Spank & Correct: Deceptive Truths

Monday morning came none to soon and after my requisite trip over the table, I was delighted to learn I could drive myself to work and back home. I had half expected him to want to accompany me into the office so he could get confirmation directly from Mrs. Anderson in regards to forwarding records of any discipline I received at work. Apparently, he was willing to trust me enough to do it on my own and assumed he could simply call and verify with Mrs. Anderson directly which was technically true.

She was my first stop at the office because I was afraid if I delayed any, I might forget. Mr. Foley looked mildly paranoid when he saw me step off the elevator. I think he was afraid I might follow through on my threat, but much as I might like to chastise somebody, anybody just to know how it feels to be on the other side, it would not be fair.

"Good morning," I said, attempting to sound cheerful and nonthreatening as I stepped up to his desk. "I need a moment of Mrs. Anderson's time if it could be arranged."

"Of course, Ms. West. Give me just a moment to see if she is available," He nervously said. Punching a few keys on his keyboard he stared impatiently at his screen and then looked back to me with his big, brown eyes. "She can see you now," He said.

I knocked softly on her office door before entering. The office was empty and it should not have been surprising really but for some reason I had expected to find another poor soul bent over her desk getting their bottom warmed for some offence or another. Mrs. Anderson stood up as I walked inside and closed the door, the look on her face suggested she was less than happy to have me back in her office.

"I need to make an arrangement through you," I said, deciding it was better to be direct than spend five minutes dancing all around the point.

She raised an eyebrow and said, "What type of an arrangement?"

I said, "My father has requested to receive notification in the event Allison Beaumont is disciplined at work." I stressed my name purposefully, expecting her to catch on that anything regarding Virginia West was to go unnoticed so far as my father was concerned.

She said, "I take it you mean this as a formality only and don't intend for any actual information to be passed along?"

"Correct," I said.

Mrs. Anderson said, "I can make the necessary arrangements, you will need to sign for it, but I feel obligated to point out that deceiving your parents further than you already have will do absolutely nothing to correct the difficulties between you."

I smiled at her, but there was nothing friendly about it as I said, "The intricacies of my family relationships is not of your concern and I do not expect I need to explain myself or the deceptions necessaries to maintain the security of my position with this company."

She kept her face neutral and with a nod of her head said, "Of course, Ms. West. I'll see to it personally and notify Mr. Beaumont accordingly."

I returned the nod and said, "Thank you."

From there, I headed directly to Mr. Candle's office for another necessary conversation of the morning, although slightly less pressing, it would not do to delay. The express elevator stopped on the thirtieth floor and I stepped out wondering if Mr. Candle would object to the unannounced visit. He was sitting at his desk apparently lost in thought and nearly toppled his chair as he jumped up upon seeing me. I laughed.

"Sorry to interrupt," I said, walking toward his desk, "I need a quick moment."

"What can I do for you?" He asked, standing beside his desk and straightening his already perfect tie.

"A promotion and a raise," I said.

His eyebrows rose into receding hairline territory. He said, "If that's supposed to be a joke, I'm not laughing."

I said, "It's no joke. I told you before you sent me off to that training camp something would have to be done about Allison's job and we agreed to deal with it later if you recall." I stopped a few feet from him and rested my hands on my hips as he blinked and stared at me, giving me the impression I had awaken him from a deep sleep. "Later just became now," I said.

"This was for your mother's benefit?" He said.

"It was," I said, pausing to stress the past tense of the statement, "Now it's for everyone, including you."

"Now, I'm confused," Mr. Candle said with an unamused chuckle, "How is promoting Allison and giving her more money going to benefit me?"

"Because by doing so, you insure I'll be part of your team," I said, enjoying keeping him off balance for change.

"You're threatening to quit?" Mr. Candle said shaking his head, "Then quit. I won't be blackmailed."

I said, "It's your call. However, it's not me blackmailing you. I'm more than happy to go on working here, but you see the complicated situation you created at my home has reached the boiling point and if Allison doesn't get promoted, her parents aren't going to let her work for your company."

"You do realize, you are Allison?" Mr. Candle said.

I laughed. "I haven't forgotten," I said.

Sighing, he shook his head at me and said, "What is it you expect me to do, precisely?"

"Give Allison a managerial position and a salary commiserate with the position," I said.

"You realize this will call attention to you?" Mr. Candle said.

"So would the simultaneous departure of Allison and Virginia," I said.

"You believe this is the lesser of evils then?" He said.

"Don't you?" I asked.

"Perhaps," He said, retreating behind his desk, "It would be better to find a less conspicuous solution."

