Chapter 3
It was a week or so later than Violet next encountered Bond. The mission, from what she’d been told, was a success more or less, with the exception of Bond gaining a few minor bumps and bruises. She was in a good mood that day, it was a Friday, and her birthday was the next day, so she was rather looking forward to the end of the day.
She knew Sunny would be making her a cake, and chances were her siblings and Bea would have something planned for her birthday, so that she was looking forward to. IT was about 3 o'clock in the afternoon before she had a chance to have a sit down, and once she was settled in front of her computer, she took a sip of rather large coffee she’d dispatched one of the juniors to fetch for her.
Violet sighed slightly as she took her first sip. She loved her job, even if was full on, but some weeks weren’t half exhausting! She pushed a stray bit of hair from her face, jumping slightly in her seat as she heard the creak of a footstep at the door to her office, swivelling in her seat to see who it was.
“Ah, Bond. Are you actually returning some equipment this time?” she asked, with a raised eyebrow, leaning back in her chair.
There was a quiet wry laugh, before the reply came,
“Believe it or not, my mission aim isn’t to destroy all your kit,” Bond said, leaning against the door frame, expertly balancing the neatly piled bundle as she did, “It just turns out that way sometimes. I mean the Pearl explosives worked a treat!” She added standing up straight as she saw the other woman go to stand up, and passing across the pile, “Keep up the good work, Q.” she added, before heading back off out of the department.
. . . .
5pm, home time, Violet thought, going to stand up and grabbing her coat from the stand in the corner, and slinging her bag over her shoulder. She called out a quick goodbye as she headed out. She was halfway down the corridor when her personal phone rang, glancing at the caller, answered, putting the phone up to her ear, a smile spreading across her face.
“Quigley, hello! . . . How are you? . . . Plans for this evening? No, I don’t think so? Why, are you in London? . . . Dinner would be great; I’m just leaving work so if I meet you at half 7? . . . I shall see you there, it’ll be good to catch up. . . Alright, bye, see you later.”
She hung up the phone as she headed into the lift down to the car park, making her way through the rows of shiny cars to her own shiny silver mini, throwing her bag into the back seat before setting off.
Pulling into the driveway she headed inside, immediately smelling cake in the air, as she headed upstairs, glancing into Bea’s room to check she was doing her homework on her way to the top floor. Violet dumped her coat in the corner and slipped off her dress and shoes, leaving her in her slip as she headed over to the wardrobe, rifling through it to find what she wanted to wear. Dinner with an ex-boyfriend was always a hard one to judge, she mused as she rifled through the hangers, even when one was on such good terms as her and Quigley were. With a triumphant aha, she pulled a particular dress out, laying it out on her bed before going for a quick shower.
Once showered and dressed, heels in hand she headed downstairs, peeping in on Bea once again, this time actually going into the girl’s room.
“How’s it doing with that Maths?” she asked warmly, placing a hand gently on Bea’s shoulder as she spoke, giving the girl a smile as she glanced up with a slightly exasperated look.
“I don’t like Quadratic equations.” was the reply, they don’t make any sense and when I asked Sunny she just shrugged and said she doesn’t ‘get’ them either.” The latter part of the statement was accompanied with a pout.
Violet laughed slightly, Sunny was not the best person for homework help.
“If you catch Klaus after dinner, I’m sure he’ll help you out.” She said, leaning down and kissing Bea on the top of the head, “I’m going out so I won’t see you again this evening, so Goodnight Bumble-bea.” She said affectionately as she headed out the door, hearing the reply of ‘Goodnight Mama-Vi’ as she headed down the stairs.
She could hear talking in the kitchen, so she headed straight into there, leaning against the door frame as she watched Klaus and Sunny bicker cheerily as she pulled on her heels, buckling up the straps.
It took a moment for them to notice her, and the twinkle in Sunny’s eye suggested more teasing was to come before Violet would be able to get out the door.
“That’s a pretty dress, are you going out for dinner by any chance. . .?” she asked, turning away from her bowl of cake mix, her tone mischievous, “I wonder who you might be meeting . . .” she added, ignoring the warning look that Klaus gave her.
“I am,” Violet replied coolly, refusing to rise to the teasing, “and no-one of importance.” She added, “Is that chocolate cake? Or Ginger?” she asked with interest spotting the dark colour of the cake mix, attempting to slip around the counter to try a taste, but was blocked by both of her siblings.
