The Virgin Vagabond

Chapter 2

The afternoon had not been enough to get Cornelias inbox or calendar under control. It was an overwhelming task that would demand a significant amount of time. The calendar was completely full, except for three weeks that were completely empty. Kesia was sitting in her room, trying to figure out if it was intentional or some kind of glitch somewhere. In the corner of her eye she saw someone pass in the corridor. She assumed it was Conrad.

”Excuse me, Conrad?” She said loud enough for the person outside the room to hear her, hoping that he could help her clear things out. 

”No Conrad here” said Luke who showed up in the doorway instead of Conrad.

”Oh, sorry, but maybe you can help me?”

”I might. What do you need help with?”

Kesia got up from the desk and walked over to Lucas with the iPad. 

”Cornelias calendar is packed except for these three weeks, starting a week from now, that are completely empty. Do you know why? Is she going on vacation? And if so, why hasn’t she told me?”

Luke looked slightly uncomfortable.

”Can’t you just ask her?”

”Yes, but she is not awake yet and I thought maybe you could help. But sure, I can wait until she is available.”

”The thing is” Luke started but stopped himself. ”No,” he continued, ”I can’t tell you, that’s her job. She will tell you, Kesia, when she thinks you need to know.”

He looked away awkwardly and left the room. Kesia just stood there for a while, thinking about what it might be. She couldn’t help but to be curious. She glanced at the time and realized that Cornelia had an interview in one hour. The breakfast was perfectly set out in the dining room, ready to be consumed. Kesia sighed when she realized that she would have to wake Cornelia up. With firm steps, she went back through the corridor and stopped outside Cornelias room. Just as she was about to knock, Luke appeared again.

”I wouldn’t do that if I were you” he said. 

”But she has an interview in one hour.”

”Cornelia is never late. You don’t have to wake her, she takes care of that herself.”

Kesia shrugged.

”Ok. Wanna eat breakfast?”

Luke started laughing.

”Did I say something funny?”

”I don’t know what she wants you to do but I am not allowed to have breakfast at the same table as her. I eat in the kitchen with Conrad and I already did that. Like an hour ago.”

Kesia nodded and realized she had a thing or two to learn about how things work around here. Luke looked at her like you look at a puppy that just peed on the rug by accident. Kesia rolled her eyes on him.

”So, is that your room?” she asked. Not because she really wanted to know but because she wanted to change the subject.

”Indeed it is! Cornelia might not pay me much for the work I do but she gives me food and a place to live which is pretty nice.”

He made an inviting gesture and Kesia peeked inside the room. Her room was so much nicer than his. In this room, chaos was king. Although, she assumed Luke was the kind of man who didn’t really care about such things. 

”Nice!” she lied. ”So, what do you do in here? I mean, when you don’t drive Cornelia around I assume you have other tasks?”

Luke looked at her.

”What did Cornelia say that I do?”

Kesia sighed. She started to grow sick of all the non-answers.

”She said you are her go-to guy. You do this and that, nothing in particular.” 

Luke smiled a little. 

”That’s right, I do this and that. I do things no one else wants to and I do it discretely so that no one else knows what I do.”

Kesia raised her eyebrows.

”Is it something illegal?”

He laughed a little and then smiled crookedly.

”Do you really want to know?”

She hesitated. Did she want to know? Maybe not.

”Whatever” she said before she retreated down the hallway and back into her room. She closed the door and exhaled. Something about Luke kept her on her toes. Usually, she could read people pretty easily, know what they were thinking, read the little signs in their faces or interpret the ways their eyes moved when they talked. Luke was different. He had clearly been trained to not give anything away by facial expression. It scared her a little. 

The day passed so quickly that Kesia suddenly found herself in front of the fire, holding a drink that Conrad had put in her hand. In the armchair next to her Cornelia sat, holding a drink of her own. Kesia took a small sip and leaned back, relaxed. It had been an intense day, there was no question about it. But she had really felt on top of things all the time. In control. She had performed excellent as Cornelias personal assistent today. Or at least she thought so. Hesitantly she looked at Cornelia and opened her mouth to ask about the three blank weeks in the calendar. 

”You wonder why there are three unbooked weeks in my calendar, don’t you?” Cornelia asked and looked at Kesia with a little smile dancing around on her lips. 

”Well, yes, I do. How did you know?”

”Doesn’t matter. I just know. I probably should have told you already.”

Cornelia paused to take a sip from the glass. Then she looked into the fire thoughtfully. 

”Have you heard of hide and seek?”

”The kids game?”

Cornelia laughed a little.

”No, Kesia, not the kids game.”

