Charming!- he thought of her, only a slight smile appearing on his face. -They certainly know how to treat business partners.
Mademoiselle, merci beacoup l'invitation et le vin est magnifique, but you guessed right, for now I did not intend to stay further than conducting our business with Monsieur Tyler. However,- he played with the notion for a second, letting out another half-smile, -if your boss is rather busy at this moment, then we can talk tomorrow as well. Luggage is not an issue, everything I usually need in cases like this is on board of the Verdeur, the freighter I came with, we just need to get back to it once it's clear whether I stay for a night or not.- Henri gave a questioning look, making it clear for her that he's waiting for an answer.
According to the onboard clock of the limo, the time was nearing six o'clock, SMT. The star of Cortez has just began it's journey to disappear below the horizon of Curacao's endless oceans.
Janice thought Mr. Croix realized the effect he had on her, because something in his expression flickered with understanding. Suddenly, she saw through the Aero's windows a group of reporters heading towards them. "Damn! That's weird... I think we should leave from here!"
The exclamation burst out of her before she could stop it and with an effort, she said, tapping on the glass separator between them and the driver's compartment: "Take us to Kura Hulanda."
The driver nodded with a single shake of his head and the hover-limo started moving. Then Janice turned her attention back to Mr. Croix and said more for herself than him: "I'm wondering how they found out about your visit!?"
She took a deep breath and added: "All right, I confess that Mr. Tyler sent me here, hoping that I will convince you to postpone the business meeting for tomorrow at 2 pm o'clock. The Penthouse suite is already booked and paid in full for you. Also, our chauffeur will remain at your disposal for the entire duration of your visit so... you can return whenever you want at the Verdeur to bring your stuff but now... if you don't mind, I will lead you to the Kura Hulada, a lavish seven-star hotel. It's considered by some as Las Aves’s most luxurious hotel."
Mr. Croix looked at her without saying anything for a moment and thought that, after all, it could be a good opportunity to take a break from his strict schedule of work. For some reason, his silence made her feel uncomfortable. Not wanting to seem impolite, Mr. Croix smiled and finally accepted the proposal.
During the journey from the St Martin spaceport to the Kura Hulanda hotel, they enjoyed the magnificent view of the Sabana Sea beaches, talking about a lot of things, from spirituality to economy or history of Las Aves. Thus he learned that this city, recently named capital of Curacao, was initially a small town that grew in prominance, due to the huge investments made by the new administration of Orbital Spa and Cruise, becoming nowadays the most important resort of the planet, with dozens of quality hotels and hundreds of bars and night clubs to party all night. Their conversation has been temporarily disrupted only by a call received from Mr. Tyler, who has been informed by Janice that the business meeting was postponed, as he wished. Twenty-five minutes later, the Aero arrived at the entrance to the Kura Hulanda and a representative of the hotel dressed in a shiny suit and bow tie, opened the door, ready to greet the guest. Then Mr. Croix and Janice exchanged goodbye pleasantries: "It was a real pleasure to meet you!"
But even before Mr. Croix gets out of the hover-limo, she hurried to add, with an obvious hesitation in her voice: "Oh... Mr. Croix!? I know that may sound a bit weird, but... just in case you have nothing to do later... In an hour, I'll go out to the Maravillas del Estanque bar. Is only five minutes away from here so... if you like Blue Curacao cocktails, come there and maybe... we can continue our conversation. Otherwise, see you tomorrow at the Orbital Tower Center and don't forget: 2 pm o'clock, okay!?"
News spread quickly around here.- he thought once they left the flock of reporters behind themselves. Henri looked at the woman during her confession and when Janice finished, he looked in front of himself, diving into thoughts. -Hmm, early afternoon might even be better, that way we have more time without the meeting spanning too much into the night. And a little break from everydays' rush won't hurt.- He noticed the assistant waiting for an answer, so he replied. -Oh, how astute!- he smiled, -Oui, bien sur, why not?
The next 25 minutes passed quickly. Of course it did, you won't feel how fast time passes if you have a decent chat partner. Henri got to know a lot of things about the place, Las Aves, Curacao, the new developments of Orbital Spa and Cruise. During their journey Henri spotted a huge silverish, coin-like skyscraper raising above it's surroundings in the distance. Janice informed him that it's the brand new headquarters of the company, the Orbital Tower Center, where they'll meet tomorrow. He was about to ask one more thing, but then they arrived in front of the majestic hotel Kura Hulanda was. It was time to say goodbye... for now.
