(Part 2 of 6)
Leo kept trying to get the curl to lay just right on his forehead. He knew he was having a case of the nerves but he couldn't stop himself. But time was up so he gave up and straightened his tie.
"How do I look?" He asked without turning away from his reflection.
"You can see yourself, right?" Tanya asked with a note of mockery.
He tore his eyes away from the mirror to give her a pointed look. "I'd like a woman's opinion, please."
She smiled toothily. "You look marvelous, as usual."
"As do you, dear," he said with a satisfied grin, "As do you."
"Oh, thank you." Her voice had an amused tone that suggested she didn't mean it.
The conference room speaker chimed and Tanya pressed a button on the touchscreen. "Yes?"
"Mr. Wise is here with Mrs. Camille Smith."
"Thank you, Anne." Tanya looked up at Leo who was brushing an invisible speck from his sleeve. "You ready?"
'I am so ready,' Leo thought to himself, giving his reflection one last sly look.
"Sure," he said, nonchalantly, "Let's get this over with."
Carter ushered their guest into the room as if he owned the place, which he did, or thirty percent of it at least.
"This is my daughter, Tanya Wise. She'll be supervising your stay here."
Tanya rose to shake Camille's hand. Leo noticed for the first time that his coworker was elegantly dressed tonight. She usually attended these meetings wearing the snug nylon jumpsuit that was the informal uniform of her division. He was glad to be out of that division and into a tailored suit.
'She's probably feeling threatened right now,' he thought. 'As if I would pass her over for anyone in the world.'
Still, it took an effort to notice anything else when Camille was in the room. His eyes were drawn to her. She seemed to glow with an internal light. When her gaze fell on him he felt important.
"And this is Leo Tims, our chief project manager and leading authority on MILFs." Leo shook her hand and gave her a smile that was calculatedly distant.
"And I wouldn't be surprised," Carter continued, "If he couldn't tell us a thing or two about DILFs as well."
Leo briefly shot daggers from his eyes. "Mr. Wise, I may never get used to that sense of humor of yours."
"What's a MILF?" Asked Cammie.
"It's not important," said Leo. "Why don't we get started?"
Carter pulled out a chair and took a seat.
"Oh, were you planning to stay?" Leo asked.
"I wouldn't leave this young lady alone with you two sharks."
"Well, could I at least ask you not to smoke?"
Carter had the cigarette case half out of his pocket. He slid it back in and leaned back. "May I at least ask you for a drink?"
"Sure," said Tanya, ever the peace maker, "Let's all have a drink."
She went to the bar cabinet and began mixing up a pitcher. Leo invited Cammie to sit down and took the seat next to her. He opened her dossier and fanned out its contents on the table.
"I've spent so much time going over your application that I feel like I know you already, Ms. Smith. May I call you Cammie?"
Cammie looked down at the documents and her eyes went wide. "Yes, but where did you get those pictures?"
Cammie's application, like every application, contained many dozens of photographs from every angle and in every state of dress or undress. Cammie acted like she had never seen them before.
"You sent them to us as part of the application process," Leo explained. "Don't you remember?"
Cammie lowered her head and covered her eyes with her hands. "Edwin submitted the application. He said those pictures were just for him. He said no one would ever see them."
Leo felt a hotness rising in his breast. Anger, perhaps, that this woman's confidence had been betrayed. Fear, more likely, that she would back out of the project and they would lose valuable time. He glanced at Carter.
"Did you know about this?"
Carter was frozen in place, his hand poised to take the drink offered by his daughter. "I, ah, did not. But having met the guy, I believe it."
Leo turned back to Cammie. She had lifted her head, chin high in the air, eyes closed against the tears that were forming.
"It's okay," she said, "I'm here. I want to do this."
Leo gave a sigh of relief and Tanya came between them to set their glasses on the table. It looked like some sort of a rum punch. Tanya had a thing for rum for some reason.
It took three quarters of an hour and two rounds of drinks for Leo to explain what Cammie should expect over the next few weeks. He described the skin-tight 'data' suit that would gather her biometric information while she wore it. He discussed the stereoscopic cameras that would record her facial expressions and mannerisms. Briefly, he touched on the smart toys that would help them to explore her sexual characteristics.
Cammie looked at him with round, saucer eyes through the process. When he prompted her for acknowledgement she would respond with a nod and a simple "uh-huh", which did not fill him with confidence. Yet, at no time did she balk at something she heard. And she responded to his attempts at humor, which suggested she wasn't completely checked out. Leo decided to move to the next phase.
"We're almost done here, Cammie. Soon you'll be taken to your room to relax." He stood and helped her to her feet. "But first, my colleague will need to do a physical inspection and help you into the data suit."
Cammie nodded glumly and Tanya turned on the soft lights and warming fans at the dressing station. Leo considered suggesting that his employer leave the room at this time. But he knew this is what Carter was waiting for so he decided to embrace the man's presence rather than resent it. He sat down next to him and crossed his leg, stretching his arm along the edge of the table.
Tanya removed the scrunchie from Cammie's pony tail and ran her fingers through the woman's honey-colored hair.
"Hers is not the face of classical Greece, nor that of modern Hollywood," Leo observed. "There are some asymmetries, some divergence from the proportions that science tells us defines beauty."