”Then I guess I haven’t heard of it.”

”It’s no surprise. Very few in the world have heard of it. That is what they want. They want to keep it exclusive, only available to a selected few.”

She paused again and Kesia was getting frustrated.

”What is it then?”

”It is a game for adults. A game of hide and seek stretching over the whole world. When you participate you have to hit ten destinations within three weeks. At each destination you drop a mark, a little black cube, into a safety deposit box. That is your footprint. You will also find clues to lead you on to the next destination in your hotel room. It is all very elaborate and well thought out.  While you are at one destination you have to stay hidden from your seekers.”

Cornelia looked at Kesia.

”You are in teams, you see. There are ten competing teams and each team consists of two people. Each team also gets their own seekers. You have to stay hidden from these seekers. If they get you on camera you loose that round. Leaving a footprint might still get you a point though.”

”So even if you loose a round you can get points for it?”

”Exactly.”

”Nice twist. It keeps the game interesting, I imagine.”

”Yes, yes it does.”

”Why are you telling me all this? Is that what you are doing a week from now? Playing hide and seek?”

Cornelia looked into the fire again and took a sip from her drink.

”Not me. You.”

Kesia looked at Cornelia.

”Me? Why me?”

”Because you are perfect for the job.”

Kesia looked into the flames and thought for a moment, processing what she had just heard. What was the proper reaction to such a thing? 

”Tell me what you’re thinking” Cornelia said. 

”I’m thinking about what to say” Kesia answered, honestly. ”I have never had a similar offer, as you can imagine, so I don’t know how to react.”

”Understandable.”

”Who would be on my team?”

”Luke. He does this for me every year.”

That answered some of Kesias other questions. But it didn’t matter. So many other questions had replaced it. Although, knowing that Luke would be her team mate (if she decided to say yes) somehow made her feel weirdly safe. He was probably good at that sort of thing. 

”What makes med perfect for the job? Is it just my name?”

”Your name definitely is a contributing factor but it’s not just that. This is a game for younger people not for old women like myself. I had a female player up until a few days ago. You heard me talking on the phone with her.”

”Oh, that was the woman on the other side of the phone that day! Her name is also Kesia?”

”Not quite. You see Kesia is the code name, the name we use for all the female players in our team. It’s the name we’ve been assigned by the game leaders.”

”And why did the other Kesia withdraw?”

Cornelia rolled her eyes and snorted.

”For a ridiculous reason if you ask me. She and Luke sort of… became a thing during the last game and they broke up a week ago. For that reason, the other Kesia didn’t want to go unless I replaced Luke. Which I can’t do. He is way more valuable to me than she ever was. I’m sorry if that sounds cruel but it’s the truth.”

Kesia nodded slowly. 

”Ok” she said, ”so you are in desperate need for a female player?”

”Yes. And you are the perfect candidate.”

”But Kesia is my real name. Isn’t that… inappropriate?”

Cornelia smiled crookedly.

”No, it’s actually perfect. No one will ever believe it’s your real name. No one can guess your real name since it’s the same as your code name.”

She suddenly looked at Kesia like she had just thought of something important. 

”Don’t tell Luke it’s your real name” she said hastily.

”Doesn’t he already know?”

”No, there is no reason to think so. He believes it’s just what you go by here. He has known all along, you see, what I was going to ask of you.”

”When does the game start?”

”Six days from now you will travel to the starting point of the game, Cape Town. Where it goes from there, no one knows.”

Kesia sat quietly for a second. She was very intrigued but felt like it would be madness to say yes before she had talked to Matilda. 

”When do you need my answer?”

”Now, would be good.”

Kesia laughed a little.

”You are not much for giving people time to think, are you? This is kind of a big question.”

”Yes, yes, I know. You can have until tomorrow. But only if you intend to say yes.”

Kesia smiled. 

”We’ll see” she said and got up from the armchair. ”Good night, Cornelia. See you tomorrow.”

”Good night, dear” Cornelia said and took another sip from the drink, eyes firmly fixed on the flames in the fireplace. 

”This is the craziest thing I have ever heard!” Matilda exclaimed when Kesia had told her the whole story. She had dropped her jaw and stared at Kesia. ”What are you going to say?”

”I don’t know! I mean, is this the kind of thing you regret if you don’t do?”

Matilda thought for a second.

”Probably. Life is full of those things though. What happens if you say no?”

”She might fire me. I think this is the reason why she hired me, May, I think this is what she had in mind from the beginning. 

”Mind blowing!” said Matilda, still with a dropped jaw. 

Kesia leaned back for a moment, trying to grasp everything, go through it in her mind and make sense of it all. It was basically impossible. 

