HQ
Tokyo, Japan
December 2017
2:25PM
Inhale, exhale. You can do this. You can most definitely do this, Lysette.
“It’s been too long,” she murmured before straightening her posture, clearing her throat, and then training her eyes forward before walking inside the building. Her ID was pinned neatly to her blazer, and another in her hand just in case it was needed. It felt like eons until she was finally cleared to go inside, and she gave a huff as she quickly attempted at rearranging the contents inside her bag. “The security’s so goddamn tight here,” she muttered, then resisted the urge to knock her head on a wall.
Of course it is, moron. This is one of the biggest organizations in the world.
“HQ,” she muttered under her breath before approaching the reception. A male in a sleek suit sat, attending to something on a computer. iMacs? Jesus, the people here are ridiculously high-tech…
Before she was able to say anything, the male caught her eye and blinked twice before sending a quick smile. “Ms. Cross?”
“That’s me,” she affirmed. “I’m here for one of the employees, you might know her?”
“I’ve been informed about the appointment, actually. Please hold for a moment,” and she nodded, watching as the Japanese man typed something onto the keyboard. I suppose knowing a decent amount of English is required, she thought, noting in the background how people of different nationalities passed. Majority of the crowd was Japanese, but even she could spot a number of Koreans, Chinese, and whatnot. Lysette could have sworn that she had heard an English accent flutter by. “Ah — I’m quite sorry, Ms. Cross, but it seems that she has gone out per request,” the receptionist apologized.
“Per…request?”
He nodded. “Something came up all of a sudden and her Squad was delegated to attend to it. They’ve been out roughly two hours. If you would prefer it, however, you may wait around until she comes back.” He gestured towards a neatly arranged waiting area, and Lysette glanced towards there, seeing barely any other guest. “My apologies, truly. Do rest assured that she indeed knew of your arranged appointment.”
“It’s no worry,” Lysette reassured him. “Do you reckon she’ll take long?”
“It would be best to simply wait, Ms. Cross.” he offered yet another smile and she returned it, soon departing to the waiting area arranged.
* * * * *
2:30PM
“This couldn’t have come at a worse time,” Aether retorted. Peters glanced at her then returned his gaze back to the road, driving. “Someone had arranged to meet with me, and we fixed for a two-thirty meeting. And now I’m going to be fucking late.”
“A meeting?” Tadashi inquired. “This is the writer from that foreign magazine?”
“Meta, if I remember right.” Aether sighed and rubbed her temples, “I did my research on it. Apparently, it’s a big magazine back home in England. And not just a magazine — they’re a big media company over there. Sort of reminded me of BuzzFeed, just a tinge more serious.”
“So no weird Disney-oriented quizzes,” Mack deadpanned. Peters snorted.
“None of that. Quite lifestyle, some entertainment, but recently they expressed their interest in pursuing worldwide news and more international issues, events, etcetera. It’s a massive thing.”
“Meta sounds familiar,” the forensic scientist offered. Tadashi blinked and watched as the other pulled out his phone, Mack doing some quick typing. After roughly a minute, he let out an oh, okay that’s why. “This explains it. Remember Lee Jin-kyong?”
“The model,” Peters responded immediately. “We were assigned to making sure that her friend’s accident was merely an accident and nothing more.”
“Correct. Well, she’s been featured in a list. Something like Top Twenty Models to Look Out For in 2018. She’s in here, as well as her friend…Park Eun-something.”
“Park Eun-seok,” Aether murmured. “I remember him, too. Seems like Meta’s going out of their way to go international…”
“And someone from there is interviewing you,” Tadashi offered. “Interested about HQ.”
“If Peters doesn’t step on the pedal, they might not be interested anymore—”
“You have little faith in me,” the American interjected with a mildly annoyed roll of the eyes. “Alright, assholes, hold on to your seats or risk flying out of the car.”
* * * * *
2:49PM
“You’re surprising her like the sap you are,” Kang Jin-ho snorted over the phone. Mathieu made an indignant noise and got out of the car, carrying a bouquet of flowers in his other hand. “What’s the plan? Surprise her with flowers and then take her out for dinner later?”
“That’s pretty much it,” he admitted. “I want to set a nice mood for her. She’s been busy with all the cases lately and the Squad, so I want her to relax for once.”
“Used the contacts I gave?”
