Till Life Do Us Part

Chapter 6

Danica pulled into the parking lot of the administrative building of Rodens Incorporated Limited. It stood tall and beautiful, all shiny elegance. She counted 15 floors and more windows than she had ever seen. She made her way into the building and was greatly awed by the opulence of the lobby as she stepped in. The room was lit up with a soft, golden hue, emitted from a large chandelier that hung right in the middle of the roof, artfully designed with ribbons of dripping crystals. Plush seats in rich brocades of various colors adorned the right half of the room, the insignia of the company carefully embroidered in each. Identical tastefully carved tables with ornate, golden feet sat in front of the cushions , each carrying a bottle of the company's most famous liquors with 4 dramatic, golden goblets arranged in a neat, straight line in front of them. All around the lobby, black and golden banners and posters carrying motion pictures of the recently launched liquor, Abyss, were scattered around. The only sound to be heard was the incessant low hum of the large air conditioners that blasted cold air furiously. Danica was amazed at the almost mechanical organization of everything. At the left side of the room sat the receptionist behind a large, beautiful granite counter. Somehow, she even seemed to thrum with the same homey energy as the rest of the lobby and her image there fit exactly into the context of the whole room. She was a young, pretty thing, African American if Danica guessed right. Her large afro hair was packed on top of her head with delicately gelled springy curls framing her face. She had minimal makeup on and yet still seemed like the most beautiful thing Danica had ever seen. Her full lips spread into a radiant smile as Danica approached her. She couldn't help reciprocating it.

"Good morning!!!" Her voice was high and chirpy. Danica supposed this was how one's voice sounded like when you had a very good pay. 

"Morning" She was suddenly conscious of her own slightly throaty voice. 

"How may I help you?" The receptionist quickly added. 

"I have a meeting with Mr. Tristan Roden".

"Mr. Roden himself?" She was already furiously typing into her computer.

"Yes"

"Can I have your name, please?" She was still typing so fast. 

"Det...." She remembered what Tristan had said. If this investigation was going to be confidential, she didn't think giving her title seemed so wise. "Danica Parish. Miss Danica Parish". She said shortly. 

"Do you have an appointment?".

Danica shrugged. "Something like that".

Her answer must have seemed a bit weird because the receptionist paused typing and glanced at her briefly, so briefly Danica wouldn't have noticed if she wasn't always hyper aware of her surroundings from years in the force.Nothing else betrayed the receptionist's professionalism, she had to give her that. She finally finished typing and beamed at her again. 

"Mr. Roden's office is on the last floor, the first door to the left". 

Danica smiled at her in gratitude and made her way to the elevator. As she waited, she was surprised to notice that a little part of her was reluctant to leave this homey lobby. The energy in the room made her want to cuddle right into one of the seats, fold her legs under her and fall asleep there. The sound of the elevator's arrival had her focusing again. The door opened to reveal 2 staff of the company, from the identical ID cards that hung from their necks. Danica was thrown off by the stark contrast between their appearance and the room behind her. They both wore business suits, the man in black and the lady in severe gray, files under their arms. They took no notice of her as they made their way out of the elevator. She stepped in and caught the sound of the man's voice as he called out to the receptionist in greeting, just as the elevator doors shut close. 

When the door finally opened again, she found herself in a wide hallway lit up with bright, white lights emitted from the many fluorescents that adorned the roof. There were only 4 doors on the large floor, much to her own surprise. First door to the left, the receptionist had said. She walked to the door and took in the ornate golden plate that stood out on the shiny brown of the heavy oak door. Executive Director, it read.....impressive. She rapped on the door and heard the faint rumble of Tristan's voice as he bid her come in.  

Walking into the room, Danica was first struck by the striking resemblance between his office and the lobby. The room was large and bore the same golden glow which was also emitted from an identical, chandelier that hung from the middle of the room. There was a sitting area in the first half of the room with slightly smaller versions of the seats, all in rich magenta with golden handles, the same embroidered company insignia visible on them. A wide blank television sat across the seats, and a compact decanter, unsurprisingly holding a range of the company's most expensive liquours stood at the farther-most corner to her right. The other half of the room was the office. While the first half was all magenta and gold, the office was silver and black. His own chair was slightly taller than the rest seats and the handles and swivel were so shiny Danica couldn't help wondering if it was real silver or just well polished steel. A wide mahogany desk sat heavily in front of it, carrying neat stacks of paper and files and a pristine white computer system. Three black leather office seats in the same shiny glory sat in a straight line in front of the desk, all bearing the company insignia. 

Danica was nearly startled by the soft thud of the files Tristan had been holding being dropped. He stood beside his desk, right in front of the louvred window, his hands now in his pockets. The white dress shirt he wore stretched beautifully over his shoulders and emphasized his figure all the way down to where they were tucked into the waist band of his black suit pants. He had the top button of his shirt loose and his hair was packed higher up today. Once again, his eyes raked over her slowly as she walked casually over to him. She suddenly felt so silly.

