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Post by Jack Drake on Oct 1, 2013 15:49:46 GMT -6
Jack had wanted to meet with Charlotte to have a discussion on the job. Just a general discussion, nothing too important. He had left her a message to meet him at one of the buildings their financiers owned in New York. However, he had asked her to meet him about ten minutes before he'd arrive. He had no intention of being the first one there.
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Post by Charlotte Carlisle on Oct 1, 2013 15:56:58 GMT -6
Charlotte was really nervous about this meeting. Normally she wouldn't be. She was quite proud of the way she handled her job. But in terms of what she wanted she was behind on researching. It wasn't exactly...Well it was debatable how much of that was her fault. She'd hadn't exactly planned on being abducted. She had planned on spending the past three days doing hard core research after a brief break of stealing the jade elephant.
But that stupid lunatic had caught her trying to worm her way of the situation several times and true to his word he had kept her longer and it hadn't been pleasant. She tried to focus on the anger and indignity of the situation. It was easier than the alternative. She shouldn't be so shaken up. She always knew you just couldn't trust people.
Having confirmed that she was the first to arrive, she took out her books and continued researching. She'd stayed up all night trying to make up for lost time. Not like it was sufficient. When she planned on researching for three days she meant a three consecutive day research project with only food breaks and sleep breaks. A night didn't really compare.
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Post by Jack Drake on Oct 1, 2013 16:00:13 GMT -6
Jack made silent steps towards her upon his own arrival. He moved behind her chair and rested his hand on the back of it, peering down over her head, "So, what are you reading?" he asked, lowering himself to get a better view.
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Post by Charlotte Carlisle on Oct 1, 2013 16:07:19 GMT -6
Charlotte jumped when Jack approached her. She had been so absorbed in her work that she hadn't been aware of his presence. Although admittedly she was probably much more jumpy than usual. She needed to relax. THAT had been a freak occurrence, one that really wasn't likely to happen again.
"Cross referencing some mythologies and maps, trying to determine the location of our next target," she responded. She sighed. She really hated apologies but one was deserved in this case. "My apologies. Something came up and I'm slightly behind schedule."
She wondered if he'd know how odd that claim was. She'd only been working with the team for a short period of time but she was completely devoted to her work, absorbed with it. When she set goals in terms of research for herself, she met them. Always.
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Post by Jack Drake on Oct 1, 2013 16:11:27 GMT -6
"Really?" he asked her, "You were probably on time. Well, getting here before me means you were on time, at least. I was late." Well, that had been on purpose, but he didn't mention that part. No, that was for him. He walked ahead a bit, hands in his pockets, "Come with me," he said.
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Post by Charlotte Carlisle on Oct 1, 2013 16:15:32 GMT -6
She followed him, continuing to leaf through her books. "I meant on time in terms of my research table. I'm..." She looked up considering. "Probably 2.5 days behind schedule. It's inexcusable and it won't ever happen again," she said with conviction.
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Post by Jack Drake on Oct 1, 2013 16:18:22 GMT -6
"It's fine," he said, "It's not like we have deadlines. Hell, I pissed away some time in Japan not too long ago."
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Post by Charlotte Carlisle on Oct 1, 2013 16:25:28 GMT -6
"Since we don't have deadlines it's that much more important we set them for ourselves," she insisted. As she didn't particularly care what others, even her fellow teammates thought of her, and she hated being so jumpy and emotional about what had happened, she tried to state her situation stoically. Maybe that would better help her come to grips with it.
"Yes, well I suppose I was careless or something. Not crafty enough." She was still trying to determine what she could have done differently to avoid the situation. "I allowed myself to be abducted and raped. But I didn't get killed or seriously injured. So I suppose no serious harm done minus the loss of research time."
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Post by Jack Drake on Oct 1, 2013 16:27:49 GMT -6
He stopped and stood there for a few moments before he turned to her and took the steps towards her. He rested a hand on her shoulder, "Charlotte, we will find that guy, and we will see justice done. I swear that to you." His hand tensed on her shoulder, "If nothing else, I will track him to the ends of the Earth and kill him, gladly."
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Post by Charlotte Carlisle on Oct 1, 2013 16:34:08 GMT -6
Normally she would have snapped at Jack and insisted that he call her Ms. Carlisle but her head was in a different place than normal. She was still trying to properly restore it.
"That sort of effort should be put towards finding treasure. Trying to track that creep down won't undo what he did. Just take up more valuable research time." Her voice was confident enough but she was visibly pale and trembling slightly. Damn. She hadn't thought she was so weak. She really needed to screw her head back on properly.
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Post by Jack Drake on Oct 1, 2013 16:36:37 GMT -6
He wrapped an arm around her waist and lowered himself a bit to be more of the same height with her, "Charlotte," he knew what she preferred to be called, but he ignored it anyway, "I will not allow someone to harm one of my teammates. Yes, finding the Precious is a very important job, but helping to protect all of you is just as important."
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Post by Charlotte Carlisle on Oct 1, 2013 16:41:30 GMT -6
"What's your angle?" she asked him evenly. "What would you get out of that?" There had to be some sort of hidden agenda she just wasn't seeing on account of for her being an emotional wreck at the moment, for her anyway. Was this about making sure she was mentally stable and fit for missions? He thought she'd work better if she got some sense of closure.
"I can assure you this incident won't affect my performance. I'm as dedicated to the job as ever."
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Post by Jack Drake on Oct 1, 2013 16:44:20 GMT -6
"It's not about performance," he told her, "It's about justice. You're my teammate, and my friend." Yes, he considered her one, or at least he'd call her one for now and get that sorted later, "I can't just do nothing about it," he told her, "I have to do something."
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Post by Charlotte Carlisle on Oct 1, 2013 16:49:52 GMT -6
"And when did you decide I was your friend?" she asked. She hadn't considered herself as having a friend since she was like eight years old. And they hadn't really been friends, just people trying to use her fancy television and swimming pool.
"I'm pretty sure you don't know anything about me besides the fact I'm a treasure hunter. We are work acquaintances not friends."
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Post by Jack Drake on Oct 1, 2013 16:51:12 GMT -6
"That doesn't mean I wouldn't want to be your friend," he said, "I care about all of you, do semantics of words really matter?" he questioned.
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