Hi, and welcome to the fourth story in The Going To Hell series.
Thank you so much for generous feedback and scores, please keep them coming. Without you the reader, all this is pointless.
In the last part, Rob gets justice and is a lot closer to Bec. This has confused him and thrown into doubt the depth of his love for Charlie. Rob got seduced by Jill's best friend, Liz, causing Charlie to sleep with her boyfriend, Wayne. Rob denied sleeping with Liz to protect her job as a teacher.
You will need to read the first three parts before this one, or you won't understand the relationships.
All characters are over the age of 18 involved in any sex scenes.
I have to thank Ian D once again for his editing skills and quick turnaround in editing this chapter.
Once again, I will ask you to score, and if you would like to comment, then please do. All comments, ideas, or just a thank you are always appreciated.
Please enjoy..................
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I'm sitting on the train, just pulling into Charing Cross station. It's a quick change to the London underground and off at Regent Street. The office I'm heading for is just off Regent Street and a stone's throw from The BBC's Broadcasting House.
Len is sitting outside waiting for me, and a huge smile spreads across his face when he sees me walk toward him. "Hey, looking smooth man. How's your summer going?"
"Not too bad, can't complain."
"How did the trial go?" He says as he guides me into the building.
"Not bad. After everything fell apart, he got found guilty, and his wife was caught lying."
We make our way to the stairway. "What they give him?"
"He got five years."
"For the first offense? Wow, steep."
"Yeah, you missed Bec. She came to support me. She's also the reason for the new look."
"Why didn't you call me?"
"Because she was there for me, not for you to drool over." We get to the top. "Anyway, she's back in a couple of weeks, so you can do all the drooling you want."
"What? When?"
Our conversation was cut short by a good-looking receptionist. "Pauline, this is Rob Johnson."
She gives Len a strange look and then smiles at me as her eyes drift south. "Hello, Mr. Johnson. We are expecting you." She picks up the phone and presses a button on the bottom. "Mr. Johnson is here."
I stand awkwardly by the desk. There seem to be a lot of people running around and hustling. I turn back to the receptionist. "What's the panic for?"
She gives me an almost apologetic smile. "The European divisions head is in with the vice president of Saga. It is their first-ever visit, and many people are on edge."
"Oh right, maybe today wasn't the best day to come."
She looks at me, puzzled. "They've come to see you."
"Rob, thanks for coming," Paul says, stopping me from answering the receptionist.
I turn quickly, not quite knowing how to react. "Hi, Paul. No problem." That's all I can get out. I turn back to the receptionist and give her a nod of gratitude before I follow Paul down a corridor into a conference room.
A large wooden table is set down in the center, and a very angry-looking Japanese gentleman is at one end. Around him are several people looking decidedly uncomfortable.
My eyes fall on a young lady sitting to the gentleman's left. Out of everyone, she looks calm and collected. She sees me looking at her, but my eyes are glued on her and I can't look away. She smiles and nods her head. I'm not sure what it is about her, but instantly I can see that she is one of these people that naturally exudes style and grace.
I'm not sure what has come over me. I return the smile and the head nod before I am dragged out of my trance by Paul. "Rob, you can sit over there. Do you want anything, coffee, tea?"
"Ummm, tea would be nice."
"Great," he says and walks off to the side of the room, where a table is laid out with various refreshments. My eyes scan the people in the room. I can't seem to work out the dynamic other than that the angry guy is the boss.
My eyes settle once again on the young girl. She is now talking to the older guy, whose eyes are now looking at me. He seems to be appraising me while the girl finishes talking to him. He nods and then says something in Japanese.
The girl stands, and my eyes instantly look at the man opposite. He is watching me, and in my mind, all I want to do is eye the young lady. This feels like a test of attrition.
My attention is taken when she speaks. I make sure my eyes go directly to her face. She turns toward the gentlemen around her. I notice her immaculately braided hair without a hair out of place. She first says something in Japanese. Then, "Gentlemen, if you wouldn't mind taking a seat." Ah, she's the interpreter.
The men find a chair, and Paul puts a cup and saucer in front of me and sits. "First of all, Mr. Aikawa would like to thank you for coming at such short notice." I smile and nod. "Second, you are Mr. Rob Johnson, otherwise known as RoJo?"
"Yes," I reply, a little croaky. I cough to clear my throat.
She smiles at my reply and then relays it to Mr. Aikawa. She then goes through who everyone is in the room. "We must apologize, but we would normally have more people for a meeting this important. We insist that anything discussed today doesn't get out into the outside world."
Paul says, "Anything spoken about here today will stay in here. Our company prides itself on our client's confidentiality."
She relays that and then continues. "As you probably know, Saga is launching the Master System fully in Europe in a couple of months." I smile, smug that I got mine early. "With the system, we hoped to release Darius Two." For some reason, she is talking directly to me. "The problem is that there are several issues with the game that we need to iron out before release." She takes a quick drink of water. "Your name, RoJo, has come up several times." She sits and whispers something to her boss that amuses him.
Paul stands, but the boss says something. "Sorry, we mean no disrespect, but Mr. Aikawa would like to hear what RoJo has to say."
Paul sits looking a little dejected as I look shocked like a deer caught in the headlights. I wasn't expecting to have to speak. Taking a deep breath, I stand. "Mr. Aikawa, I am honored that a large corporation such as Saga has come all this way to speak to me. I have had a Master System since last Christmas and am familiar with the Darius game. My console is from North America, so as you most probably know, my game is called Sagaia." I take a sip of the glass of water to calm myself and let the interpreter catch up. "I will be more than happy and honored to help you with this problem. I presume your guys in Japan have spent many hours trying to fix this. I will admit I have a knack for processing data and finding issues. Of course, I will follow your guidelines, and as always, discretion is most important." Christ, I can waffle.
I sit back down as the interpreter finishes what I said. There's a silence, and a smile spreads across his face for the first time. He has a conversation with her in Japanese. The interpreter smiles, and then I'm sure she blushes. "Very well. Mr. Aikawa will leave this lot to thrash out what's needed. Meanwhile, he would like to get some rest as he's not yet used to your time zone."
He gets out of his seat and bows his head slightly. I have seen all the films, so I bow back, and with that, he leaves with his interpreter not far behind.
For no reason, I stretch and turn to Paul. "How did I do?"
"Great, mate, and thanks again for coming." He thinks for a moment. "Rob, this bit is boring. You are more than welcome to stay, but if you would like to go and come back later? We need your okay before we sign, but that often takes hours."
"Sure, I can go down Oxford Street. There's a new gaming shop opened that I want to check out. How long do you need?"