She had worn a lacy, maroon coloured dress with long, tight sleeves and a tulle skirt that stopped right before her knees, her feet clad in plain black tennis shoes. Her hair was packed into a loose bun at the nape of her neck and 2 wisps had been left to frame her face nicely. A pretty black handbag that Charlotte had gifted her last Christmas hung from her right arm. She  had once again applied a thin line of eyeliner and mascara and had on her favorite cherry lip gloss. She couldn't believe she had gone through all these stress. Now that she was here under his scrutiny, she suddenly realized how stupid she must look. She felt a slow flush creep up her cheeks but still held Tristan's gaze as she made her way over to where he stood. By the time she got to him, he was smiling widely.......much to her own surprise. 

"Detective!!!" He was literally grinning. "What the.....You look different!!!!" 

Now that she was up close, she avoided his eyes and shrugged, instead busying herself with the suddenly tasking process of lowering her handbag.

"Well.....if you wanted this investigation to be incognito, I just didn't see the sense in marching over here looking like a detective"

He chuckled loudly. "That was super smart" She didn't like the way pride rose in her chest that he approved. "You look so young and.....pretty"

She was horrified at the blush that rose in her cheeks. She wasn't a blushing type! What the hell was wrong with her now? Suddenly embarrassed, she flashed a brief smile.

"I'll take the "young", but the "pretty".....have I been hideous so far?" She asked playfully as she settled into one of the seats in front of his desk.

"Well the last two occasions I saw you, you had your sunglasses covering half of your face". He replied as he rounded the desk to sit in his own seat.

"Right.....indeed I did". Eager to change the topic, she pretended to look around the room for the first time and nodded in approval. "You have a really nice office".

He was still smiling at her but rose a shoulder in an indifferent shrug. "Thank you. I've heard that a lot of times to be honest" 

"I'm sure you have". Flustered and desperate to get him to stop staring, she reached for her handbag and pulled out a notepad. "Let's get started, Mr. Roden". 

He reached for the files he had been holding earlier and deposited them in the middle of the desk. "I'm sure you know a fair amount of information about the case".

She shrugged casually as she pulled out a pen from her bag. "Just this and that". Snapping the pen open, she positioned it on her notepad and looked at him expectantly. "Tell me all I need to know".

"My sister was Linda Roden, a tall, 27 year old honey blonde, heir apparent to the family business" He pulled out a picture of her from the stack of files and dropped it in front of Danica. "That's her".

She picked up the picture and studied it. The date read 27th June, 2014, a year before she had been murdered and Linda Roden had been captured in a museum. She indeed had a chin-length, wavy mass of honey blond hair and was at least 5'8 from what Danica could see. She had worn a long, well tailored beige coat with a beige suede belt and a black knee length suit skirt peeked out from between the parting of the coat. She had been posing in front of a blue and grey art piece. She had the same green eyes as Tristan and the smile on her face bore such a striking resemblance to his as well. From what she knew, Linda Roden had been a stoic businesswoman who hardly had time for the little pleasures of life but in this picture, she seemed to be having fun. A part of Danica felt a sad pang at the thought that this bright young woman's life had been wasted. Linda Roden had had dreams, she had been an achiever, she had probably had control over every aspect of her life.......till someone had taken even that away from her. 

Replacing the picture, she looked up to find Tristan staring distractedly at the files. For a moment, she saw exactly how much this weighed down on him beneath the bright exterior. He suddenly seemed so tired.

"I'm so sorry for your loss". She said shortly. He looked back at her and Danica saw that his eyes bore so much sadness and pain. She resisted the urge to reach out and pat his hand reassuringly. Instead, she hardened her eyes and sat up straighter, nodding in reassurance. "We are going to catch this bastard, Mr. Roden".

He smiled at her, a small smile that didn't reach his eyes and sat up straighter too. "I trust that you will". His voice was stronger than she expected and she couldn't help the little swell of pride that rose in her chest. Her Iago came back stronger. She shook the thought away. "Right......where are my manners?" He stood up and smiled down at her, his usual self all over again. "What can I offer you, Detective?"

She nearly smiled at his question. How typical of him to be thinking of something as flimsy as a drink when all she wanted to do right now was to get to the bottom of this all. 

"This isn't the time for a drink, Mr. Roden" She said, careful not to betray her mask as she felt the little smile creep up.

"Don't I know that" He walked over to the coffeemaker and poured himself a hot cup, his back to her. He took a small sip and when he turned to her again, he seemed fully invigorated and a more natural smile spread on his face. "Running a liquor company doesn't exactly mean I've given up on coffee". He rose his cup in mock cheers and took another sip before reaching out to collect the second cup that had been made. He deposited it in front of her and settled back in his seat. Willing to humour him, she took a small sip and nearly rolled her eyes in pleasure. The blissful trail of caffeine seemed to awaken every single one of her senses that she hadn't even known were asleep. Tristan smiled knowingly at her and took another sip of his coffee.

Looking away guiltily, she dropped her cup and smacked her lips lightly. "Thanks. Didn't even know I needed that". She hoped she sounded as indifferent as she wanted to.

He smiled wider at her and dropped his cup too, sitting up in his seat. 

"You are very welcome, Detective. Now where were we?".