Absolute Zero (38 page)

“Are you sure I can’t get that?” Anne called out. “Why am I even talking to you? You have no idea what I’m saying, do you? This is crazy. How the hell am I supposed to communicate with you?” Anne stated in a quick litany as she climbed the stairs behind the woman.

“I could probably tell you I screw goats and you’d probably nod at me,” Anne stated before her face scrunched in an embarrassed grimace. “I’m sorry that was crude. I’m just slightly peeved right now.  I have
NO
idea where I am. Paden was not exactly helpful and now, here I am stuck with someone that has
no
idea what I’m saying and I certainly can’t understand what
you’re
saying and it’s just…it’s frustrating. I’m freaking pissed right now.  Ooo…sorry. Never mind. Not like you would know what I’m saying anyway…” she grated out as she neared the top step and followed the woman down a rather spacious corridor, past several open doors toward the end of the hall. Double doors opened and her breath caught at the sight of the room. It was huge, tastefully appointed and apparently
hers
.

“Wow,” she breathed out, turning around to view the room from all sides.

“Bidh mi gu trang anns an fheasgar. Tillidh e ro cheann trì uair a thìde,” the woman stated as she carefully placed the trunk on the floor. She walked over to the huge bed and laid the garment bag on the sumptuous looking comforter.

“Say what?” Anne asked as she watched her. “Ok, yeah. You too,” she stated absently as she shrugged. The woman gave a sweet smile before nodding her head and walking out of the room, leaving Anne alone and unfortunately, extremely confused.

“So…great. This is…great,” she breathed out as she turned and swept her eyes around the room once again. Her body stopped when her eyes affixed on a small picture in a frame. A picture of…people. Three people, to be exact. Her feet wandered toward the photograph and a small gasp erupted from her throat when she neared enough to make out a certain face that she knew all too well.

That pretty much confirmed her fears.

This was not an Inn.

And who was the beautiful woman and the younger boy laughing in the photo along with Ian?

Icy prickles pretty much overtook her body as she wandered toward what appeared to be a closet door. She opened it slowly, peering in and finding two rows of suits, dress shirts, casual pants, an entire rack of baseball caps and men’s shoes neatly lined up on the floor.

“Oh,
hell
no,” she breathed out as she stepped into the walk in before reaching in and fumbling through her purse for her phone.

Her finger swept the screen and immediately she searched for and found one of only several phone numbers. Her first attempt was futile, seeing she was in a foreign country. She added the country code and waited for a few moments before a strange female voice informed her that the call was being connected.

“Well…hello there. Where the hell have you been? I called you last night,” Beth started before Anne interrupted her.

“I’m in Scotland,” she practically hissed out.

“What?! You sound like you’re in a tunnel,” Beth stated.

“I feel like I’m in a tunnel,” Anne answered back.

“Did you say you’re in Scotland?”

“Yes. I think I may have been brought here under false pretenses,” she whispered as she stood inside Ian McClellan’s closet.

“What are you talking about? Anne? Stop whispering. It’s hard enough to hear you as is. Look, I only have a few minutes. I have a student coming in any second now. Tell me what the heck is going on.”

“I…well, I thought I was coming here to consult on a project, I flew in just now and I thought they were putting me up in a Hotel or maybe an Inn, but apparently I was mistaken. I’m in Ian’s house.”

“You’re in Roddy’s house? My, my…”

“Shut up, Beth. What am I supposed to do?”

“I don’t know. Thank him for his hospitality?” she quipped, much to Anne’s disgust.             

“She put me in his room.”

“Who is
she
?” Beth asked.

“I don’t know, maybe his housekeeper? She doesn’t speak English. I told her I screwed goats. I’m losing my mind…”

“You told her…never mind,” she laughed out. “What’s so wrong about staying at his house, anyway?” she asked before stopping abruptly. “Wait. Hold up. Are you…did you…?” Anne? Is there anything going on between the two of you?”

She cleared her throat nervously before attempting to speak. “Umm…yeah,” she drew out the last word.

“Oooohhhhhhh. Hmm. And you didn’t
tell
me?” she admonished.

“We haven’t talked in a while…” Anne answered feebly.

“Right.” Beth answered in a short, clipped tone.

“Listen, we can talk about that some other time, right now, I really need you to just…listen.” Anne stated in a low tone, waiting for an acknowledgment of some kind on the other end and receiving silence instead.

“Beth?” she asked after a few moments.

“I’m
listening
. Hurry up, though…”

“Ok. I’m not supposed to tell anyone this, but…you’re across the country and I highly doubt you would say anything and I trust you and all…”

“Anne? Babe? Please? Hurry?”

“Right,” she breathed out. “So, there’s this project, similar to the one I told you about when I worked in California? The previous Lab Manager was working on it and it’s almost identical to the formula I developed and they asked me if I would continue on with his project. I didn’t tell them I already worked on something similar – I thought they might ask questions. So, anyway, Ron – the old Lab Manager had a nervous breakdown or something, he’s in an institution somewhere. I started working on the formula again; I asked for funding and found out that Ian does
not
want me to work on it, right? But the Operations Manager does. I was going to tell him ‘no’, I just don’t feel right going behind Ian’s back, especially since, you know…new developments in our um…I don’t want to call it a relationship, not really sure what it is, to tell you the truth…” she trailed off.

“Keep going.” Beth commanded.

“So the Operations Manager – Rand?”

“Blair Underwood?”

