Having been familiar with part of town from spending much of her time as a child wandering the streets, Saeda had the advantage of knowing several short cuts. She managed to make it into her father's building before Q was even on the same block. She'd managed to pass him several blocks back and maintained the distance so long as she ran. Sure he'd still not seen her and thankful for the time away from his dull conversations, she sped into the building and slowed as she passed through the glass doors she regarded as her own threshold.
Standing just within the door was a guard she recognized well, but in all the years he'd been employed by Saito the young woman had never once taken the time to learn his name. He knew hers well enough.
"Morning, Ms. Saeda."
She wanted to beam at him, so high were her spirits, but if she did so it would arouse suspicion. She stuck with her usual eye-roll and walked on. Part one of her charade was underway. She stopped as planned, as though a thought had just occurred to her, and turned back toward the passive face.
"Has my father returned yet?" She had no idea if he'd actually been somewhere, but he was often a busy man and didn't bring those he didn't have absolute control over to his personal building. Chances were he was out. The probing question asked in this manner would make it seem like she was expected. She wanted no undue attention brought on her.
"No Miss."
She made her usual scene of looking annoyed and sighed loudly. After this she moved down the lonely, winding halls until she eventually came to her own secluded quarters. Hastily she packed a pink and yellow polka-dotted rolling luggage with all her best clothes. She packed a matching duffel bag with any many shoes as she could shove in it without bursting the seems. A cross expression settled onto her face as she dealt with the disgust of having to leave so many pairs of her precious shoes behind. She grabbed one last bag, but saw that the neon green and orange floral pattern clashed terribly with the dots on her luggage and duffel bag. She tossed it, forgotten, to the floor. She began to dig through her large walk-in closet, dumping boxes and tearing things off of shelves until at last she found another plain pink duffel bag. She half-filled this one with makeup, hair care, and other toiletries.
She hurried to freshen her hair and makeup, certain that Q was by this time in the building, and changed quickly into a pale-yellow peasant dress with long flowing sleeves. She topped her outfit off with a pair of tall white leather boots she hadn't been able to fit in the bag and Madonna-styled white fingerless glove. It made her think of her teacher. She glanced in the mirror, forcing the speedy look to suffice. She had one more thing to do before enacting phase two of her plan.
Tough it took several minutes to move the several floors below that she needed to get to, she finally found the guard she sought. He stood with his back to her, doing something with his phone- probably texting. Slacker.
"Travis!" she exclaimed with a genuine smile. She'd always found the chiseled Grecian features to be quite handsome and easy to look at. Once several months back she'd even considered reciprocating the fancy he'd taken with her when he'd begun his employment with her father. The situation would have caused more problems than benefits so she'd stifled any hints of attraction she'd felt for the man and contented herself with using him when needed, such as now.
She'd practically snuck up on the distracted guard, so he gave a startled jump before turning to face her. At once he grinned back. "Well hello, Saeda. You don't come to this part of the building much anymore." He cried as he wrapped his arms around her tiny frame in a hug. At once she made a face over his shoulder, but forced herself not to stand too rigidly. She recovered from the invasion of her space, and patted him on the back with two quick taps of her fingertips. As they parted, she forced a now-lifeless smile.
"What can I say? I've been busy."
"I imagine. So what brings you here now?" He winked as though he already knew the answer and had a personal claim to it. His hand lingered on her waist. She looked at the very young twenty-something in a suddenly serious way. (But not so serious that she forgot to shake his hand from her.)
"I need your help."
_______________________________________
Once she'd explained that she needed him to go to her room, gather her two bags, and take them down to her car in the garage below, she'd had to convince him it was worth while to abandon his post. With promises of phone calls and a night together, she'd finally gotten him to agree. She knew she didn't have to tell him to keep it a secret and go unnoticed, because it would mean horrible things for him to get caught disobeying Saito's orders...even if his guard duty was in an almost abandoned part of the building.
Presently she stood outside her father's office, standing face to face with guard who lurked there. She adjusted the pink duffel she'd brought with her, and once again demanded the guard unlock the door.
"I will not. I have orders."
"Yes, I can see that, you moron. But where have you been for the past half an hour? With my father? NO! You've been standing here....in this hallway. Do you know where I have been? At his side, doing his bidding, following MY orders. Now Peter, if you want to disturb his very important meeting, then call him up right now. One way or another I WILL get into that room. You can help me now, or you can risk his wrath. He needs the item I have been sent for, and pronto. What will it be, Pete?" She crossed her arms haughtily and puckered her lips.
The man showed no emotion, but it was evident from his long silence that he considered his options carefully. At long last, he said nothing but turned around and unlocked the door. Saeda had to keep herself from sighing in relief. He stepped in after her, but when she turned and stared at him icily, he retreated back into the hall and closed the door after him.
It took only a few minutes to rummage through Saito's desk. She found within it a tiny black address book. She pocketed it, knowing that in this world connections were key. This was a handy list of some of Saito's finest. Her next task was to push the heavy desk from its place. This took a grand effort with much grunting and panting. Eventually it was moved, and she pulled a section of carpet away from the freshly revealed floor. Beneath the inconspicuous square was the combination lock she delighted in seeing. She twisted the stiff lock, putting in her deceased mother's birthday. When the heavy door clicked open on the first try, she tsked her father for his simplicity. He trusted his guards to such extremes that he thought such a silly combination would work. She shrugged to herself, and filled the half-empty bag with several bundles of cash. It wouldn't go far in this business, but she expected Q to tell her she couldn't use her credit card at some point. They always did that in the movies. She would need some cash. When she finished, she didn't bother to move the desk back. She only closed the safe door and covered it with the carpet square.
_________________________
She got to her car and found a note that read, "Call me!" sitting in the passenger side seat. She tossed it to the floor and sped out of the garage. She'd been told by another guard that Q had left already, but not too long ago. She sped on, even as it began to rain. Her tires slid and squealed against the wet pavement as she took turns entirely too sharply. Finally, she found the man walking, wet, and glaring. She pulled her silver Mercedes next to him, rolled down the window and chirped, "Hiya!"