I'm looking for Keira
Brennan, boss said she'd be in the club, but thought it'd be funny not to give me
a description."
Nadine snorts, picking up a glass and polishing it. "Amazing arse, built like a
dancer? Won't find her up here, mate. Not her scene. Hates the bloody
champagne bar. Only time you see her up here is when she's got to talk to
someone about business." She pauses. "Or smooth talk 'em, that's always fun
to watch."
"I'm bloody here for business." Ben points out. "She's supposed to be meeting
me."
"Yeah, but since you weren't provided with a description, maybe she thought it'd
be good for you to work a bit." Nadine grins.
"So where do i find her?" Ben sighs.
"main dancefloor. Follow the trail of rejected blokes." Nadine says, making
shooing motions. "Off with you, some of us have customers to tend to."
"Can I get a description?" Ben asks.
"Nope, you're just going to have to ask for help." Nadine says cheerily, turning
to the very obviously drunk stockbroker who's trying to get her attention.
Ben walks downstairs, side stepping the girl who's wearing heels too high to
walk in and isn't so much climbing the stairs as falling up them, and he really
doesn't feel like wearing her drink, especially since he's wearing ond of the
expensive suits Harry paid for. He pauses at the landing that gives a decent
look over the dance floor, but can't see anyone standing out particularly,
although he glimpses a familiar set of stars tattooed across a set of shoulders
that he knows tastes really good, telling a bloke to bugger off, from the body
language. Ben smiles to himself at that. Maybe when he's finished meeting with
this thief he'll ditch the jacket and tie at coat check and see if she'd be
interested in a dance.
When he reaches the bottom of the stairs, he heads straight for the bar,
deciding to cut to the chase rather than vainly try his luck. Jazz looks up,
eyeing the suit. "Nice suit, I must say. Paul Smith, right? Just come off work?"
Ben shrugs. "Think so. I just got grabbed by the shop assistant and told I'd look
good in it."
Jazz makes tutting sounds. "Really. Learn, mate, disrespecting labels is no way
to treat them when they do so much for you."
"Look, I'm not disrespecting them, I'm just not an expert on 'em yet. Not like
I'm eyeing the latest fashion week stuff like some people I know." Ben says.
jazz sniffs. "We'll make a fashionista of you yet. I mean, you always make
most clothes look good since you're in shape and you've got a decent mug on
top of it, but it's nice when the clothes are doing some of the work, is all I'm
saying."
Ben sighs. "all right, i'll try and learn a bit. Or I could just leave it to the tailor,
since he knows what suits me." he pauses. "Anyway, I didn't just come off work,
I'm here on work. At least for a bit. Supposed to be meeting someone about a
job. Keira Brennan - you know her? Nadine said she'd be down on the dance
floor."
Jazz raises an eyebrow, finally, taking his attention off Ben's suit. "You want
Keira? Blimey." he points over Ben's shoulder towards the middle of the
dancefloor. "Over there. Gorgeous, built like a dancer, amazing arse."
"No, really, that helps..." ben says dryly. "Do i get anything better? Like hair
colour?"
"Back, shoulders and arms're covered in tattoos." Jazz says, grinning. "Yet to
hear tell whether they go all the way down."
"Okay, that's a bit easier to find." Ben says, now curious to know what the
tattoos are. "Do I get a hair colour?"
"You should know, heard you went home with her last week." jazz says cheerily.
Ben blinks and stares. "Yeah, we heard about it. Nice one there, she's picky."
"...Oh. cheers." Ben says, swallowing and straightening his tie, before making
his way into the crowd, towards where he last saw tattoo girl. Who's apparently
a cat burglar and con artist. Well, she did says she was freelance. He's most of
the way through when he spots her, swaying to the music. He taps her on the
shoulder, and she lazily turns, raising an eyebrow in question. he jerks his
thumbs in the direction of the bar, indicating he wants to talk. her eyebrow goes
higher, then she nods and mouths 'okay', following him back through the crowd.
Once they get to the bar, Ben signals to Katie. "One of the Brazilian beers - the
one with the gold label - and a g'n't, thanks."
Tattoo girl leans against the bar. "You remembered what i drink, i'm flattered.
What's this about? And I must say, I like the suit. Not quite as good for
dancing, but it looks good on you. You clean up well."