"I'm all ears," I said.

"I'll get back to you," He said, sitting down.

"Just don't take too long. They aren't going to wait forever," I said.

He nodded and I turned back to the elevator, leaving him alone to figure out whatever solutions he could. I found his excuses a little lame, but decided there was no point in disclosing the fact to him. If he wanted me to stay, he had to fix it, and if not then there was something more going on that met the eye and it would probably be in my best interests to be gone. Why is it every time I leave his office, I have more questions than when I entered?

"You're back," Kyra said as I walked through the door, entering Q5.

I smiled at her almost friendly greeting, pausing a moment to glance around the office. It felt like it had been much longer than a long weekend since I had stepped freely into the office, I decided to set my course for Kyra, seeing that Jack was busy and no one else was in the immediate vicinity. I joined her at the central table where she was working. She had her display space maximized with data from all of the team's most recent quests being sorted and scanned.

"Looks exhausting," I said, nodding at the information displayed in the air above the table.

Kyra said, "Yeah." She looked tired, exhausted actually, and I had the sudden impression she was carrying the weight of the world, or at least Q5, on her shoulders. No doubt, someone like Jack had decided she had the best chance of picking of the trail and getting the team back on track. Considering their past failures, it probably was not the first time.

"Any leads?" I asked.

"No," She said, shaking her head and turning her attention back to the display. "Tom told me you thought everything was connected so I've been running analysis trying to find the common thread, but if there is one, it's too complex for the software."

"Or you don't have the necessary data," I said, resting my hand on the back of her chair.

Kyra looked up at me from over her shoulder and said, "What are you thinking?"

"Mr. Candle is the connection," I said.

"Only after the fact," Kyra said.

"True but if you take time out of the equation, maybe the rest of the threads will become more apparent," I said.

Kyra said, "That's crazy."

"In case you haven't noticed," I said holding her accusing gaze with my own, "this entire operation is crazy."

"If you say so," Kyra said and began tapping on her keyboard to remove the time constraints on her search. "It will take awhile to recompute the data," She said.

"I'm not surprised," I said, watching the information flash up on the screen and scroll into infinity.

"I guess you heard about the leak," Kyra said, spinning her chair to look up at me.

For a second I thought she was talking about Patrick Hughes and Tom, but then I recalled she had been involved with the Mrs. Elliot affair. I nodded and said, "Yeah, what did you think about it?"

"I was pissed," She said a faint rose color rising to her cheeks.

It took a moment but then the reason clicked. I said, "Oh, I didn't realize."

Kyra shook her head ruefully and said, "You aren't the only one to step out of line. After my last time I've been a bit more cautious, which is why I've kept my distance from you ever since you practically asked Jack for disciplinary measures in Italy."

I blinked, trying to figure where she was coming from. "I wasn't asking for anything but a little respect," I said.

Kyra choked on a laugh and said, "You got some weird ideas about respect because where I come from having my bare ass waving in the air ain't a sign of respect."

"They weren't listening to me and I was right," I said, defensively.

"Everyone could see you were right and they should have listened, you sure didn't need to go waving their faces in it," Kyra said.

"I wasn't," I said.

"And that's why Jack put you over his knee," Kyra said with a smile barely holding back laughter.

I shook my head at her and shrugged. It was all true, although my perspective was slightly different, I really could not argue with hers. I returned the smile and a moment later we were both laughing. It felt good to laugh with her again and the tension between us was completely gone.

"Friends?" I said, holding out my hand to her in a peace offering, I sincerely hoped she would accept. She nodded her head, took my hand, and said, "Friends."

Kyra turned back to the computer studying the displays for a moment and ignoring me. I decided to let her work and was about to head over to Jack and find out what he had decided when she said, "I discovered your secret."

I turned back toward her, my heart thudding as I wondered just what she meant. She said, "I won't tell anyone, you can count on it."

"What are you talking about?" I said, hoping she would explain without me having to guess.

Kyra said, "You aren't Virginia West. I don't know what your real name is, but you are definitely not Virginia West."

I sighed and said, "Tom already knows." She tilted her head at me obviously surprised. I said, "Virginia West was created to protect my family. My real name is Allison. Allison Beaumont."

"Protect your family?" Kyra said obviously confused as to what they would need protection from, "Who are you?"

It was a good question and one I had been asking myself ever since I discovered who the mysterious little girl really was. The conclusion I had come to sounded arrogant, even narcissistic to my own ears, but I had nothing better to offer. "I'm what you've been searching for, the prize, the trophy, the undefinable treasure this entire team was assembled to find," I said.