“Definitely. Thanks, by the way,” he paused he passed through a number of scanners, “I reserved one of the nicer places for tonight.”
“Good, good. I hope your girl eats.” he heard a fumble then typing from the other end and eventually, Jin-ho spoke yet again. “We really need to do something about Jian.”
“Jian—”
“What he pulled off last month was crazy,” the Korean groaned. “And almost getting caught like that? God knows where the man is now.” Mathieu chewed on his bottom lip and Jin-ho sighed, “Never mind that. Save it for the weekend. Anyway, enjoy the night with your girl, okay? Give her what she deserves.”
“Will do,” he promised. “I’ll call tomorrow.” The call ended and Mathieu approached the reception area, greeting the man and asking for Aether. Said receptionist made a face and apologized, explaining that she had gone out for an impromptu task with the rest of her Squad.
“Do feel free to wait,” the man’s eyes fell to the flowers and he blinked, “Boyfriend…ah, yes. Ms. Aether has been getting quite the visits today,” he chuckled and Mathieu couldn’t help but raise a brow.
“I’m sorry?”
“She has an appointment with someone from abroad, see,” he explained. Ah, Mathieu remembered. Aether had told him about that. Someone named Clara. “And is also waiting for Aether to return. Something for their feature piece.”
“I see,” the redhead mused. “I’ll wait as well. Thank you for the information.”
* * * * *
2:55PM
This place is really...polite, Lysette thought. She drank the remaining contents of the paper cup kindly handed to her by the receptionist and rolled it in her hands, humming and then checking her phone every so often. Where is she? It’s been half an hour and she’s still not back…
The woman exhaled and set the paper cup down on the glass table, resorting to tap lightly at her thighs while waiting. She had been chatting with Aaron and Eugene while waiting; the former had told her that he was enjoying in Italy while the latter commented that he had to get used to how it was in South America. Eventually Aaron stopped replying; they assumed that he was having dinner and the conversation dwindled down.
Her hazel eyes darted as someone approached the waiting area as well, and they widened slightly upon noticing a fit ginger with a bouquet of flowers. What the — boyfriend of one of the agents here, maybe?
She watched from the corner of her eye as he sat on the couches a few feet away, the man gently setting the flowers down and picking up a newspaper from on the table. He flipped idly through the pages, keeping a neutral expression on his face.
She cleared her throat.
“Uh — seeing someone?”
The male blinked and glanced towards her slowly. “I…yes. My girlfriend. Though it’s probably obvious because of the flowers,” he gestured towards the roses and she gave a nod of her own. “You?”
“Here to interview someone,” Lysette replied. She shot a smile, “Clara Lysette. But you can call me Lysette.” the man’s blue eyes appeared surprised at that, and it seemed like she had managed to break through his composed, neutral expression.
“Clara?” he repeated. She gave a hesitant nod and the ginger set the newspaper back down, “…you’re Clara. I see. Call me Mathieu.”
She couldn’t help but catch what he had said before introducing himself. “Sorry?”
“Aether’s my girlfriend,” he explained, not noticing the shocked look on the other’s face. “You’ll be interviewing her, correct? She told me about it the day she got the email. Fairly nervous if you ask me,” Mathieu chuckled. Lysette attempted to speak up but Mathieu perked at the voices of four different people, a grin rising to his lips and immediately standing, grabbing for the flowers after. “I hope you don’t mind, I’ll just give this to her and then leave you to it,” he said before taking off. She watched, dumbfounded, as this Mathieu scampered off to approach a lady with long, dark hair and give her the bouquet with a playful smile. She gaped at him before shaking her head and hugging him tightly, the other three males laughing as they watched.
The tallest one — an American — said something which made her flip the bird at him. She hugged Mathieu anyway and nodded enthusiastically to what he said, proceeding to kiss him on the cheek. Her mouth moved but Lysette was unable to catch what she had said. Eventually did Mathieu pinch her cheek and gesture in Lysette’s direction, where the strawberry blonde was still staring.
Aether’s green eyes followed the direction where he was pointing, and the reaction was immediate. Even from feet away did she see Aether’s eyes widen and her mouth fall open.
As for Aether, she was bewildered. Tadashi frowned at her expression.
“Aether, are you alright?” he didn’t receive a response, instead she could only say the only thought lingering in her head at that moment.
“What is Lysette doing here?”
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