”Who is this Luke person?” asked Matilda and picked her jaw up to put some chips in her mouth.

”He is another one of Cornelias employees. She has three, Conrad, Luke and me. Conrad is about Cornelias age and Luke is… probably a few years older than me. Maybe 23 or 24? Something like that. He is sort of secretive and a little weird, bit of a mess.”

”Is he cute?”

Kesia thought for a second. 

”Yes, he actually is. I haven’t realized it until now.”

”And do you want to travel the world with this weirdo that you don’t really know? That is, after all, what it comes down to. The two of you, traveling the world together.”

Kesia had not thought of it like that but of course Matilda was right. It came down to her and Luke, traveling the world together. Did she want that? 

”I know it seems weird, but yes, I don’t mind that part.”

”Cool. Then go.”

In that moment, Kesia made her decision. She was going to do it. She was going to say yes and then go on a real adventure, an adventure that most people couldn’t even dream of. Even if it turned to be horrible, she would still make memories for a lifetime. 

”Yes, I will. I am going to go.”

Matilda smiled and called on the waiter. 

”Two sparkling wine please, we have something to celebrate!”  

Kesia had described it as a business trip to her parents, which left them puzzled since she had been an intern up until a few days ago. An intern in an office, a position she had gotten through her dads connections since she had no education. Her parents wondered who would send an intern on a three weeks long business trip. Kesia didn’t really know what to say to that so she had made some kind of excuse and promised to keep them updated of her whereabouts. The conversation was playing on repeat in her mind when she walked to work the next morning. Her relationship with her parents was important to her, it had always been. She would have to tell them more face to face, maybe go there for dinner tonight. 

”So, you are going to say yes, right?” 

Kesia jumped at the sudden voice and looked to her side. It was Luke, in the town car, who drove slowly next to her with the window rolled down. 

”I’m glad she told you, now we can start talking about real things” he continued.

”Real things?”

”Yes. Strategies, plans, important things to think about when you are on the run.”

”On the run?”

Luke rolled his eyes on her and stopped the car.

”Will you just get in already?”

Kesia opened the passenger door and stepped into the car. 

”You are saying yes, right?” he asked again.

”Yes, I believe I am.”

”Good. Cornelia has cleared your schedule for the morning so that we can get to know each other. Let’s go back to her place.”

He turned the corner and managed to drive the car through the narrow opening in the wall that lead to the backside of the house. There, he parked it and got out. Before Kesia could react he was at her door and opened it for her. 

”Don’t think I’m a gentleman” he said while she got out, ”it’s just something that Cornelia has me doing. Personally, I think you all can open your own bloody doors.”

Kesia felt a little surprised by this overly chatty version of Luke. He was clearly excited. She realized that that was probably a compliment to her.

The whole thing turned out to be even more intricate than Kesia had first thought. Each round had several different stages. When you first arrived at a destination step one was to figure out where to leave the ”footprint” and then step two would be to figure out what the next destination was. Clues were supposed to wait for them at the hotel. 

”What kind of clues are we talking about?”

”It’s different every year” said Luke, ”sometimes it’s movie quotes that are supposed to lead us to a certain place, sometimes it’s things. This one year, a bought item waited for us when we got to the hotel, the receipt always attached. The idea was that we returned the item to the store where it was bought and then the shopkeeper would give us an adress.”

”Interesting! And we don’t know what it is this year, then?”

”No, we have no idea.”

They were interrupted by Cornelia who stormed into the room.

”Kesia!” she exclaimed when she saw her young assistant. ”I heard you’re saying yes. That is wonderful!” 

She put a briefcase on the table and Luke quickly put his had on it to stop her from showing Kesia what was inside. Cornelia rolled her eyes at him.

”You don’t think we should show her? Why?”

”She doesn’t need to know unless it is absolutely necessary.”

Cornelia thought for a few seconds.

”Ok” she then said. ”You’ll show her when the time comes?”

”Yes, I will.”

”Show me what?” asked Kesia who was getting kind of annoyed that they were talking about her when she was sitting right there. 

”This game has some dimensions” said Luke, turning to her as he spoke, ”that is on a need-to-know basis. Cornelia almost revealed something to you that you don’t need to know yet.”

”Do I need to be worried?”

Luke laughed a little.

”No, darling, as long as you’re with me, you don’t need to worry about a thing.”

Kesia couldn’t help to feel a little anxious but decided to trust Luke. He had not given her any reason to doubt him. Although, he hadn’t really given her any reason to blindly trust him either. She just had a good feeling about it without being able to say where it came from.