Ben waits for the drinks, paying and handing her her beer. "Seems we're in the
same business. my boss sent me here to talk about hiring you for a job. Since
I didn't get your name last time, colour me surprised on being told by the bar
staff that you're keira Brennan."
She looks amused. "Well, it's not like we were that interested in each others'
names last week. And what, i don't look like the type?"
"Well, considering i first looked for you in the champagne bar..." Keira's nose
wrinkles in disgust. "Yeah, my thoughts exactly. Don't ask me, I've got no
bloody idea what a cat burglar's supposed to look like. though I'd expect a
conman to look a bit more glam." he says, casting a pointed look at the trainers
she's currently sporting.
"No-one ever thinks what people wear when they want to dance, is what." she
drinks some of her beer and folds her arms defensively. "And I glam up very
nicely, thank you."
"Sure you do." Ben says, grinning and eyeing her legs. "Just didn't expect it.
Anyway, i'm here to talk about this job you're doing for my boss."
She sighs. "Work, work, work..." They hash out the details - some of them it
turns out are technical concerns. "Look, i can't bloody do the job that day,
there's a foriegn dignitary flying in that day, which means the bloody security
levels will be sky high and they get really fucking paranoid and they'd notice if
something went missing, even if it was only for a day or so and then put back
right as rain. he's got to re-arrange the meeting, because good as i am, I can't
get the dignitary's visit re-arranged."
Ben sighs. "Okay, you've got a point. I'll explain it to him and get him to
re-schedule. What about the price?"
"Need to raise it because that only covers danger fee and my usual. There's
some extra surveying i need to do, not to mention a bit of tech I need to get this
one done." keira states, drinking from her bottle and sketching out something on
the app on her phone, pushing it towards him.
Ben twists it round to see if he can figure it out from a different angle. "What is
it?"
"Very important piece of tech." Keira replies promptly. "Has an extra compass in
it. Also extra letters and numbers in its name."
"Okay, you just need it." He says. "So, an extra ten percent cover it?"
She does a quick calculation on her phone, frowning. "Yeah, that'll do it." She
puts her phone away.
"So, we've got a deal?" Ben asks, finishing off his g'n't. "Once the time's
re-arranged to your liking, of course."
Keira takes another drink, having nearly finished her beer, eyeing him, then
puts the bottle down, takes his hand and jerks her head in the direction of the
dance floor. "You can keep up, I'll consider it."
Ben gives her a disbelieving look. "You know I can."
"One time does not a hypothesis prove." She tuts, grinning. "So how about it,
you game?"
Ben shakes his head. "You're not serious."
"Maybe, but considering I'm the best person for the job, are you willing to risk
it?" Keira asks.
"All right." Ben says, pulling off his tie and jacket, undoign his top buttons and
waving at Jazz. "Jazz, going to dance. Can you put these behind the bar?"
Jazz takes them, giving him a doubtful look. "There is a bloody coatroom, you
know. And thought you were discussing business."
"So put it in the coat room, jazz." Keira says. "And finished discussing business,
going to dance." She blows him a kiss as she grabs ben's hand and tows him
towards the dance floor.
End of the night, they're queued up with everyone else at the coat room.
"Jacket and tie, Jazz put it to one side - yeah, that's it." Ben says, taking it. "Ta."
he pulls it on, looping the tie aroudn his neck, then turning back to Keira.
"Okay, verdict? You taking the job?"
She taps her lip with her finger, consideringly. "Okay, yes."
"Like you weren't going to take it anyway." Ben says, pulling out his mobile to
text harry with the confirmation, including the fact that they'll have to change
the date and add on ten percent, details in the morning.
"That's what you think." Keira says, shoving her hands in her pockets as she
waits for him to finish up. "If it'd been that unreliable tosser lyndon, it would've
been a different story. last time i talked to him, his brain was so clogged I
wouldn't've expected him to negotiate the bloody aisles at sainsburys, let alone
a half decent deal, and demanded to talk to someone else if he wanted me to
even consider it. Seriously, I keep expecting to hear word that harry's disposed
of him because he's got to be that much of a liability."
"he's still useful." Ben says, putting his phone away.
Keira snorts. "You'd have to convince me. Mind you, i don't have to work with
him."
"Must be nice to be freelance." Ben comments as they emerge into the fresh air
outside the club.
"Well, technically you are too." She points out.
