He always took a morning break, not always at the same time and not at the same place either. Sometimes he'd go for a walk, other days he would stay in the building, having a coffee and a chat or read a book. Once every so often he would go to a cafe around the corner, or the one a short walk across the park. We would have to be patient and stake out at one of the cafes and hope he would go there at some point during the week.
I would have to come up with a plan to get the two of them talking without raising suspicion in Rick. We could have Eliza wanting to find her father and pretending she had tracked him down or randomly bumping into each other and claiming a weird sense of familiarity causing her to address him. The problem with the first one was clear. It would almost be impossible for a normal citizen to track him down without any help from us, so we couldn't really use that as a way in. It would be too suspicious. However, the problem with randomly bumping into him is that he knows she doesn't live here so what the hell would she be doing here on her own. We could spin a story around it, but the problem with back up stories is that they are fallible and all too often discovered to be untrue.
Unless we involved Alice, Eliza's mum. If Rick would spot Alice, he would find it almost impossible to ignore her. His love for her was known to be strong, and the only way he'd been able to resist going back to Alice was by keeping a safe distance between them. That's why he never had returned to her. Plus the genetic bond with Eliza would trigger intense feelings he would find hard to control too. Brilliant idea, if I say so myself!
It would be a risk to use an untrained person, but it would be the most natural way of introducing the two of them, however awkward it may make Alice feel. It would be a great starting point for Eliza to wheedle her way into his life and suss him out. I felt buoyant having found a solution, but now I had to convince Markus of that in our meeting tomorrow. I started writing down my plan in detail to present to him tomorrow, trying to think of all the pitfalls that may occur. I knew Eliza was very good at improvising as she proved during the phone call to Kas, but a plan was much more reliable and I had to have a scenario in place for every eventuality.
When I looked at my phone to check an incoming message I was shocked to find it 10.30pm already. Fuck! So much for an early night for Eliza. I glanced over at her and she was still pouring over her books too.
“Time to stop Eliza. You can get yourself a drink and a snack before going to bed. Make me a cup of tea too.”
She immediately put her books away and with a “Yes Sir" made her way to our little kitchen. I wished I could relax with her for a bit before going to bed, but it would have to wait. I could not be slack with her. Word would get out and that would ruin my reputation. However, I longed for tomorrow to be over so we could normalise our relationship again. She would still have to respect me obviously, but I wouldn't have to order her around and monitor her every move. I was fed up with barking orders at her. I loved her being so subservient and I didn't miss her rude attitude, but I did miss her spark, intelligence, sensitivity, her sexy cheeky smile and kind personality. I fancied her, but I knew I wouldn't stand a chance with Zaphire around. Eliza might have feelings for me, but unfortunately, she was totally infatuated with Zaphy.
“Sir?" Eliza gently interrupted my thoughts as she passed my tea.
I hoped she wasn't concentrating on picking up any signals from me as I had let my guard down. I didn't notice any spikes in her signals though. Her heart rate still would rise on approaching me, but that was normal. Nothing to give away she had picked up on my own heightened emotional state. Her eyes were down waiting for me to give her permission to sit down. I nodded in the direction of the chair and she sat herself down to eat her snack. She looked tired and I was cross with myself having forgotten the time. I told her the schedule for tomorrow and waited for her to finish her drink to then send her to bed for some much needed sleep. I followed soon after.
Music awoke me from my slumber. Bollocks. My phone alarm was going off, getting louder and louder as I frantically tried to find it. For fuck sake. I must have forgotten to put it on charge as it wasn't in its normal place. I found it eventually at the foot of my bed and silenced The Stone Roses, my wake up call. I plugged it in to charge as it was nearly out of juice, before jumping out of bed. I thought a second about taking a shower, but didn't see the point as I would have to take another one after our work out session. I just splashed my face instead in a bid to wake up a bit and slipped on my sports gear. I went to wake Eliza up, only to find her bed empty. Where the fuck was she?
“Eliza!" I shouted through the apartment.
She sheepishly got up from the sofa.
“What the hell are you doing out of your bed! Did I tell you to get up?" I exclaimed, cross for her disobedience and slightly overreacting from the shock of finding her bed empty.
“Well, answer me Eliza!" I now
