| Subject: Chapter 270 - Part 2 (16 and above) (end of chapter 270) |
Author:
KatherineG.
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Date Posted: Monday, February 19, 06:49:27am
In reply to:
KatherineG.
's message, "Dreams in the Dark (258>?) continued" on Monday, October 23, 07:10:30am
They were just continuing the conversation, when they were interrupted by Helmut's butler, announcing the arrival of his other guest. She was a visitor the endangered woman had never seen before, and it was difficult to hide her surprise--this meeting not exactly public knowledge. When the banker introduced her by saying, "This is Anna. She works for Bauer," the actress's eyes widened, her body moving back as though a deadly snake had just been placed in front of her. Although too aware of her friends' loyalty to question openly, she had no idea at all what was going on.
The woman answered her terror a second later, her eyes showing her disgust at the other's obvious thoughts. "It's not like I asked for the job." She was encouraged to sit down between Helmut and Rene, the designer's look toward her especially tender. It wasn't exactly the usual reception for an enemy in their midst.
Nikita clearly saw this, even if her confusion was also quite evident. Rene watched his partner smiling reassuringly, as he himself took in both the women as well as his lover. Helmut's attitude toward Anna had calmed considerably since their first meeting, for which the designer was wholly grateful--never having entirely sympathized with the banker's apparent jealousy. Still, in the months since, he had thought that reaction over, could see some logic to it. His partner was simply worried that Rene would someday be won over by the pressures of the world, would decide that a good wife and children were what he really wanted--or, at least, what he should have, regardless of real love; his sigh went deep. It had made him wonder whether these weren't the exact same fears which had once motivated poor Simone to reject Michael's offer of marriage, which had made her want to pull away. It had probably just seemed all-too-clear to her that he would one day decide that fighting against the tide was far too quixotic to endure for a lifetime.
He could see both these dear people's terrors, understood the events which had caused them--certainly sympathized with them both. Still, he didn't believe either to be right--however unwieldy a marriage between Michael and Simone might have been. Falling in love with Helmut had ended his days of sham marriages and pretense--just as Michael had been absolutely in earnest in his determination to be a true father to Simone's child; Rene's gaze cast back over Nikita, wondering. But what might have happened, had the actor met this woman he could not live without after braving the world to marry Simone, he had no idea at all.
He decided--not for the first time--that this was a question better left unanswered. Life had seen fit, in its all-too-tragic way, to negate the puzzle, before it ever needed to be solved. Maybe it was better for all of them that they only focus on the million problems of the moment.
Nikita saw none of the designer's musings, was still far too focused on the inclusion of this new, and highly uncertain, variable. She watched in silence, as Helmut gave her one more, reassuring smile before turning to Anna at last, making it clear why she had been invited. "What have you learned about Enquist?"
The question itself made the actress's eyes widen again, this woman clearly a source of information for the men. How she had come to be one was beyond her--but wasn't important just now, her report beginning; she could worry over what the woman might know later. "What we expected. He's new in town, brought in by his masters in New York to oversee business." There was a shrug. "Mostly, he seems to work with his charm--at least when it comes to the studios. They're warming up to him. Still, if he wants to stay around permanently, he needs another way in." Her gaze traveled the room. "Word is that he's looking to find an actress willing to give him a little credibility."
This made a tremendous amount of sense--confirmed all they had thought thus far. Still, the newcomer's report went on. "Don't let the charm fool you, though. He's everything you'd expect. Once the smooth approach fails, he plays rough." There was a sigh, as though she had gained this insight from personal acquaintance; Nikita found herself wincing slightly--not even wanting to guess at the details. If the woman somehow worked for Bauer . . .
She didn't even let the thought go on, knew that she was seeing before her a prime example of the old phrase, "There, but for the grace of God, go I." She nearly smiled, despite the pain of such a truth. Of course, it might simply have been for the grace of both Adrian and Michael--but, especially with the latter, it all tended to be the same to her, anyway.
The endangered couple's tendency to see each other as the whole of their world--as the definition of all life, love, and spirituality--wasn't new, and wasn't the point just now, Anna moving on, voice dropping. "I've heard rumors of at least 20 disappearances or deaths that he might be involved with, but there are probably more." She looked far too world-weary with this news, as though mass murder were a daily sight for her; it was all-too-close to the truth. "I suspect Jones wants to bring him in as his new second-in-command."
This insight made a terrible amount of sense, Nikita nodding--even as part of her mind scurried off to hide, not at all wanting to face the mounting evidence of her coming doom. Jesus. Hillinger had been bad enough--but at least her father hadn't wanted her to marry him; her heart thumped. Now that he really had started to plot . . .
This news did nothing to aid the actress, the weight of it overwhelming--forcing her to face truths she had long been trying to avoid; she leaned over slightly, bracing her elbows on her knees--a move which was growing increasingly difficult lately, as little Adrian started to make his presence known--and rubbed over her forehead distractedly, trying to regain control. Once she did, she stated the obvious, hoping that Anna was truly in these men's confidence. "So he's going to replace Jamie." It probably wasn't a bad business plan--but Jones's methods of removal tended to be quite permanent; something inside her winced. If he were willing to go this far with his own son . . .
She didn't even finish the thought, knew the rest of it all too well; so did everyone else. Helmut, especially, sighed, watching her torment--wishing he could do more. But the whole situation seemed so impossible. Jones was cleaning house, would be doing away with the son who had displeased him by--if he succeeded--marrying in one he had hand-chosen as his heir; it made all too much sense--the logic of it quite reasonable. But the fact that he and Jones had a very different sense of what made up a sound business decision made it quite difficult for him to sympathize.
While it was true that bankers could indeed hold life and death in their hands, often did--a loan denied, a mortgage foreclosed, a simple mistake with numbers meaning the end of someone's dreams or chances for survival--they didn't often deal, in such an immediate way, with the end of hope as did Jones and his men. Besides, even during the crash of '29--the run on and closing of banks which were all part of the beginnings of the depression which still gripped the country--Helmut had done his damnedest to keep from destroying too many livelihoods. Just the fact that his bank had still been there the next day--after so many others had closed their doors for good, taking with them all their depositors' funds--had saved many. And he had done what he could after that, in his quiet way, to help as many of the rest as possible.
He wasn't, then, the usual picture of a big banker--or, certainly, the one the studios portrayed--and he wasn't the typical one, either. Still, his family legacy had been money, his training for business. But it was the heart of the man which beat beneath all of that which had forced him to forge a rather different path.
All of these truths, as well as the fact that he went so consistently out of his way to look out for all those he put under his subtle protection--an ever-growing array, it seemed--made it impossible for him to sympathize with Jones or any of his plots. From what he could tell, the man had cut as many throats as possible to get where he was--while the banker had done his damnedest to give his money away. It made them polar opposites; his gaze gently caressed the woman all the other man's dire intentions centered around. And, if he himself had had a daughter half so bright and beautiful as this one . . .
He let out a small sigh, letting the wish go--not wanting any of the complications involved in gaining such a child. But the feeling of the room--from everyone who knew the actress--was the same. They *would* look after her--for all their various reasons; his eyes burned softly. And whatever they had to do to see them all come out of this safely would be justified in the extreme.
[End of Part 270]
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