"Not so much." Ben says ruefully, thinking of the fact that he's always going to
have at least one full time job. He becomes aware that his tie's being tugged
on, and looks down to see keira fiddling with it, and looks at her, perplexed.
"What're you doing to my tie?"
"Doing it up." She replies, sliding the knot up and tucking it back into place
under collar, re-doing the buttons. "Looks better this way."
"You're bloody odd." he comments.
"Nah, just exercising my right as the fashion police." Keira says. "What time do
you have to go report your findings tomorrow?"
"Ten-ish, why?" ben asks, watching a taxi's lights go past.
"Oh, good." She tucks her fingers into his belt and tugs him forward so he's
pulled flush up against her, and she tilts her head so her breath's brushing
across his lips as she speaks. "Fancy coming home with me?"
"Dunno." Ben says, sliding his hands over her waist. "this a deal breaker?"
"Off the clock." Keira says. "Very definitely off the clock."
"Think you might have to convince me. In the spirit of scientific inquiry, of
course." Ben says.
"Hypotheses are very important things." Keira agrees as Ben leans forward to
kiss the solemn expression off her face.
"Very important things." Ben agrees as he pulls back from the kiss, one hand
now cupping her face, rubing a thumb over her lower lip. "Definitely agreeing
there."
Ben groans bit as they collapse in a sweaty tangle of limbs on the sheets after
round two. Round one took place in the kitchen, and Ben's pretty sure he's
going to have the nail marks in his shoulders for a while from that, even though
she keeps hers short. "Fuck." he groans, attempting to get his arms to move so
he can get the condom off as Keira shifts off him. Eventually he manages to get
coordination back, pulling it off and tying it up, chucking it in the direction of the
bin. "I seriously don't think i can move."
"Moving's overrated." Keira mumbles, tucking herself into his side, doing
something with her feet that kicks the duvet up to land on them.
"Okay, that was impressive." Ben blinks.
"Trade secret of cat burglars." She mumbles. "You learn it when you're drunk."
"I'll have to get drunk enough, then." Ben says.
"Yeah, but you also have to be able to run across a roof and be able to
somersault across an alley." She says.
"I can learn." He protests sleepily.
"Infringing on my livelihood, is what." Keira yawns. "I'll keep your secrets,
mate, you stay off my turf." ben has no idea what that's supposed to mean as
he slowly conks out.
harry eyes him over the top of the times as he enters the club at ten on the dot.
"Looking a bit crumpled this morning, my son." He comments.
Ben scrubs at his neck sheepishly. "Didn't have time to go home and get
changed aside from getting a new shirt on my way here." The shared shower
really didn't help either.
"Take it we enjoyed ourselves last night, did we?" harry asks, amused.
"Yeah, picked someone up after finishing off the deal." ben says, being quick to
assert that he didn't mess around on the clock. And he's really not about to
mention to his boss that he got off with Keira. Doesn't want that sort of detail
getting out, if only because it might start to look like leverage. Or further ways
to seal a deal in the future. "You get my text?"
"I did indeed." harry says, tilting his head to where his mobile's sitting on the
table. "What's this about dates? Clients might get a bit shirty about a date
change."
"There's a bloody good reason for that." Ben says, sitting down in the adjacent
chair. "Turns out she's refusing to take on any burglary jobs on that date
because security's going to ramp up across London, and in the airports. Some
official's visiting and she doesn't want to do anything that might attract
attention."
Harry nods approvingly. "Sensible girl. That's the kind of attention to detail that
means she gets to charge top notch." He lifts a finger to the staff member that
walks in witha tray of cups and jugs. "Two coffees, please."
"Sir." The man replies, pouring two and setting them down, adding milk to Ben's
but leaving harry's black. Ben eyes his a little ruefully. Clearly he's been here
enough to get them to learn how he takes his coffee. "Was there anything else?"
"No, we're all right." Harry says, leanign back and rubbing his lower lip, but
fixing him with his contemplating gaze, which means Ben is being assessed for
something. can never bloody tell what, is the problem with Harry. "Any
problems? Negotiation go pretty smoothly?"
"Yeah, fine." Ben replies, shrugging like he didn't notice Harry's new position.
"Nice girl, head screwed on."
"Good. Decent judge of character, is that Keira." Harry says, picking up his
coffee, not saying anything more on that line of inquiry.