Part Two

The door to the her little office said "Marie Nilsson" in neatly printed letters, underneath it were the words "Consultant and Problem Solver". It wasn't a lie outright, more a slight re-interpretation of the truth and it kept the questions away. No one really knew what a consultant did anyway so at the most it drew a few nods before people changed the subject to cover for their own ignorance, and that suited her fine.

Marie pushed the door open and was greeted by a shapely female bottom wriggling as it's owner tried to find something under the dark wooden desk facing the door.

"Come here you stinkin' little..." Miss Sarah's voice was muffled and it was apparent she wasn't aware that her boss had come through the door.

"Aha! Got ya!" Sarah sat back up and held up her find. It was one of Marie's special made bullets, the faint inscriptions gleamed in the light from the small windows.

"Oh, Hi boss, I was unpacking the new shipment and this one got away from me..."

"So I see... find anything else interesting down there."

"You mean besides some dust bunny babies and one of Celia's old marbles? No, not a thing."

"Oh, that reminds me, I have a letter for Celia, could you make sure it gets sent? I'll get it at once. Is there tea?"

"Whenever is there not?" Sarah got to her feet and dusted off her dark red striped skirt. "I'll bring a cup in for you in a sec." She adjusted her supple leather corset and straightened the blouse underneath it. All traces of her time on the floor removed she went to get the tea.

"Thank you, dear." Marie walked into her office and put her leather briefcase down next to her own desk before grabbing the letter she'd written the night before. It was half hidden under the paperwork she'd never gotten around to finishing.

She returned to the outer part of the office suit and exchanged the letter for her cup of tea.

"Have you had time to look at the assignment that arrived last night?" Marie leaned against the door frame and watched Miss Sarah get her own cup of tea from the samovar nestled in the corner.

"I have and it doesn't look to complicated. It's been long enough since you worked locally that we shouldn't have a problem with that. I sent off the confirmation off with the morning pigeon." Sarah sat down in her chair and breathed in the steam from her cup. "What kind of time-frame are you aiming for?"

Marie rolled her shoulder in a half shrug. "The usual, about a week for planning and setting up and then two weeks of laying low after." Sarah nodded.

"Going to visit Celia at school then?"

"Thinking about it. If she wants me to."

"I'm sure she does, she can't still be miffed can she?"

"You know how stubborn she can be." Marie smiled as she thought of her strong-willed daughter.

"Hmm.. yeah... I wonder where she got that..." Sarah's brown eyes twinkled as Marie made a face in reply. "Anyways, I'll start the planning... let me know if you have any special requests."

"Will do, I just have to finish this damned paperwork first."

"Good luck!" Marie made another face at her perpetually cheery assistant before returning to her desk. paperwork was always easier when you knew there was some actual work waiting around the corner.

Outside a great Zeppelin slowly made it's way across the sky and on the other side of the street a tall scrawny man lowered his looking glass with a nasty smile.