“It’s a surprise,” Klaus scolded lightly, slapping her hand away as she tried to reach around them, “Leave it be or I’ll get flour on your dress.” He added, jokingly.
“So is this a work dinner, or is it a date. . .?” Sunny added slyly, grinning when Violet just rolled her eyes at her and headed back to the door.
“Right, I will be back by 11, Sunny You’d better be in bed by then, Klaus, would you mind helping Bea with her maths? I think she’s struggling with quadratic equations.” Violet said over her shoulder as she opened the door, pulling it closed after herself before rushing across to the car clambering inside and starting up the car.
Luckily the restaurant Quigley had suggested was only a 10-minute drive from her home, and the roads were fairly clear. Parking just around the corner, Violet headed inside out of the cool January air, making her way inside, approaching the desk with a polite smile.
“Hi, reservation probably under Quagmire? I may be a touch early?” she asked, waiting for the girl to check, “I can wait by the bar if I’m too early.” She added cheerily, before making her way over to the bar when it was indicated that that would be helpful.”
. . .
Jane pulled her hair back into a messy bun and pulled on a baseball cap. A run was just what she needed to get rid of a week of stresses, and now hoodie and sweatpants clad, she planned to do exactly that. She consulted her phone tracking a route that would be the right mix of inclines and distance, before slipping her iPod and phone into an armband.
It was a cool clear crisp evening outside, and the stars were twinkling brightly, and Jane took a moment to stop and admire them for a moment before starting out. It was a fairly busy Friday in London but the route she’d planned avoided the busier streets in her neighbourhood. As she jogged, she took in her surroundings, instinctively cataloguing all that was new and unfamiliar and filing it away for future usage.
About halfway around the route, she took a brief pause to have some water, perching on the edge of a bench. Behind her was a bright glowing building that by the look of it seemed to be a restaurant. She gave it a cursory glance over, pausing only when a familiar face made her pause. Q, or at least someone who looked very much like Q, laughing animatedly at something the guy opposite her was saying. There seemed to be a familiarity between them, obvious even at first glance.
Jane was almost intrigued; the mysterious Q really did have a personal life outside of work it seemed. A personal life with attractive male dinner companions and sexy red dresses. She would have to do a bit of subtle prying of information after the weekend. She stood up, stretching a little before jogging on, her interest peaked.
. . .
Violet was quiet as she could be as she unlocked the door, even though she knew the girls would both be completely out of it and Klaus would be undoubtedly still awake waiting for her to come in. As predicted, as soon as the door was opened, the padding sound of socks on the stairs was in existence, and she saw Klaus’ legs first as he made his way down the stairs.
“How was Quigley?” he asked conversationally, rubbing at his eyes a little tiredly, “I assume it was Quigley you met with?” he added, holding out an arm for Violet to use as balance whilst she slipped off her heels.
“He’s well. He’s getting married actually.” Violet replied, giving Klaus a grateful smile as she put the heels down on the shoe bench by the door and started towards the kitchen, “Duncan’s just started a new Job over in New York, apparently he’s loving it there, and Isadora’s in Egypt he said, so we can probably expect a few postcards coming our way soon. Do you fancy a hot cocoa? It’s almost midnight, Let’s see this birthday in.” she added with a smile.
Klaus at first was looking at her with a touch of confusion, Violet assumed he was still stuck on the Quigley getting married part, accurately it seemed, as he opened his mouth to speak but paused, slightly speechless as he followed her into the kitchen.
“Who’s he getting married to? I thought he was still pretty hung up on you?” Klaus asked “How did he meet someone and get engaged so quickly?” he added bemusedly, turning on the kettle as Violet busied herself with the mugs.
“Some girl from the VFD, love at first sight apparently, their eyes met over a fire extinguisher 5 months ago.” Violet smiled, “I’m happy for him, he seems happy, and from what he said she seems nice.”
“Wow. Well I look forward to meeting her,” Klaus replied passing the now whistling kettle to his sister who mixed the drinks with a teaspoon and passed him one, curling her legs up underneath her on the seat she had just sat down in, “To new starts, and to your 29th birthday, we did it.” He added, raising his mug and clinking it against her own when she raised it, murmuring a cheers, before they settled into a comfortable silence.