It was a real pleasure to meet you.-You as well, Mademoiselle Stodden.- he replied and turned to the door to exit the limo, but was interrupted. -Oh... Mr. Croix!? I know that may sound a bit weird, but... just in case you have nothing to do later... In an hour, I'll go out to the Maravillas del Estanque bar. Is only five minutes away from here so... if you like Blue Curacao cocktails, come there and maybe... we can continue our conversation. Otherwise, see you tomorrow at the Orbital Tower Center and don't forget: 2 pm o'clock, okay!?-Sounds good, I think I'll be there. Until then, au revoir, Mademoiselle.- he said, and turned to the hotel representative, who greeted him, closed the door of the limo and escorted Henri into the hotel while the Aero left the site behind them.
The representative, certain Josh Heffner, escorted to the suite Janice was talking about to Henri. On the way they talked about the hotel, the services it provides, wellness, swimming pools, sauna, all the kind of stuff a regular spa hotel would offer as well... only in bigger and better. And the beach was only a few minutes of walking away from here, no wonder Kura Hulanda was a seven star hotel. They arrived to the Penthouse suite and thus finishingtheir conversation they said good bye to eachother. -Feel free to contact the reception in case you are in need of something, Mr Croix.- said Heffner. -Oui, I will. Au revoir.- the rep went on his way and Henri stepped into the suite. Looked at his WristPad, the time was 6.35 pm SMT. -Okay, so a bit less than an hour I have. let's see what this suite offers.
It was certainly not what he got used to live in during his past years. Obviously a paramilitary movement such as The Council could afford luxuries to nowhere near this extent. He was on a business trip anyways, not on vacation, but hey, as long as he kept that in mind, it's all fine.
At first look however everything, walls, furnitures were bland, same coloured, which color changed throughout the colors of the rainbow, only a few things retained their original colors, like the flower in the vase, or small things of mostly decorative purpose. And a remote control. One line of text swept across the walls regularly however."Please choose theme."He stepped to the remote controller, it was a mere touchscreen, flickering into life as he got it into his hands, offering the themes upon startup. -Okay, let's see. "Tron". What's this? Okay, "Light or Dark". Dark. "Primary color". Let's see light blue.- after finishing setting the theme he pressed "Apply". The room turned black, a moment later the furnitures, corners, the sheet on his bed acquired a light-bluish lining, providing the only lightsource in the whole suite, apart from the screen of the remote control. -Hmm, not bad. Let's see something else.- Upon searching he came across a lot of different themes, "Antique", "Aqua", "Borderworlds" ... "MLP". This one picked his interest, willing to explore what's behind these three letters he chosen it and set it's settings, pressed "Apply", and... faced the results. In all of a sudden the room turned into the brightest and girliest pink you can ever imagine, with light blue and yellow coloured furnitures and glitters all across the bed. -Sacre merde! Hell no!- he said out loud, almost shouting in surprise and quickly went to look for a theme which suits him better than... this. His final choice was a bright sand-like yellow with (slightly deep) red outlines on the furnitures and patterns on the wall. -Well, that's better.
The suite consisted of a huge foreroom from where the rest opened. This room was the center, and thus been furnitured to serve as a place to center the activity at. Sofas and armchairs around a table in a semi-circle, giving room to the holovision set up at the opposite wall. Henri discovered that the projectors can be relocated with the remote control in order to adjust the dimensions of the holo if needed. He turned it on, only to catch the end of the latest news of OS&C, followed by a booze commercial. -I hope the press won't interfere with our business.- There was also a bathroom with both a shower and an aesthetically designed bathtube in the corner, both big enough for at least two people. Henri grinned at the notion. Of course the bedroom had a double bed. Apart from that there were massive wardrobes sunk into the walls as well as the bedroom had it's own holovision, and a neural net access point in the corner. Decoration across the suite were mostly flowers, holo sculptures and holo-images on the walls set by the theme. The suite was supplied enough that Henri did not need his luggages at least until the next day.
By the time he went through all of this, it was already quarter past seven. Oh well, the Maravillas del Estanque was just five minutes away... but where??? Henri quickly went on the Neural Net to find out, in two minutes he had a map and a route downloaded into his own WristPad. In five minutes he prepared himself, chosen a suit from one of the wardrobes, then went on his way to the bar. Upon getting there he did not find Janice at first, no wonder, the bar was quite crowded. As he was wearing clothes matching local fashion, he blended in well. He was trying to spot her for a minute, then decided to head to the counter to see what's there to drink.