Games are Afoot

Ben was still in his office when he received a call on his cell phone. He saw Maria's name and picked up immediately. "What happened?," he said, making his voice sound calmer than he felt.

Maria replied, "Nothing all day, til she left work and was in the parking lot. Thomas caught some guy taking pictures of her. We don't know where he came from or how long he was there. Sorry, sir."

Ben became angry and said, "How is that possible?"

"Thomas was with her on campus with me, but when she went up to her office and it looked like she'd be working there for a while, I came down to cover the outside of the building for when she came out and Thomas stayed on her floor. Once she was in the parking lot, I didn't see him behind the pillar," said Maria.

Ben sighed and said, "Ok, it looks like we need a third person to scout areas ahead. I'll let Johnny know. What about the pictures?"

"I'm sorry, sir, we weren't able to stop him from sending the pictures, but we do have him in the warehouse."

Ben said, "That's good at least. So, for now, let's see what we can get out of the guy, but let's go under the assumption that this was the work of Drakos's people and take extra precautions from now on."

"Got it, sir," replied Maria.

Ben said sternly, "And Maria, I don't want something like this happening again," before hanging up the phone. He didn't want to be rude about it as it went against his general nature, but he also needed to protect Selene and he had worked hard to build up his "cold, ruthless" CEO image. Only his close friends like Johnny and Max knew it was just a mask he had to wear to attain his goals. And since they had their own goals to achieve, they knew that by teaming up together, it would help realize everyone's dreams that much faster.

The week went by quickly for Selene. Too quickly for her taste. She had made up her mind not to think about Ben during the week and sometimes it worked. What didn't help is that a couple times, he popped in unannounced to ask how things were going. Once was during the day and everyone in the lab just gushed all over him showing Ben their work. He nodded but showed no emotion. He just said that they were making good progress and to continue on. Selene was confused by his attitude because that was not the man she knew. Then he made his way to Selene. She sat up straight as he said, "Hello there, Dr. Serian."

She responded with a very professional tone, "Hello, Mr. Lui."

Ben asked, "What are you working on over here?," in an equally professional tone professional tone.

Selene spent the next five minutes explaining her work while he nodded at what she was pointing and explaining here and there. He maintained the cold exterior that he presented the rest of the team. When she was done, he said, "It sounds like from what everyone said, the project is moving faster even just one week in. That is good to hear."

"Yes, it's very exciting. It's all thanks to the new equipment. Thank you for that," Selene said and bowed her head.

Ben gave a small smile and said, "Of course. It benefits us both." Then he clasped his hands together in front of him and said, "Ok then. I will see you later."

Selene said, "Goodbye." Ben turned around and left.

Selene watched him walking away with her knitted eyebrows. Then her eyebrows relaxed as she noticed how nicely the suit fit his muscular physique. "Stop it!," she told herself and turned around to continue her work.

The next time Selene saw Ben was in the evening when she was working late in the lab and everyone else was gone. He came in holding plastic bags containing take out. She didn't hear him come in, so she was surprised when she saw him by her desk. When she noticed him, she jumped, and put her hand on her desk. She cried, "Oh my God, you scared me! What are you doing here?" She took in several deep breathes.

"I heard you were working late, so I brought you some dinner," said Ben as if that was the most natural thing in the world.

Selene looked at him with a face that said, "What the hell?" What she actually said was, "First of all, you took 10 years out of my life, and I still need to breathe." She took a few more deep breathes. "Second of all, how did you know I was working late? Is there a camera in here? Because if there is, so help me God Ben. I mean, that is seriously messed up, and, and, I'm going to sue you for invasion of privacy!," Selene said, getting up in the middle of her speech and pointing her finger at him.

"Whoa, calm down. I'm sorry, I'm sorry. Sheesh. There's no camera in here, I promise," said Ben. He put the plastic bags on her desk and took a seat on the chair across from her. Selene sat back down at her desk, looking at him skeptically.

She asked, "Ok, then how did you know I was working late?"

"I get a security log of all the ins and outs of the key cards, thumb prints, and codes that access the lab at end of the day. So do Johnny and Max. It's part of our security protocol. I saw that you hadn't keyed out yet," replied Ben.

Selene's tension dissipated and she said, "Oh." She looked at the food and said, "Ok. But that doesn't explain why you brought me food?"

Ben said, "I was just trying to be nice to a business partner."

"A 'business partner' eh?," queried Selene suspiciously. Now that she was calm and back to her full senses, she was back to noticing the underlying sub-text behind Ben's words.

Ben gave her an innocent smile, lifted his eyebrows as if not understanding her meaning, and said, "Yes, what else?"

"Hmm," Selene hummed as she opened the plastic bag. "This does look very appetizing," she continued, "but I'm afraid I can't accept it."

Ben's brows furrowed as he said, "Why not? It's one of your favorites. Ma Po Tofu from B.D Wangs."

"Yes, I do love Ma Po Tofu. But…," Selene started to say.

Ben cut her off with, "It's no big deal. Just take it. I have to head out now. See you Friday!" He left without letting her say another word.

Selene looked at the door Ben had quickly gone through and shook her head. Then she looked at the food and sighed. She bit her lower lip and thought, "It smells so good. A little taste wouldn't hurt." Then she took the containers out of the plastic boxes, laid everything out on her desk, and dug in. When she was done, she laid back in her chair, looked at her stomach, and thought, "Traitor!"

The day finally arrived: it was Friday. Selene made sure to wear a suit that day even if she wasn't teaching. She chose the most professional-looking one she had. It was a medium grey color that came with a matching vest. She wore a white tank top underneath that was made of a satiny material. The collar had a stripe of black around it that ended in two straps that came down, which she used to make a short bow. A pair of black, closed toed, high heel shoes completed the outfit. As for her hair and make-up, her hair was tied back in a low ponytail, and she was wearing her special occasion make-up with dark pink lipstick. In addition, however, she put on grey eyeshadow.

After she got herself ready that morning, she paused, and looked at herself in the mirror above her dresser. Selene didn't know why she was putting all this care into her look. She knew it was because of the dinner with Ben but she also knew it wasn't because she wanted to get back together with him. Definitely not that. She thought to herself that perhaps she just wanted to impress him so he could see what he missed out on. Yes, that must definitely be the reason. She left the bedroom, grabbed her bag from the chair at the kitchen table, and left the house.

It was 6:30pm and Selene left her station in the lab and headed to her office. Yakov was getting ready to leave so she said bye on her way. With Yakov gone, that left her alone in the lab. She spent the next 15 minutes trying to work but being unable to because she kept thinking about the upcoming dinner. So, she gave up and decided to play a game on her phone instead, while she waited. That's how Ben found her, scrolling on her phone, when he knocked on her open door.

"Knock, Knock," Ben said. When he spotted her phone, he continued, "I hope I'm not interrupting your game."

Selene's cheeks flushed as she looked up and replied, "Oh not at all. Uh, um. My eyes just got tired of staring at the computer screen so I thought I would just um…"

"Stare at a smaller screen?," asked Ben, hiding a smile with his fisted hand.

Selene's face became even redder as Ben's smile became even bigger. He loved that she had been waiting for him. That meant she had been thinking about him.

Meanwhile, Selene was mentally kicking herself for her open-door policy. She said, "That's completely different. Anyway, um, let's getting going, shall we?" She stood up and gathered her belongings.

"As you wish, Professor," said Ben, with a glint in his eye.