A taxi drew up to the dilapidated office structure, and a blonde woman aged in her mid-twenties got out, and approached the building, walking with a false confidence to her stride. She inhaled deeply, reminding herself of the dire urgency of her situation, and continued directly to the office without pausing at the reception desk.
Inside the office, a man said, "Ah, Mrs King, I wondered how long it would be before you came to see me."
The woman placed an envelope on the desk the man was lounging against. "I think you know what this is for," she said coldly.
"I assume you want me to arrange for your husband's release."
"Naturally, that is why I am here."
The man looked into the envelope and pursed his lips. "Are you attempting to bribe me Mrs King? Because that's what it would appear to be with this amount."
"Not at all, after all you have no official standing here, but it is well known that you have certain contacts and seem to be able to arrange things that to others would be impossible. I am merely paying any fees that appear normal to secure my husband's release. From what I have heard the money there is more than the price normally agreed in these circumstances, of course any extra is to expedite things."
"Ah, but this is simply money." The man paused, looking at Lisa. "You know the true value of anything is not what the world sees it as, but what somebody is prepared to pay for it. If a person wants something that another person has, or can get for them, then what they are prepared to pay for the item is the true value."
"Why are you playing word games with me? You know what I want, and what the price should be."
"Ah, yes, the price. Well as I said, a price is what the world sees it as, but the true value is in the eye of the beholder and how much they are prepared to pay to own or to enjoy what that other person has. Don't you agree?"
"You're still playing word games, please state your price and stop playing about. I'm prepared to pay the going rate, and we both know what that is."
"It's not that simple, Mrs King. I have something that you want... that you place a value on. But what is more interesting, and important to me is you have something that I desire. Let us see if our valuations match. If we can come to some form of mutual agreement?"
"What on earth can I have that you want?" Lisa asked.
"Mrs King, please indulge me in a little philosophical debate, and maybe you will see things more clearly."
"I'm sorry I haven't got time to indulge in discussions with you, you know what I need from you. And as I've told you I'll pay the price you are asking."
"Mrs King, I can assure you that the time we take will in no way impact on your husband's circumstances, or the speed of his release. Should I be persuaded to arrange it of course."
Having no other way of ensuring her husband's release, Lisa sighed, saying, "If we must."
"Good. Mrs King, have you ever wondered why some pieces of art change hands for sums of money that seem beyond comprehension? Some of them are of course beautiful beyond comparison and of course the value of those can be understood."
The man's eyes traversed languidly over Lisa's body as he spoke.
"On the other hand, some pieces can be described at best as ordinary, even mundane. Yet they still command values that can compare with the most desirous and beautiful ones. Why is that do you think?"
"I have no idea," Lisa replied impatiently, trying to maintain her composure and patience.
"Well, that is because somebody is so desperate to secure the mundane object that they would pay a price far beyond normal comprehension. On the other hand, if the seller of that object realised how much the prospective buyer is desperate to get it then he could demand as high a price as he could get, and that would only be fair wouldn't it. The price is the sellers to fix, not the buyers."
"I suppose so."
"Now, let us suppose a person who has an object of beauty actually wants the mundane item that the other person held, and vice versa then what is the true value of each item? Maybe they could come to a compromise and a deal could be reached. That is what I propose to you Mrs King. A thing of beauty in exchange for something mundane."
Finished, the man opposite her remained impassive and unspeaking, but as his eyes continued to wander lazily over her lithe young body, Lisa suddenly became aware of what he was proposing.
"You... you can't be serious." The man remained silent, letting his eyes do his talking as they roamed over her slightly above-average height and athletic figure, finally locking on Lisa's medium-sized breasts. "I'm a married woman! The reason I'm here is for my husband."
"Exactly, you're married and that is why you're here, to get your husband back. Now you know what value I place on the documents that will secure your husband's freedom. The only question now is, are you willing, as you said you were earlier, to pay the price I am setting?"