Research & Development

Chapter 5
Heathrow

Chapter Description: Dan corners his rival.

Even though he’d agonised over the decision at first, there had never been more than one person Dan could have chosen to do this to. That was why he was waiting in the Starbucks at Heathrow Airport, checking his watch over and over. Elly was sure to show up any moment and he couldn’t chance missing her. Deep inside he’d known from the start that it was going to be her he chose. She was his rival, his nemesis, the woman he’d competed with since he’d left university.

Elly had joined the company the same time as him. They’d been assigned to the same department and Dan had known early on that she was just as ambitious as him. Elly was the kind of cut-throat business woman who would do whatever it took to shatter the glass ceiling and get to the top. She would settle for nothing less but being CEO one day. The fact that her biggest competition was a man drove her all the more.

Dan had quickly learned she was not to be taken lightly. Elly was a workaholic, a woman with no personal life. She didn’t date men, she went cruising for one-night stands when she needed a little fun. Elly used men, she didn’t need them. Her attitude towards Dan was never anything more than cold and professional. She saw him as nothing more than an obstacle to her career path.

In the end it turned out Elly couldn’t completely trump the old boy network with her hard work. Dan was the one who got promoted first after all. Elly hadn’t been happy about that. In fact he was pretty sure she was now dedicated to stealing his new job. All she needed was for him to make one slip-up. So when he sent down a memo saying he was too sick to attend a conference in Tokyo he knew Elly would be the first to put her hand up to take his place.

Dan glanced at his watch once again. It was just past eight in the morning, two and half hours before the flight the company had booked for Elly. She would be here soon, Elly was always early for her flights. She couldn’t risk missing one and arriving late to a meeting. Dan had chosen his seat at the Starbucks for two key reasons. One was that he knew Elly always stopped for coffee before a flight and the other was that a section of seats at the rear were shielded from view of all the CCTV cameras. In Big Brother Britain that was a real rarity these days.

Sure enough at ten past eight Dan spotted Elly walking across the terminal towards the cafe. She was dressed in her best business attire, even though she had a nearly eighteen hour trip in front of her. Elly was short and thin with short brown hair. She was twenty-seven years old and looked to be her physical prime. Some women her age might have worried about their youthful good looks beginning to fade, but Elly didn’t need to worry, she was still stunning. She had a sizable bust, a curvaceous body and a sweet face that belied her cut-throat nature. She was dressed for success too. Her business suit was flawless. Her high heels clicked audibly on the tiled floor as she strode across the massive airport, dragging a sizable rolling suitcase behind her.

Dan watched nervously as she approached the cafe. If she went straight past it to security all would be lost. His heart pounded as she neared the point of no return. Would she go left and into the security line, or right and into the cafe? Dan breathed a sigh of relief as she headed towards the Starbucks. Now everything was being set in motion. Since everyone thought she was on a trip to Tokyo her disappearance wouldn’t be noticed for several days. Dan couldn’t help but smile at his own brilliance for thinking that part up.

He waited until she’d collected her venti caramel macchiato before calling out, “Elly, is that you?”

She glanced over her shoulder, catching sight of her rival and immediately frowned. “What are you doing here?” she demanded, striding over to his table in the back corner.

“Having a coffee, like you,” he offered innocently.

“Don’t give me that crap,” she snapped. “You’re supposed to be sick. You better not be planning to show up in Tokyo and upstage me. I spent a lot of time preparing for this conference.”

“I promise I have no plans to show up in Tokyo. I swear.”

Elly eyed him suspiciously. “So what are you really doing here then?” she asked.

“Well to be honest I came to have a chat with you,” he admitted.

Elly gave him a disbelieving look. “And why couldn’t you just send me an e-mail then? Why all this cloak and dagger stuff? Look Dan, if you’re planning something against company policies you can count me out.”

“No, no, nothing like that,” he assured her. “I promise there’s nothing against company policies going on here.”

He gestured for her to sit and after a moment’s hesitation she acquiesced, sliding into the opposite chair. Dan was glad she hadn’t said anything about the law so he hadn’t needed to lie. The morality of this whole thing really did bother him. But when it came to Elly he could make an exception. He told himself that were the situation reversed she’d do the same thing to him in a heartbeat. If anything this was karma come back to bite her in the ass. Over the years she’d stolen accounts from him, taken credit for his work and lied to the boss about his performance. She’d made him her enemy and now she’d reap what she’d sewn.

“Okay, so cut to the chase then Dan, I don’t have time for games,” Elly prompted impatiently.

“No, you never did have time for games did you? Always too busy climbing the ladder, weren’t you?”

Elly just stared at him coldly. “Does this have a point?” she asked.

“Yes, it does. You’re too serious Elly, all business and no play. I think we need to do something about that.”

She gave him a suspicious look.

Dan ignored it, drawing the spray bottle from his pocket and looking at it thoughtfully. Elly’s eyes focused on it too.

“What is...” she began.

Elly didn’t get the chance to finish her question. At that moment no one else was sitting nearby in the cafe and the other customers were focussed on the work of the barista. It was time to strike. Dan thrust the spray bottle to within a couple inches of Elly’s face and sprayed her once, then after a second’s hesitation gave her a second spray.

Naturally the woman pulled back sharply in surprise at his actions. But it was already too late for her. In her shock she inhaled and took most of the aerosol droplets right up into her nose. In milliseconds it was absorbed into her bloodstream and then crossed the blood-brain barrier. Elly scowled and swung her arm out at the offending bottle, but her actions were clumsy. She already felt distant, removed from reality.

“Calm down Elly, you’re not angry or scared, it’s okay,” Dan told her hoping she wouldn’t attract any unwanted attention.

But Elly was still shaking her head and announced loudly, “No, stop it!”

Heads turned, customers at the bar were looking over. Dan’s heartbeat ticked up another notch. This could all go wrong very quickly. Elly meanwhile was beginning to look more confused. Dan could see a certain glassiness in her eyes.

“You aren’t afraid Elly, you aren’t angry. You’re very relaxed, perfectly calm,” he tried again.

This time the change in Elly’s demeanour was immediate. Her tense face relaxed visibly, her shoulders sagged and she sat back in her chair, a slight smile playing at her lips.

“That’s much better. You’re glad I helped you feel batter, right Elly?”

The woman nodded now. “Yes, I feel much better,” she agreed, still smiling peacefully, eyes glazed.

The customers who’d looked over shrugged and returned their attention to the drinks being made. A couple at another table returned to their conversation. Dan breathed a sigh of relief as he knew he was clear. Now it was time for phase two of the plan.

“Elly, you like me a lot. In fact, secretly, you’ve always liked me. You have a real crush on me and you want to do anything I say. You trust me completely, believe everything I say with total certainty. Isn’t that right?”

Elly nodded instantly. “I really do like you Dan. I like you so, so much. I always have!” she gushed, a look of real infatuation in her hazel eyes.

“Elly, right now what you want to do is forget all about going to Japan. Let yourself completely forget about the trip. You know the only reason you’re at the airport is to see me.”

Dan paused to make sure she took that all in. He saw her eyes go far away again as her memory was altered.

“Now you need to do something very important for me. In a moment you need to get up and go out the nearest exit and walk to car park C. There you will find a white Honda Accord.”

Dan slipped a set of car keys across the table. “You will use these keys to find the car. Then you will drive it to the address on the GPS, park in the drive and wait for me. Do you understand?”

“Yes,” Elly agreed.

“And you really want to do this because you trust me and want to make me happy,” Dan repeated.

“I do,” Elly nodded.

“Good, take the keys and go,” he directed.