“Yeah…whatever, anyway, he pulls me into the office on Monday and tells me that Ian is thinking of selling the American facility, he swears me to secrecy so now I know but I’m not
supposed
to know. He says the employees will lose their minds, and I can tell you – he’s right. Rand seems to think we have a chance of keeping the facility if this project is successful. So I told him yes. I told him I would work on it. Now I’m in Ian’s house. He hasn’t seen fit to tell me he’s thinking of putting me out of a job because he’s too busy screwing my brains out. I’m pissed off but I can’t say anything. What the hell am I supposed to do? I can’t yell at him, that’ll only get Rand in trouble,” Anne took a deep breath and waited for Beth’s response.

“Sooo…you’re telling me that you think Ian should reveal confidential information about his company because you have an intimate relationship with him?” Beth asked.

Anne stood in the closet, silence surrounding her as Beth’s words sunk in to her brain.

“Wow,” she finally whispered after a few breaths. “You are so good.”

“It pays to have a Guidance Counselor as a best friend,” Beth stated. “But I think you get the point, right?”

“Yes. Thank you. Maybe he’ll tell me in his own time,” Anne answered as her rational mind took over once again.

“My appointment is here. Do me a favor?” Beth asked.

“Yeah?”

“While you’re there, please snap a picture of this guy. Preferably with his kilt on.”

“I’ll try,” Anne laughed out.

“Love you,” she heard before the connection clicked.

*****

“Where is she?”

“In yer closet, talking to herself,” she answered in a low tone.

“What?”

“I think she’s talking on the phone. I
hope
she’s talking on the phone,” Nelina added. “When are you coming home? I don’t think I can do this much longer. She told me she screws goats! I had to bite my cheek to stop from laughing.”

“
She what
?!”

“I’ll tell you later. When are you coming home?” she whispered into the phone.

“I’m walking into a meeting right now. I’d say this one is about an hour. I’ll be home right after that,” he stated. “Whatever you do, do
not
speak English to her. She has a mouth. She’s a stubborn thing and she will drive you dafty. She’ll want to leave when she figures out she’s in my home. Trust me. You don’t want to argue with her.”

*****

After placing her trunk in the bedroom furthest down the hall from Ian’s and hanging up her garment bag, she descended the rather grand staircase, carefully taking in the scenery around her. The house was definitely old, but extremely well maintained and appointed with all modern amenities. Dark wood wainscoting pretty much crept up every wall and pale yellow paint took over from the wood to the ceiling. It was masculine, yet elegant at the same time. Her hand trailed over the polished wood bannister as walked down slowly, listening for any sign of her non-English speaking companion.

A clang sounded followed by some rustling from the back of the home as she wandered through a vast living room complete with quite possibly the most ornate stone fireplace gracing the wall opposite her. The furniture was dark, complementing the wood trim in the room, but contrasting the pale walls. Paintings vied for wall space with black and white photographs of all shapes and sizes piquing her curiosity but not deterring her path of travel.

She quietly stepped into a rather large kitchen, practically salivating at the sight. This was definitely a chef’s kitchen. Commercial grade equipment lined the walls, a huge island split the room in two and the windows surrounding the perimeter of the room lent a soft glow on each and every stainless steel surface. It was practical but yet the cabinets and the small details throughout the room lent it an almost homey feel. Oh, the fun she could have in this room, she thought before tamping down her excitement. This was Ian’s
home
, she reminded herself.

The smaller woman walked in from a side room carrying a few bags that appeared to be empty. She immediately smiled at Anne warmly, causing a crooked smile to appear on Anne’s face.

“Ah…can I get a drink?” she said before her brows furrowed. The woman only cocked her head to the side.

“Ahh…” Anne made a semi-circular shape of her hand and pretended to drink from it. “A drink?” she stated. Maybe they could play charades? How fun!
How stupid
…

“Ahh!” The woman’s eyes lit up and she motioned for Anne to come near. She opened a cabinet filled with liquor bottles.

“No! No…water? Agua? Umm…” she made a waving motion with her hand. “Wahhhter…”

The woman only stood with a look of complete concentration on Anne’s hand motions. She shook her head and shrugged.

“Never mind,” Anne breathed out, wandering around the island and turning on the tap. Water spewed forth and she pointed at it. “Can I get a glass?” She made the semi-circle with her hand again.

The woman nodded and walked over to a cabinet and grabbed a glass. This was good. This was
progress
, Anne thought as she accepted the delicate glass and filled it before taking a sip.

The woman was motioning with her wrist and then pointing into the small room she had just walked in from. Anne followed her lead and angled her body to look inside. It was filled with what appeared to be food. “It’s a pantry…um, Ok?” she looked at the woman with questioning eyes. The woman held one finger up and quickly walked to the refrigerator, opening the double doors and pointing inside. It was stuffed full with paper wrapped packages, fruit and vegetables. The woman was nodding her head and pointing.

“It’s food. That’s…great. Do you want me to cook something? Are you asking me if I want
you
to cook me something? I don’t know what you’re trying to tell me.”

“Tha seo doirbh,” the woman muttered as she opened a cabinet and pointed at the huge array of gleaming cookware nestled on the shelves.

“You want to show me your pots and pans? They are very nice. Maybe you could smack me upside the head with one of them because I am losing my godforsaken mind right now,” Anne smiled before shaking her head at the ridiculousness of the situation.

The woman seemed to clamp her lips in frustration as she pointed to the pantry and the refrigerator once again.

“What are you telling me? Do you want to have a food fight? Do you do that in Scotland?” she snorted in amusement before leveling a serious glare in the woman’s direction. “Might I ask where your boss is? I’d really like to talk to him right now. Actually I’d really like to call the police on his idiot ass. Do you dial 911 in this country? Do you think this would be considered kidnapping? Do you have any idea how frustrating this is? No, of course you don’t. You’re looking at me like I have two heads. This is great,” she breathed out before a loud bang jolted her and caused her body to turn toward the source of the sound. A lanky teenager wandered in and stopped immediately when he spotted Anne.